This Is Us

I wake up screaming, sitting up quickly with my hand over my chest, drenched in my misery. I run my hands through my hair and hold them against my neck, allowing tears to fall. My mother runs into my room along with my older brother Dominic following behind; I launch myself into Dom's arms shaking.

"Shh, it's alright, sis. I've got you." He whispers with his lips placing on the top of my head.

"Another nightmare, sweetheart?" My mom sit beside me, rubbing my arm with grave concern in her eyes.

"I-I.." I can't finish what I'm saying. Too horrified by my nightmare.

"Maybe you need to see someone to help you through this. These issues aren't okay." I look at him with a tear-stained face.

"I-I know. I don't know what's wrong with m-me. I can't s-shake whats happened." I cry out, remembering the death of my best friend that happened only eight months ago.

"I'm going to call Dr. Richards in the morning to see what his thoughts are. These nightmares are becoming too much, and I'm worried about you." Mom stands up. "I'll see you both in the morning for breakfast. Try and get some sleep, honey." She walks away and shuts the door, leaving Dominic and I.

"She's right, you know. You need to go back and talk about this. These nightmares of Tessa are starting to scare me." He sits further back, getting more comfortable on my bed.

"And what do I say exactly? That my best friend died and there was nothing I could do to save her?! It's like I'm repeating every session!" I snap at him on accident.

He looks at me with a frown, deep sorrow in his eyes, and I immediately feel terrible.

"I'm sorry, Dom. I didn't mean to get angry with you." I whisper, looking away, ashamed.

"It's okay, Chelsea. I get it. We all loved her."

"Can you stay with me? I don't want to be alone." I look back at him.

"Of course. You know I'm always here." He gets under the covers and covers us both up. He fall asleep instantly, and I struggle to go back to bed for a while until my brothers' soft snores ends up making me close my eyes and drift to sleep.

My alarm goes off at 6:00 am. I groan and roll over to shut it off. I see Dominic sprawled out, tangled in my comforter. Drool pooling on my pillow.

Ugh, gross. I think to myself as I take my pillow and smacked him with it.

"WAKE UP, DOM!" I yell. He jumps and falls off my bed, grunting.

"Jesus, Chels! What the hell!?" He yells. Dominic isn't a morning person.

"Ew, you drooled on my pillow," I smirk at him. He glares at me with an evil eye, and I instantly know. I run out of my room, hearing his loud footsteps behind me.

"You're going to get it!"

"Ahhh!" I scream while laughing my way to the bathroom. "Chelsea Ann Evans!" He yells out after me.

Oh shit, I'm in trouble!

I run into the bathroom attempting to shut the door. Dominic catches it and pushes his way through. I stand there waiting for his wrath.

"You know, wouldn't it be great to be woken up more nicely." He scowls at me. I look at the sink and move to it, Dom following my steps.

"Hmm, I would if you didn't snore all night." I roll my eyes at him turning on the faucet and grabbing my toothbrush. I'm too busy putting toothpaste on my toothbrush until Dominic dowses my face wit water. "DOMINIC ALAN EVANS! WHAT THE FU-?!"

"Kids, what's going on in here? And missy, watch our mouth." My dad is coming in.

"Ask your son! I'm soaking wet!" I yell out. Dominic and dad stares at me in silence before breaking out in a boisterous laugh. "Ugh, go away so I can get ready." I shove them out the door, turn on the shower, and get in.

I towel dry my hair walking into my walk-in closet.

Hmm, what to wear, I think to myself while tapping my finger to my lips.

I see my white distressed high-waisted shorts, and I grab my dark maroon crop top. I lay it on my bed and walk to my vanity, and start applying my makeup: simple winged eyeliner, mascara, and tinted lipgloss. The liner make my bright green eyes stand out again from my long dark lashes. I blow-dry my hair and curl the blonde ends. Roughing up the curls to give it that beach wave look.

Damn, I look good.

I trample downstairs to see everyone eating. Mom sits my plate of waffles and strawberries in front of me. I quickly scarf it down, seeing I'm running behind.

"Dom, can you give me a ride to school?" I ask.

"Sure, make sure you're ready. I'm leaving now." He grabs his bag walking out.

"Bye, mom and dad, love you!" I run after Dominic.

"Bye, sweetie! Love you, and have a good day!" I hear before the door shut. I see Dom waiting in his black lifted Chevy.

God, I love his truck.

"Ready?" He puts the truck into drive.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I grumble out, knowing whose face I'll have to see, the one and only, Damon Carter.

We get to school, I already see the girls smiling and gawking at him as we walk past. He's your typical charmer. He has dad's good looks, dirty blonde shaggy hair that curls up at the bottom, same bright greens eyes I have. He's muscular with being the quarterback of the football team, and boy, he has a way with words and uses them well. I roll my eyes, seeing the famous "smirk" he gives the girls.

"What's with the eye roll, sis?" He laughs bumping shoulders with the me.

"Oh, I don't know, seeing the entire female population here will have heart attacks if they see that smirk again," I say flatly.

"Loosen up; We're in high school. I'll be off to college next year. This is just practice for the big leagues." He laughs and I punch his arm, "God, Dom. Grow up."

I see a few of my friends waiting at the school entrance.

"Hey, ladies!" I say.

"Hey, Chels," Chloe responded s smiling.

"Hey, girl!" Lauren, too busy looking at Dom. "Why's he so damn hot!?" I look at Lauren with a raised brow.

"Gross Lauren." I shiver at the thought of my brother and best friend.

"What! That boy is blessed!" She says, gawking at him. Dom looks over with his friends and winks at my friends; Lauren and Chloe blush feverishly and smile back.

"Hey, Dom!" They say in unison. He waves and turns back to his friends.

"Where the guys at?" I look around not seeing them anywhere in sight.

"They're at the lockers already. Let's go!" Chloe is linking arms with Lauren and I dragging us inside the school.

"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Xavier says, winking at me.

"Whatever, Xav! You're not as sly as you think you are!" I respond blissfully, fully aware of where this was headed. "Don't think that kind of flattery will get you anywhere with me." I winks back at him.

He laughs and puts his arm around my shoulder, his lips so close to my ear, I can feel the warm minty breath tickling me.

"Are you sure, princess? Don't make me have you beg." He whispers rubbing him his nose next to my ear . "I know you're curious about what this mouth can do." My eyes widen and my mouth opened partly. I hear him stifle a laugh.

"God, you're the worst!" I shove his arm off of me.

"I can't help it! It's too easy to do to you!" I look at him and smile.

Xavier's hot. Gorgeous with his dark brown hair, the top looks like he constantly runs his fingers through it. Don't get me started on his golden brown eyes and his six-pack-toned body. Oh. My. God. All the girls fall for him and line up just for a taste. He's your typical fuck boy. But when it comes to us girls, he's protective. He loves to use his sexual gain to mess with us though, which I can't deny; I love them too.

We're all huddling around talking, waiting for the first bell to ring. I heard a peal of familiar laughter following by a girl's. Chloe points at me with an uneasy look on her face.

"Don't turn around." I'm hesitant at first, but my curiosity peaks and I instantly regret it. My stomach turns and twists with uneasiness watching Damon and Crystal in a heated make-out session. He has her pushed up against the lockers down from mine grabbing her ass as she pushes into him more.

"Jesus, can she wear anything more revealing?" Lauren says in disgust.

How the hell is she allowed to wear that in school? I think in disgust.

"I wish you don't have to see that." Max drops his gaze to me, knowing what more in depth of happened between Damon and I.

Max use to be Damon's best friend before Tessa died. Tessa is Damon's twin sister. She had beautiful long wavy black hair, hazel eyes, and a slim figure. She had a heart of gold and a laugh you'd never forget. Damon, on the other hand, has jet black hair that always looked a little roughed up and the darkest brown eyes, they almost look black. He's tan from the sun, and a body carved out by the gods. Seriously, drool-worthy. A girl fainted once when he took his shirt off during football practice. No joke.

Xavier clears his throat loudly, getting their attention.

"What do you want, Xavier? Another piece of me?" She winks at him knowing it'd piss of Chloe. She's had a secret a thing for him since last year.

"Erm, no thanks. I had you before you turned into leftovers, and trust me. Nobody goes back for it." She stands there opening and closing her mouth like a fish.

"Um, you going to come to my defense, Damon?" She asks him with irritation in her voice. Although, he isn't paying any attention to her.

His focus is solely locked on my presence. I hold his challenging gaze, not backing down. I refuse to accept letting him ruin me again. I can feel his heated stare as his eyes roam my body. Every part of myself his eyes lingers on tingles my skin, and my heart skips a beat. I hate how easily he can make me submit. I'm stopping that now.

"Do you have a problem, Carter?" I'm glaring at him when a smirk forms and he licks his lips, expecting me to follow the way his tongue went in and out; I don't lower my gaze. I keep them focusing on his eyes, wanting him to know he doesn't affecting me. He pushes himself off the locker, stepping in my direction, and stands so close to me; his woodsy cologne engulfs me.

"Would you like one?" He speaks profoundly, not breaking eye contact. I don't respond. His stupid cologne drowns out my senses and my brain refuses to work with me.

"Oh wait, You've already caused me enough problems." He leans in closer so no one can hear him but me, his lips nearly touching my ear. "Don't think for one second I don't see how I still affect you." He steps back from me, watching my expression harden. He walks away with crystal and his friends. I'm pissed.

"Fuck you, Damon!" I spit out to him. He half-turns around and says as meaningless as possible, "Already did that sweetheart." I turns and close my eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Fuck, you okay?" Max looks at me with concern. "Yeah, I'm alright," I say vehemently.

Max, Xavier, Lauren, and I walk into our first period, English, with Ms. Bell. She's sweet and takes her time making the class enjoyable.

"Open your textbooks so we can get started." Ms. Bell chimes in. The door opens up, and I see Crystal and Tonya walking in. Two of the schools mean girls. Crystal sees me and flips me off, walking down my aisle. I roll my eyes at her as she's walking toward me. She stops at my desk and leans over.

"Damon wanted to send his apologies. You know, for the mistake he made. You. But don't worry, I'm here now to keep him distracted." She snickers and walks away while her lapdog follows close behind. I keep my emotions in check with a blank face.

As the class drags on, I find myself drowning in my thoughts of Damon Carter. As badly as I want to push them back, my mind doesn't let me. He looks good in his black fitted tee and dark jeans. He use to be my best friend, along with Tessa. We were permanently attached at the hip so much people swore we were triplets. Our moms were best friends growing up, and they stayed that way. We did everything together, and I had always taken a liking to Damon. Of course, as we got older, I started crushing on him, and he did the same.

There's a magnetic pull we have and I t's rather intoxicating. Even now, when I try to forget it, it hasn't faded. Tessa always wanted us to be together, she claimed our love was something magical and it illuminated. Last year before her death was the best year of my life. Damon and I were together. We were sophomores and had the same group of friends growing up. All of our memories were blurred together. Crazy how quickly people and life change.