I’m paralyzed, unsure of what to do.
“I’m not like them. I’m not like them. I’m not like them.”
Who is she talking about?
I approach the bed.
Her arms and legs are fighting with the sheets.
“Don’t hurt me. Please, don’t hurt me. No!”
Harley lets out a piercing scream that takes ten years off my life.
She snaps awake with a sharp gasp, sits upright in bed, her eyes wide.
I sit next to her.
She stares at me as if she doesn’t see me.
That was intense.
I grab her face into the palms of my hands and angle her head so her eyes lock onto mine. “It’s okay.”
She still has that glassy look in her eyes.
I brush her damp hair off her face. “Do you see me?”
Nothing.
“Harley?”
She blinks twice.
“It’s only the two of us in the house,” I say. “No boogie man.”
She intakes a sharp breath.
“Ka— Kaz—” She dissolves into tears.
“You’re safe, Harley.”
Her breathing is labored.
My pulse races, thumping against my temples. “You had a nightmare.”
“I’m sorry I woke you up. I haven’t even been here twenty-four hours, and already, I’m a terrible roommate.”
“Shh, you didn’t. I wasn’t asleep yet. And for the record, you’re not a terrible roommate.”
She shuffles closer to me on the bed, and I wrap my arms around her.
She’s shaking like a leaf.
Her sobs intensify, and her body jerks with her cries.
“You can share whatever’s so heavy on your mind.”
She shakes her head against my chest.
