That night I didn´t dream of Frank. I dreamed of Carrie.
She was on the floor, her face pale.
“Carrie, Carrie!! Don´t leave me!”
She touched my face gently and said something I didn´t understand. I looked down at her and saw blood.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“Anthony! You´re okay,” My mom was in my room, holding me. I was drenched in a cold sweat.
I just held her back.
“I´m not o –fucking-kay, mom.”
“It´s okay honey,” I put a hand over my mouth; where did that come from?
“It was just a dream,” She whispered again.
A dream.
Just a dream.
Since when were my dreams just dreams?
The next day, I was thinking about the dream as I entered school. I noticed a lot of people where noticing me now, looking and even saying hi.
When did all this all happen? You punch a dick in the face and this happens.
I went to my French art class but there was no sign of Carrie.
“Can I borrow your pencil?”. Said a girl in Influential artists of the 20th century, my class after French art. She smiled at me.
Flirting? No way.
At lunch time a small guy said hello to me.
“You´re Anthony right?”
I just nodded and walked away from him.
“Good move at the party!” He screamed as I was walking away.
I went to my tree, and she was there. I could not ignore the feeling of relief I had when I saw her sitting there, her pink hair and big glasses, her lip split. She was drinking a coffee; I sat in front of her.
“Carrie?”
She turned in my direction.
“Hey” She took of the glasses. Black eye.
Asshole.
She was smiling, but her eyes didn’t show it.
“How are you?”
“I´m great, listen, I´ve been thinking, and I think you should continue this on your own.”
“What?” I panicked.
“I´ve already caused you problems with your…….” She thought for a moment , her tone somehow harsh, “….isolation, so..I’m sorry, okay?” She put the glasses on again and stood.
“No!” I panicked even more when I saw she was serious.
“You can´t leave!”
“You can talk to your mirror Anthony,” She said angrily, not even looking at me.
I stood and grabbed her arm.
“I´m sorry about last night, I didn´t mean it, I swear,” she stayed there, listening.
“You´re the only one that understands me right now.”
“Please?” I waited.
“I need you.”
Wow, that was more than I intended.
“You need me?” Her voice was soft, almost a whisper.
“No one has ever needed me before.”
“Well, I do.”
Did I just say that?
“Please, don’t walk out on me. Everybody has done that before” I took her arm and forced her to face me.
I took her glasses off. She gave a sweet smile.
“I don´t know how to treat people, I’m sorry.”
She smiled again. I felt a lump inside but ignored it, maybe I was hungry.
“I´m sure your mum hasn´t given up on you,” she said, a little bit serious again.
I smiled, “Yeah, you´re right”.
“So?”
She rolled her eyes and smiled in the way I knew she smiled.
She sat again.
“Shoot”.
“What?” I sat too.
“Dreams?”
I froze. I had forgotten the last dream.
“No dreams,” I lied
The fearful expression of Carrie in my dream sent me chills all down my spine. She died in my dream. I´m sure she died. I wanted to think that it was probably a game of my subconscious for the previous fight, trying to find some logic in all this shit.
“Okay, so I had an idea” She drank more of her coffee and handed me the cup, I drank and smiled as the bittersweet taste invaded my senses.
“I was searching the other day on the internet and found the hospital where Frank died.”
I opened my eyes wide. “And?”
“We can go there, and find out more, maybe talk with the doctor that was doing the operation.”
“That´s crazy-”
“Frank, want you to” She looked at me “ Why would he show the operation part if there was nothing to it?”
“He showed me previous parts to that. He showed me Gerard.”
“Yeah, searching for Gerard is more difficult now, so we have to find out more about how he died.”
“He died because the operation was risky.”
“Yeah, but still,” She insisted.
“And where is this hospital?”
“In New York.”
I spit out the coffee I had brought from the cafeteria.
“NEW YORK?”
“Yeah” she said pretty calmly.
“I can buy the plane tickets today, we´ll be there tomorrow morning, if we leave early “ She said very seriously, looking like she had it all planned.
“We talk to the hospital and will be back by that night, and maybe we could have time to seeing the Empire-“
“Hey, I´m not going to New York and neither are you, we have classes.”
“This weekend then”
“Hopeless” I said under my breath.
“You don´t have classes on Friday, we can take…” she thought for a second ”… yeah, stay Friday..Till Sunday.”
“You´re insane,” I smiled at her.
“I don´t have the money,” I said, trying to make a last minute excuse.
“I do. I´m sure you´re mum will lend you if your tell her you´re traveling with your new girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend, and that is?”
“Me…..”
“Of course….” I let out a sigh.
“It’s perfect, she always wanted you to have one, so she won´t get mad if you-”
“I´m gay remember!”
“I know, but It´s the perfect cover.”
“I guess I have no choice….”
