*He put his hand in hers. She closed her eyes, leaning her head on his shoulder. They gazed out on the sunset painting the sky a thousand colors, and the world began to fade to black...*

I blinked as the credits began to roll. Just another cheesy ending to another cheesy movie. It came as no surprise. So what was this feeling? Like... something between boredom and... longing? I shook my head, trying to get rid of the feeling; I had homework to get to. Not that it mattered, seeing as I could do fourth-grade math in my sleep, and probably better than the teacher. Still, that odd feeling lurked like a ghost at the edge of my thoughts, as it would for a long time after.

(Four Years Later)

*I looked up as she walked over to me. I wasn't nervous at all; this was perfectly natural. We talked a while, and I eventually asked her if we could go on a date. She said that she'd love to. After a few more minutes, she had to go; as she got up, I stood and hugged her on the spot. I had my arms around her when a disembodied voice cut in: "Thomas, what is the answer? Thomas, hello? What is..."*

"...the answer to the equation on the board?" asked my Algebra teacher. Startled out of my daydream, I managed to stutter out something along the lines of "I'm not sure". I hadn't paid attention for the last fifteen minutes; the problem drawn up on that chalkboard made no sense to me at all. Unlike that kid stuff years ago, this math actually took effort. My being a year ahead of my grade didn't help. The teacher frowned, then launched into an explanation that would probably take up the rest of the class period. Despite my best efforts, I promptly tuned him out. My entire attention was focused on the girl sitting two seats ahead of me - the same girl that had been in my mid-class fantasy. After years, I had finally given a name to that strange emotion triggered in me so long ago: infatuation. But for all my daydreaming, I could rarely work up the courage to say more than three words to her. As much as I hated it, things showed no signs of changing. Chances were, I would be doomed to silence for as long as I knew her.

(One Year Later)

*I stood there, looking everywhere but at her. Not long ago, I had thought that talking to her normally was hard; now, when I finally told her how I felt, we were were out on a date, and I couldn't be more silenced if I had no mouth at all. The movie was a long awkward silence, broken only by occasional nervous chuckles at particularly cheesy lines. The aftermath was even worse, though. Nothing to do; each of us making pathetic stabs at small talk; feeling like anywhere would be a better place to be than here. Eventually, she had to leave. As she stood, I heard myself say - much to my own amazement - "Want a hug?". She gave a shy smile and said, "Okay." I put my arms around her, and for that long moment, I knew it all had been worth it...*

I shook my head to clear the images. This time, the visions didn't bring a feeling of hopelessness; quite the opposite. I looked to my side and saw her smiling at me, her hand in mine. For this time, the vision had been no fantasy.
It was a memory.