I stare at the inside of my locker blankly, listening to the faded sounds around me. I could hear voices of people talking and laughing. Listening to footsteps and the sounds of lockers opening and closing. But it was all muffled. As if my head was under water. But I couldn't seem to do anything about it. Other than stare into the darkness of my locker, not even blinking. I could feel my own eyes begin to sting and fill with water.

"[NAME]!"

A voice suddenly yells loudly into my right ear, slamming my locker shut right in front of my face, causing me to snap out of my trance, and return back to normal.

Rapidly blinking and shaking my head in confusion, I look around to make sense of what had happened, only to spot my best friend standing beside me, his hand pressed against my locker door, holding it closed as his eyes stare at my confused face.

"Earth to [Name], anybody in there?"

He laughs, waving his free hand in front of my eyes, causing me to blink more out of common reflex.

"Uh yeah, S-Sorry Ash.. I didn't sleep too well last night."

Ash has been my closest friend for as long as I can remember. In fact, he's my only friend. His real name is actually Ashley, named after his mother who died giving birth to him, but growing up with a feminine name proved to be hard. So now, only his father calls him Ashley. Anyone else just uses his nickname: Ash.

We met when we were both really young; we just clicked and stuck. Never once have we argued, never once have we fallen out. It's always just been a, happy go lucky friendship. Which I consider myself very very lucky for.

Ash has big bright green eyes with short but still fluffy brown hair. Long enough to run my fingers through. He also has cute little freckles laying just beneath his eyes and across his nose.

I'll admit, I do find him attractive and I have told him this before, but sadly, girls aren't exactly his type..

"Don't tell me you had that same nightmare? AGAIN?"

He questions, rolling his eyes as he bends to pick his backpack up from the floor, swinging it around to carry on his shoulder. I couldn't help but grunt as I clamp the padlock closed on my locker and twist the dile to a random number for safety. Picking my bag up and hanging it over my shoulder.

"Yes.. THAT dream.. it keeps happening and it feels so real.."

I start to explain to him how I feel during the situation as we make our way to class. I continue to tell him that it feels more like a memory, than an actual dream.

"Well, that's an easy one. You don't own a Jack in a Box. There, mystery solved!"

He smiles widely, but something still didn't feel right. I still felt off about it. The mystery definitely did not feel solved.

"I don't know Ash.. I tell my parents about the nightmares and they brush it off and say I'll be okay. I ask them if they know anything about a Jack in the Box, and they just instantly change the subject. It's like they don't even wanna hear it."

I couldn't help but sigh. You'd expect parents to care about something like this, something that's bothering their child so much. Which is why it confuses me even more and makes me think that it's not just a nightmare..

What if it really is a childhood memory coming back to haunt me..

Ash was about to speak when suddenly he is interrupted by a guy storming over to him and shoving him to the floor. A guy by the name of Connor. He's quite popular and most of the girls in the school have a crush on him.. but apparently, so does Ash..

"What the fuck is wrong with you faggot! You think you can get away with shit like that!"

The guy yells, bending over and yanking on Ash's shirt collar. I go to pull the guy off of him but one of his friends holds me back. I desperately try to wriggle out of his grasp but he was considerably stronger and bigger than me.

"Leave him alone Connor! He didn't do anything!"

I plead, trying to get him to listen to me and be reasonable. I didn't want Ash to get hurt. I've heard of quite a few cases of Connor being physically violent to people. I worried he might hurt my friend and I'd do anything to prevent that.

"Stay out of it! This is between me and the Queer. He makes me look like a fool. My reputation is crushed now that there's rumours of a guy having a crush on me! Makes me look like a pussy! But I'll make you pay-!"

"DONT YOU DARE TOUCH HIM! Connor I swear to god if you hurt him, I will kill you. I will hunt you down, AND KILL YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME CONNOR!"

I scream as loud as I could, blurting out anything on my mind, causing him to freeze with has fist in the air. He was just about to punch Ash across the face. But my threat seemed to get him to stop. But not because he was scared, but because he found it funny.

Laughing, he pushes Ash back down, letting go of his shirt and stepping over to me, his friend tightening his grip to hold me.

"You, are going to kill, me? Seriously? That's actually hilarious! I know how weak you are [Name]. You're pathetic-"

He never got to finish his sentence, as I spat right at his face. My saliva splashing across his cheek, dripping down.

He grinds his teeth and wipes my spit away with his sleeve.

"You bitch. You're going to regret that!"

He yells angrily, clutching his hand around my throat. But luckily, he wasn't able to go any further as a teacher spotted us. Splitting us up and sending me and Ash to our classes. Taking both Connor and his friend to the principal.