off.
My eyes snapped open and I was staring at the ceiling of my dorm room.
“Turn that off,” Miranda grumbled , throwing a pillow at the alarm clock beside my bed. We had freshman orientation in an hour. I reached over and pressed snooze. Bits of a dream flitted through my memory. I wanted to remember it. Something about it had excited me. But I couldn’t. Sitting on the edge of my bed I thought hard about the moment before my alarm clock had gone off. There was something I wanted to remember but I couldn’t recall it. I was drawing a blank.
Frustrated , I threw the covers off and stood up. Miranda had huddled down deeper in her covers. I had no idea what time she’d finally gotten home last night. She was almost impossible to wake up when she’d had sufficient sleep. This morning was going to be difficult. I decided I’d get a shower first then I’d try to get her to wake up. Orientation was required. She’d have to get up and get there even if she only had enough time to brush her teeth and put on wrinkled clothes.
Gee was standing in front of the mirror. She wasn’t looking in it. Her back was turned to it and she was leaning against the counter with her arms crossed in front of her like she’d was waiting on someone. Her hair was already styled --- well as much as she styled it , and she was dressed . She’d been out later than me. How did she look so awake?
“Sleeping in Peggy Ann?” She asked not moving from her spot in front of the sink. I really needed to get a shower , but I wasn’t one to strip down in front of other people.
“Yeah, I can’t believe you’re so awake. But since you are up and dressed , could you get out so I could do the same?”
Gee pushed off from her stance against the counter. “Snippy, snippy. I guess you don’t want to hear about the private invite you got to attend Cold Soul’s concert Friday night either .”
I watched as Gee started walking toward the door to leave me alone like I’d asked. I shouldn’t ask her about the concert. I didn’t date musicians. It was a bad idea.
“Wait. What do you mean? Did Dank invite me?” I was weak. The guy was hard to resist.
Gee halted in her steps a nd grinned. “Yeah. He did. You even get to bring your friend along if you want to. Backstage passes and all.”
Backstage. That meant he wanted to see me. Didn’t it? I didn’t need to entertain these thoughts but he made it so hard to remember that he was a bad boy. He didn’t act like one. He seemed almost lonely or lost. Not like the wild playboy I’d decided he was from day one.
“Okay. I want to go. I’m sure Miranda will want to go too.” I wanted to ask her why he hadn’t called me himself or if I could have his number but he hadn’t supplied that and maybe I shouldn’t ask.
“I’ll let him know. But then again , you may see him first,” Gee replied then opened the door and closed it behind her before I could ask her what she meant.
Dank
I had been waiting for her since I’d left her bedroom this morning. Last night had been the first time I’d gone into Pagan’s dreams. It felt like an invasion of privacy that I’d never wanted to cross. But while I sat there watching her sleep and making sure she was safe she’d started to have a bad dream. It had taken me a few moments to decide whether or not I should go into her dream and ease her fear s or physically h o ld her like I used to when she was having a nightmare. I decided that the safer way was in her dreams.
The moment her alarm had gone off I left. She’d be arriving at this building soon. I stepped around the tree I’d been leaning against and made myself visible. College girls liked lead singers. I had to dodge overly - aggressive females when I was on campus.
“Dank Walker? No way. I’d heard you’d been seen on campus but I didn’t believe it. But here you are,” a female had already noticed me. She began scrambling through her book bag. “I have a sharpie in here
Richard Ellis Preston Jr.