Wide Awake - Academy of the Fallen Series by Daniele Lanzarotta Page B

you are too young to drink that much coffee, Kayla.”
     
    I rolled my eyes and agreed to everything she was saying.
     
    I went to school and again, avoided everything and everyone.  Two things I noticed though and they both bothered me.  One, Emily and Jess were back to talking to Ashley, and second, every time I saw Hunter hanging around, he was staring at me and I felt an urge to go and talk to him, try to make sense of it all.  Only I didn’t want to take the risk of Benjamin showing up again.
     
    When the day was finally over I rushed to my car to find there was a note on my window.  The note was from Hunter.
     
    Kayla,
     
    Carolyn contacted me again.  We need to talk.  Meet me at my house this afternoon.
     
    I didn’t go.  Carolyn was talking to him now and that made her his problem.
     
    I went home, did my homework, and fell asleep.
     
    Unfortunately me not showing up at Hunter’s didn’t stop him from coming to look for me.
     
    Kelly came to my room and woke me up.
     
    “Kay, your friend Hunter is here.  You must have forgotten to tell me he was coming over to work on your project.”
     
    I was still disoriented from having just woken up.
     
    I got up and followed Kelly downstairs to find Hunter sitting in the living room.
     
    “Hey.  What are you doing here?”
     
    “Kayla!”  Kelly looked embarrassed.  “I apologize for her, Hunter.  She just woke up…”
     
    Hunter looked at me.
     
    “Group project, remember?”
     
    I didn’t exactly respond in any way.
     
    Kelly excused herself by saying that she was going to be outside, working on the flowerbed if we needed her.
     
    As soon as she left, I asked, “What are you really doing here?”
     
    “You got my note.  We need to talk.”
     
    “Umm, no we don’t.”
     
    He acted as if he was annoyed.  “Look… whether you want to or not, I’m going to talk and you are going to listen.”
     
    “Whatever.”  We went to the kitchen where I could keep an eye on Kelly to make sure she was still outside while he talked.
     
    “Fine.  You want to talk, talk.”  I snapped.
     
    “Carolyn is not trapped anymore.  But she needs to talk to you, I just get bits and pieces of what she is saying.”
     
    “Okay, well.  I haven’t seen her around, so apparently she can’t talk to me anymore.  Problem solved.”
     
    Hunter shook his head and laughed.  “What are you on?”  He asked.
     
    “Huh?”  I asked, confused.
     
    “You know… drugs? Medication?  What are you on?”
     
    “Nothing… I mean, sleeping pills.  What does that have to do with it?”
     
    He shook his head as if I had just asked something dumb.  “Medications or drugs sometimes intervene with the part of your brain that allows you to communicate with … you know… them .”
     
    I clasped my hands over my mouth.  That is what he wanted; keep me from helping Carolyn, keep her away.  Apparently that also kept me from seeing him and that was a plus.
     
    “Why are you taking those pills anyway?” he asked.
     
    “None of your business.”
     
    “It has something to do with him doesn’t it?” he said as he looked into the living room.
     
    I looked around.  “Who?”
     
    “You know… the same one that was at school the other day.”
     
    I shivered.
     
    “That answers my question,” Hunter said.
     
    “I – I ca--can’t talk to you about it.”
     
    “Why the hell not?”
     
    I was so afraid… knowing that Benjamin was there, but I wasn’t able to see him… Before I knew it, I ended up spilling out the truth… reverse psychology, I guessed.
     
    “Because he will hurt you if I talk to you about it.”
     
    Hunter looked at me, puzzled that I was concerned about his safety.
     
    “He can’t hurt me, Kayla.”
     
    “Yes, he can.  He can touch things…people.”
     
    Hunter walked toward me, putting his hands on my shoulders and meeting my gaze.  “I know he can.  Listen Kayla, he cannot hurt me.”
     
    I