<<<<<<<preface>>>>>>>>> Allegra is a daydreamer. But when she finds out those daydreams are an insight of the future, her whole world turns upside down. She sees the good and a lot of bad. Everyday she struggles through high school while trying to find the killers of her daydreams. She can see their expressions but not what lies underneath them, leaving her with only more doubt about her visions. All the interviews with them, all the statements... They just didn’t add up to the real question she had in mind. WHY would someone kill a little girl, a neighbor, or even a best friend? With all these questions and no answers Allegra soon draws to an awful answer. Maybe she’s the killer, herself? <<<<<<<<<end of preface>>>>>>>
“So when do you plan on leaving?†I asked with concern twinkling in my eyes.
My father hesitated, upset he had to leave, but it was better for the family.
“A month.â€Â
My face burned. One month. That was all I had left with him for the last three years of high school. My hands went clammy and my eyes watered. The contract sat on the table, burning my eyeballs. Just one dotted line that forced hundreds of miles between my father and I. I tried not to think about it, but the thought of a silent, empty house made me weak in the knees. Could I handle it?
“Common, don’t be sad,†he noticed my depressing reaction to the “great†news, “Lets go out to dinner,†he suggested. My mouth started drooling at the thought of food. When was the last time I’d eaten? I was about to eat before the news arrived and with all the commotion I couldn’t even think about food.
“Yeah, that sounds good,†I said more cheerfully this time. I recapped what I knew about my dad’s job. It was two hours away, much more money, and longer lonelier hours for him. He wouldn’t have signed the contract except for the fact that he made three times as much as he made now. It was incredible how much that money would help us.
We all piled into the white ford to go eat at Roadhouse. It was one of our favorite restaurants in Melbourne, because it just suited our family. Oddly enough, throwing peanut shells on the floor, country music, and crazy rodeo pictures felt like home. My mom’s steak oozed red blood and I could puke at the sight. It looked like it was still flopping alive on the plate. My lemonade left a wet ring on the glass table and voices around me began to hum. I started daydreaming, staring intensely at the crumpled straw wrapper until it blurred and my eyes crossed. My thoughts floated beyond the mindless conversation and into a state of what seemed to be reality, but wasn’t.
*******
“Excuse me ma’am are you finished?†asked the store clerk. We were in JC Penny’s back to school shopping. This was what our family boiled down to when it came time for big spending. With four teenagers and a tight budget things were hard to keep under control and that is why my dad would be moving soon. Emotions swept through me at the thought, but I tried to keep them away. Just for a little while, he’ll visit during the weekend… I would say to myself. A little while? Yeah right, this was probably a lifetime job.
“Uh, huh? Oh yeah, I’m finished,†I said nodding my head. I wasn’t paying much attention to her. She must be impatient if she can’t wait five seconds for me to realize her cash register is open. I stood there staring blankly at the wall and she was wondering if I was done shopping and ready to check out.
“Did you find everything okay today?†she asked. I could tell she was curious of why I just stared off. It was a thing I did, staring off. I just daydreamed a lot.
“Yeah,†I said smiling. I couldn’t think of conversation today. I was too tired and worn down by the fact I was shopping at JC Penny’s when I didn’t even like that store. But I was too picky for my own good. I didn’t like seafood, soda, vanilla, and basically half of the food groups in existence. It was hard to find me a meal. I grabbed the large plastic bag from her hands and my mom’s credit card to meet back up with my brothers and sisters. I was the oldest of the family, naturally the one who drove, was responsible for my siblings, and was deemed holder of the credit card. It felt heavy when I stuck it in my pocket. How can so much trouble in my home revolve around a stupid piece of plastic? Why did my dad have to move away in just one month? I’d never been without him so long, it just didn’t feel right. My cell phone vibrated for the 10th time in five minutes. It was Tony, he’d been ready to go for a half an hour and he just sat in the lounge area of the mall watching all the girls walk by.
“Are you still in JC Penny’s? Will you come out so we can leave, we’ve been here forever?†he asked annoyed and impatient. Tony was the youngest of the family and inevitably the most impatient as well.
I departed JC Penny’s feeling sick about tomorrow’s first day of school. I always did this. I work my nerves up so much that I nearly sweated out all m
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