I wasn’t surprised when I woke up and remembered I had dreamt about him. It was a wonderful dream, one of the best I ever had. Nothing really happened, but he was in it, and that’s what made it amazing. All that I remember from the dream is waking up and finding him laying besides me, his eyes glued to mine. As soon as I actually woke up I looked to the spot beside me where he had been laying but there was nothing there. Exhausted, I turned over to the side of my bed wear my nightstand was. On it was my alarm clock, my chap stick, a book I had finished a while ago, and a small picture frame with a picture of me and Ian. The current picture had only been taken a little while ago in May at the Wolfe’s annual barbecue. I had put a new picture of me and Ian beside my bed every year since I was eight years old. All of the other picture were somewhere scattered around the room, and every year the most recent one becomes my favorite. I especially liked this one. Sadly I got out of bed and made breakfast. I had slept in until early afternoon, due to the late, or should I say early, hour of my arrival the previous night, therefore my parents had left for work already. Corinne had left a list of chores for me and my sister to do while she was away but when I decided I would go do some of them they were already finished. I smiled to myself, you couldn’t ask for a better sister than Nicole. The rest of the day I lounged around doing nothing out of the ordinary, mostly just day dreaming about you know who.



After a few days of the same routine I found myself lying on my bed with nothing to do. I had thought about calling Olivia but then decided against it, I wasn’t really in the mood to do anything today. I had been that way ever since Kate’s party. His angel like face never left my thoughts, day or night. Every night I would have the same wonderful dream I had the night of Kate’s party and every day I would do nothing but mope around the house waiting for night to come so I could dream about his beautiful face again. Why did I have to be so pathetic?



Just then I heard the telephone begin to chime in the living room. I rushed over and picked up the phone right before the last ring ended.



“Hello?” I answered as I tried to catch my breath.



“Sam, is that you?” Debra Wolfe’s voice asked.



“Yeah,” I responded still breathing heavily, “Is there something you needed?”



“Yes actually, there is.” She paused and covered the phone to yell something at Ian who I heard in the background shouting something back. She sighed as she took her hand off the phone. “Do you think you could babysit Anna tonight?” I would normally ask Ian but he has to work until late tonight and I have this huge party I have to go to for work and—“



“It’s fine Deb, what time do you need me to be there?”



“Around four o’ clock, if that time is ok for you I mean.”I smiled to myself. Deb always made her schedule fit around everyone else’s; she was so sweet and genuine that way.



“That’s fine. I’ll be over in about fifteen minutes.”



“Oh god bless you!” She said relieved “Goodbye sweetheart!”



“See you in a little bit Deb!” I said hanging up the phone.



I headed over to the bathroom and quickly pulled my hair back into a pony tail and changed into some old sweatpants. Then I grabbed my bag and stuffed it with my cell phone and a book I could read once Anna fell asleep. I then decided to grab a quick bowl of cereal before heading over.



As I was pouring the milk I heard the front door open.



“Hello?” I called from the kitchen. No answer. “Is anyone there?” I yelled, this time much louder, but I got the same response. Maybe I’d just imagined I’d heard someone come in. Not thinking much of it I grabbed a spoon from the drawer and began chowing down on my cereal. Only a few moments later I heard footsteps stridently walking on the wooden floor. Curious, I set down the bowl of cereal and walked out of the kitchen towards the entryway, but no one was there. And now the footsteps had stopped. I wanted to yell again, but thought against it. Someone was in my house, and I wasn’t so sure if that person would be so friendly.



I quietly tip-toed into my parent’s bedroom, and I constantly looked around me anxiously just to make sure whoever it was hadn’t found me first. Once I reached the bedroom I cautiously shut the door behind me, then started searching everywhere for signs of movement just as I was about to check the master bathroom I heard the bedroom door open. Terrified I took refuge in my father’s small closet. I closed the doors smoothly and hid behind the wall of clothes. I watched nervously as the sun that seeped through the blinds that covered the large glass window seemed to paint the picture of the figure’s shadow on the walls. Slowly the shadow danced from wall to wall, getting ever so close to my hiding place. Then there wasn’t just a shadow and I saw the actual person walking down the hallway past the closet. I felt my body trembled as it passed by the doors and held my breath as I closed my eyes and prayed they wouldn’t stop. Why did I always have the worst luck? I opened my eyes just to see the figure slow it’s pace and turn to face the closet. I backed up against the wall, pushing myself against it as if I pushed hard enough I might become a part of it just for a few moments for the individual to be assured there was no one here and leave. Its hand reached for the closet handles and I tried to position myself behind one of Key’s large ankle-length winter coats to camouflage myself. Then the doors slowly began to open and light flooded the small area. I was really in for it now, why didn’t I just run when I had the chance? My eyes glanced down and I could see the lower half of the intruder’s body. It looked to be a man wearing a dark tan suit and very expensive looking shoes. I wondered why a gentleman like that would be in my house.



The man stepped forward very leisurely and I couldn’t quite tell what he was doing with his hands but he looked to be skimming through Key’s jackets, trying to find an expensive one he could take with him I presume. But the man grabbed nothing, until he reached the coat I was hiding behind. His gripped tightened around the jacket sleeve and just as he was about to rip it of the hanger I glanced down at my bag. I had forgotten I had it with me. I stuck my hand inside and pulled out the book I was planning on reading. It wasn’t that large, but if I hit him in the head hard enough with it it would definitely leave the men stunned just long enough for me to maneuver around him and make a run for it.



My hand shook as I clenched the book, preparing to strike. Then the coat was off the hanger and in the man’s arms. I didn’t get a good look at him before I thrust the book at his face, but when I did he screamed, but not in pain. Actually it was more like a surprised bellow. Still, I sprinted forward, unfortunately I didn’t look where I was going and ran straight into the man’s chest. I screamed as he dropped the book and gripped my shoulders.



“Let me go!” I cried as tears began streaming down my cheeks. I continued to try and run but he held me firm. “I said let go!” and I began punching his chest. He seemed to ignore my efforts and he removed one his hands from my shoulder to my head, where he gently stroked my hair back.



“Shh, calm down.” Key’s voice said. I looked up surprised at what I heard. It really was him!



“Dad!” I yelled and threw my arms around him.



“Of course” He said patting me on the back. “Sorry I spooked you, but why were you in my closet anyway?” I let go of him and then thought about what I was going to say. What was I suppose to tell him?



“I, uh, thought you were somebody else.” I said it nervously; afraid he might think I was crazy or something.



“Really? What gave you that idea?” He chuckled amusingly.



“When you came in I asked who was there and no one answered, then I didn’t recognize you with the suit.” He laughed again and I felt really stupid. This was going to make me feel even more stupid.



“I’m sorry sweetie, I was listing to some messages and I guess I didn’t hear you.” He pointed to his Bluetooth headset around his ear.



“Oh.” Why did I always have to be so paranoid? I’m usually not, but when I got home after Kate’s party and I was in the dark, and I felt someone else’s presence… I keep think that person is still there, watching me. I felt myself shiver at the thought. Ever since then I’ve been super anxious about everything. That’s why I jumped to the conclusion that a stranger was inside my house so quick. Boy did I have problems. “But why were you wearing the suit?”



“I had a big lunch meeting with a client of mine from out of town.” He shrugged indifferently. “We ate at the country club and I never had a chance to change before I went back to the office.”



“I guess that makes sense.” I said bending over to pick up my book and stuff it in my bag. “Sorry about smacking you with a book by the way.” I joked.



“It’s alright kiddo, it didn’t even really hurt.” He tussled my hair and started to walk out of the room. I was slightly aggravated that my attempt to stun ’the stranger’ wouldn’t have even worked. I Felt my heart still beating rapidly inside my chest, I suppose I still hadn’t fully calmed down from the whole burglar episode. I then dug my hand into my bag searching for my phone to check what time it was. Holy cow! I’d better leave right now or I’d make Deb late. I slung the bag around my shoulder and headed for the door.



“See you later dad!” I yelled before closing the door. It shut before I heard his response but I expected it was just something along the lines of “Bye, I love you.” Or something similar to that. Key usually didn’t mind if I left without telling him where I was going, I always had my cell phone on me so if he ended up getting worried he’d just call. Corinne on the other hand might have a mental breakdown, so on the way to Ian’s I called her and left a message telling her I was babysitting for Deb until late tonight.