Nightmare (Old Ver.)

Henry woke up.

He was sweating, feeling his body cold; clearly showing signs of nervousness.

The boy had had another one of those horrible dreams, a ”nightmare" as others called it.

Henry got up from his place, while looking into the complete darkness; his eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness yet.

After a few moments and confirming that he wasn’t in his room, but in Lizeth’s room, he turned slightly to look at the bed, which was completely empty.

"Lizzie?” Henry got up from the mattress on the floor and began to slowly explore the room.

How many times had he come to Lizeth’s room?

How many times did he check Lizeth’s room to see if there was any different detail?

Perhaps too many times to count.

Apparently everything was the same as the last time he visited that place; posters of bands, movies, and cartoons were stuck on the wall. The shelves were filled with hand-decorated boxes containing cassettes and vinyl records of all her favorite music, plus a few crafts.

The study table was in the same place as always, empty and tucked away in a corner.

The ”creativity" table (as Henry had baptized it) was still the same or perhaps worse, as it was a mess Lizeth referred to as disorder.

Yes, everything was the same.

Maybe...

Henry approached the dresser, opening several drawers randomly, where he only found more boxes and makeup.

Henry made a slight sound of disgust.

“she thinks I’m stupid” said Henry, and then began to search through the dresser drawers.

After a rather short while, he found what he suspected... A box of cigarettes, hidden deep in the drawer in an attempt to “camouflage” it. In addition to this, he also found medicines and pills that Lizeth was supposed to no longer take because she had improved.

Henry put the cigarette box in his pants pocket and headed for the door of the room.

He slowly exited the room, peeking his head out to see if anyone else was awake at... two in the morning? Probably... So when he didn’t see anyone lurking, he began to walk. Quietly approaching the bathroom.

The bathroom was at the end of the hallway, its door was closed but it was known that someone was inside, the light was on and it was trying to escape from under the door.

Once he arrived, his hand grabbed the lock and opened the door, causing the person inside to scream in fright.

Lizeth looked at Henry, she seemed almost nervous about the boy’s presence.

Henry looked at Liz, and noticed she had a toothbrush in her hand.

He returned her gaze.

“What are you doing in the bathroom at this hour?” Henry asked.

But there was no response...

Lizeth swallowed nervously, glanced at the boy for a moment, and then returned her gaze to washing her hands.

She was avoiding him, didn’t want to look at him.

Lizeth carefully placed the toothbrush back in its place.

“Since when do you smoke?” Henry asked again.

“What?” Lizeth looked at Henry, her brow furrowed. “Did you go through my dresser?”

“That’s not an answer, Liz.”

She doesn’t really know what to tell him, or rather, she doesn’t know what excuse to give him, because he already knows them, even if she’s never told him, he’ll know it’s a complete lie.

“Why do you smoke?”

“It’s none of your business, besides, you do it too.”

“Just because I do it doesn’t mean you can, especially with that shitty health of yours, Lizeth."

Lizeth felt her body go cold. That meant he had found not only the cigarettes but also the medication.

She also began to feel a headache coming on...

Henry leaned against the door frame, arms crossed, looking at Lizeth.

She hadn’t moved an inch from her spot. She kept her head down, as if she were fragile.

“You scolded me so many times not to do it, and in the end, you’re doing it yourself.” Henry spoke in an almost sarcastic tone. “You shouldn’t do it, you know, because when you’re thirty, you’ll have the lungs of a ninety-year-old.”

It wasn’t normal, and truth be told, it was so strange to see her like this; vulnerable, as if she had done something terrible that no one was supposed to know about.

“Did you throw up, didn’t you?”

She nodded slightly.

Then she heard a sob.

She’s trembling.

Guilt is consuming her...

“Screw you, Lizzie, I’m not scolding you or anything. That’s your brother’s job." He approached the girl carefully and she hugged him.

Henry wasn’t a professional at consoling people, in fact, one could say he wasn’t the right person for that moment. But right now, there was only him, and consoling her was the least he could do. After all...

She kept her head resting on his shoulder. She continued to sob in complete silence.

“You’re a crybaby" he mentioned, looking at Lizeth. “Do you want to watch a movie? We can watch Frankenstein if it makes you feel better.”

Henry hated Frankenstein with all his heart, but he knew that was her favorite movie.

She nodded in response... Again.

Henry and Lizeth broke apart from the hug. He turned off the bathroom light and then took the girl’s hand to return to the room.

Maybe asking how she felt, if she wanted to talk, scream, cry more, or something really good and constructive would have been better than asking if she wanted to watch a movie. But somehow he knew that if he asked, it would be worse, and if she hadn’t had the courage yet to tell him, neither before nor now, it must be for a reason. Therefore, avoiding the problem and distracting her mind a little with something Lizeth would like was the best option —and the only one he could think of— at that moment.

“You know, I want to skip class, I’m not in the mood,” she confessed, looking at the boy.

“Lizzie saying she wants to skip class on a Monday? I never thought I’d live long enough to witness that.”

Lizeth gave him a weak punch on the shoulder, which only elicited a chuckle from him.

“You’re an idiot, Henry."

“Thanks, I already knew.”

She smiled.

“Thanks” she thanked him.

Henry smiled too, well, just a little.

“Oh, by the way, don’t ever go through my dresser again, I keep private stuff there.”

“Ignoring your makeup, what do you keep there, huh? Plans to overthrow the school principal? Your underwear? A weapon? Hopefully not a weapon because that would be very weird.”

Lizeth gave him another punch on the shoulder.

“What? I didn’t go through your entire dresser. Drama queen.”

“You’re a complete pervert” Lizeth insulted.

“Congratulations, you discovered something you already knew.”

They had already reached Lizeth’s room.

Lizeth let go of Henry’s hand to approach her bed and lie down.

“Damn, I’m tired...” Liz complained as Henry turned on the TV in the room. “The VHS is already in.” she mentioned, and almost immediately the movie’s introduction began to play.

Henry also approached the bed and lay down next to Lizeth.

He put his arm around her, and she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

"I love you, Henry.”