I stare at the whiteboard, watching my Italian teacher conjugate verbs from present to past tense. My friends scribble away in their notebooks silently. A ray of sunshine streaks across my desk, I follow the ray to the window and stare out at the campus. My eyes widen as I stare at a huge towering cloud of smoke expanding from the library. A loud ringing replays in my head as debris shoots out of the black tower of dust. I feel my friend Sara pull on my arm, once-twice- the third tug almost pulls me to the floor. Her green eyes look up at me, fear paints across the emerald canvas. Her mouth moves, but I can’t hear what she’s saying. Her words fall flat like what used to be the library walls, chairs, and students.
Students.
That word lingers in my mind as I feel my friends pull me out of my chair and under the desk. My eyes dart around the classroom, emotions race down faces and creates an eerie numbness that starts to overwhelm me like tear gas. I stop analyzing the room when I lock eyes with a stranger in class with familiar blue eyes. He had Jason’s eyes.
Jason. Where was he? Panic starts to drip into my veins, and burns its way to my heart like morphine.
My mind races as I try to remember his class schedule. What building would he be in? It was only 10:00am, his first class didn’t start for two more hours. Shards of glass break my train of thought. I cover my face with my arms, and crash into my friend Sara. I look down at my arms, streaked with blood. Chaos unleashes like dark spirits, darting out of fire. I can’t hear the screams around me, but see them escaping the mouths of my classmates. The only thing I can hear is myself repeating his name. Jason.
I crawl out from under my temporary shelter, and stumble toward the newly shattered window. There is no pain, there is no sound, just sheer terror. I run to the remains of the library, and allow my new reality to slowly sink in, like snow cone syrup dying the cold numbness around my body. Please still be home. Be asleep. I run past what is left of the business building, and push my legs faster. My vision starts to blur as I enter the smoky remains of the library, that’s when I realize I’m crying.
“Courtney!”
It’s the first thing I hear, I whirl around to the sound of my name being called. Familiar safe blue eyes meet mine. I want to run to him, to disappear with him, but I’m frozen. The smoke starts to choke me, surrounding me like strong hands around my throat.
I sit up in my bed, shaking. Sweat trickles down my neck. My dark room embraces me, telling me everything is okay. It was just a nightmare. A warm hand rubs my back, I turn and meet Tyson’s brown eyes. Sadness lingers around me as I lie back down in Tyson’s arms, where Jason’s always used to be. I close my eyes willingly, knowing his blue eyes will still haunt me.