Into the Aether_Part One(8)

A few years later, however, the Glenridge Mall opened, housing numerous large fashion retailers with rock-bottom prices. Over the past year, Linda was forced to lay off her two employees, and Lara, now seventeen, would go to school during the day and mind the shop at night.

Tension grew between Lara and her mother, with screaming fights occurring almost nightly. They always seemed to start over the smallest of issues, like what to make for dinner. Lara, like her mother, had a nasty temper and once she got going, it was difficult for her to stop.

Lara’s temper had cost her many friends in high school, and on top of that, she was often made fun of for the family business. Although she was a beautiful girl, with chestnut-colored hair, deep brown almond-shaped eyes, and a round face, the other kids saw her as an easy target, and like lions stalking a wounded animal, they went in for the kill, spitting insults without remorse.

Lara did have one friend—Greg—but she had only known him since September. Greg was more comfortable around women than men, and was on the flamboyant side. The others picked on him too, because they thought he was gay. Lara didn’t think he was, but she didn’t mind either way. Greg was Greg, and he was a good friend.

Beyond her troubles at school, Lara had another little issue she thought of as her sleeping problem: She seemed to be able to slip in and out of other people’s dreams. Usually, this happened without her even knowing. When she was much younger, Lara had tried to talk to her mother about it, but the conversation didn’t end well. Linda simply refused to discuss it. Ever since then, Lara would catch the occasional sideways glance from her mother—a glance tinted with fear.

Today, Lara wore a Led Zeppelin graphic t-shirt with a black knit sweater over top, and faded blue jeans. She was experimenting with what her mother critically referred to as her ‘messy rock star’ look.

Lara thought Computer Theory was one of the dullest subjects in school, and today was no exception. It was better when Mr. Alcott was teaching, but a friend of his had passed away and he had to leave for a memorial service. Their substitute teacher, Mr. Smythe, wasn’t even remotely interesting, except that he turned deep red when he was mad. Lara thought his overly round face resembled a tomato when this happened.

Still staring out the window, she let out an exasperated sigh.

“Is something the matter?” asked Mr. Alcott.

“No, nothing,” Lara responded. “Wait,” she said, sitting upright in her chair, “when did you get back?”

“I never left,” he said simply. He turned around and started writing on the whiteboard. Lara looked around the room. All the students were busy typing on their computers, uninterested in the exchange. Lara started to rub the middle of her left palm with her thumb. She looked at what Mr. Alcott was writing, glanced at her hand, and then back at the board. The words on it had changed completely.

She tried to think back. Her last memory was of being in this room, with the substitute teacher lecturing. It was boring, but she wasn’t sleepy. This is someone else’s dream, she thought.

Lara started walking toward the door, but found no handle. Okay, so I guess I’m staying in here. As she stood at the front of the room, all the students were typing furiously, save one. Greg was sitting on the far side of the room, staring out the window. She walked toward him, following his gaze, and saw a brilliant red sky. A large black dog walked past them, looked at Lara, and started wagging its tail.

“Hi,” she said, pulling her eyes away from the animal. Greg continued looking out the window. “Yeah, so, Greg, this is kind of awkward, but you’re asleep. I need you to wake up now.” He continued to stare. Lara placed her hand on his shoulder. Greg jumped, as if noticing her for the first time.

Lara felt weightless for a moment, and then had the sensation of being pulled, like she was on a roller coaster. The room faded into the high school cafeteria. People were coming and going, eating, and being generally boisterous. She looked around, searching for Greg.

“Marco!” she called out.

The cafeteria was made mostly of cement blocks painted a grey-white color, with a border of navy blue across the top. Go Wildcats! she thought sarcastically. She walked past a large red door that led into the rear hallway.

In recent years, the school board had been closing schools based on enrolment numbers. Her school, Leaside, had been on the chopping block. At one time, it had held over 500 students, but now it had only one hundred thirty-one. I’m the extra one, she would think to herself. Another school in the area, Jericho High, was touted as an alternative public high school—in other words, religious. Jericho was publicly funded, but its spiritual life department received major contributions from private donors.

The biggest issue with the old Jericho school was that it had originally been an elementary school. This meant the majority of common areas for teens were actually designed for young children. When Lara had toured the school with her mother, students were allowed to choose which high school they would attend. Eventually, though, as enrolment at Leaside dwindled, the powers that be decided to house both schools in one building. Jericho would take the upstairs, while Leaside would take the downstairs. Students from Leaside were not allowed upstairs, while students from Jericho were not allowed downstairs, with the exception of the cafeteria, gym, and library, which were all on the ground floor. This created a double standard the Leasiders disliked, and resulted in some smugness from the Jericho students.