Song - Are you with me. 

Artist - Lost Frequencies

I exhaled watching my breath turn to fog in the air. It was freezing out on the field leading to the exit and I was shivering a bit because my coat wasn't that warm, it was old and slightly moth bitten but it was the best I had at the time. I had shoved my hands deep in my trouser pockets due to the cold and lowered my head down a bit so my chin was buried in my coat a little. My eyes looked around at the kids all leaving school and my mind flashed back to the events of the past two days.

"What a day." I sighed as questions slowly started forming in my mind.

I trudged along slowly until I stopped next to a nearby tree and leaned against it, gently feeling the wind brush against my cheek and the hard bark of the oak on my back.

"So," I exhaled again "what do I do now?" Thinking to myself ways to handle the circumstance I seemed to have been tangled up in.

"What does this all even mean?" Thoughts were now happily buzzing in my head all wanting to be answered. Was Victoria's sudden appearance really just by chance?

Eventually, I decided to stop obsessing over it as it wasn't going to get me anywhere. If anything I should have been happy. I actually had someone to talk to, I had a friend and though I hadn't realised it up till then, I started to enjoy school a whole lot more because of her. I should have been thanking Victoria for giving me a chance, not being suspicious of her.

I slumped down a little, with a somewhat tired yet relaxed feeling. So much had happened in such a short space of time, I didn't think the gravity of what had happened had sunken in yet since I was still pretty calm about the whole dreams becoming reality thing.

"Since when did my life become so..weird?" I sighed. "Whatever."

I got up from the tree and ran my fingers through my messy hair but just as I did so, a little moth flew by. I watched it quickly flutter onto my finger and stay there as its wing slowly moved up and down. I thought about how I envied that tiny creature; it got to go wherever it wanted, continuing to explore new parts of the world not having to worry about school, or mystery dream girls, or fuckboy, or mental parents. I thought that must be nice to live such a carefree life.

"Man, can we switch places little guy? I don't think I want to deal with the stress of being human right now." I chuckled at how silly I sounded talking to a moth. What was I expecting it to do, reply?

Soon, it flew away and into the sunset, eventually getting so far away I couldn't see it anymore and when it was gone I sighed yet again thinking about my life situation. I looked at the exit then at the school, then back to the exit again, suddenly school seemed a whole lot more inviting than our dirty old flat. I couldn't help but feel like not wanting to go home; there was nothing worth going back there for anyway and I had a feeling I wouldn't be welcome.

Swinging my house keys on my ring finger, I took a deep breath in and started to absentmindedly walk back inside the school. I knew the school would still be open for after-school clubs and stuff, so I figured it couldn't hurt to do some snooping, you know just to get a feel of what the school was like after closing hours.

I pushed the doors open and started strolling down the hallway, which surprisingly was still lit up brightly. The school was like a ghost town after all the kids had left, not a sound could be heard apart from the quiet flickering of the lights above me.

The quiet was starting to creep me out and so I started whistling to make some sort of noise until I soon came to a second set of doors. On the left one, there was a poster with a picture of a child reading a book while sitting on a stack of them. It was promoting book club which I frankly couldn't have cared less about, but as I looked at it for a few more seconds I felt like an idea was sprouting.

"Books?" I whispered. "Books. Hang on isn't the library still open?" I thought out loud.

The library was, in fact, open after school every day until half past four. I swiveled around searching the walls for a clock and I soon found one right above a sixth forms cubism art display, it read three-thirty-two. I still had about an hours worth of time before I had to go back to the house from hell.

I rarely ever went to the library so I almost forgot where it was, but it wasn't long before I found it next to the English department. Our library wasn't that big compared to other secondary schools, but it was big enough, with it being the size of a classroom give or take.

As I came in I was greeted by the reception desk which had the librarian clicking away at the computer and the Aula the dog gently napping over in the corner. Yes, Aula the dog. The school library was probably the very few libraries that had its very own mascot. The librarian, Miss Baker, had some sort of problem with her eyes which made it that she couldn't see very well, and though she never went into much detail about it, it was serious enough for her to have her own guide dog. People didn't really seem to mind the furry addition to the library staff, I'm pretty sure people started to go to the library more because of it, seeing as Miss Baker didn't mind if people stroked her dog.

"Excuse me miss." I asked walking up to the desk and Aula's head immediately bobbed up at the sound of a voice. There weren't many people in there from the looks of it, there was at most probably six or seven and even then it was still eerily quiet.

Miss Baker turned her head away from what she was staring at on the computer and gave me a welcoming smile. "Hello there, can I help you?" She asked.

"Yeah, could I use a computer, please?" I answered back.

"Sure, OK, Josh Carter booked for computer number three. Here you go." She smiled as she handed me a yellow card with my computer number, my name, my year, my form and the time I asked for one. Yeah, my school can be very nit-picky if you don't use the computers properly so they take precautions.

"But, how did you-" I started but didn't finish.

"How do I know your name? Dear, my eyes may not be what they used to, but my hearing is a good as ever, and I hear some pretty interesting things around this old place trust me. You'd be surprised at a number of students I know like you." She chuckled as she stamped a book.

I looked at her for a second, just a bit weirded out but then again, I was convinced Victoria had leaped out of my dream to forever haunt me, so I was the last person to talk about being weird. Without even saying goodbye I turned my head around and began to walk over to the computers. I wasn't really planning on doing anything when I came, but I now had an opportunity to get some answers, and I wasn't about to just let it slide. But I hadn't even gotten more than two metres away before I felt a nudge against my leg.

I swirled round suddenly to be greeted by Aula's furry face. With her tongue hanging out of her mouth, she stayed in a lying position, her little eyes looking up at me expectantly.

"Aula! Bad dog!" Miss Baker whisper-shouted, coming out from behind the counter while scowling. "What's gotten into you? You know you're not supposed to be out from behind the counter after closing hours." She turned to face the wall next to me with an apologetic expression, and I quickly sidestepped in the direction she was facing, I wasn't too comfortable pointing out the fact the white wall with a picture of a book on it wasn't me.

"No, it's fine. She's just surprised me that's all." I laughed. "She's a nice dog. Aren't you, girl?" I came down to her level and stroked her behind the ears, which was what she seem to have wanted.

"Well nice or not, she's taken a liking to you, I've never had her react that way to students, and after I told her off as well." Miss Baker sighed. It was then that Aula got up a plodded back over behind the desk to where she belonged.

"Oh so now you want to listen? I can't believe you, naughty pup." Miss frowned but came down and stroked her nonetheless. "I'm sorry about that; you're free to use the computer now." She smiled.

"Thank you," I whispered back as I walked over to the end of the room where the computers were.

Casually I pulled up one of those swirly chairs you usually find next to computers and sat down. I felt a bit awkward and out of place in the library, I wasn't used to it, and it was never like me to go there. I already had the title of the loner, that was enough, I didn't need world's best nerd as well. Trying to ignore how much I stood out in the not-so-big-a-crowd, I turned on the machine typing in my school login and password.

As soon as the home screen came up, I didn't waste any time opening up Google. I had first planned to come in there to chill and maybe even read or use the internet to search up relatable posts, but I had come up with a better idea. I looked from side to side in case someone happened to be watching, which just made me look like an idiot since there wasn't even anyone to watch me in the first place, the place was practically empty. Quickly I typed in dreams becoming a reality into Google and tapped my finger on the desk waiting for the results to load.

The first thing that came up read "Can your dreams become a reality?" It seemed decent enough, so I clicked on it. My eyes followed the article as it talked about how our minds control us and how we feel and such, which I already knew. I skipped quite a few bits and was soon just skimming through the rest before I soon realised that the article was talking about how to make a dream become a reality not if it was possible. And so I groaned silently in my head because I had just wasted five minutes of my hour.

I moved on to the next few ones and they all said basically the same things, contact your local doctor... You might want to see a fortune teller... Go see a psychiatrist. Which didn't help me at all, I wasn't crazy, I knew what I saw and I was perfectly sane (I think). Victoria, my dreams, this whole new beginning crap, I couldn't tell what was real or fake anymore and I wanted some sort of answer, some reassurance that I didn't need to go to a mental hospital. I spent the rest of my time searching up on dreams. Though, somewhere through all that, I managed to wander into searching about, ghosts, souls, legends, urban myths, and some other random stuff.

I went through countless articles, dozens of support groups, a few clubs and even some chat rooms but none of them gave me an answer or even some sort of clue.

Eventually, by the time I had finished, logged off and waved goodbye to Miss Baker and her dog I had found out a crap tonne of stuff about things that didn't help me that much. Just a bunch of stories, a few legends, occult stuff. Apart from the odd article or two which gave me some decent information (which turned out to be useless in the end) I came out back where I started. Lost.

I finally gave up on trying to make sense of anything anymore; it was obvious my life just didn't want to make sense which I admit was slightly annoying, but that's life. I had stalled for time enough and staring at the computer screen so long gave me a headache. So I left and started walking to the end of the dimly lit corridor. I turned the corner wincing a little at the sudden change in brightness, and I yawned quietly, it was unlike me to stay at school so late, and I was never used to staying up late anyway, I usually just went to bed when I got home if I didn't get homework.

All I could hear as I walked down the path was the tapping of my shoes against the tiled floor and my slow breathing, I still hadn't gotten used to the silent school, I was so used to hearing the chatter of the kids and teachers and the school bell, it was eerie.

The soundless corridor, though, was in a way nostalgic, it reminded me of the early days of being home alone after my parents went their separate ways. Having nothing to do, waiting in feared anticipation if mum would get home alright. I sat still so long I noticed even the tiniest of sounds, a rat scurrying under the creaky floorboards, the taunting tick, tock, tick, tock of the old clock. It was as if it was provoking me, forever letting me know that time had passed, and she still wasn't back. The days I would sit in the kitchen crying late at night until I fell asleep on the counter, the times I would welcome home a person I had never seen before into the house. The times I would watch her get wasted on alcohol and then rush to the toilet to be violently sick. The silence was wrapping around me and engulfing me, suffocating me, choking me. Torture.

***

I soon got out of the school, inhaling the fresh evening air as I left and it felt good. I had had enough excitement for one day, and I just proved that searching the internet for an answer wasn't going to do much for me. Was there any point in what I was doing? Why was I so suspicious, after all, it could have just been a coincidence. In the end, my mind finally gave up; it was obvious there was no use trying to make sense of it so as they say, if you can't beat them, join them.

So that's what I decided from then on, but I always knew that there would be that one part of me that wouldn't just sit down and call all this a coincidence. Because coincidence or not, I had this strange feeling in my gut that I couldn't shake. And maybe it was just me and my crazy imagination, but it felt like.

The new girl wasn't all she appeared to be.

Keep reading for the next chapter...

Chapter 6.1 Decisions, Decisions.