Wide Awake - Academy of the Fallen Series

by Daniele Lanzarotta

“Now my turn,” he said. “We both know that whatever Benjamin wants likely has something to do with your biological dad, and I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of him being around. So, what did you find out?”

  I hesitated.

  He noticed it right away. “Look, whatever it is, you can tell me. Yes, it is clear that you HAD trust issues with me, but think of what I just told you about me as leverage.”

  I laughed. “Right, who in their right mind would believe your story?”

  He smiled, but it was an innocent smile, as if he had just realized how crazy it all sounded. Although if he ever told anyone about me, I could easily say it was all lies…

  “Okay. I guess a deal is a deal… All I found out was that he had mental issues for interacting with people who were not there.”

  “Do you know what name he used?”

  I thought the question was strange, but didn’t comment. “Nope. That is all I know.”

  “We are gonna have to find out more. Maybe Benjamin was one of those who he was in contact with…”

  “No!” I stopped him. “I don’t want to know more about him and I’m certainly not going to hurt Kelly and Andrew by asking any more questions.”

  He looked at me as if he understood. Honestly, the only reason I didn’t want to find out more was because I was afraid he was in a mental hospital, afraid of seeing him like that.

  “Would you be okay with me looking into it?”

  “I – I’m not sure…”

  “It may be the only way of knowing what Benjamin wants. I may be able to find out what Benjamin’s connection is to him.”

  I knew that wouldn’t work, that I wouldn’t be able to keep my curiosity to myself, but I agreed.

  “What about Carolyn?” I asked. “When and how am I getting her back?”

  “We will go get a few things tomorrow after school to help you contacting her. Besides, there is nothing you can do until you rest anyway.”

  “I can’t exactly rest with Benjamin around, you know…”

  “Don’t worry about him. I will be here.”

  EIGHTEEN

  I woke up to find Hunter still sitting in my room, just listening to his iPod and reading a book.

  “You stayed up all night?” I asked.

  He didn’t hear me, which was not surprising considering how loud his music was.

  I had actually slept well, and was in an extremely good mood. I grabbed a stuffed animal and threw it at him.

  He looked at me, startled. Then he smiled as he turned off his iPod.

  “Aren’t you a little old for stuffed animals?” he asked.

  I shrugged.

  “Did you not sleep at all?” I asked again.

  I didn’t know whether he was lying or not, but he assured me that he got plenty of sleep and that he always woke up early.

  “Sooo, I guess you better get going so you can get ready for school.”

  He stood up… way too fast.

  “You are right,” he said. “So how are we doing this?”

  “Doing what?” I asked confused and still not fully awake.

  “School... Are we acting like we don’t know each other or what?”

  I instantly felt bad for acting like such a jerk when he was clearly trying to help me all along.

  I smiled and without giving him a direct answer, I said, “Do you need a ride to school?”

  He smiled back in a way that gave me butterflies and literally made me wonder how in the world he didn’t have tons of girls from school after him.

  “You know, people will talk, right?”

  I laughed. “People always talk. Your point is?”

  “Can’t argue with that,” he said in a sarcastic tone. “Can you come by my house in let’s say, 30 minutes?” he asked.

  “I will need a little longer than that… Let’s make it 45.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Girls!”

  “Uh-huh. You better go before you make us late.”

  He was just about to open the door, which made me wonder why he didn’t just vanish or did whatever it was that he could do, when I stopped him.

  “Umm… Do you mind doing something for me before you leave?”

  He looked at me puzzled, waiting to hear what I wanted.

  “Can you open my closet and make sure no one is there?”

  I don’t think I ever heard someone laugh so hard.

  “Alright, just go. Andrew and Kelly are going to hear you if you don’t stop laughing.”

  Still laughing but able to keep it down, he walked over to the closet, opened the door, looked inside and met my gaze. “Nope, neither one of them is here today.”

  “Haha funny! Just go. I will see you soon.”

  I could have probably taken forever to get ready, especially being rested and in a good mood. I would have taken the extra time to get my hair done, makeup… but I didn’t want Hunter to be late on my account, so I put on the school’s uniform, put on some eye liner and lip gloss, and left.

  When I got to Hunter’s, he heard my car and came outside, holding two juice boxes and two packs of pop-tarts.

  He got in the car. “Got you breakfast.”

  “Thanks, but I need some caffeine with my breakfast.”

  “You really need to cut down on that caffeine. You know very well that you need to rest to be able to get to Carolyn.”

  I rolled my eyes at him, “And you think all this sugary stuff you are trying to give me will help?!” I took the pop-tart and juice, and drove us to school.

  Driving to school, I felt worry-free, and then I drove into the parking lot and wondered why the parking lot just had to be the hang out place until the first bell rang.

  I parked my car, we both got out, and my mood instantly changed when I saw Justin and Ashley, Justin standing beside her, with his arm around her waist and Emily and Jess hanging out with them again. Last I had heard Justin had moved on to someone else… rumors I guessed.

  Emily and Jessica did look as if they were about to come in my direction, but then they glanced at Hunter, gave me a what-the-hell look and went the other way.

  “Should I just go the other way?” he asked.

  I didn’t know if it was the way that he asked me, or me seeing Justin’s reaction when he saw Hunter and me together, but I told him no; that I did not want him to go anywhere.

  Hunter got closer to me. “You know, I don’t mind at all if you use me to make him jealous. I kinda like it really. It just seems to piss him off, like he is not over you…and why would he be?”

  I looked at him and again I noticed him in a different way, as this nice guy, caring, smart, good-looking…

  “I mean it!” he said. “I’d love to give that jerk what he deserves.”

  After that, I stopped thinking things through and just let things happen. With a smile and a slight nod, he understood that I was up for it.

  His hand reached for mine, our fingers entwined, as we made our way into the school.

  Of course, people were staring and talking, but I just didn’t care at all.

  ***

  We only had a few classes together, but for the most part those teachers were pretty strict on chatting during class.

  Emily did manage to get a note to me, asking if Hunter and I were really together. Not knowing what to say, I held on to that note until I could figure out what to tell her.

  Hunter and I walked out of class together and went to the cafeteria.

  “Do you still want to keep this up?” he asked.

  I shrugged.

  Just as I sat down to eat lunch, I got a text from Justin.

  ‘Kay, we need to talk. Meet me by the gym.’

  “Guess it is working,” I told Hunter as I showed him the text.

  I searched around for Ashley and found her sitting with Emily and Jessica. They all occasionally glanced at Hunter and me.

  I was now just playing around with my food.

  “What is wrong?” Hunter asked.

  I he
sitated, but then thought to myself…whatever. “What did you mean when you said he is not over me…and “why-would-he-be?” Gesturing quotation marks as I spoke that last part.

  “I meant exactly that. Between you and Ashley, come on now.” And he just left it at that, leaving me more confused than I was before. Although later on I took it as him just being nice, and really just going along to get on Justin’s nerves.

  Hunter finally changed the topic of the conversation, which I was glad to avoid… I hated awkward silence, but on the other hand, the topic didn’t get any better.

  “So, about me finding information about your… well, your biological father. I know this is going to sound weird, but I need at least your real mom’s name as a lead.”

  “Well, I’m not going to ask Kelly and Andrew, and as I told you before, I don’t want to be a part of it. I’m sure we can get rid of Benjamin without even trying to find out what he wants.” As I said that, even I didn’t believe in those words.

  “Better safe than sorry, Kayla. Besides, maybe… Benjamin is somehow related to your family…that could be enough information as a lead to what he really wants.”

  I sighed. “I have the name of the adoption agency. I will give you that and I don’t want to hear anymore about it,” I said in an annoyed tone.

  “What, do you expect me to just be able break in and find your records?”

  “It doesn’t seem like breaking into places is a problem for you.”

  He sighed. He then got closer to me, as close as the lunch table between us allowed him to get, and in a low tone, he said, “It is not as easy as it seems…’that’ takes a lot of energy from me. Probably as much, if not more energy than it takes for you to get rid of Benjamin.”

  “How do you know about that?”

  He shrugged. “I know you pissed him off because of it, and as far as how much energy it took from you, well… he is what he is, that makes him stronger than the ones like Carolyn.”

  That was when the bell rang. We each went our separate ways for the rest of our classes, arranging to meet out by my car when school was out.

  I was lucky enough not to see Justin for the rest of that day, although I did see Emily and Ashley. Emily asked me again if I was with Hunter, and I told her that we were just hanging out. She also asked if I was going to start being anti-social like him. Ugh, I just asked her how long exactly she had known me for, and that was the end of the questioning.

  As for Ashley, I was glad I didn’t have to look at her much more during that day. She felt really sick after lunch and left.

  After school, I met Hunter by my car and we left right away, eager to get home and try to get Carolyn out of this so-called Otherworld where she was trapped.

  NINETEEN

  Kelly was home when we got there. She was getting ready for her doctor’s appointment. Kelly was now in the second trimester and as usual, she was looking forward to ultrasounds, listening to the baby’s heartbeat and pretty much anything else the doctor had to offer.

  She couldn’t even hide the excitement in seeing me with Hunter.

  “Oh! Hey, Hunter!” she said in a very cheerful mood.

  He did a quick wave. “Hi, Mrs. Gallagher.”

  “Oh, please call me Kelly… I told you that last time, and the time before that.” She laughed. “I actually really have to get going for my appointment, but there are snacks and drinks in the kitchen and you guys can reach me on my cell if you need anything.”

  And just like that, she was gone.

  I stood there, shaking my head.

  “What is the matter?” Hunter asked.

  “Oh, nothing. She just… she really trusts you. Whenever Justin was over we were never alone.”

  Hunter smiled. “Guess she is a good judge of character.”

  “Right!” I said as I rolled my eyes at him. “Okay, let’s get this done.”

  I started to walk toward the stairs when Hunter stopped me.

  “Umm, this house has a basement, right?”

  I nodded.

  “Good. That is where we are going.”

  “But, why?”

  “Just easier for them to get through to closed in, dark spaces…that is what they are used to. You should have noticed that by now with your little closet situation.” He laughed trying to make a joke out of it, which totally didn’t work.

  “Ugh. Let’s go… I guess!”

  I led him to where the basement was, grabbed a flashlight and opened the door.

  I was just about to go down the stairs when Hunter took a quick step forward, stepping right in front of me. He looked back just long enough to hold his hand out for the flashlight.

  I just gave it to him, no questions asked. I told him where the light switch was as I followed him down to the basement.

  I took a deep breath. “Okay, the first time I saw her in this house she was inside that closet,” I said as I pointed to the small closet in the back of the basement. “Does that make a difference?”

  He shrugged. “It could.”

  We walked closer to the closet, opened the door, and he said I should sit inside it.

  “Ha. You are funny! There is no freaking way that is going to happen. I will sit right here, right outside the closet where I know no doors will be closed on me.”

  He looked hurt. “I will be here with you. Just trust me.”

  “Sorry, but don’t push it. I will never be able to concentrate if I’m sitting in there.”

  “Fine, outside the closet it is. Just do what you usually do. I will be here with you, so focus on Carolyn and I will make sure you are protected if Benjamin shows up.”

  I nodded, and slowly sat on the floor, which was filthy. Andrew really needed to get someone to clean this basement.

  So, I sat on the floor and before I closed my eyes and started to reach out for Carolyn, I looked up at Hunter and said, “If you don’t mind… aside from Benjamin, please make sure any other disgusting things stay away from me too.”

  He looked at me, puzzled.

  “You know…spiders, bugs, whatever.”

  I could tell he was trying hard not to laugh, but he just ensured me he would do his part.

  I sat there for hours, until we heard the sound of a car parking in the driveway. Usually by now I would have gotten a sign that Carolyn was there… somewhere, but this time I got absolutely nothing. And I knew I had done my part…I was physically and mentally exhausted.

  We rushed upstairs to the kitchen before whoever it was got inside the house and wondered what we were both doing in the basement.

  Hunter looked really concerned. “This is not good,” he said. “You will have to keep trying and try harder.”

  Sounding a whole lot more optimistic than Hunter, I asked, “What if this is good? What if she was able to get past this place?”

  “Not likely.” He sounded so sure, so determined, I didn’t even see the need to ask him why.”

  Kelly walked in and that was when I realized we had been in the basement longer than I thought. Not only had Kelly gone to the doctor, but she also had time to go and get her hair done.

  “Hey guys. Hunter, you are staying for dinner, right?”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Gallagher, but I can’t.” She looked a little disappointed. “I really wish I could but I really need to get going.”

  “Alright, maybe next time…”

  “Absolutely.”

  I walked Hunter outside, just then realizing that I was his ride. “Oh, just wait here for a second. I will let Kelly know that I’m taking you home.”

  He stopped me. “No, I’m not going home… I’m going to the … umm to the adoption agency.”

  “Oh.” I frowned.

  “Do you want me to come back? You know…tonight?”

  As much as I wanted to say no, wanted to stop this vicious need for his help, I couldn’t. “If you don’t have anything else going on, I guess.”

  “I will be here.” He waved goodbye and walked away.

  Ke
lly was still in the kitchen when I went back in.

  “I really like Hunter. I think he is a good influence on you.”

  “Uh-huh. Still, we are not dating… just friends, mom, so let it go.”