In my Dreams, Courtney Barnes [free novel 24 .TXT] 📗

Brownridge, Vermont


Three years ago

Like any typical teenage girl, I have a few things I like to do. Shopping or going to the movies with friends, playing the piano, even reading books is fun to me. But nowhere on that list, is hiding in a closet in an enormous mansion, on a Saturday night. And that’s exactly where I find myself on this particular evening, with three evil rich snobs searching the house looking for me. This is definitely not my idea of a good time.

I had turned down going to a party with Derrick and Emma to come here, hoping I would make some friends at my new school. But I suddenly wished I were anywhere but here.

For some reason, Stephanie Brown, the self proclaimed queen of the school, had asked me over for a slumber party with her two best friends. At first I was skeptical, considering her obvious dislike for me. She believed I was moving in on her territory by being friends with her ex-boyfriend Ryan. It didn’t matter that we both explained to her time and again that we were only friends. In her mind, he was hers, and just talking to him was an act of aggression. She had convinced the whole school to hate me.

Thankfully, I still had two of the best friends anyone could ask for; the only problem was, they went to a different school. I was stuck at some snooty private school with kids who didn’t want me here, so when Stephanie asked me over, I hoped it was the start of some kind of compromise. Boy was I wrong,

The evening started out okay, she showed me around her gigantic house, making sure I noticed all the expensive looking furniture, rich silks and classic artwork that were displayed throughout the rooms.

After a gourmet dinner, complete with fingers bowls, I followed Stephanie up to her room, which happened to be decorated like a picture in a magazine. The walls were red and white, with photos placed perfectly around the room. Above her bed was a portrait of Stephanie, which I thought was tacky. A fact I would keep to myself. The distinct smell of Gucci perfume filled the air; it was such a strong odor I figured she bathed in it, or spilled the bottle. Either way the smell was overpowering. I used to like the scent, but now I feared I could never use it without thinking of her.

She sat on her bed with her puppets, as I now called Trudy and Tara, beside her while I sat on a chair near the closet. She started to ask me questions I didn’t like. “So Sarah, do you think you’re pretty?”

I was taken aback by her question. “Uh…I don’t know, why?”

She scowled. “I asked Ryan why he was talking to you all the time. And do you know what he said?”

I didn’t like where this was going. “No,” I answered quietly.

“He said that you were sweet and pretty. And that he liked your dark eyes and your long brown hair.”

I looked to Trudy and Tara for help, but they were giving me what I thought to be evil smiles. This wasn’t good.

“I can’t do anything about your eyes, but I can do something about that hair.” She bent down and picked something up, that was hidden under her bed. Okay, now I was worried. I had a feeling I knew what was about to happen, but I hoped I was wrong.

She turned back around, holding a very large pair of shiny, silver scissors. Oh shit. She smiled and looked at me and then at the scissors.

Now I knew why they invited me here. It wasn’t to become my friend.

God I was so stupid, why would I think that after months of her ignoring me; the ice queen would suddenly be nice to me? Not that I liked her in the least, but since she had made my life so difficult, I actually hoped that things would change at school since she asked me here.

I glared at the scissors, and made the only decision that I could think of. I took off out the door of her bedroom.

As I was running down the hall, I heard her yell. “Get her girls.” This was so cliché, I was living a horror movie, and I couldn’t believe I fell for it.

So here I am hiding in the closet, and I have no idea what to do about it.

If there was a light bulb in here, I wasn’t going to turn it on, for fear I’d give away my position. It was so dark I couldn’t see the hand I held out in front of my face. A floral scent wafted around the tiny cubby, I stretched out my hand and felt fluffy towels that were folded neatly on a shelf beside me.

I sat down on the floor trying to think of what to do next. Maybe, if I waited until they walked passed the closet on their hunt to find me, I could sneak out and use the phone I saw in the hallway. I could call my parents and tell them to pick me up. Then I could sneak outside and wait behind some bushes. I really didn’t want a haircut. I couldn’t believe she was going to cut my hair because her ex-boyfriend talked to me and became my friend. What was I thinking, of course she would.

Someone walk passed the closet I was hiding in. I waited a few minutes until I was sure they were gone before deciding to make my move. I couldn’t hide in here all night.

Opening the door very slowly, I crawled out; looking around to make sure I was alone. Since my eyes had adapted to the darkness of the small closet, they now felt strained from the wash of light coming from the fixture above me. The hallway was clear, so I continued to crawl slowly on my hands and knees along the soft beige carpet. The phone was just a couple feet away on a small table against the wall. I was almost there when I heard a squeaky voice I recognized as Tara’s. “There she is,” she yelled, pointing at me.

Crap, they saw me. I stood up and ran as fast as I could for the phone. I picked it up and dialed my number quickly. My mom answered, “Hello.”

I managed to get the words “come get me” out before a well-manicured hand reached for the receiver. I turned to see Stephanie slam her finger down, hanging up the phone.

She smiled wickedly. “This is going to be so much fun.”

Tara and Trudy held on to me while I pleaded with them to stop. I hoped that they would feel guilty and let me go. But when I saw humor in their eyes, I knew they were just as evil as Stephanie was. As I struggled, I felt the first cut and some of my hair that had taken years to grow, fall to the floor. I panicked, stomped on someone’s foot, and took off running.

“Get her, now!” the evil witch screamed. I tripped on a bump in the carpet, giving Tara a chance to grab my arm before I could get away, her pointed nails dug into my skin.

They held on tighter this time, and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t get away. I sobbed quietly as they chopped off my hair. My heart sank with every snip of the scissors. The strands brushed my leg and foot as they fell to the floor. It felt like feathers caressing my skin. I closed my eyes, hoping that was all it was, a pillow torn open above my head.

When the awful snipping sound stopped, I opened my eyes to see most of my hair laying in clumps at me feet. I could no longer pretend they were feathers. I knew that the brown clippings curled up along the hardwood floor, were mine. I stared down at them with a feeling of numbness, my long mane that I took such care of, was now taunting me from the floor. When I was little, I asked to have long hair just like my mother, after that she would brush it lovingly every night, buying products to keep it soft and shiny. She said it was one of the reasons she wanted a daughter, to dress me up and play with my hair. And now the remaining pieces lay on the floor, being stomped on by Stephanie’s open toed red sandals.

They let me go and started to laugh. “I don’t think Ryan will be interested in you now. My goodness Sarah, what happened to your hair? You know, you really should stop going to your dad’s barber,” Stephanie said sarcastically.

Trudy and Tara laughed at her joke with twin high pitched screeches.

I ran to her room, picked up my bag, and took off in the direction of the front door. As I rushed out, I heard her shrill voice calling after me. “Oh Sarah, are you leaving so soon?” And of course more laughter followed.

I stumbled out of her house into the night. In the darkness, I followed her walkway to the road. Feeling embarrassed and angry, an ache formed in my chest before the tears started to fall. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and I started walking aimlessly. My tears were flowing hard, obscuring my view. My foot caught in a crack in the road, and I fell to the ground. My hands dug into the asphalt, scraping my palms. I pushed myself up and continued walking. Would this horror movie ever end? I hoped to wake up in my room, having dreamed the whole thing, but try as I may; I was still here wandering the roads, praying I was heading in the right direction.

After what seemed like hours, I saw headlights behind me. A car pulled along the sidewalk, and the passenger side window slowly rolled down. “OH, MY GOD SARAH! WHAT HAPPENED?” my mother yelled from the front seat of her car.