Crimson Echo Read Online Free Page A

occur. I counted the seconds until the bell rang as I stared at my blank paper.
    “Class is dismissed,” Ms. King called out from behind a stack of portfolios as the bell rang. “Tristan, can I have a word with you?”
    “Do you want us to wait?” Faith whispered with a forced smile.
    “No, I’ll catch up.” I paced toward the art teacher—her eyes examining my every move.
    “You wanted to see me?” I asked rhetorically.
    “Yes,” she paused, trying to form the words delicately in her mind before she let them pass her lips.  “I’ve been concerned about you and I wanted to touch base to see how you were handling the recent events.” I should have known this was coming.
               Though I knew what she was getting at, I didn’t want to admit to her or myself that the fire at Echo High had affected me more then I knew. If I did admit it, that would only mean I was weak and I wouldn’t allow that. I could remember everything about that day leading up to the fire, but anything after that had been erased from my memory.
                I had a feeling Ms. King felt somewhat responsible for my being caught in the fire. After all I was staying after school to help her put the fifth grade art projects in the kiln. I didn’t blame her, I knew it wasn’t her fault, but I could see the guilt and worry all over her face.
    “Tristan, are you okay? You don’t look so well.” Ms. King questioned with a concerned look. “Tristan,” she repeated. “Is everything alright?”
    Lost in my thoughts, I forgot to answer her—which wasn’t good for my cause, I’m sure.
    “I’m sorry. I’m a little tired today.” I rubbed my eyes.
    “Are you still having the same dream?”
    “No… last night was a dream-free night.” I lied, forcing a smile.
    “I want you to know that I feel terrible for leaving you down there in the basement by yourself, it was very irresponsible of me. If there’s anything I can do to help you to make it any easier, just let me know.”
    “You didn’t know.” I assured her.
    “Well, if you ever need to talk, I’m always here and we have crisis counselors on hand at all times. I don’t want you to think that you can’t talk to someone about what happened. No one will judge you for it, I promise.”                                              
    I nodded with a grateful smile this time.
               Ms. King had been one of the only teachers to check on me to ensure my sanity throughout the last few weeks. She had gone to high school with my mom and they have remained friends all these years. I knew better then to let her know I was anything but sane. She would inform my parents before I could even turn around—I know she meant well though. I knew I wasn’t crazy, but the nightmares made me seem that way to everyone else. If I could just convince everyone I was okay, maybe they would get off my back for good.
              Once inside the cafeteria I scanned the crowded room looking for Faith. I spotted Ashlee and Laura towards the back of the lunch line—gossiping and I rushed to stand behind them, trying not to look like an awkward loser with no friends. When we were in elementary, the three of us were the best of friends.
                We did everything together, I remember in the summers we would sell lemonade from my driveway and with our profits we would walk to the local candy store and buy as many sweets as we could, then gorge on them until we were practically sick. We even had a club house and we would dress in our mom’s heels and jewelry and act like we were New York socialites. That was before high school, before puberty, before they became popular and before I went whacko.