Chapter 3 : Sweet dreams

“You did it again? How many times have I told you not to disobey me? ! Seriously, why do you keep doing it? Is it to make me angry? ! Haven’t you done enough already? !” Again just like before, the father was seething with anger and the child just sat there unable to comprehend why his father hated him, he just bought some Ice cream. What did he do wrong? Why was his father  mad this time, what’s with the look he was giving him? It’s like he hated him for being born!

“ Why? ” Whispered the child but his father heard it.” What? What do you mean why? ” Asked the father, his son never talked back to him, much less asked him why he was being scorned. He expected him to shriek back in fear or apologize but this time he didn’t.He just looked at him with a mix of sadness and anger. `You keep scorning me for every little thing I do, I just wanna live a normal life like any child, why are you always like this?!” He paused for a minute before he continued ”Why do you hate me?” There he is, he finally asked that question that was plaguing him all of his childhood, he is gonna get his response but it was something that will change his life forever. `Why?” Whispered the father in his calm tone which freaked the child a bit.” You ask me why I hate you? Why wouldn’t I hate you?! It’s your fault that I lost everything!.”

The kid was beyond confused,what is his father talking about? How did he cost him everything? He was just a child.”What are you talking about? I cost you everything? You hate me? Then why are you keeping me here? Why don’t you let me live with my mother? !” Yelled the child in anger but it soon reverted back to fear when he saw the reaction of his father. His father’s face twisted into one of absolute rage and his look was hateful.” It’s your fault that she’s gone!” Hissed the father, the kid’s eyes widened in surprise.” She died giving birth to you! She died the minute, no... the instant you were born! She died because she hated you! Because she didn’t wanna be your mother!.” He grabbed the child by his collar and punched him in the face making him roll backward. ``It’s your fault” He kept saying as he kicked him in the stomach over and over. He finally stopped and the child started coughing and held his throat trying to regain his breath. You took her away from me … you killed her! “ His father grabbed a knife that was on the counter. ``Why weren't you the one that died? !” He asked before he attacked the kid.

I woke up drenched in sweat again, another nightmare. I looked at the clock, it’s 12:19. I didn’t even sleep for 3 hours, I got up and looked in the mirror. The circles under my eyes are getting worse,

Why do you hate me? That was the last question I asked my father before my life took a drastic turn, because of him, my life was living hell. I can’t help but wonder, If my mother survived after I was born, would my life have been the same? If there was someone to save me from my father, someone to protect me, I’m sure I would’ve had a good life. Which is why I won’t let the same happen with Hope, she’s not like me, she hasn’t been broken yet.I will save her!

Is what I said, but I still don’t know what to do. If I wanna do this correctly, I need information but I doubt she'd tell me if I ask her. In the meantime, we’re in the classroom. Hope hadn’t mentioned anything about last night, she’s acting like it never happened, I need to tread lightly.

“ This is it for today, you’re all dismissed, see you next week.” Looks like the class is finally over, I need to get to her before she disappears.

“ Hey Hope, I need to talk to you.” I started the conversation, she stared at the ground before she replied” About what?.” You know exactly about what, why are you pretending that you don’t?

“ About what happened last night …”

“ Nothing happened last night!” Came the quick reply cutting me off, she really doesn’t wanna talk about it.

“ I didn’t know that your father was...”

“ Well now you do ….so...just...act like last night never happened, okay? “ She asked in  a bit of a hopeful yet desperate tone, if that’s what you want I won’t push it any longer.

“ I understand, I’ll let it go.” For now, there’s no way I’m letting another person suffer when I have the strength to end it. “ Come on, let’s head to the Cafeteria.” We were about to go when we were interrupted” Hey Marcel.” It was Anna, I haven’t talked to her since the first day, I still think that she could’ve done something.” Yeah? ” I asked pretending I didn’t know what she was gonna ask.

“ Do...you...wanna...go to the cafeteria with us? The others ….are...already...there....” She asked,why is she stuttering? She seems a bit afraid, Oh yeah, what happened with Blake. Great, everyone is afraid of me, I don’t blame her. But still she saw what happened and still wanted to invite me to launch, maybe I judged her too quickly.

“ Yeah, sure I’d love to.” I replied with a smile which made her face lit up in happiness.

“ Great! How about you? Hope? .” She asked Hope who was about to slip out the door, she was trying to get away from me. I gotta hand it to her. She's good at being a loner. She paused when we caught her.” I’d love to but …” She was about to object but I cut her off.” Great, let’s go.”  I might have agreed not to push my luck but there’s no way I’m leaving you alone. She looked at me pleadingly hoping that I’d let her off the hook, I glared at her sternly.

She held her gaze before she sighed and followed. And like that we headed  to the cafeteria. Everyone stopped what they were doing when we were walking and stared at us, well me.

The ones that were in the middle of the hallway stepped aside, the others started whispering things like “It’s him!”, “ What is he doing here? Shouldn’t he be expelled? !”, “Shh, he’ll hear you!” Yeah, good job with the last one. “ Don’t mind them, okay? They’re always like this.” Said Anna with a nervous laugh, the stares are making her nervous too. On the other hand, Hope is perfectly normal. It's like she’s used to people staring at her and whispering like that.” What is Anna doing with him? “ Whispered a boy standing there, “I don’t know, maybe he forced her to go with him, you don’t know what he can do! " whispered his friend back, seriously do they not know that I can hear them?

“ Maybe she’s just a monster like him!” The last one made Anna widen her eyes in fear and look down, these damn clowns! You can whisper about me all you want but the minute you hurt someone related to me, you really are screwed!. Even though I didn’t say it outloud, my raging face made it clear. He shrieked back in fear before he ran away, the others seemed to quiet down too.

“ Tch...cowards! “ I hissed in my breath, but they  heard me. Anna just smiled while Hope smirked at me, I smiled back at them. We got to the Cafeteria, it was packed as usual, seriously does this place ever get empty? Regardless, there was a table for us thanks to Jonathan and the others.

They waved when they saw us and we went to our table. “ Hey guys, thanks for saving our seats.” I thanked them while bowing my head a little, the others smiled and nodded while Jonathan had a goofy grin on his face and replied “ No problem, let’s all eat! “ Practically yelled, I forgot that he was the loud goofy kind. But he was smacked in the back of the head by Julie who got really annoyed. “ Aww, what was that for? 'Wined Jonathan, this guy is really childish. “ Idiot! Don’t yell so loud! You’re gonna make my ear bleed! '' Yelled back Julie, didn’t you just scorn him for being him loud? You were even louder than him, these two are made for each other, wouldn’t be surprised if they got married in the future. “ You idiots! “ They were both smacked in the head by Lisa. “ Awww '' They whined at the same time. “ Can’t you tone down a little! Look you’re annoying the other girl!” She said as she pointed at Hope. “ Sorry “ How can they speak in sync? It’s really impressive. Hope just looked at them, oh she’s not used to people behaving like this. I hope she doesn’t insult him or worse, bash his head. But she didn’t, she just chuckled, it’s the first time I’ve actually seen her laugh.” It’s okay, I’m Hope by the way. Nice to meet you all. “ She introduced herself, they all nodded and introduced themselves. It was a silent launch, no one knew how to break the Ice, we were all visibly struggling with it, well …” ?

“ So Hope, how many siblings do you have?” You can’t have uncomfortable silence with the energetic Jonathan who had a wide smile on his face in the table. Hope visibly flinched at the loud tone.” Idiot! Tone it down! You scared her! “ Scolded Julie, Jonathan just laughed sheepishly. “ I don’t have any siblings, I’m a lonely child.” Answered Hope in a calm voice, make sense to why she’s struggling, if she had siblings they would’ve protected her. “ What about your parents? “ Asked Anna, she flinched again. I waved my head no at the group, only Lisa seemed to get the memo and interupted. “ Guys, don’t ask too many questions, can’t you see she’s nervous? “ They all nodded their heads and apologised. “It’s okay “ Reassured Hope with a fake smile, but her voice was strained. I looked at Lisa and mouthed ‘ Thank you ‘, she smiled and nodded her head. I grabbed my bottle of water and started drinking it. “ You guys look great together, how long have you been dating? “I almost choked on my water at Anna’s balant question, I wasn’t expecting that, she took me off guard.

“What...what...are...you...talking...abou...t? “ Why am I stuttering? My heart is pounding really fast too, my face...am I blushing? Oh, If Uncle Aaron saw me now, ‘ Oh, the mighty Marcel Jensen startled? Hahaha...How cute!’ That’s what he would say in a mocking tone.” Yeah, nothing...is...going...on  “ Replied Hope, you too? Why are stuttering? And what’s with the creepy smile on your face?   What’s with the sudden change in our characters? It was just a question, get it together!. “ Ho, Is that so? “ What is that smirk? Don’t go there Jonathan … “ You guys are so in … “ But before he was able to finish it, the bell rang. “ Come let’s get back to Class. “ I exclaimed, I’m saved, that was a close one. Damn you Jonathan! Making blush like a dumb teenager, I will get you for this. The rest of the day was mondane, nothing unusual happened. Oh yeah, detention starts today, damn it! I forgot about it! Hope is gonna have to go back to that  horrible place alone again.

“ What are you doing here? I thought you were going home. “ I asked Hope who came in, picked a broom and started cleaning the gym with me. “ Isn’t it obvious? I’m helping you, it’s my fault that you’re in this mess, this is the least I can do. “ She replied, thank god, at least this way she doesn’t have to go back alone. “ So Hope,I know you said you don’t wanna talk about it, but do you mind telling me about him? “ I asked her, she suddenly froze in her place and her eyes widened. He is really hurting her, “ I told you I don’t wanna talk …” She said in a hasty tone but I interrupted her.

“ I know, but I can’t just sit still when you’re clearly suffering, I know how you’re feeling …”

“ What do you know? !” She shouted as she stopped cleaning and stared at the ground. “ How could you possibly know? ! Don’t act like you understand me! You and I are nothing alike! I didn’t grow up in England with a loving family and had a lot of friends! You know nothing about my suffering! So stop pretending! Someone like you can never help me! “ She stopped talking suddenly and  her rage lessened, “ I didn’t …” She tried to apologize but I cut her off, “ It’s okay. '' I replied in a quiet voice, but it was dull which made her flinch and her face was full of regret. “We’re done for today...let’s go home.

“ I said in a monotone voice, she was about to speak but she stopped and followed after me. We headed back home, it was a silent walk. When we got to her house, she was about to walk in before I grabbed her hand and pulled her away. “ Let me go! “ She yelled as she tried to free her grip but to no avail. I started dragging her away“ Where are you taking me? “ She asked, a little bit frightened. '' Somewhere he won’t hurt you. “ I replied without looking back, I kept dragging her with me. She resisted for a bit before she gave in. We kept walking for a bit until we got to my destination, me still holding her hand. “ Where are we? “ She asked as she looked at me. “ My house...you’re gonna stay here from now on until we figure something out. “

She was about to protest but I glared at her sternly, she looked down and mumbled the word ‘Thanks‘. I let go of her hand and walked in and she followed after me. “I’ll let my guardian know when he gets back from work. In the meantime, make yourself at home. I’ll make you some coffee. “ I said as I went to the kitchen. After I was done making the coffee, I went back to Hope who was standing on the deck of the second floor, just outside my room. “ Here you go. “ I said as I handed her a cup of coffee. She took it and nodded her head, “ Thank you. “ She thanked me and started drinking. “It’s good.” Complimented Hope, I nodded my head at her and we both just stared at the sunset in silence while finishing our drinks.

“ I’m sorry...about what I said…. “ Still looking at the ground, her outburst earlier, it was unusual of her to lose her cool. He really caused her pain, but she didn’t say those things out of frustration or because she meant it. “ You don’t have to protect me, Hope.” I cut her off which made her widen her eyes in surprise and disbelief. “How did you … “She trailed off,  “ I just do, call it an ability of mine. I can see through you. Like I said, you don’t have to protect me. “

“ Yes I do! This is my problem, no one else! You don’t know what he can do! You don’t have …”

“ I’m doing this because I wanna help you! I can handle myself, you don’t have to protect me Hope...you don’t have to suffer alone, I’m here to help you. I swear, I will save you “ I said with a smile on my face, she looked at me with pain and confusion in her face. “ Why? “ She whispered under breath.

“ Why? “

“ Why are you always helping me? First with Blake, and the second time getting in trouble because of me. And now, even after the hurtful things I said to you, and despite the danger you’ll get yourself in.

You don’t know anything, anyone would’ve looked the other way. It’s the smart thing to do. “

“ You’re right, it is.”

“ Then why are you…”

“ Well it’s that you know?. I just can’t leave alone for some reason, I really don’t know why. Besides If being smart means turning my back on people when they desperately need help, then I’d rather be the dumbest person alive.” I simply said with my eyes filled with determination, she was stunned, flabbergasted. She just stood there before she smiled, this time a warm one.

“ You really are a strange person …” She said as she looked at the sun going fully down, signaling the end of the day. “ You must be tired, go get some sleep, you can take the room. I’ll take the couch.”

I said as I left the room before I heard her mumble “ Thank you … Good night Marcel.”

I smiled at her and closed the door.“ Good night, Hope. “ Sweet dreams.