• Dream

    Chapter 1

    “Find anything yet?” Derek asks me as he brings up a chair and sits next to me at the computer. I sigh at the virtual version of a newspaper article on the screen.

    “Barely.”

    He sighs too, then leans forward to read over my shoulder. His leg touches mine and my heart skips a beat, but I try to ignore it and focus on the article. He chuckles and I shoot him a sidelong glance. He’s still looking at the screen but seems to be paying no attention to it.

    “What? What’s so funny?”

    He smiles at me and says, “You’re heart.”

    My chocolate brown eyes widen and then my cheeks burn as I swivel back to the screen. I allow my strawberry blonde hair to fall in front of my face as I sit there, feeling his stare on me.

    “You better get home. It’s late.”

    I look at him and pout. I didn’t want to go home, I really didn’t. Every time I did I’d wake up and everything that happened would be gone. Just a dream.

    “Come on. I’ll carry you.”

    I stick my tongue out at him and reply, “You wish. Race you there!”

    We laugh and race down the hall, down roads and up into my house and, of course, he beats me, with his muscles and toughness and all.

    He flips me upside down and I laugh so hard my stomach hurts. He jokingly throws me down onto my bed and I throw the sheets over me, then let out a sigh.

    “Goodnight, Tay.” He smiles at me and softly kisses my forehead, and the world around me blurs as I fall into a deep sleep.

    ***

    I snap my eyes open and morning light streams in through the blinds in my room. Looking around, I sit up and yawn. Then, I observe the room more carefully for evidence that what happened last night was true--and once again, there’s nothing.

    Sighing, I throw the covers off me, pull on a Paramore shirt, distressed jeans and Converse high tops, and then trudge down the stairs. I grab a piece of toast that my mom laid out before heading off to work, then grab my skateboard and backpack.

    My mom is at work 24/7, and my dad always has business trips. I’m an only child, but 17. I live in the big city and go to school at a high school that probably has over 1,000 kids.

    The day is depressing, like usual. Gray cloud-covered sky, rain-drenched area, but no flowers. I ride to the school, then put the skateboard in my backpack before walking in. It’s quite large, but also quite depressing. My parents have tried to convince me to go to private schools--we’re rich--but I always refused. This was where my friends were, where my crush was, where my life was.

    Somehow, though, we always end up moving. This is my 7th town, 12th school. Sucks, I know, right? I’ve been here since Sophomore year, though, and now I’m a Senior, obviously. I made an agreement with my parents that if I got straight As, they’d let me stay in this school.

    “HEY TAYLOR!” My four best friends shout greeting as I walk up to my locker, surrounded by theirs.

    I sigh and reply, “Hey.”

    “Oh, don’t tell me you had that dream about that dude again.” Selena, my one friend who sometimes pisses me off, says as she gets her math book out of her locker. Her short black hair is pulled into a messy bun, her blue eyes looking like cold ice.

    “Oh shut up, Sel. It’s not like she can control her dreams.” My very best friend, Jamie, snaps, her brown curls flying everywhere in an angry agreement with her words.

    My other two friends, Bella and Megan, exchange a look, then mutter about heading off to class before the bell rings before taking off.

    Selena sighs, turns to me and says, “I’m sorry, Taylor.”

    “No, no, you’re right.” I slam my locker shut. “I’m in love with a figment of my imagination!”

    “It might not be a dream, Taylor! It might be real!”

    I snort at Jamie’s desperate attempt to cheer me up and sarcastically reply, “Yeah, sure he is. And I’ve just never seen him before except for at night during the time when you dream.”

    “But you said that everything always feels so real!”

    “That is true!” Selena admits as she straightens her white knee-length skirt, her black shirt with silver lightning bolts seeming to glitter in the bright lights.

    “Please, don’t try to cheer me up, guys.” I say as we head to our homeroom, English.

    “Well, there is another man you can focus on!” Jamie and Selena exchange a glance and say, in a sing-song voice, “John!”

    “Shut up!” I hiss and they crack up.

    John is the most popular boy in school. He has blondish-brownish hair, a great sense of humor, is amazingly kind and wears a gorgeous smile that can knock the breath out of you. But, sadly, I’m not the only girl who has a crush on him--that’s not a shock. Pretty much every girl in the school likes him, including my four best friends.

    “Okay, fine. If you’re gonna be in love with your imaginary boyfriend, then I’ll have him.” Selena grins and Jamie shoots her a glare.

    “Shut up, Sel!!”

    “Make me, pink skinny jean, green Abercrombie and Fitch shirt, white Hollister jacket b***h!”

    Jamie opens her mouth to release a comeback when the bell cuts her off. She slumps back in her seat, annoyed, Selena sitting straight up with a look of victory, and me sighing and spacing out.

    My mind wanders as the teacher talks to us about syllables and a figure appears in my head. An 18-year-old boy, tall, muscular, with pale yet tan skin. He has black hair that always seems to fall in front of his beautiful, jade green eyes.

    I sit there daydreaming about Derek until the end of class, and jump, startled, when the bell rings. Sighing, I pick up my stuff and trudge on to my next class…and the class after that…and the class after that…and so on.

    Soon enough it’s the end of the day, and I’m walking to Hollywood Video with Jamie. She’s always worked there and just managed to get me a job.

    I watch my puff of breath curl through the December air. Jamie says, “I’m sorry about Sel, Taylor. Sometimes she can just be a--”

    “b***h, yeah, I know.” I sigh as we round the corner and the video store comes into view. “But she’s right. I’m just so…so…dumb for loving Derek. He’s not even real!”

    I hear a rustle in the bushes next to us and stop for a moment, staring at them. But they went still, so I shrug again and catch up with Jamie. “Like I said before, maybe he is real!”

    “Then how come I only see him at night!? And how come nobody has any idea who the hell he is!?!”

    “Well…uhh…maybe he was a friend of yours when you were a kid, or a dude you had a crush on at one of your old schools or towns, and you just forgot about him, and now you have dreams about him or…he comes back to visit you at night ‘cause has school during the day or…uhh…he died and now his ghost haunts you!”

    I stop, my hand on the door, and turn to her and say, “Then how could he always be hugging me and everything if he’s a ghost?”

    She stands there for a moment and then says in defeat, “Touché.”

    I sigh and shake my head as I tug open the door. We walk inside the building, instantly relaxing when the warm breeze envelopes us.

    “Hey, Jamie. And hello, Taylor, our newest worker! Jamie, you can go to the register like usual, and Taylor, for starters, you can organize that new pile of DVDs just shipped in.” A man with brown hair and round glasses steps up and talks to us, and I guess he’s the manager.

    “Sure.” I smile as I push the cart of DVDs over to the horror section of the back of the store, and start putting them on the shelves, deciding whether they’re scream-worthy or just s**t.

    “Taylor, is that you?” A faint voice asks. I freeze at the sound of the voice, the DVD in my hand clattering to the ground.

    It was the voice of Derek.