Cursed or Blessed

by A. L. Martin

  Kurt held Sophie in the backseat while she sobbed on his shoulder. Earlier, the drive to Natalia’s took a quick ten minutes, but now it seemed to have tripled in time. The lights were on in the house when we pulled up in the driveway, which meant Mom and Dad were still up in the family room. I wanted to get Sophie upstairs before I tried to explain to my parents what happened and that Sophie was going to spend the night. The minute I got the front door open, I had Kurt take Sophie up to my room while I went to the family room and explained the night. Braedon took my hand as we walked in.

  “So, how was the party?” Mom asked, smiling at us from the loveseat where she curled up next to Dad.

  “It was great, except for the last 45 minutes of it. Then it went to shit,” I flopped down on the couch. Braedon walked around and sat down beside me. “I normally wouldn’t do this without asking you first, but I didn’t want Braedon to take her home. Sophie is upstairs in my room with Kurt.”

  Mom slid her feet off the couch onto the floor. “Is she okay? Should we take her to the hospital?”

  “No. She’s not physically hurt. She caught Alexina with Tyler at the party, and they got into a huge fight. I was afraid Alexina would show up at Sophie’s house, trying to talk to her again, so I brought her here. Alexina wouldn’t think about coming here and try to talk to Sophie.”

  Mom got up off the couch, walking into the kitchen. “Yeah, she can stay the night. Poor girl. So, what happened after she found them? I know there were probably words said out of anger. I just hope nothing they might regret later.”

  I turned sideways with my back against the arm of the couch so I could see Mom in the kitchen. “Well, I don’t think Sophie will ever forgive Alexina for what she did. She screamed at her, threatened her, and then took a swing at her.”

  “She tried to punch her?” Mom’s mouth fell open.

  “Yeah. First, she called her a whore, so I don’t think they are going to make up anytime soon. Honestly, I wouldn’t want a friend like that around me. She’s never going to be able to trust her again with future boyfriends.” I looked down at my dress, then back up at mom, but instead of the kitchen, we were in the meadow with the knotted tree off in the distance. I closed my eyes, covering my face with my hands.

  “Karsyn, are you okay?” Braedon put his hand on my leg.

  I peeked open one eye to make sure the meadow was gone. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a long night, and I’m a little tired from everything. I should go upstairs and see how Sophie is doing.” We walked hand-in-hand to the front door. Braedon wrapped his arms around me, and I felt safe for the first time in a long time. I didn’t want him going anywhere, but then again, I knew I had to tell him soon about my visions.

  “I will text you tomorrow after I see how Sophie is going to be, and if she wants to go home right away or not.”

  “Okay. Are you sure you are alright? I really do care about you a lot, Karsyn.”

  “Yes. I’m fine. I care about you a lot too. I promise I will text you tomorrow after I get done taking care of Sophie.” I raised up on my tiptoes and kissed Braedon.

  I gave him one last hug before opening the door, and then I watched him back out of the driveway. I closed the door slowly. I leaned back against it and stared up at the top of the stairs toward my room. I bent down and grabbed my shoes, which I left beside the door when we got home. I almost dreaded going upstairs to my room, but I knew my friend needed me right now.

  I was on the middle stair when Kurt opened my bedroom door, and I could hear Sophie sobbing from inside. He glanced down at me, rolling his eyes as he motioned his head to the side. He had every right to be frustrated with me for leaving him up there alone with her. He shot out of my room when I was within a few feet of my door, hurried to the guest bedroom, and slammed the door shut without even saying a word to me. I couldn’t help but giggle at the way he took off toward the guest room.

  I stepped in my room and found Sophie curled up in the middle of my bed crying. I tossed my shoes over toward the closet and closed my door. I looked for Sophie some clothes to wear to bed. I gave her a pair of leggings and an oversized T-shirt. I changed into my pink pajama pants with white stars and matching short-sleeved shirt. I got Sophie calmed down long enough for her to change out of her costume. I hung it up in front of my closet, then went into the bathroom and grabbed a box of tissues for her. I went downstairs to get us a couple bottles of water.

  After I got back upstairs and handed Sophie a cold bottle of water, she scooted over so I could sit beside her on the bed. We sat there in quiet for a little bit. I didn’t want to rush her into talking about what happened tonight. I had to admit, I was rather shocked that Alexina would do such a thing to Sophie.

  “I trusted her. I loved her like a sister, and this is what she does to me when my back is turned? I would never do that to her. How could she kiss Tyler?” She took a drink of water.

  “Sophie, are you hungry? I can go down and get you something to eat real quick.”

  “No. Thank you for the water and for letting me stay the night tonight. I really appreciate it. You have been a great friend. I know you would never do that to me, and I’ve known you only a few weeks. How is that possible? Someone I have been friends with since grade school stabs me in the back. I just met you, and I already know I can trust you around my future boyfriends.”

  “I think you can still trust Alexina. I think she made a terrible mistake because she was pushed away again by a guy. Tyler showed her a little attention, and she acted on it. I bet you she feels horrible right now.”

  “She should feel horrible. She kissed my boyfriend. I will never be able to trust her again. If I do, it will be a long time from now. You don’t go around kissing your best friend’s boyfriend, and thinking I won’t be upset.”

  “You have every right to be upset, and I’m not saying you have to forgive her this minute. Maybe in a few weeks, we can all sit down and talk about this. Only if you want.”

  The next morning, I woke up before Sophie, which gave me a chance to go talk to Kurt. I slid out of bed and eased opened the door, glancing over at Sophie. I froze in the doorway when she rolled over towards the wall. I tiptoed out into the hallway, leaving the door opened a little bit, so I didn’t wake her up. I looked down the hall toward the guest room, trying to tell whether Kurt was up yet. I went downstairs and found the rest of the house empty. I forgot my phone upstairs on my nightstand, so I looked at the stove clock. It was only eight o’clock. Everyone was still in bed, so I went back upstairs to my room to get a couple more hours of sleep.

  ****

  “Girls, there are muffins on the island counter,” Mom knocked on the door.” Girls, did you hear me?”

  I stretched and yawned, which muffled my words. “Yes. Thanks, Mom.”

  I looked over and Sophie was lying there, looking at her phone. I could tell she was reading her messages, and I knew they had to be from Tyler or Alexina. She wasn’t deleting them, so I guessed they were definitely from Tyler. “Are you going to reply back to Tyler?” I asked.

  Sophie turned her had toward me. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying so much last night. “How did you know they were from Tyler?”

  “Well, you are just staring at them. If they had been from Alexina, I don’t think you would be staring at them, but deleting them instead.”

  She nodded and went back to staring at her phone, “To be honest, I’m mad at them both. I don’t feel like talking to either of them right now. Is that mean, Karsyn?”

  “I don’t think it’s mean at all. You have every right to be mad at them. I’m not going to tell you what to do because it’s not my place to tell you how to react to all this. I will be here for you and support whatever you decide to do.”

  “Thanks, Karsyn. You are truly a great friend. Alexina could take lessons from you on how to be a friend.”

  “Thanks. I’m starving, and my Mom’s muffins are amazing. I will go get us each a muffin and some juice. I hope you like blueberr
y muffins,” I said, putting my foot down on my fuzzy pastel rug. My feet sank into the plush rug with each step I took toward the door. I closed the door part way since I was going to have my hands full when I came back.

  I told everyone good morning when I walked into the kitchen. Mom and Dad were in the family room along with Kurt. Emerson and Allison were sitting at the island. I didn’t want to take the tray of food up the stairs because I knew I would end up spilling the juice all over the muffins. I ended up making two trips to my bedroom. When I got back with my plate and glass of juice, Sophie was crying again. I felt bad for her, but I didn’t know how else to comfort her except be there when she wanted to talk.

  When I looked up from placing my muffin down on my plate, I was in the meadow again. My visions were happening more frequently, which meant Death was ready to play a game with me.

  Chapter 9

  After I took Sophie home, I went back to the house to talk to Mom. I wanted to talk to her before I texted Braedon because I knew he would want to come over or go do something. I wanted to make sure there wasn’t a chance of him showing up while I was in the midst of talking to her about my visions. I knew I had to tell him about them, but I loved being a normal couple with him. I yelled for Mom when I walked into the house to see if she was still there, and where she was. She yelled back that she was upstairs in her room. I made my way to her room, and there I found her putting clothes away. She had a way of looking great no matter what she had on or how her hair looked. Maybe, I was being biased because she was my mom, but there was no denying the fact she was a beautiful woman.

  “Mom, can I talk to you about something?” I asked, walking over to her big round, over-sized armchair with three big pillows, next to the window.

  “Sure. Sophie doing okay? I feel so bad for her.”

  “I think so. I told her to ignore the texts from Alexina and Tyler and to call me if she needs me. I wanted to talk to you about something else.” I looked down at my keys in my hand.

  “Karsyn, what’s wrong?” You know you can talk to me about anything,” she said, walking around the bed to sit down so she would be facing me.

  “My visions are happening more often, but still not the full picture. They are still in pieces, but they happen at the same place. In the middle of some meadow with a funky looking tree. I don’t know what it all means, and it’s starting to drive me crazy.”

  Mom got up and walked over and sat down on the ottoman, leaning forward to give me a big hug. “Oh, honey. I wish I could take it away for you, and someone you could talk to about all of this that understood better. I don’t know what help I am, but I’m always here to listen. I know you want to be a normal 18-year-old girl that doesn’t have to worry about people being afraid of you. Have you tried writing down what you see in these visions? Something different that wasn’t there before?”

  “Yes. So far, nothing different has happened the last few times. This time I was farther away from the tree than last time.”

  “I would write that down. It is something different,” Mom smiled at me.

  “Thank you, Mom. I truly mean that.” I gave her a hug.

  I got up and went to my room to write down that I was farther away from the tree than last time. I texted Braedon before I went and got a quick shower. I knew he was probably wondering what happened to me and whether I was going to text him today. Sure enough, there was a text from him when I got back to my room. I apologized for not texting earlier because I was still with Sophie. I told him I would be ready in about an hour if he wanted to come over, and we could go do something. I grabbed a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved, champagne-colored knit tunic. I dried my hair and was able to put it up in a cute messy bun. I was finishing up my makeup when Mom let me know that Braedon was in the family room with Dad.

  I got up out of my vanity chair and took one last look in the mirror to see if I needed to fix anything before I headed downstairs.

  Braedon got up off the couch the minute he heard me walk into the kitchen. He walked around to give me a big hug and kiss on the cheek. He knew Dad was watching us from the loveseat. “You look great. I was wondering if you would want to go do something.”

  “Sure, let me go grab a jacket for later and my purse. I will be back down in a few minutes. I will meet you at the front door.” I ran back upstairs to grab my stuff. When I turned to walk back out my door, I was facing the knotted tree. I looked around the meadow to see if anything had changed since my last vision. I could see the black boot, but nothing else. Before I had a chance to look around more, I was back in my room. I looked over at Rylee’s picture, missing her more than ever. Again, I apologized for not being able to save her and hoped that she wasn’t mad at me for it.

  I walked out of my room, glancing downstairs at Braedon leaning against the wall, messing on his phone and realized I had to tell him soon. I had to be honest with him if we had a chance of making this relationship work. Then, he could be like everyone else and avoid me, afraid I might see his death in the future. I don’t know how, but I am able to control my visions to a point. I don’t see any of my family’s deaths or most people I care about, which confused me even more because I loved Rylee like a sister, but I still saw her death.

  Braedon looked up and saw me standing there watching him. He flashed me one of his perfect smiles with his straight white teeth. His smiles had a way of making me melt. He had the door opened for when I reached the bottom stair. I didn’t want to concentrate on anything else but us for the rest of the day. My ideal afternoon came to a screeching halt by the time we started driving down the road. My phone started buzzing like crazy from my purse on the floorboard of his truck. I tried ignoring it, but Braedon told me I better look to see who was texting me. I knew exactly who it was, and I did feel bad for ignoring my phone.

  I got my phone out of my purse. I had texts from Sophie and Alexina. I really didn’t want to deal with them right now. I let my phone drop in my lap, and let out a big sigh as I lead my head back on the headrest.

  “I take it the texts are from Sophie?” Braedon asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

  “And Alexina.” I picked my phone back up to read the drama.

  “Well, Alexina is trying to text Sophie, and Sophie is saying she can’t believe Alexina is texting her. OMG! I dread school on Monday for this reason.”

  “Do you want to go by Sophie’s real quick before we go out? I can go by there if you want too,” he took my hand, raising it up to his lips. I must have done something right to have him show up in my life.

  “No. I will message her real quick and let her know I am out with you. If I go over there, I know we will be there for a while, and I want to spend time with you today.” I smiled.

  I sent her a quick text, and then I texted Alexina, telling her to leave Sophie alone for a while. Sophie didn’t want to hear anything that Alexina had to say. If I was her, I wouldn’t want to listen either. I waited a few minutes to see if either of them were going to text back before I put my phone back in my purse. Alexina had to realize that Sophie was hurt, and bothering her was only going to make the situation worse.

  “Where do you want to go? Are you hungry? I know you haven’t eaten much today, according to your Mom. So how about we get something to eat, then we can decide after that,” he said, kissing the back of my hand again.

  He parked a few streets over from Downtown Mall. I was so tired from dealing with everything last night, but I didn’t mind walking a few extra blocks with Braedon. The more time I got to spend with him alone, the better.

  We walked past the row of tables that fit perfectly between the rows of trees down the middle of Downtown Mall. The tables were filled with people eating, talking and laughing. Apparently, we were having an Indian summer, and everyone was taking full advantage of the unusually warm weather today. We were about to the end of the tables when a couple that looked to be about our age or a little older caught my attention. I was mesmerized by the chemistry between them as they
sat next to each other at the table. He was sitting there as if he was in some kind of trance by the way his eyes followed every move she made. I found myself feeling jealous of them. I wanted that with Braedon, but I knew what we had right now was headed for disaster.

  I got to thinking about Sophie, and then the guilt set in about not stopping to check on her. I knew we would have ended up staying there for a long time. I wanted to be a good friend, but I wanted to spend time with Braedon too. On the outside, I had learned to portray that everything was fine, but on the inside, I was struggling with my demons. Demons that I wanted to keep hidden from the rest of the world for as long as possible. After another trip up and down the street, we finally decided on The Den.

  When everything seemed to be going better, the universe decided to put up a brick wall in my path. Braedon opened the door for me, and we were greeted by Blair and her minions walking out.

  “I keep running into you, Braedon. See, fate is trying to tell you something.” Blair glared over at me. She ran her fingers through her hair and stuck her boobs out more.

  “You’re right, Blair. Fate keeps showing me what a complete and total bitch looks like. So I appreciate fate helping me see that Karsyn is a lot better person than you will ever be.”

  She took a few steps back, then turned toward me. “You know one of these days, Braedon is going to wake up and see you for what you truly are, a freak. I will be there when he does.” She raised her eyebrow.

  “Blair, get the hell out of here, and take your minions with you,” Braedon said, stepping in between us, keeping his back to me. I peeked around him, but I couldn’t see her that well. She must have tried to touch him because I heard him mumble something about keeping her hands to herself. Braedon grabbed my hand when she stormed off with her friends. He opened the door again for me to go into The Den. I was almost scared to walk in for fear of who we might run into next.