Before the Dawn Read online

I had the strangest dream last night. I found myself drowning. The water was dark and cold, and as I got dragged down deeper and deeper to the bottom, it felt like I was losing everything I was. Images and feelings like memories spun away from me and I could see their ghosts in the water. I tried to hang on to them, to reach out and grab them with my hands, but I was too weak, and I kept falling and falling down into the dark. I was scared and I was so cold. The last thing I remember my dream self thinking before I finally woke up was, "Forgive me."

  "Hey, Ali! What’re you doing?"

  Aline quickly saved what she had been typing then closed her laptop. "Oh, nothing. Just putting some thoughts down in my journal," she replied and smiled at Cassie. The other girl was the tallest one in her little group of friends who had all met up in kindergarten. They had been close to one another ever since, like sisters, though they certainly didn't have similar appearances. Cassie, for instance, had legs that the rest of them would have happily killed for, as well as shiny blond hair and a perpetual tan. They teasingly called her Malibu Barbie whenever she annoyed them and she knew her friends well enough to recognize that they actually meant the nickname as a compliment. She towered over Aline now with a grin, looking excited.

  "So, tomorrow’s the Halloween dance," Cassie said, "and your big day! Happy sweet sixteenth in advance!" She proudly held out an over-sized cupcake with pink frosting that was so bright it glowed like neon.

  "Uh, thanks." Aline took the cupcake and eyed it a bit warily. "Do you expect me to eat this? I mean, it’s not radioactive or anything, right?"

  "Oh, haha." Cassie rolled her eyes and sat down beside Aline. It was lunchtime and they were at their usual table in the cafeteria. Their other friends hadn’t shown up yet so the two girls killed some time by talking about the subject that had pretty much obsessed everyone in their school for the past few weeks: the Halloween dance and the after-party their gang was planning to celebrate Aline’s birthday. "So, Sam just confirmed that we got the limo we wanted," Cassie said. "It’ll pick her up and Gracelyn first, then they’re gonna swing by my house and, finally, we’re gonna come get you and Meran. We go to the dance, hang around for a few hours, and leave by eleven. Then it’s off to the Ballroom for your party and we wrap things up just before dawn. Does that sound great or what?"

  "I bow down to your organizational powers, Party Goddess," Aline replied with a smirk. And, because she was feeling quite sentimental and grateful for her friends’ thoughtfulness, she added, "Thanks for going to all this trouble, by the way. You guys didn’t have to make such a fuss for my birthday."

  "Are you kidding?" Cassie exclaimed. "After I put you guys through all that torture for my birthday last summer, the least I can do is to help you celebrate each of your birthdays with the same style."

  "What were you saying about style?" Meran slid into the seat beside Cassie. She was a slim, elegant-looking girl with a flawless cream complexion and dark brown hair.

  "Oh, we were just talking about Ali’s birthday party in the Ballroom," Cassie told her. "It’s going to be awesome!"

  "Hey, guys." Gracelyn and Sam were the last ones to show up. They were cousins, but they could have been sisters instead with the resemblance they shared. Both of them had lovely straight black hair and golden skin. They sat down in their usual places and Sam told the other girls about the limo service she had arranged for the night of the dance and what she was planning to wear. Soon, they were all talking about what they were going to wear and rehashing topics that they had already discussed to death a week before.

  "… asked him?"

  Aline, who had stopped paying attention to the conversation a few minutes ago, suddenly realized that they were all looking at her expectantly. "I’m sorry," she said, feeling all flustered. "What’d you guys say?"

  Meran sighed. "We wanted to know if you had already invited the new guy to your party. So, have you asked him?" she repeated.

  And, just like that, Aline blushed. The new guy Meran was referring to was Trevor, a transfer student. Ever since he had showed up in homeroom at the beginning of term, Aline had developed a major case of crush on him. He was really tall, a bit gangly, and incredibly cute. Though Aline had had boyfriends before, she could honestly say that she had never been attracted to them in the same way she was attracted to Trevor. She sort of hated the feeling, how vulnerable it made her feel, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself from behaving like a total girl around him. She would just find herself talking and laughing too loud so she could get his attention. She even sometimes flipped her hair. It was kind of humiliating how desperate she was to catch his eye, especially since he didn’t seem to have a single clue that she existed. Of course, her friends were all for helping her solve that particular problem by insisting that she invite him to her birthday party. She had promised them that she would do it, but so far she’d been too chicken to actually keep her word.

  "I’ll get around to it," she mumbled and tried to change the subject. But her friends wouldn’t let her.

  "Oh, come on, Ali!" Cassie whined. "You’ve had the hugest crush on him for like forever. It’s time you do something about it."

  "Yeah," Meran seconded. "We’re getting tired of you talking about how cute he is and how cute you’d be together, but you’re not actually doing anything to make it happen."

  "They’re right. It’s now or never," Sam said.

  "If you don’t invite him to your party, some other girl is going to snap him up. And you’re going to have to deal with how much of a wuss you were when you see him going out with someone else," Gracelyn delivered the final blow.

  "Whoa! Stop. Stop!" Aline held up her hands in surrender. "Fine. Okay. I’ll ask him already."

  "When?" Meran wanted to know.

  "Today," she promised. "The very second I see him."

  "Okay." Cassie nodded, suddenly grinning. "Look behind you then."

  Aline glanced over her shoulder then almost immediately whipped her head back to glare at her friends. "You–You–!" she sputtered in indignation.

  They only smirked at her. "Well, you’ve seen him," Gracelyn said brightly. "Now go and ask him."

  "Shoo." Sam waved her away.

  She gave them the darkest look she could manage and grumbled something very uncomplimentary about their mothers under her breath. "You’re all gonna regret bullying me like this someday," she swore out loud. Then she got up, squared her shoulders, and turned to look at Trevor again.

  He was sitting right behind their table, looking intense as he sketched something in his notebook. His long bangs fell over his eyes and Aline briefly wondered how he could still manage to see what he was doing. She also wondered what it would feel like to brush back his hair so she could see his face clearly. Then she wondered what exactly it was about him that made her feel so gooey on the inside since the very first time she saw him.

  Suddenly, he looked up and their eyes met. And, okay. She got exactly what it was about him that turned her into mush. The boy was fine.

  "Hi," she managed to squeak out when he just gazed at her silently for several uncomfortable seconds. She then took a deep breath and made herself walk towards his table and sit across from him. "Hi," she repeated quite stupidly. "I’m Al–"

  "Aline," he interrupted. "We’re in some classes together." His voice was very deep and mature-sounding, something which always unsettled her since he looked so young. It wasn’t the first time she had heard him speak, but it was the first time he had ever spoken to her. While he was talking, she couldn’t help but notice his mouth and the fact that his two front teeth were slightly bigger than the rest, giving him sort of an awkward, boyish look. If he had been any other boy in their school, she probably would have snickered about it and thought it was a flaw. But, instead, she thought it was just adorable. Oh, she had it so bad for this guy.

  "Yeah." She nodded and smiled nervously. "Well, I actually came here to talk to you. About something."

  "Yeah?" He prompted. He didn’t look
too friendly.

  "Well," she tried not to twitch too much, "I was wondering if–you were going to the dance. Tomorrow."

  "No." He shook his head. "I’m not."

  Well, that was devastating. He just sat there looking at her like he had no idea he had sucker punched her in the gut. Jerk. "Oh." Somehow, she managed to keep her face expressionless though she stood up rather quickly. "That’s too bad then," she said as casually as she could. "Because if you were going, then I would have wanted to invite you to my birthday party after the dance. But, I guess, it’s no. Okay then. I’ll see you around."

  Her face was burning as she turned away from him. The death glare she gave her friends clearly communicated to them that everything had not gone well and they all looked sympathetic and guilty at the same time. She went back to their table, prepared to pretend that she was just fine and dandy because there was no way she was going to let stupid Trevor see that he had upset her. She would break down and become hysterical later when he wasn’t around.

  "Uhm, Ali," Cassie suddenly spoke in a tiny voice and did something funny with her eyebrows. Aline thought she was trying to waggle them or something.

  "What?" She scowled at the other girl.

  "Hey." Someone was standing behind her, and she looked over her shoulder to see that it was the guy she formerly adored. She stopped breathing for a moment. "Listen." He squatted down so they would be more or less eye to eye. He seemed somewhat nervous and she started breathing again. "I can’t go to the dance because I gotta work a late shift at my job," he explained, looking a bit sheepish. "But if I’m still invited to your party after that, I’ll make sure to drop by. What about it?" His eyes were very earnest, and very green. Aline told herself quite sternly that she didn’t feel like she could drown in them.

  She shrugged. "Sure. Whatever works for you." She was proud of how cool she sounded.

  He grinned at her, and she thought a few of her brain cells squeed and died. "Okay. See you then." He gave her another grin before walking away.

  When she was sure that he was nowhere within sight or hearing of the cafeteria, she let out a little shriek and banged her head against the table while her friends all giggled. "Urgh!" She made retching noises. "Is this what being sixteen is gonna be like? All the emotions and the insecurities and stupid boys who can rip your heart out and get you high all at the same time? I don’t think I’m ever gonna survive it!"

  Cassie and Sam, who were the first two to turn sixteen, only laughed. "Don’t worry. You’ll learn to adjust," Sam assured her while Meran and Gracelyn both looked worried. Their birthdays were coming up in a few months.

  Aline exhaled. "Okay. All right." She tried to calm her racing heart. "I’m gonna get through this. I just have to survive the dance, my birthday party, possible rejection by Trevor, and being sixteen. Then I’ll never have to worry about anything ever again. Right?"

  "That’s the spirit." Meran patted her on the head.

  Her friends went back to talking about the dance and her birthday party, laughing as they teased her about Trevor. Aline blushed and laughed along with them, feeling incredibly giddy at the thought that she would be seeing him during her party. They would probably dance and talk, and who knew what else might happen after that? The possibilities were quite exciting. She couldn’t wait for tomorrow night!

  Then, suddenly, the strangest feeling came over her, like a cold hand had reached out and touched the back of her head. She looked around the cafeteria curiously. Things seemed really odd for some reason. She felt odd, as if the world had tilted to one side without any warning. As her eyes searched for whatever it was that might have slipped out of place in reality on an otherwise great day, she noticed a black bird perched on the windowsill nearest to their table.

  It looked like a raven, but it was larger than any raven she had ever seen, even in pictures. Though a light breeze ruffled its inky feathers, it never moved and instead seemed to be staring right at her with its brilliant amber eyes. It was all quite unnerving. For a moment, she thought that she was back in the strange dream she had had the night before.

  She turned to her friends. "Hey, guys, do you see that bird–?" She stopped. In the second that she had taken her eyes away from it, the raven had flown off.

  "Huh? What is it?" Meran looked to where she was pointing, but saw nothing except an open window.

  Aline frowned. "Never mind." She shrugged. "It was nothing, I guess."

  But she couldn’t shake the strange feeling of foreboding that had come over her and cast a cloud over the rest of the day.

  ~~~

  Chapter 3