The dream started with the girl. That's how I automatically knew it was a dream. no girl has ever gotten within 50 feet of me, let alone hold my hand like this one was.
she was also the most beautiful creature that I'd ever seen. silky blond hair tumbled down her back in small waves. her lips were thin but looked soft, a lock of hair slipped from behind her ear and rested lightly against her pail skin. I imagined tucking the lock back behind her ear, but if I didn't have the courage in real life, than why would I have any sort of courage in a dream.
and yet, as if on it's own accord my hand (the one that wasn't in the girl's) came up from the large rock that we were sitting on and picked the lock of hair off her cheek with my index finger and thumb and pushed it behind her ear. while dropping my hand I let my thumb brush gently against her cheekbone. she tilted her face up to meet my eyes and I felt a jolt of surprise run through me.
her eyes we red. not the scary scarlet red that you see in vampire movies, but a soft almost purple red. she grinned up at me, showing off a set of perfectly straight and sparkling white teeth. i felt myself smile back enthusiastically, like we'd known each other all our lives.
her grin changed to a sad smile as she continued to look me in the eye and when she spoke it sounded almost like tinkling bells.
"you have to go back, you know," she whispered sadly.
my eye brows pulled together and I tilted my head to the side, like i always did when I got confused.
"Stop that!" she laughed and massaged my wrinkled forehead with her fingers until I laughed too. " You know I can't resist you when you do that, it's too cute for your own good." she said after pulling her hand away and replacing it on my denim covered leg just above my knee.
I squeezed her hand and smiled again. she looked down at our joined hands and a wistful look crossed her face. When she looked back up her eyes sparkled with tears.
"you have to go back," she repeated firmly but shakily.
"What do you mean? Go back where?" I asked confused once again.
"back to public school," her voice broke slightly and i felt me heart ached at the sound of her being so hurt, "back to a normal life..." a tear leaked out of her eye and traced down her cheek and my throat tightened. she looked back up at me, "... and away from me." she finished in such a low whisper that I could barely hear her.
" I don't want to go back." I whispered and I whipped the tear off her cheek. she shivered under my touch and when I cupped her cheek in my hand she closed her eyes and leaned into it.
"you have to, as much as I want you to stay, you have to." tears continued to streak down her cheeks, and i continued to wipe them away. " you have to stop hiding from the world."
" I don't want to go back to High school," I replied calmly, usually when someone brought this up I'd get unimaginably p***ed but some how with this mystery girl, I felt utterly calm. "It was hell the first time, what are the chances that it'll be any different a second time?"
She looked me in the eye again and a small smile showed at the edges of her mouth.
"You've grown at least 6 inches since then and you have gorgeous muscles by the way." She giggled and for emphasis put her free hand on my well developed chest. then her face fell as if realizing something for the first time and her eyes refiled with tears. "you should be able to get a girlfriend in no time."
Her hand fell from my chest and she started to turn her body away from me and pull her hand from my grasp. I quickly grabbed her wrists gently and tugged on them so that she was facing me. when I was sure she wasn't going to pull away I took her face in my hands and looked her in the eye once more.
"If I do go back, will I ever see you again?" I asked nervously.
"only if you ask," a hopeful expression crossed her face but died off quickly. "But I understand if you want to be with someone else."
"I'll go back," I decided reluctantly, I knew it would be hell trying to figure out high school again, but frankly, I didn't care, just as long as she was happy.
you're in love with her, my mind whispered.
she squeezed her eyes shut, and i knew she was trying to hold back a sob.
"if,"I continued, and her eyes peaked open. "You'll stay with me. even if this is just a trick my subconscious is playing on me, I don't care, I want you with me, no matter what."
She let out her breath in what seemed to be a combination of a laugh and a sob and then threw her arms around my neck and buried her face into my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around her waist and gently lifted her off the rock and into my lap so that her legs were straddling my stomach. I felt her tears was down my bare shoulder....
wait a second, I thought and then finally realized that I was wearing nothing but a pair of worn out jeans.
It was also at that moment when i looked at the scenery behind the girl's head. there were trees all around us but we were sitting in a large clearing with a rainbow of wildflowers poking out of the grass. The warm glow of the sun was still visible over the tops of the trees.
when the girl pulled back I focused on her face and she turned her head away and I caught a glimpse of pink on her cheeks and she wiped at the tears in her eyes with the heel of her hand.
I chuckled at her attempts (she really wasn't doing a good job of getting rid of those tears), grabbed her hand in my own and wiped away the salt water with my own hand.
she smiled at me shyly.
"I can't be with you unless you're asleep," she said sheepishly," but i think i know a way that I can be with you the rest of the time."
without another word, she reached around her neck and unclasped a chain that I hadn't realized had been resting there. she pulled out a small pendent from beneath the collar of her faded red t-shirt and re-clasped the chain around my own neck. the pendent was warm against the area of my skin where it was resting. I looked down at it. it had a simple design on its oval surface, an uppercase E written in cursive and surrounded by what looked like vines with thorns sticking out of them.
E... I thought absently. Elaina.....
I looked back up at her and our gazes locked.
Just tell her you moron! a girls voice broke into my empty mind. Tell her you love her or I'm going to have to kill you!!!
To punctuate her point a bolt of searing hot pain raced through my head. I clutched at my head, breaking eye contact with Elaina.
"are you okay?" she asked frantically.
I looked up at her worried eyes once more and the pain faded.
"I'm okay now." I whispered.
Elaina smiled again and i could feel my heart skip a beat as she leaned towards me. Her lips brushed mine and I smiled to myself before pressing my lips to hers gently. Elaina eagerly kissed me back and draped her arms around my neck once more.
"Elaina!" a deep booming voice came from behind me.
We both jumped and I whipped my head around but there was nothing there but a dark inky shadow hovering above the ground by the trees.
"You need to go now," Elaina whispered in my ear.
I nodded not bothering to ask what was wrong, somehow I knew that if I didn't wake up right now, i might not wake up at all.
"Good-bye," I whispered turning back to her and pulled against me in one last hug.
"Good-bye, Mackie. and good luck."
before I knew it my eyes snapped open and i was staring up at the smooth white ceiling of my room. I sat up in bed and exhaled, closing my eyes. when I opened them again i looked down at my chest and resting there just below my color bone was the necklace that Elaina had given me in my dream.
but it was very real.