Chasing Shadows | ✓

Part Two: Chapter Six

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the best gift in life is a second chance

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"ARE YOU EXCITED FOR TONIGHT?"

I stumbled forward a little when Noah slung his hand around my shoulders. I glanced up at him with a perplexed expression and asked, "For what?"

"For dinner?" he reminded, "Your parents invited us over remember? Don't tell me you forgot already."

"Oh yeah," I blushed, laughing, "Sorry, I've had a lot on my mind the past few days."

I tried to ignore the random glances we were getting - walking side by side, shoulder to shoulder. Despite being used to being so close to him, the suggestive stares still made the hairs on my arms stand upright.

"Hm? Like what?" he asked, "Anything I can help with?"

"Not really," I mumbled, shrugging his arm off as we stumbled into the cafeteria, "I haven't even been able to make sense of it yet, so I don't think you will be able to."

Noah's lips formed a tight line at my sudden action, but I pretended not to notice the shift.

"You know I'm here for whatever you need though," he assured, "Feel free to shoot me with anything."

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, and gnawed on my bottom lip as I thought. It wasn't that I didn't trust Noah - it was that I didn't trust what I was even thinking. Even just trying to make sense of everything made my head ache, and I often found myself giving up.

"Have you ever felt. . . like disconnect from the world?" I started, but pursed my lips and shook my head. The sigh that escaped my dry lips was slow, as if my brain needed time to process my thoughts.

"No, not disconnected," I backtracked, "Okay, let me ask you something - do you believe in past lives?"

Noah's back seemed to stiffen at the question and he peered down at me with guarded eyes, "Why do you ask that?"

"I don't know," I groaned, "I just. . . I keep having these dreams, you know? And it freaks me out a little when I wake up because it feels so real, but they can't be, right?"

For the past few weeks, my nights had been plagued by both dreams and nightmares. Some nights, I would awake, drenched in sweat, chest heaving for air, while other nights I would wake up with a bittersweet smile on my lips. However, much like the first day I had met Travis, my skin always stung and tingled in the morning. Even though I had spent hours googling what could have been happening, even Google seemed to have given up on me, and I was left with nothing but more unanswered questions.

"I said I would be there for you if you needed me, remember?"

"They're just dreams Natalie," Noah laughed, breaking me from my thoughts, "Why are you reading so much into them? You know they don't mean anything, right?"

"Right?" I muttered, biting my lip, "I'm being silly."

I held him in silence, rocking him slowly as his tears soaked my chest.

"What are you dreaming about anyway?" he asked, his eyes trained on mine with more seriousness than I had ever seen on him before. An unnatural frown formed on my face at his reaction, but I didn't comment on it.

Yet, the question made me blush, and I shrugged, "Just. . . things."

His jaw locked, seeing right through my lie, "Well, whatever it is, I think you're just focusing too much on them. As soon as you take your mind off of these, you'll forget all about them."