I woke up two and a half hours later. I made myself pancakes, but burned them. I ended up just eating some toast. My mom, who was sleeping on the couch, stirred and lazily opened one eyes. “Kate, what are you doing?”
I answered that with a question. “What happened to eight?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight. What are you eating?”
“Like you would know. You know, my friend’s mom actually takes care of her daughter.”
“Kate. I take care of you-”
“Yeah right,” I cried as I slammed the door. I sprinted to the bus. My mother called after me. Let her shout, I wasn’t going back.
I waited for the bus for fifteen minutes. I’m just glad it was spring or I would’ve frozen. On the bus, two girls from my class kept whispering and pointing. I pretended not to notice. But I didn’t think that was possible once we got off the bus.
“Hey, Katie,” One with a mini skirt and leggings waved, sarcastically sweet.
“It’s just Kate,” I answered.
“So, Katie, were you dreaming about that new boy yesterday?”
“No,” I retorted. He wasn’t in that very one…
“I think so,” The other said. She was in purple. “You’re always, like, following him around.”
The two girls were both “popular”. I think. “You two just shut it, okay?”
“Why?” Asked the purple girl. I remembered her name was Stephanie. “You’re always hanging around him. You’re stalking him or something.”
“Am not.”
“Yeah you are,” Mini skirt retorted. Emma, that was her name. My great epiphany of the day. “He’s way out of your league, freak.”
“Shut it,” I warned. I could feel my face burning. They only laughed.
“Or what?” Emma asked, placing a hand on her hip and popping her knee. “Like you’ll hurt us.”
“I will, and you know it,” I snarled.
“Yeah, right,” Emma scoffed. “Go try and get your little crush, creeper.”
That did it. I punched her right in the jaw as hard as I could. “Told ya,” I snarled, getting into a defensive position. Her friend screeched, yelling numerous names as she away. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth. I saw them dash into the bathroom. I hollered back a name that topped all of hers as I walked. I knew how stupid that was the instant I began to walk away. They would spread it, then get revenge. They would be quick to tell a teacher, too. But I really didn’t care. Screw them. Screw everything.
I saw Derek. I waved, but didn’t feel like talking. He tilted his head forward. Probably getting “ten feet away from the kid with major issues”. I groaned. I just wanted to be alone.
“Too bad. What’s wrong?”
“Okay, now that’s kinda creepy,” I muttered.
“Yeah, well I’m kind of creepy, getting drafted to go into people’s … yeah…for a living. So get used to it.
“Okay. And nothing’s wrong,” I insisted. “I just over slept.
“No, that’s not it. Was it something with your mom? A kid from school? I know it’s a person. Was it that Miguel kid? Cause if it is…”
“No,” I cut him off. “I’m fine, really,” He wanted to protest, but the bell rang and I got lost in the sea of swarming kids heading to their lockers.
Class was crazy. I got glares from the majority of the girls in the class. Not to mention the pressing, yet good intentional looks form Derek. I couldn’t shake the fact she hadn’t told a teacher, though. She probably had a better plan in mind. Well, the wait was getting to me. I always just did whatever came to my mind first. I hated elaborate stuff.
Derek kept bothering me walking out to leave. He even started walking backwards as we went out to the busses. Before I got on mine I asked: “Don’t you need to go home?” I forgot who I was talking to. But he didn’t show any emotions. Of course.
“Nope. Like I said, I don’t have an address. And I can only get to H.Q. when I’m sleeping. So…”
“Sorry, I forgot,” My apologetic voice as flooded with remorse.
“S’okay,” He nodded- as he was getting onto my bus.
“So are you coming to my place?”
“I guess, if you let me...”
“Sure, why not? Oh, shoot,” I remembered the note I left with my mom.
“You okay? You just got all… freaked out. Your mom?”
“Yeah. We kinda had a fight this morning. I said she….” I couldn’t tell him. As nice as he was, I was still trying t shake my trust issues.
“C’mon, you can talk to me,” He gave me a soft, friendly grin.
That got me. “I told her she didn’t take care of me. Then I ran out the door. She was yelling my name, but I just kept on running.”
“Oh. How do you think she’d take to me when she’s mad at you?”
“Not sure. I haven’t had anyone over since… yeah.”
“When was that?” He asked as the bus lurched to a stop. A handful of kids got off.
“In January.”
“Wow, it must’ve been bad. I mean, three months and still…”
“Yeah. My dad kept coming back, even after they got divorced. They would fight a-and….”
“And?”
“And my dad left for good after the last one.”
“I’m sorry,” He got all glumly, all at once. I guess he was serious about only having one level of sadness.
“No, no. It’s fine. This is my stop,” I got up, and he followed. I walked around the corner to my house. I lingered on the sidewalk, though. Should I go in? “Uh, Derek. I think we should go,” I said slowly. I pivoted and headed down the street.
“You sure?” He caught my arm.
I looked at him over my shoulder. “Yes,” I answered firmly.
I towed him down the street and to the park. I sat down on a swing, wistful. Hopeless.
“Hey, you don’t look too good.”
“Cause I’m not,” I cried, burying my head in my hands. I couldn’t go home. I just couldn’t. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there until everyone forgot about me.
“Don’t say that. You’re going to go home, make up with your mom, and everything will be fine.”
“Yeah, I wish. You are a dreamer. Well, this is the real world. You can’t just fly away to a place where everything will get better. Things don’t get better,” I shouted and ran, not knowing where to go, I climbed up the steps and crouched down in a tunnel. But I forgot about Derek. He tried to get me, but I raced out. I flew down the slide and sprinted. I didn’t know where I was going. I didn’t care.
I stopped when I got to my street. I had subconsciously come here. I decided to hide right in my front yard. I’ll have a good laugh about it when my mom can’t find me and I’m right there. I brushed away some branches and kneeled in the bushes. I would gather up my stuff and night and hightail it out of here.
But where would I go? I didn’t know any of my relatives. I guess I could pretend I was an orphan who had anesthesia. But, then, how would I know I was an orphan? Could you have partial memory loss? If only I would think this hard in school. Maybe I could raise my C’s.
Here’s the thing. I used to be a straight A student. But once my parents started fighting- really badly- I dropped down to B’s. Then after the divorce…
I heard a door swing open. “Kate? Kate, are you here?” It was my mom. It was now forty five minutes after school. She just realized I was gone. That was just plain sad. She was a pathetic mother.
She scanned the lawn, then whipped out a cell phone. She called the school, I think. “Excuse me, sir? Have the busses left yet? Are you sure? Umm, I think my daughter’s on bus… uh…. Whichever one comes to Flagstaff Drive. Okay. She probably went to a friend’s house. Thank you. Good evening.”
What “friend” would she call? As if on cue, she hesitated. I saw her instead get into her car. She went straight for the park. I’m glad I left when I did.
I decided to make it as far as I could in a week. If I walked three miles per day, I could get twenty one miles in all. That would get me three towns over. That was far enough- for now.
I burst into the house and flew up the stairs. I grabbed a bag from my close, filling it with clothes, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. I snatched my wallet, which had fifty dollars. I grabbed an apple and ran out. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mom’s car. She beeped. I bolted, my lungs bursting. But my mom did, too. I made a quick right into an alley. She went in reverse. While she was doing so, I hid behind some crates.
My mom hopped out of the car and stormed down the alley. “You had me worried sick. Don’t you ever do that again, missy,” She continued for a few more seconds, but stopped. She realized I wasn’t there. She let out an exasperated moan and went back to her dark blue mini van. She had been planning on having a few more children. My dad left before she could.
I crept out and began speed walking eastward. This would lead me to a small, village like town. There were abundant cornfields there. I could walk through them if there were no sidewalks. After about twenty minutes, I hit the mile marker. I didn’t want to waste my apple or money yet, though. I would eat my apple at the end of the day (so it would still be good). Then I would use my money later.
It took for another two hours (I stopped twice) but I made my goal. I was the strongest girl in the class- or my old class, I guess. But running? I was the bottom of the middle. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to get my three miles each day.
The sun fell behind the trees. I realized I forgot about something. Where am I going to sleep? I searched for an abandoned house. Nothing. So I wandered over to a cornfield, thanking God it was a warmer day. It was April, so I was sleeping on snow crushed stalks. It was long gone, but the ground was a bit damp. But I had I plan. Walking for a while gives you time to think. I went into a fast food joint bathroom and changed clothes. When I went back to the cornfield, I lay down my pants, making a dry little mat. I used my shirt as a small blanket and bag as a pillow.
Oh, come on. The next thing I saw was a boy staring at me, eyebrows raised strictly. He looked like a mother who had just caught a toddler stealing a cookie. “Care to explain why you’re sleeping in a field?”
“I can’t go back” I explained, trying not to sound pouty.
“Yeah you can. I’ll give you directions,” Light sarcasm entered his voice.
“You don’t get it,” I sat down on the ground, arms crossed. I was sitting on a stage. I remembered seeing a theater on the way here. Random, but what can you do?
“Yeah, I do. You’re the one who doesn’t get it,” He got all gloomy.
“Don’t get all depressed.”
“I wouldn’t, if I could. It would be a lot smaller. But if you went back a few years, my reaction to that would be a lot worse,” He was back to normal now.
“What does that mean?”
He sighed. “Kate, there’s another reason I got drafted. You need to have had a tragedy happen, and handle it well. I only mentioned it. I was fine after half a year. I wanted to find a way to help kid endure what I had to go through.”
“Which was…?”
“Kate,” He took a labored pause, “my mom died when I was nine and my dad was an alcoholic.”

I woke up abruptly after that. Why? I tossed, then opened one eye. I bolted upward.
“Miss, what are you doing here?” It was a cop.
“I, uh, I wanted of sleep out under the stars?” I lied.
The second asked: “Hey, doesn’t that look like the runaway that we got a call about?” He pulled out a picture as I began to inch away. “Yeah, it is,” He cried, shocked and happy he found me.
I didn’t wait around. I snatched my satchel and ran as fast as I could. I only got a few yards before the one with the picture grabbed my arm. They reprimanded me the whole way back home.
“You had me worried sick,” She hugged me, thanking the police men. But when they left, her face got a little reddish. “Why would you do that? You saw my car and you know it.”
“Yeah, I did.”
She moaned. “You are such a trouble maker. You need to settle down. You’ve got a roof over your head, clothes, and food. I pay for school, for your little play dates….”
“One, ‘play dates’ is lame. Two, since when do I hangout with anybody?”
“You… you...” She paused, thinking back. Epic fail.
“Told’ya. And anyways, I was doing better on my own. No people at school, no worries about being a freak, and no having to deal with you nagging about dad. Heck, no dealing with you and dad at all,” Tears poured down my cheeks as I ran to my room and slammed the door, locking it. I threw myself down on the bed, sobbing into my pillow. I let it all out. My parents, Miguel, confusion and sympathy for Derek, everything.
I stayed there for an hour. Then my mom dragged me downstairs and to the car. I now hate bobby pins. They unlock doors that shouldn’t be touched.
I absentmindedly grabbed my bag. They were halfway through with lunch, probably. I wouldn’t need one. But the last thing I had was an apple before bed. I had a feeling I would be starving by the end of the day.
I slumped down in my seat, head down. I had arrived as kids were coming back from lunch. I saw Derek, but didn’t meet his eyes. I was, I don’t know, ashamed. His mom had died. And he wasn’t Goth or a pessimist or anything. I was such a brat.
“No you’re not,” A voice whispered as he passed me.
“Ha ha, really funny, show off,” I muttered with a small grin. He returned it. Maybe I could get through today. Maybe.
“Hey, where were you? Playing hooky?”
“Go fix your skirt, Miguel,” I glared up at him, ready with a comeback.
“Seriously, where were you?” His voice was filled with false concern.
What the heck? It wouldn’t matter if he knew. “I was running away. Happy?”
“Wow, isn’t it hard for a runner as suckish as you?” He smirked. Now kids were listening.
“No, it wasn’t. I got into the next town.”
“Where’d you sleep, Miss I’m So Great?”
“In a cornfield. Gotta problem with that?”
He stared down at me like a lion sizing up its prey. “Why, were you sleeping like the stupid rat you are?”
That did it. I got up and shoved him. He swung for a punch, but I ducked. I threw my uneaten apple at his head. Miguel staggered back. “You flippin’… you better be sorry.”
“And if I’m not?”
“Then I’m gonna make you pay,” He threatened.
“In that case, I’m not sorry,” I forged a sweet, taunting smile.
Miguel swore and leered as he walked back to his seat. Derek gave me the same disapproving, parental look as in my dream. I gave him a “Can you blame me?” face just as Ms. Haggle waltzed in, carrying books and papers.
I opened my desk and got out my stuff. A note was thrown in it right before I closed it. I scanned the room. Whoever sent it flying wasn’t looking this way. It read: Watch your back, freak. I’ll be there.
Stupid Miguel. Like he could actually hurt me. But could he? He got me pretty bad that one day until Derek showed up. I snuck one more glance at Miguel. Sure enough, he was looking back. Even when I turned away, I couldn’t get that menacing sneer out of my head.
I was careful walking out. Derek picked this up and stuck close by. “Stop talking to him and we could avoid all of this,” He hissed as Miguel’s best friend brushed by- and a little too closely.
“He started it.”
“So? You should end it.”
“You’re such a goody goody,” I accused. But we both just laughed and climbed onto the bus. He apparently was making a routine of this. “So where do you sleep?”
“I told you, H.Q.”
“Yeah, but you only go there in your mind. Where do you physically sleep?”
“It’s complicated…”
“What? You don’t think I’m smart enough?” I kidded.
“Well, I actually go there. Body, mind, everything. I’m not even sure how but…. I don’t know. The Council gets it, so I’m fine.”
“How do you know, if you’re asleep?”
“Good question. I used to think that they were lying. I know this sounds weird, but once I woke up without my body.”
“What the…?”
“Yeah, it’s true. I was kind of just floating there. I didn’t see my body anywhere. I was about to have a huge spaz attack when I materialized. I asked them about it, and they said that the timing was all whack. I was actually stuck in some mud that day, in the dream. The Council thinks that’s what went wrong.”
“Well, somebody’s a quick thinker. So, you’ve never really told me about this ‘council’.”
“Sorry, I forgot. They call the shots. The Council knows exactly why everything happens. They track down the T.K.I.N. and stuff. They make the rules. And the punishments. I’m breaking one of the biggest rules right now…”
“Why did you talk to me, then?”
“Because I was pretty much past the point of no return when you saw me. It wouldn’t have made a difference. You would still find out. Anyways, you know what it’s like to be a normal person. My memory’s really slight. I can only remember my dad drinking, and my mom getting sick. I can remember thoughts, but only vaguely. Feelings. Human nature itself.”
“Oh. Well, how can I help?”
“Not sure yet. But I’ll think of something. Hey, you wanna trash that Miguel kid?”
“Sure. How ‘bout by the lockers and-”
“Not in real life,” He shouted, throwing up his hands as if calming a rearing horse. “But it’s kind of healthy to get out your feelings in dreams. Real stress reliever.”
“Okay. But I can’t do it…”
“I want to see you try. C’mon, just once.”
“Fine,” I thought as hard as I could, squeezing eyes shut. I concentrated on Miguel appearing. Just as I was about to give up, I heard Derek applaud. “Miguel” stood before me. I gave him a quick high five and began punching Miguel. He could only defend himself. He was too weak to fight back.
When I got done with the fake Miguel- let’s just say Derek turned green. I laughed, though the dream wasn’t as clear anymore. I was half awake, just barely clinging onto my dream. Soon, I couldn’t see the two boys at all.
I glanced at the clock. I had twenty five minutes. As I was searching through my closet, a speck of color caught my eye. A purple tee. Beaming, I put it on, along with some jeans. This was the first time I had worn anything but black in months.

In class, this new boy was getting a lot of attention. No one would ever think to talk down to Miguel like that. Even if the victim was your best friend. Because if you did, well, we weren’t sure how Miguel would take it. He’s always used to being on the top. But I, on the other hand had the exact opposite happening. All the kids were laughing and pointing at me for being beat up. It’s amazing how parallel this was.
Ms. Haggle strutted in, making it clear that class began, nonsense ended. But all I could think about was Derek. This boy must be crazy. Or maybe actually willing to help me, or something. He certainly did in my dreams. But, how would he get into them in the first place?
At the end of the day (after surviving whispers and pointing) I made a plan to catch Derek again at the lockers. He saw me and sighed. Everyone had already packed up, so we were alone. “Hey, don’t look like that, I wanted to say thanks.”
His eyes darted around. “No problem.”
“Why do you think I’m some kind of creeper, then save me, and then you’re freaked out by me again?” Like I said, you can’t trust people.
“You are not a creep,” He assured me, but he was back up towards the door.
“Then why do you run? You’re doing it right now?” I motioned towards him. He stopped dead.
“Look, I bet you’re really nice, but I don’t know you,” He said the last part really loud, and then dragged me aside. He whispered: “It’s not safe here. I can’t talk. But I’ll catch you when you’re alone,” He slipped a note into my hand and rushed off into the classroom. I opened the note. It read: “One clue: Sweet dreams…”
I didn’t feel good. I began to fall against the locker. Ms. Haggle peeped her head through the door. “Kate, get in here or I’ll write you up-” She gasped as I blacked out and fell to the ground.
When I woke up, I was in the nurse’s office. I looked up at the clock. The buses left in three minutes. The nurse gave me a drink of water, not permitting me to get up. “We held your bus a minute or two longer. This young man will help you to your bus,” With my luck, it was probably Miguel. But staring back at me was Derek.
“Thanks for staying,” I said as he helped me out. His hands were close (though not touching me). He was ready to catch me, should I black out again.
“You say thanks a lot for a-” He stopped short.
“A what?” I asked.
“Nothing,” He shook his head. We were walking out the school doors. The buses were beginning to pull out.
“What, a freak? A kid with divorced parents?” I asked. I didn’t even try and look threatening; the unspoken words hit me too hard to react like that.
“No, no. Of course not,” He frantically waved his hands, empathizing his answer.
“Then what did you mean?” My words were stone cold, no attitude.
“I’ll tell you in… you know where,” He helped my up the bus steps, then sprinted off in the opposite direction. I was the last bus out, but only by a minute or two.
I got home five minutes late. My mom didn’t even notice. She was on the phone, giggling. Oh, God. She could not flirt. Well, neither could I but…. Still.
I went up to my room. I made my bed, and then unmade it again. I didn’t have any homework. All I could think to do was pace up and down my room.
I went to bed without coming down for dinner. I usually just threw a T.V. dinner into the microwave, anyways. Well, I would probably puke on it anyways. They were moldy half the time.
I wish my dad was here. He always made spaghetti for dinner. I could almost taste it. The only thing I ended up tasting was a tear.
At seven, I slipped under the covers. I just sat there, not able to fall asleep. It was like was on Christmas Eve, you know your parents check on you before they put out the presents, but you can’t go to bed. At ten o’clock, I finally drifted off.
I was met by Derek, as promised. We were in the same coffee shop as yesterday, but it was empty. I felt like I should be freaking out, but I couldn’t. Not with him here. Why was that?
“Sorry,” He murmured. “Location’s inevitable.”
“It’s fine,” I did a mini gasp. I didn’t have to strain at all to talk. Derek saw this.
He chuckled a bit. “I can choose if I want you to talk or not. At first it was I joke I had with my friend. But then I didn’t want you to figure out before I knew how to explain…”
“What’s there to explain? I mean, you’ve only been in my dreams for weeks and then show up in my class.”
“And I can explain that,” He spoke calmly, sitting down in a booth. Mercifully, it was not the same one as yesterday.
“That’s kinda why I’ve been trying to get to sleep for hours,” I wasn’t meaning to be bitter with him, but I couldn’t help it.
“I know. I can tell when you’re trying. Long story. That’ll come later. But, for now, let’s start at the beginning.”
“A beginning would be helpful.”
He laughed a bit, rolling his eyes. But, for some reason or another, it looked forced. Faked. “So, when I was ten, I had dreams every single night, good and bad. But soon, they got super intense. I could feel everything around me. This was good, until I had a nightmare. I was punched in the stomach. I couldn’t breathe. I’m just glad I woke up. But, the next night, I realized I had a purpose. Dreams were a real part of my life. People like this are called The Dreamers. So, I found the door. The key was being able to dream as vivid as I could, and to have a good heart, I think. You also need something bad to happen to you and cope with it well. So when I got there… crap,” He muttered.
“What?” I now strained to speak. He was becoming blurry.
“You’re waking up….”
I did just that. It was six. I had wakened early, but it was better than oversleeping for sure. I threw on my normal clothes and raced off to school. I only lived a mile away. But I wasn’t supposed to walk, according to the school board. Too many streets to cross, I guess.
I scanned the hallway for Derek. There he was, only a few feet away from the door coming in, to the right. I sat down next to him. He motioned for me to wait a second. He dug threw his backpack, pulling out scratch paper. He furiously scribbled something onto it. It read: We can’t talk about that here. It’s not safe.
On the back I wrote: That sucks. It got a laugh from him. His laugh was like a bell. Not a high pitched, but clear.” So, what was our math homework?” I asked.

“Shouldn’t you know?”

“Nah, I wasn’t paying attention,” I admitted, not even thinking about making up an excuse.

“I can help you do it. You’re lucky, it was only five problems.”

“Homework Haggle only gave five problems?” I gasped sarcastically.

“Yeah,” Didn’t this guy have a sense of humor? Derek pulled out his math book. He rushed through, telling me how to do the first three problems. We didn’t have time for the last two, so he just gave me them. I beamed as we got up. He nodded.

I got a hundred percent on that paper. That put me in a good mood. I mean, I could care less about the grade. It was how I got it. Someone had directly, purposely helped me. My mom…. Do I have to answer this? My dad… I didn’t even know where he was. He ran away with that lady form work.

At lunch, Derek went home sick. I- of course- didn’t say anything, but I later found baby powder and a toothbrush in his bag. He went home from throwing up, and the teacher said he was “white as a ghost”. Since Derek left, I didn’t really have anything to do at lunch. I honestly fell asleep.

I wish I didn’t. I was at my house. My mom was making pancakes. “Hey, sweetie, want any chocolate chips?”

In dreams, I forgot my logic, don’t trust anything good. “Sure, thanks.”

She handed my plate. But, the second I touched it, the pancake turned moldy and wormy. One of the worms fell onto the floor. Then another, then another. Soon, they covered the whole floor. I tried to run, but my mom tripped me. I fell, the bugs covering me like a sea. I struggled, nothing would work. Soon I was rocking. What was happening? It grew more violent.

“Kate? Kate, wake up,” It was Ms. Haggle. Lunch would end in about five minutes. Here came the yelling: “The lunchroom is no place to fall asleep. The next time I catch you, I’m writing you up. Lunch detention. Second time, God forbid, it’ll be after school. Got it?”

I only looked up at her, blank. Realizing she wanted an answer, I nodded. She sighed and hurried back to the classroom. I ignored giggles from nearby girls and ruthless snickers from the boys and finished the last of my lunch.

The rest of the day was killer. I wanted to either scream, or get out. Both would work. If I had to spend one more minute locked up in school, I would’ve punched the nearest teacher. I would pretend she was one of my parents. If I wanted to hit ten times harder, that is. But I also didn’t want to go home. I mean, my mom probably wouldn’t care if I did or not. She’d be too busy trying to find a date. But I didn’t have any money on me. Or food. Maybe later I would try.

I went home, visited by… nothing. Nothing?
There was no talking, no typing. No, that couldn’t be possible. That would have to mean…

Frantically, I raced to the kitchen. On the table was a note. I read aloud: “I’m out with a friend. I’ll be back around eight. Dinner’s in the fridge.”

She had a date. Oh my gosh. Last time, the man was all she talked about. I decided to find out who he was. It would be easy this time. The last boyfriend she had, I figured out how to do everything.

First, I logged on to her account. I learned her password by watching her type it, though it took a few tries. Then, I looked at her chat history. Whoever she sent the most- and grossest- messages to, that would probably be him.

I scrolled through. His name was Quentin McDonnell. He lived in the next town over. I saw some comments he left my mom. I puked. Way too cheesy.

I grabbed some leftover Chinese food my mom had had without me. I don’t even remember seeing her eat it. She could’ve called me down. Chinese food was my favorite. Deciding to let it go, I threw some chicken into the microwave. It didn’t taste as good as it did back then. Not even close.

I cracked open the only remaining fortune cookie. It read: “Dreams are powerful, listen to them.”
Was this some kind of joke? I whipped my head around, searching for someone. A camera, maybe. Nothing. I guess this was just one smart cookie.

At about seven thirty, I headed up to bed with my IPod. I listened to my parents’ wedding song. I felt like crying. But what was the point in that?



The next thing I knew, I was dancing to that song. We were in a ballroom, I think. My partner was wearing a mask. Even so, he was great. I haven’t taken any dancing lessons, aside from my dad sweeping up my mom when they played this song in the living room. They taught me how.
I reached up and tried to pull off his mask. Instead, he turned his head away and spun me. I left him, sensing me danger. I realized that their were other couples. They were all about my age. One kept falling. As he fumbled about, his mask fell off. Miguel. I laughed at his clumsiness. I began recognizing his partner. It was a girl in our class who had a huge crush on Miguel. Her name was Sydney. As they twirled around, faces swirled in my head. My entire class was here, all wearing masks. I suddenly felt claustrophobic. My mind raced as more heads were added to the jumble. My parents, teachers, my old best friend. I couldn’t take it anymore. I bolted, but I couldn’t find the door. I realized that the scene had changed. We were in the school gyms. Except for the flippin’ doors.
I pushed through the sea of dancing kids. My partner was following me, and too close. Everyone was. The masked boy grabbed my wrist. I twisted, trying to get free. I saw him attempt to take his mask off. It was stuck.
“Kate,” He spoke gently, but firm. “It’ me, Derek. It’s alright. I just can’t take my mask off.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“Please,” The words were those of a beggar’s, but the speech was monotone. I decided to take a risk. This was probably a dream. He started towards the space behind us. “Let’s go,” He led me to the door I couldn’t find.
“Where are we going?” He was dragging me along, holding my wrist.
“You’ll see,” He stopped at a shimmering lake. I had no clue where that came from but… oh well, this was a dream.
“Can you finish the story?”
“Of course,” He cleared his throat, preparing to speak. “So when I got there, the council greeted me. They said they chose me-”
“For what?”
“I’m getting to it. They said they ran a secret organization that helped kids they called: T.K.I.N. Troubled Kids In Need.”
“I am not a ‘troubled child’,” I bit back indignantly.
“No, you’re not insane or anything. You just needed a little help coping,” I opened my mouth to retaliate. He held up his hand, cutting me off. He motioned for me to sit. I gathered my skirts (I had no way to get out of them) and sat down on the wet grass. Derek finally wretched his mask off and let his eyes wander to the moonlight shimmering on the lake.
“Continue…” I reminded him.
“Oh, yeah. So it’s for kids who were in a freak accident, are orphaned, having family issues like divorces…” He paused. “You qualify,” I didn’t feel like answering that. “So I was assigned to you. You’re my first job. They stationed me in what they thought was the next town over from you and… yeah. They still don’t know. But I need to do something. And I think you can help me.”
“Shoot,” I wrapped my arms tighter around my legs.
“Well, when I agreed to be a Dreamer, I had to have some privileges taken away. For one, I can’t have an address besides H.Q., and I can’t contact my parents. But the one I hate this…. How should I explain this? I, uh, don’t have any emotions.”
“So you’re pretty much like a rock?”
“Gee, thanks. I still have feelings. And I meant to say I don’t have any intense emotion. I can to mad, happy, sad, and scared. That’s it. And I can’t be any of the subcategories. Like apprehensive, nervous, terror stricken, annoyed. Nada.”
“Oh,” That must suck.
“Yeah, it’s so we don’t leave and go back to the real world. Not that I would do that. But, anyways, I can break through the-I don’t know- emotional barricade. And if I have just one emotion to break it, I can be the best Dreamer in the book. All I have to do is feel a really complex emotion. Something big. Then, I’ll be able to do it whenever I want. But it’s not all bad. I get cool stuff on the side…” He smiled.
“Like what?” I wondered if he got to, like, teleport or something.
“I can read people’s minds, if they’re ten feet away and a T.K.I.N. But we can’t get actually thoughts. Just feelings and maybe a few words. If we’re lucky, that is. But I’ll get better. Let’s see. Right now you’re… curious…. surprised…. Okay, now you just want me to stop,” He grinned. “Is that right?”
“Heck, yeah,” I cried, eyes bulging. “That’s sweet!”
“Hey, I can do some other stuff, too. When you dream, do you know how sometimes you want to do something, but your mind won’t let you?”
“All the time. Though the talking part comes from a certain somebody not letting me …”
He chuckled. “Oh, I forgot. My humor ties in with my happiness, so if I laugh out of the blue, that’s why. Well, do you want an example?”
“Sure,” I nodded. But I wasn’t nodding to anyone. “What? Where are you?” I cried, a little frantic. Had he slipped in the lake?
“I’m over here. Besides, I can swim,” That would take some getting used to.
“”Where the heck are you?” I cried, whipping my head around.
“Why don’t you look up?” He suggested. I obeyed, and almost had a heart attack. There he was, hovering over me. “You try.”
I jumped, but couldn’t even float up an inch or two. “Lucky,” I muttered, making sure my thoughts were clear of any jealous curses. Bagan to
He dropped back down besides me. “You’re going to wake up in about two minutes, so why don’t we go explore. I want to see how creative your imagination is.
“Why not?” I shrugged. We strolled past the lake and the scene began to change. We were in this one place that was all chocolate. Not exaggerating. And this was a dream, so I could inhale it and not gain a single pound. But I woke up right in the middle of the dream.
I looked up at my clock. It was four in the morning. Why the heck had I waken up? I heard a door slam shout. Giddy laughing followed. “Mom?”
“Yes, sweetie,” She called, giggling, from downstairs. “Go back to bed.”
I crept down the stairs anyways. “Mom, are you drunk or something?” She looked wiped out on the outside, but the way she was laughing she could’ve been a six year old school girl.
“I’m not sure,” She giggled. “One drink turned to three and…” She went into hysterics, falling onto the couch. Maybe if I left now, I would be safe from descriptions of this new man. She didn’t even notice me leave.

When I got to school, Derek noticed. “Hey, like your shirt.”
“Thanks,” I smiled. “Black is so last year,” I giggled, pretending to inspect my nails.
He laughed, too. Miguel walked by, glaring. Until he saw Derek. Then he pretended not to notice us. Was he still sore from being confronted? Baby.
“Seriously,” Derek whispered.
“Show off,” I cried.
“I know, aren’t I?” He grinned, false pride overcrowding it. Yeah, definitely false. The bell rang and the teachers let us go to our lockers.
“Okay, class. We’re going to be doing some skits about good character, got it? Good. Oh, don’t whine. This will be fun. Now, partner up.” She cried, waving her hand around.
I rushed towards Miguel, but so did Emma and Stephanie. They lied, saying it was uneven. “Just get in a group of three, then,” She sighed. They giggled, Derek looked stunned. I glared it him. He shrugged.
I scanned the room. No one was left. Someone tapped my shoulder. I flinched, not used to being touched. “What, I….” I stopped short, seeing who it was.
“Partners?” Miguel mumbled.
“I guess,” What choice did I have? I would have to go with Miguel. I should’ve gotten to Derek quicker. I glanced over to them. The two girls were giggling and kept making excuses to touch him. Derek looked happy. Really no other way to put it. I screamed in my mind that they weren’t serious; they were getting revenge on me.
“I’ll be right back,” I heard him sigh. “Stop being so jealous,” He whispered.
“I am not jealous,” I hissed. That got Miguel’s attention. I lowered my voice. “They’re mad at me. Those two want revenge.”
“For what?”
Miguel got awfully close, trying to hear. I elbowed him. “What was that for?”
“I’ve got a space bubble, you know. Back off,” I turned back to Derek, I didn’t have much time. “I’ll tell you later. Let’s just say she had a lot of… cleaning to do.”
His mouth dropped in realization. Still gaping and looking at me, he walked back to the girls. I saw them whispering and pointing in my direction. He shook his head.
Miguel snapped a finger by my face. “Wake up, princess.”
“Oh, shut up. I spaced.”
“So, what were you talking about?” He asked slowly, as if I were an idiot.
“Nothing you need to know about,” I bit back. Mrs. Haggle shushed the class. “Alright, you’ll each get a different script. One has three characters, so our little group actually worked out,” She began passing out scripts. When she got to Miguel and me, she groaned, rolling her eyes. “You two better take this seriously. Don’t make me regret letting you being partners.”
“Why would we be bad partners?” Miguel joked in a hushed voice. When she was out of earshot, of course. I couldn’t help it. I wanted to think up a clever reply.
“I don’t know. We’re both little angels.” He laughed a bit, and then looked over the script. I read over his shoulder. “You wanna be he bully or the victim?” I asked.
“Uh, I’ll be bully.”
“Guess I’m the goody goody, then,” We practiced our lines. It went through without a single fight. Not even a little shove. I was, oddly, kind of happy about that. When Miguel wasn’t being all cocky and obnoxious, he was pretty cool. After about five minutes, we went back to our seats. Miguel looked way to eager to go first. He had been cracking jokes about how corny this was only a minute ago.
“You two, get up here. And I don’t want anything funny business, got it? Good.”
By the time we had gotten to the front of the class, a yelp of pain rang throughout the hallway. A boy, John, had gone to the bathroom. He tripped hitting his head. Blood gushed out. She told us to do the skit and took him to the nurse.
Miguel waved a hand. “Hello, you have the first line.”
“Oh, yeah. Hi Steven.”
“Hi, creep.”
“That’s not the line,” I hissed.
“I know,” What? Did I hear that right? He was all friendly a second ago. “I like this one better. It suits you,” He snickered.
“Shut up and say the flippin’ line,” I murmured. This was getting old.
“Now,” Miguel cried. Not a second after he said that, three splotches of red came flying towards me. Apples. One hit me square in the face. I staggered back, rubbing the spots where the apples had landed. Miguel taunted me, shoving, threatening. “Now who’s so tough?” Some kids told him to stop, but did nothing more. He wound up for a punch. I braced myself.
Derek sprinted up to us and caught Miguel’s arm. I thought that Miguel would instantly get out of the hold. He was pretty strong. But he stood there, frozen. A certain terror struck his face. He stayed like that for two seconds more. Derek dropped his hand and Miguel staggered back to his seat. My friend had a moment of triumph, and then flipped out.
“Calm down,” I ushered, but he wasn’t paying attention.
“Why did I do that? They’ll be here soon. We need to hide you,” He grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the nurse. “Look sick, you just puked,” He commanded.
We reached the nurse pretty quick since Derek was so afraid. Afraid of what? He slowed down considerably when we were in the office. The nurse was in back. Mrs. Haggle was just leaving. Derek told her: “She threw up.”
“Where?”
“Don’t worry, she went to the bathroom. Got a little stage fright, I think.”
“God, it’s one kid after another. Bring her to Ms. May. She’ll take care of it,” Ms. Haggle rushed off back to class. Derek ran out, shoving me into the bathroom when no one was looking.
“Don’t speak. Just trust me.” Bewildered, I put a finger to my lip. I hid in a stall. But from who? From what? Possessed by curiosity, I got out and put an ear against the stall. I head Derek cry out in pain. It was getting harder and harder to ignore the yelps and shouts. Images flowed through my head. They grew more vivid as time went on. Pictures of Derek curled up on the floor, holding his stomach. A glimpse of men. They vanished. Derek’s cries turned to silent screams. I doubled over, suddenly feeling the pain. I yelled, but no one was around. A black cloud swirled over Derek. His eyes grew wide with terror. I saw horrid pictures fly paste his head. His worst nightmares. I caught a glance at me. I was in some kind of pain.
And it stopped.
What. Was. That? I rushed out to find Derek, indeed, hunched over on the floor. I shook him. “Derek, are you alright?”
“Yeah, it’s only a little…. daydreaming.”
“You mean nightmare?” I asked, breathing heavily. I told him what I had seen.
“No, no,” He grabbed head. “I was afraid of this. Please tell me you’re joking,” I nodded my head no. “Crap. We’ve got a link. It’ll help me give you better dreams, sure. But if they attack me like that again…”
“What?”
“Let’s just say it’s gonna hurt like, umm, Hades.”
“You’re such a boy scout,” I scoffed, slugging him playfully. I was trying to lighten the mood. We headed back to class, surprised and grateful we didn’t get caught. I explained that she didn’t think it fit for me to leave. Unless, of course, I puked again. (But I wasn’t about to try and push my luck). She kept a close eye on me, just waiting for any sign of appalling sickness.
I went home. My mom wasn’t home. She hadn’t even bothered to leave a note this time. I fixed myself some Mac n’ Cheese. I had a load of homework. And a lot of planning to do. I couldn’t let Miguel do something like that and not expect to pay. I finished up the last of my pre algebra, I got to work thinking about Miguel. He probably had the kid trip on purpose. I remembered his dad worked at a trick shop, so he could’ve gotten the fake blood easily.
I got it. I began to scribble down fragments of my plan. Finally, it all made sense. I couldn’t wait to act on it. I went to bed content. But I wasn’t completely reckless and stupid. A small part of me was worried how much trouble this would get me in. Not with teachers. Screw them. All Ms. Haggle could give me was detention. No, it was Miguel I was a little jumpy about. He could ruin me- and my face. But, like I said, that was only a small part. I decided I had enough of the plan done, so I crashed.
“Kate, do you really think that plan of yours is smart?”
“Yeah, I do,” I was standing in my empty classroom. Derek was leaning against his desk across the room. He motioned for me to keep looking up. Getting how Pandora felt, I looked down. I jumped, but I couldn’t get far. I was chained to my desk. “What’s this, Mister Physiologist?”
“In school you feel trapped, cornered. Maybe because of the work? Peer pressure?”
“Since when do I give a crap about what those people think of me?” I retorted.
“Still. Not even one, tiny part of you wants to fit in?” He gave me a gentle, persuading smile.
“Maybe two percent,” I grumbled. Every once and a while I found myself take double backs at some of the girls in our class. They all wore brand names- everyday. Most of them were makeup faces, but still. People envied them. These girls weren’t weird, awkward, nothing. (Even if they were really loud and annoying at times).
“And why would you want to be them?”
“Shoot. Forgot about your little superpower, mind reader,” I worked at the chains. Derek told me it was pointless, they were stuck until I woke up.
“Now, back to the point. Why are you getting revenge?”
I was about to answer, when suspicion made its way to my mouth. “Hey, I didn’t even think about it until you mentioned the plan. How did you know?” I glared determined for an answer.
“I-I, uh, I just know… you’d, umm, get revenge?”
“Spill it, kid.”
Derek raised an eyebrow at the name. But then, he looked down at the floor, obviously guilty of something. “I was watching you,” He admitted.
“Watching me, or stalking me?”
“I guess in between. I just wanted to make sure you were safe after... that. But no one answered the door, so I got freaked out. So I went to your window and picked up a few of your thoughts. Which was strange since I normally can’t go that far. So then I thought it was a trap, that they were making sure I could hear it. And then I climbed up on a pile of bricks and stuff to your window. I saw you planning and-”
I put a hand up, signaling for him to stop his ramblings. “S’okay. I get it. You’re just being over protective,” I slapped my forehead. Shoot. I should’ve kept embarrassing him, or even make him mad.
“What?”
“Nothing, I just think I could’ve gotten you ashamed or something,” I sighed, looking at his now stone cold face.
“Oh, yeah. Oh well, we got time. I tricked the Council into thinking that I was just going into the Realm of the Dreamers early. The signal they get is the same for both, but we’re not allowed in until six o’clock.”
“Oh, sorry. I forgot. So it’s all good now?”
“Yeah. For now. I bet in about a year they’re gonna find out, and I’ll be in hot water.”
“Why? And a whole year?”
“Uh-huh. They live till about… four hundred? Yeah, a year isn’t much for them. But let’s not think about that. I’m gonna show you what I did.”
“On me? “I asked, remembering the sheer terror in Miguel’s eyes.
“No, why would I do that? I’m supposed to protect you from nightmares, not give you them. So, I gather up this… I don’t know- power. Then, I grab the person by the wrist, neck, anything really. But the most deadly is the chest. And then, their greatest nightmare will flow to me. I make it greater, more powerful, and shoot it back at them. It only takes a second, though. They’re either paralyzed with fear- literally- or just need to sit down and surrender. I didn’t do anything really bad to that one boy. I can ruin someone’s life with that.”
“And the Council teaches you this?” I asked, a little stunned.
“Err, not really. They told us about attacks that were used in the history class we had to take. I did a little research, and found out how to do it.”
Oh. Wow. The chains suddenly broke lose, freeing me. We got up and walked silently to the black top. Derek grabbed my wrist. I jumped, thinking he decided to use me as practice. “Woah, I’m not gonna hurt you,” He assured.
“Trust issues.”
“Ah,” He was preoccupied, though. His eyes were shut. When he opened them, they were cloudy, unfocused. And gorgeous. Wait, what? I shook the thought out of my head immediately. Forget it. Yeah, don’t even think about it.
Ashamed of myself, I looked down at my feet. I gasped, and Derek echoed with a chuckled. We were floating three inches off the ground. Then a foot. A yard. Soon, we were skimming treetops, laughing and grinning. He was pulling me along as if I weighed no more than a feather.
“I’m gonna let you go, okay?”
“No, don’t,” I cried, clutching onto his arm. He sighed, rolling his eyes a bit. But he was smiling. He pried my right hand off his arm. Slowly, he began to let his hand slip out of my left hand. I was terrified. I changed my mind. “Don’t let me go,” I commanded.
“Too late,” He showed me both of his hands. He had already let me go… and I was still flying. I giggled, feeling light and giddy. I began to increase my altitude, and then swooped down. Teasing Derek, I missed him by only a few inches. He was a good sport, though. That, and he couldn’t be annoyed. Only mad. Ha-ha.
Soon, I lost my energy and began to descend, inch by inch. Derek became a lot less clear. It seemed as if he were speaking gibberish. The dream now looked like watercolors that had been left out in the rain.
I groaned, looking around at my surroundings. I had wakened. I threw on my clothes- a maroon shirt. Note, it was maroon. Not black. That made me smile a bit. I thought my mom would be happy, and I planned what I would say: “I know. So what?” But I would smile. A real one, too.
Too bad my mom didn’t notice.
I met up with Derek before class. It was not hard to talk about the dream. It had been great. So I scratched a note.
On the back he wrote: No problem. “So, did you decide to do your homework this time?”
“Yeah, but don’t get used to it,” I joked, slugging him playfully in the arm. Until Miguel walked up, partially ruining my good mood.
His face turned white, and he stammered. “H-how did you do… that?”
“What do you mean?” Derek answered tonelessly.
“You know what I mean. I mean, the…”
“The what?” I asked innocently. I secretly hoped he would answer instead of being intimidated and leave. I wanted to know what he was afraid about.
“That living nightmare you gave me. I had that same one the night before, you creep,” I could tell by the quickened, nervous tone in his voice, that he wouldn’t be playing pranks on us anyone.
The bell rang. Miguel muttered. “Meet me at the lockers packing up. Then you can tell me what the heck happened.”
“Are we going?” I asked.
“No,” He answered decisively.
“But that would be perfect for getting me revenge.”
“Fine,” Derek sighed, “but you’re not beating him up. And we can’t have him being suspicious. I’ll make up something.”
“Great,” I beamed, dashing off to my locker. Thinking off my plan, it turned into a smirk. I hoped Derek would look away. Then I could get Miguel back my way. I couldn’t wait until the end of the day.
The whole school day Miguel avoided us. His friends, puzzled, looked back and forth between Miguel, Derek, and I. Finally, the end of the day came. As we had said, the three of us met by the lockers.
“Tell me, now,” Miguel demanded.
“Alright, alright,” Derek closed his eyes for a minute. In my mind, I screamed hurry up. I knew he wouldn’t be able to understand the words, but maybe the urgency. He switched around his face and position to make it look like he was contemplating whether or not to tell. At last, he answered: “My dad’s a hypnotist. He taught me how to do it”
I knew that he probably couldn’t really do that be means of hypnosis, but Miguel didn’t. “But how did you know about the… yeah.”
“Lucky guess,” He shrugged.
Stunned and with wide eyes, Miguel walked away. But I didn’t let him get far. I pulled a water balloon out of my bag. Not the paper towels yet. I hurled one at the back of Miguel’s head. He spun around, only to get one right in the face. I howled with laughter. He rushed into the room. I threw a roll of paper towels at Derek after taking a bunch. We raced to the spilled water and mopped it up as fast as we could. Right as we shoved the water mass of paper and the roll in my bag, Miguel returned. Ms. Haggle followed.
“Kate, Derek,” Her tone was low, a warning. “What is this I hear about a water balloon?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, playing dumb. Ms. Haggle got down on the floor.
“Miguel, this is dry. Are you framing them?”
“No, I swear,” He point, exasperated. “That girl just threw them at me out of the blue.”
“There’s nothing here. I’ll give you a warning, Miguel. But if you decide to do it again, you’re getting written up,” Before he could answer, she spun around and marched back to the classroom. I gave Miguel a smug smile and followed. He stood there gaping as we passed by. Then he came to and went back into the class.
My mom was talking on the phone, so I decided to make as much noise as I could when I threw down my stuff. I did my homework at the table, loud taping my foot. She shushed me and went back to talking.
When she was through, she asked me if I needed help. “No,” I groaned, packing up my stuff. I had wanted her to do… something. Anything. I wanted her to be my mother. But I guess she had too many “important” things to do. I raced up the stairs. Though I resented it, a single tear trickled down and hit my shirt.
Derek came into my dream in the middle of it. “Sorry I’m late, but I have a reason. You’re gonna love it,” He laughed, pulling me along towards a door. We were in a building I didn’t recognize. “But first, I need to ask your permission. I’ll have it so you’ll go completely under the radar. You still might not want to, though.”
“Just get to the point.”
“Oh, yeah. Would go like to enter,” He paused dramatically, “the Realm of the Dreamers?” I asked him where and what it was. “The place I live.”
“Sure, but won’t you get in trouble?”
“Yeah, I could,” He admitted, looking down. “But I’ll be fine. Let’s just go,” He dropped my wrist for a moment and got on his knees. Derek put his palms flat against the earth. His eyes flickered open after a moment of solid concentration. They were distant, glazed over. He was staring in space. I reached down to touch his shoulder. I wanted to make sure he was okay. But what I felt was pure energy. And it was coursing through his body. It was calm at first, but then it began to speed up. Its power increased. It was gushing through his veins at a breath taking pace now. I tried to pry my hands off of his shoulder, but it was glued to his flesh. I felt like screaming. Power, energy, overwhelming me. I need to get free.
And it was over just like that. I was catapulted back as if someone let go of the other side of the rope during a game of tug of war. I was lying on my side, cheek against the ground. “You okay?” Derek asked, forged urgency filling his voice. No, scratch that. It probably wasn’t on his list of emotions. He helped me up.
“Yeah, fine. But what was that?”
He pointed to the space behind me. “Look.” A cloudy, lavender mist was circling, vertical. Almost like a door. “That’s what it is, a door. Man, I’m getting good at this mindreading stuff,” He grinned. “Now, take my hand. I’m kind of your key in. And, whatever you do, don’t let go, okay?”
“Okay. Let’s go,” Derek wrapped his hand around my wrist, gentle but firm. He began to walk through the haze, leading me as well. The moment I stepped through it, my body dissolved. I was no more than dust, flying at hyper speed through some kind of flashing, paranormal tunnel. I couldn’t breath. My stomach churned. I blacked out.
“Are you all right?” Derek shook me. He was supporting me, as I was barely able to stand by myself. My eyes fluttered a bit before opening. I gagged.
“I guess,” I took a weary look at my surroundings. I couldn’t believe what I saw. My mouth fell as I took in the sights. Wonder. Amazement. There were trees so perfectly shaped, they belong in cartoons. I even saw some with purple leaves, red leaves, and sky blue. The grass was green. Literally, bright green. A perfectly blue creek ran to the right. Butterflies hoped form flower to flower. There were also some butterflies that looked way too big to be in reality….
No, those weren’t butterflies. They were fairies. It was unmistakable. Derek began to laugh at my wonder. He pointed to the horizon. “See that small building?”
“Yeah,” It was a perfect rectangle with rows of windows. Six of them, three per floor. A twin building was adjacent to it.
“That’s where I sleep. See that big building, the one with the columns?” I nodded, seeing the Greek like building. “Well, that’s where the Council’s quarters are. And the meeting room. They say that the attic is full of potions and spirits and stuff, but none of us Dreamers have ever been up there. Off limits.”
I closed my subconsciously open mouth. “This place is just….”
“Dreamy?” He suggested.
“Yeah, dreamy. Can’t think of anything else right now. So, people are allowed here if a Dreamer- that’s what you call ‘em, right? - brings them?”
“Uh… no. I shouldn’t be doing this, but I’ve already done so much. It doesn’t matter at this point.”
“Yeah, I get what you mean,” That’s what I did in school. I mean, I had already committed social suicide, why even try and keep up my grades. Derek grabbed my shoulders, making me jump. “What the….?”
“Get down,” He ordered. He threw me to the ground, covering me with one arm. I had no clue what was going on, so a spazzed a bit. But I couldn’t speak, because Derek was smart and clamped a hand over my mouth. He shushed me.
The next thing I knew, I was wrenched up, with a hand over my eyes. A voice yelled: “Derek, how’d she get here? We gotta turn her in,” And I was being dragged away, still blind.
“No, wait!” Derek shouted. My captor fell to the ground. Derek dragged him away, then pulled me up (I had went down with whoever grabbed me) and ushered me up a tree. He then held down the other one. I saw he was a boy. He had sandy blonde hair.
“Dude, chill,” He threw Derek off him. My friend didn’t retaliate, but still held a defensive position, breathing heavily. “Now, who the heck is that chick?”
From my perch up in the tree I called: “Hello? ‘The chick’ has a name,” I jumped down.
“Okay, then, what’s your name?” He asked sarcastically.
“Who wants to know?” I took a step closer, my fingernails digging into my palms, restraining the urge to swing a punch.
“Kyle Barton. And I actually belong here. What the heck are you doing here?” He repeated.
“Derek took me,” I answered plainly. Derek smacked his forehead then fixed Kyle with a meaningful stare.
Derek put a shoulder on Kyle’s arm. “Don’t freak. I just thought I’d-”
So much for not freaking out. Kyle had pulled away and then had a full-blown spaz attack. “You thought what? You can’t bring just any girl you find off the street here! Even a T.K.I.N. Okay, I had nothing to do with this. Because if the Council finds out, if Leo finds out, we’re screwed!”
Looking inquisitively at Derek I mouthed: Leo? He sighed, making a motion as if he was shooing the question away. Derek grabbed the boy’s shoulders and shook him a bit. “Kyle, Kyle. Calm down. It’s okay. They’re not going to find her. Now, sit down. I can explain,” Since Kyle was a little shaken up; Derek had to help him down. I didn’t sit. You were weaker when you were on the ground. I just leaned against a tree. As I did, though, it vanished. I tumbled backwards and ended up next to them. Derek had on a poker face. Kyle stifled a laugh.
Helping me into a sitting position Derek promised comically: “I swear I didn’t do that.”
“Ditto,” Kyle held up his right hand, looking like a Boy Scout.
I glared at Derek, and he broke down. “Hey, it got you to sit, didn’t it?”
“It also put you in temporary danger,” I pretend to punch him. He jokingly caught my arm. We laughed it off, and then got down to business. Derek explained the whole school mix up. Then I added in I was helping him.
“How?”
“Well,” Derek thought for a moment, “do you remember that one really famous girl in history class?”
“Yeah, Algeria Collins. What about her?”
“Don’t’ you know why she was so good? She felt something. She had emotions,” Derek spoke even flatter than usual to get his point across. Instead of freaking out as much as you did, don’t you want to control how afraid you get? If you had emotions, you would probably just be worried.”
“Good point. So you think she can help you?”
“Yeah, that’s how Algeria did it. She was a year younger when she did it, too.”
“Yeah, but her T.K.I.N… yeah,” He turned to me, judgmental. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Be thankful you don’t have emotion, ‘cause if you had attitude in that…” I laughed. It felt good to finally have a real laugh. But that I remember the serious question I needed to answer. “My parents, um, they got divorced. My dad left after a two way abuse thing. I didn’t have the best temper before, but after all of that…” I sighed. “I guess that’s how I got caught up in all of this.”
“Oh, sorry. I know how you feel. Same thing happened with me,” I suspected if he could, Kyle would have a sympathetic look on his face. But, just like his tone, his face was bland.
“Yeah, I’m sorry, too.”
“It’s cool. So, Derek. What if the Council catches her? Are you gonna deny?”
“Dude,” He shot a quick look at me, then back at Kyle.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I thought she woke up.”
“Oh, shoot,” Derek cried, grabbing my hand. “We gotta get you out of here. I’ll explain later,” He dragged me across the field. Derek placed his palms on the ground, like before. He shoved me through the portal. The second I got through it, I woke up.

“What happened back there?” I demanded. I handed him a slip of paper, knowing now that he couldn’t talk about this stuff without the Council tuning into to the conversation. He wrote back: If you wake up there, you stay there. Forever. Unless you’re a Dreamer, like Kyle and me, you can’t go back to the real world. “Ouch,” I answered.
“Yeah,” He helped me up, but Miguel walked past just as he did.
“What’s up with you, man? Seriously, how can someone have a crush on that thing?”
“One, he doesn’t like me. Two, shut up if you like your face the way it is,” I rolled my eyes and made for the lockers before he could think up one of his lame comebacks.
Derek caught up with me at lunch. “Hey, nice job back there.”
“Whaddya mean?” I asked.
“Walking away. It was, uh, mature I guess. I don’t want to be a preacher.”
“Why insult me? I just didn’t feel like dealing with him,” I picked up my milk and sat down next to Derek.
“Yep, that’s right,” He took out a sandwich, not believing me.
“Sorry,” I lowered my voice. “But, how’d you get your lunch? Do they let you o to the store?”
He groaned. “What part of: “I can’t talk about it” don’t you get?” But he laughed. Thank you for giving me another realization.
“How come you’re laughing?”
“Why, do you want me to cry?”
“No, I mean, the whole emotion thing. You don’t look happy. Just… plain.”
“Ever heard of acting? Let me see, I need be careful. I’m not really, uh….” He smiled, pointing to his mouth. “But, I’m trying to be. You know that, right?”
“Well, yeah, but…” I failed to organize my thoughts. I just gave up. “So, you can’t say any emotions?”
“Normally I can. But ever since that incident with Miguel, they’ve been watching me real close. I shouldn’t say any of them. If I do, you’re not gonna like it.”
“Oh, yeah. That connection thing. I’ll be right back,” I had to go to the bathroom. But, when I got back, Emma and Stephanie were sitting on either side of Derek. He was laughing, but when he saw me, he just shrugged.
“Sorry,” He got up. But then the two brats put on their sad faces. He looked at me, a pleading look on his face.
I sighed. “No, no. It’s okay,” I scanned the two tables that our class was permitted to sit at. One of the two seats had milk spilled over it. And, after seeing the other seat, I had a feeling it was on purpose. The only other seat was right next to Miguel. He was glaring at Emma.
“Gee, thanks,” Miguel called over to her. “Now I have to sit by Kate,” the way he said my name, it sounded like an insult. I remembered what Derek had said about shaking it off. I came up with one conclusion.
Screw it.
I was racking my brain for a diss. “Like sitting next to you’s any better.”
“Go take a hike. A long one.”
Derek’s head turned towards me. He was watching Miguel and me with eyes of a hawk. Miguel kicked a piece of trash under the table to my feet. “I’m so not picking that up,” I told him.
“You’d better. You’re gonna lose free lunch for us if you don’t throw that away,” I was about to whip it at his head, but the lunch lady came around. Wouldn’t you know;

she told me to go throw it away.
When I got back, Emma had come up behind Miguel. They were whispering. When they stopped talking, a malicious grin slowly made its way across Miguel’s face. Warily, I sat down. Not three seconds later, Miguel grabbed my head and turned it. “Hey, what-” I stopped cold. Miguel dropped his hands. In the direction I looking, there was Emma, kissing Derek.
I didn’t like him, at least not in that way. So the next few actions I made were beyond me. For one, I didn’t use my fists. Secondly, I ran into the bathroom and ducked into the last stall. Trickles of tears- though not sobs- ran down my flushed cheeks. I sat there for the remainder of lunch.
I avoided the trio (foursome if you count Stephanie) for the rest of the day. But, near the end of the day, Derek tossed me a note. I read the note from under my desk. But Ms. Haggle decided to walk up and down the aisles just then. She snatched the note from out of my hands. But not before I caught a glimpse at one, very important word.
“Miss Jones, would you care to read this note aloud?”
“Oh, I didn’t write it. Derek did. I was going to throw it away.”
“In that case, Derek, come up here. Read to your little note to the class. I’m sure it’ll be great, since you couldn’t wait until after class to tell your friend there.”
Derek looked at me, pleading. I just gave him a smug little grin. “Kate,” He begged, probably already feeling the pain. And not just humiliation.
“Ms. Haggle, I don’t feel good,” He groaned, grabbing his stomach for good measure.
“Oh, just a little stage fright,” She answered with an obvious, sarcastic sweetness. “Now get up there,” She ushered him to the front of the room.
Glaring at me, he began: “You can’t avoid me forever. Remember? Your…” He coughed, making he last word impossible to catch.
“What was that, Derek?” Ms. Haggle asked.
He moaned. “I said… dreams,” He spit out the last word. I was the only one who knew what pain this was going to cause him. I mean, I remembered I would feel some of it, too. But it wasn’t as worse for me.
And Derek was on the ground. He managed to choke out: “Help,” He then screamed, writhing in pain. But this time, he looked like he was having a stroke. People clustered around him. I heard someone dialing the nurse, telling her to get an ambulance. But I was slumped in my seat, sharing the pain. I had a feeling this is what Derek had felt the fist time. Because the next thing I knew, I was on the floor, too.

I woke up from a non-surprisingly dreamless sleep. I had only a small recollection of what came next. A stretcher. Ambulance. Uniforms.
“Look, she’s waking up.”
“What about the boy?”
“We’ll worry about him in a second. Little girl? Kate? Can you hear me?”
“Yeah. Wh-where am I?”
“Sweetie,” Said the second voice. As I slowly came to, I realized it was a woman, “you’re in the hospital. Don’t worry; you’ll be out by tonight, if all goes as planned.”
The other doctor, a man, scribbled some notes on a clip board. Able to think straight now, I began to panic. If it had been bad enough to send me to the hospital, what about… “What happened to Derek?” I cried. “Is he alright?”
The woman cut me off. “Don’t worry. Everything’s okay. He hasn’t come around just yet, but he’s making great progress in his sleep,” Well, duh. Kyle or someone was probably helping hm. But what about the Council? This was strike two, and chances are they were going to give him heck about it.
I nodded off. This time, Derek was waiting for me.
A gave a nervous laugh. “How much trouble? For you and me?”
“Lots. But, since you’ve got me mad, more for you,” He was speaking through clenched teeth. I could see him holding back the urge to plain out attack me. I saw we were in a classroom. “I came here because you were about to relive everything. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here. Now I’m gonna leave. Have a nightmare, and you won’t be happy with the mood I’m in. But it can’t get any worse that this, can it?” His voice was merged with flares of anger. Not a good match. “I can’t have any complex emotion,” He yelled. “And I don’t want your useless help anymore, either. Heck, I don’t even want to see you again!”
He vanished in a cloud of smoke. I collapsed, sobbing. Until I began to shake. “Kate, wake up. We’re going home. You’re just dreaming,” Though tears clouded my vision, I allowed the mystery person to help me to a car. Only then, I realized it was my mom.
I went straight up to my room, pretending to have a headache. But I didn’t want to go to sleep. I wasn’t sure what I was more afraid of: having a nightmare, or Derek really being there.
I did indeed have nightmares. Derek never showed up. I tossed and turned until I woke up screaming. It not only had to do with today, but with my parents. And a secret that I thought I had pushed to the back of my mind. But now it was back, ready to haunt me.
My mom rushed in. “Are you alright?” She was panting form her rush.
I realized I had been screaming. “Yeah, just a nightmare.”
“Oh, not those again. Do you, umm, want to talk about it?” This was a motherly talent in which she was out of practice. I decided to save her the trouble.
“No, it was only dream. I’m fine,” My mom gave me a quick, awkward hug before going back to bed. Maybe she wasn’t all that bad after all. Maybe.
For the next three days, Derek wouldn’t even look at me. Had it really been that bad? I had tried twice in two days to try and make amends, but he ignored me. My nightmares progressively got worse. I woke up screaming every night.
Derek had officially decided that he wanted me out of his life. On the third day of silence, I got that much. So I always snuck to the library during lunch and sat in a corner at recess. I had really screwed things up. But one day, things took a pretty strange course.
It happened at recess. I was beyond crying. Now, just a numb feeling remained. But, really, it was worse. I was reliving two days ago, my parents’ divorce, and that one secret that was the staring point for all of this. Even though it was dark in my little corner, I sensed a shadow. I jumped, seeing Miguel towering over me. “Not in the mood.”
“Look,” Miguel said, “I didn’t know she was gonna do that. I thought it was just going to be a harmless joke,” He winced, waiting for a comeback. I didn’t give him anything. “I wanted to know if you wanted to join our foursquare game. Maybe?”
At first I was reluctant, but his face held a sincere tone, as did his eyes. That was hard to fake. Though I knew I couldn’t enjoy the game as I used to, it was a start. Especially since the whole thing went without a single prank.
I had to be cautious, but I actually laughed at one of Miguel’s jokes. That in itself was something. I saw Derek glance over. But his face stayed stone cold, as usual. I ignored him. For once, I didn’t feel like starting a war.
Despite my not too terrible day, I still had the worst nightmare yet. It had all previous elements, with one more thing included. I was falling, falling down. Off a cliff. Even though I didn’t see myself hit the bottom, I still heard the heart stopping thud as I woke up. I looked at my clock, breathing hard. Two in the morning. Even though I didn’t want to, I would have to go back to bed. This time, Derek was there.
“What happened to no nightmares?”
I wanted to break the awkward silence, and hopefully his glare. I could see he still hadn’t calmed down yet. “What did they diagnosis you with?”
“They thought I had an atonic seizure. You wouldn’t know, but that’s bad.”
All of a sudden, a girl no more than ten walked in and sat down. I backed up, heart racing. The girl got older, and the scene shifted to an eighth grade classroom. The girl got up and turned to me.
“I wouldn’t have to worry about this stuff, will I? Friend troubles?” She paused. “No. I’ll have to worry about keeping worms out of my grave.”
I knew this part all to well. I curled up in a ball, therefore shielding my eyes. Though I couldn’t see it, I could hear the body drop dead.
Derek looked at me in surprise. “That was a nightmare? You could’ve told me, smarts,” He waited for me to answer, but I was still in a tight little ball. Crying. “Who was that?” His face grew a little softer until it portrayed no emotion at all. But I could sense he still wasn’t a friend yet.
“My s-sister,” I said between my tears.
“You don’t have a sister,” He scoffed. “That’s why I’m here. You’ve got no one to talk to.”
I stood up. How could he talk about her this way after what had happened? “She died a year ago. Car crash.”
I thought Derek might pity me and talk to me now. I thought wrong. And that made me feel even more terrible. He must really hate me. Well, who cares, I would show him. Sure, I would have to make a friend or two, I guess. But it was worth it if I made Derek see I didn’t need his friendship. His stupid help.
At recess, I didn’t want to go straight to the square. Sure I could go, with an invitation. As stupid as it is, our school had groups when it came to four-square. (You can bend the rules for two-square). You don’t go to a square unless you “belong” to it; you’ve been there since the beginning of the year and almost everyday prior. Otherwise, they’ll all team up against you. Especially if you’re a girl.
I lingered when I passed. Miguel waved me over. I joked around the rest of recess. I had no idea why, but Miguel was warming up. I knew by now it wasn’t a trick.
By the time we headed in, I was talking with girls whom I had never thought would even look my way. (Unless, of course, they were jeering).
This continued until next week. Miguel and I sat across from each other at lunch. His friends sat on either side of him. Stephanie, Emma, and their friends were next to them. The guys had accepted me and most girls, but not that pair. They were giving me the cold shoulder, as was Derek. The three had formed a little friendship. Because of this, a lot of people talked to Derek. He never came into my dreams anymore. Not that I wanted him to. I had Miguel and everyone else.
“Hey, Kate. You want to go to the fields Saturday?” Miguel’s question snapped me back into reality. “There’s a bunch of games going on, and we’ll all be there.”
“Sure, I’ll go,” Maybe I would’ve said, “Sure, I’ll ask my mom,” But I didn’t need to. I would just go, and she probably wouldn’t notice for a few hours.
“Great. See you there,” He ducked into class and I was quick to follow. The bell rang in twenty seconds.
Ms. Haggle shushed us and began to talk about a poetry lesson. “You can do Free Verse, Haiku, anything. But it has to be about someone you care about.”
I raised my hand. “What about someone we cared about?”
“Of course. But there’ll be no blood or gore. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it,” My dead sister automatically flowed into my mind. I remember seeing the blood that incased her limp body. The screeching ambulance sirens. The stretcher bringing her into surgery. My tears, my bruises. But nothing compared to her fractured neck and broken back.
She didn’t make it.
I shuddered and tuned back in. She was passing out papers for the rough draft. I hastily scribbled down my poem. I would edit later. Right now, I just wanted to get the words down with as little pain as possible. I saw Derek was writing with just as much fervor as mine. His face was concentrated, passionate. I averted my eyes two seconds later, afraid of making eye contact. I didn’t need him. I didn’t want him. Not even as an acquaintance.
It was Saturday, so when I woke up, all I could think about were the games. I hadn’t been out since Jacquelyn moved. I decided on jeans, but couldn’t find any shirt but black. So I did the unthinkable. I went to the room next door. Opened the door. Went to the closet.
I whispered in a voice meant for one person and one alone: “Allie, can I borrow your shirt?”
I jumped. A robin had landed on the windowsill. I walked closer, closer. I was right at the window when the robin gave a gleeful little chirp and soared away. I think that meant yes.
Smiling, I leafed through her tops. We hadn’t packed them up yet. My mom procrastinates. A few minutes later, I found a light green shirt. It had Aero written across the front. I slipped it on over my head. It fit perfectly.
“Thanks, sis,” I grinned, looking out the window at the clouds. The sky was crisp, clear. The trees and foliage basked in the abundant sunshine. I could almost feel the summer like rays caressing my cheeks, arms….
“Kate,” My mom called form downstairs.
“What?” I asked as I ran down the stairs. I stopped at the bottom. I wanted to run back upstairs, but my legs were frozen in place.
Ms. Haggle was standing in the doorway.
“Kate,” She gave that fake, teacher smile, “I would like to talk to you and your mother. Is that okay?”
I knew I didn’t have a choice. “Sure… I guess,” We went to the living room and sat down. It was weird having Ms. Haggle on our coach. “Am I in trouble?” I asked. The feeble question was ignored.
Ms. Haggle began talking to my mother. “Ms. Jones, I’m worried about your daughter. Not only what happened to her and the other boy in my class, but she passed out one day at the lockers. And she doesn’t have the greatest tongue. Her grades were A’s at the beginning of the year. Now they’re C’s. They rose a bit, but now they’re back down. She won’t talk to anyone, except for one boy. But ever since the accident, they haven’t spoken a word. In other words, is everything okay here at home?”
“Well, my husband and I just had a divorce. But I didn’t think it would affect her this much…”
“I don’t believe that’s the case, either. Has anything else happened, to your knowledge?”
“Well, we… we were in a car crash. She and I were fine. But her father broke his leg. And, I had a daughter. She… she didn’t make it,” My mom began to tear up.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t’ mean to pry-”
“No, it’s alright.”
“So, Kate. Is that what’s bothering you?” I didn’t answer. She couldn’t just come in here and play therapist with my mom. My mom didn’t even care about me anymore.
“It’s okay. You can tell her,” My mom spoke, gently. But I knew she probably didn’t give a crap.
“No, that’s not it all what’s wrong. Maybe I’m just a screwed up girl with no life!” I bolted. Tears fell from my cheeks as I tore up the steps. I slammed the door to my room, locking it.
I heard my mother and Ms. Haggle at my door, telling me to unlock it. I searched my room for some kind of exit. I remembered the closet. I pushed aside my clothes and felt for the secret knob. I found it. I slipped through the door just as my mom had worked the lock.
I was in my sister’s room. I listened. Both of the adults were in my room. I ran out the door and down the stairs as quietly as I could. They never even came out of the room.
My dad had installed that door so my sister and I could talk. He said he would keep it as long as we respected curfew. No using it after eight thirty on school nights.
I tried to cheer myself up on my walk to the park. I was glad it was so close. I thought about my great escape. And how I as being invited to hang out by one of the cool kids. Miguel on top of that.
By the time I reached it, a grin had worked its way across my face. I scanned the baseball fields. There were two games going on. I recognized a few boys form my grade on the field to my right. I saw Miguel and two others- a boy and a girl- sitting on the bleachers. He was in a uniform, Padres.
I walked over and waved a bit. Miguel looked up and saw me. “Hey, Kate,” He smiled. “C’mon over!”
The girl looked questioningly at Miguel, but he just waved off the look. I heard him mutter: “She’s cool. Give ‘er a chance.”
I pretended not to hear. A boy named Lars was up to bat. I saw Jack, a boy in my class, was pitching. Lars might’ve gotten a double, but someone I didn’t recognize caught the pop-up.
“I’m hungry,” The boy sitting next to Miguel announced. “Let’s go eat.”
“I don’t have any money,” The girl said. She was also in my class. Her name was Amanda. She was shy, but one of her cousins was popular, so she was friends with a bunch of people.
I told him I didn’t have any cash either. “Then we’ll get you something,” Miguel stood up and began heading towards the concession stand.
“We will?” The boy asked as we began to follow him.
“Yeah. You buy for Amanda, I’ll buy for Kate,” On the inside, I smiled a bit. “What do you want?”
“Uh, popcorn. Thanks.”
“No problem,” He ordered for us. Miguel got a hotdog and a Coke. We were all kind of getting bored of the game, so we ventured off to the play set with our stuff. (The boy, Mike, had grudgingly bought a piece of pizza for Amanda).
We all sat down on a big rock, used for a bridge between the play sets. Amanda and Mike wanted to go back and watch, but Miguel and I stayed. He looked as if he wanted to say something.
“Kate,” Miguel asked, “what’s up with that Derek guy?”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“Well, for one, he’s been giving you the cold shoulder ever since he read the note. Seriously, it was just a note. And I don’t get it. He said, I’ll see you in you’re dreams. And, like that wasn’t strange enough, he wouldn’t say the word: ‘dreams’. And then he had, like, a seizure. And you did, too. Only three seconds apart…”
“I have no idea. The seizure thing, I think I was just freaked out that he was having one,” I lied. “And I guess he just… I don’t know. Messed up?”
“Maybe,” Miguel didn’t sound convinced, but he left it alone. “So, how’s it going with you?”
“Uh, good enough. How ‘bout you?”
“Good. I’ve gotta game after this. You think you could watch me?”
“Sure. When does it start?”
“In about twenty minutes. It’s right after the one going on right now. We’re playing the Cubs. They’re going down!” He laughed and gave me a high five. “We better start heading down there. Coach gets mad if we’re not there for warm ups.”
“Run, run,” I shouted, cheering Miguel on. He had hit it all the way to the fence. He was just rounding second, and they had the ball. He was almost to third as they threw it in. An overthrow. Miguel ran harder. The catcher was about to get the ball. Miguel slid. He was…
Safe. The umpire had called safe. Miguel had brought in two other runners. He had just won the game.
“Miguel, you did great,” I cried, pounding his fist. Girls came up to him and hugged him. I felt as though I didn’t know him well enough. But after they let go, he went up to me. He wrapped me in a victorious embrace.

That night, I had good dreams. Dreams of Miguel winning, of having friends, a sister, and two parents. But the best part was: I had them without any help. Without any help from you-know-who. Yeah, that was definitely the greatest.
I woke up early, thinking I had to go to school. I had just dragged myself out of bed when I realized it was Sunday. I collapsed back on the bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
Big mistake. Derek was waiting for me. “Look, I’m sorry. I probably deserved that. But she kissed me. And I didn’t think you would get caught with the note. I’m really sor-”
“Shut up,” I said quietly.
“What’d you say?” He asked, leaning in.
“Shut. Up.”
“Jeez, I’m just apologizing. And, anyways, you’ve been having nightmares, right?”
“Not today. I had a dream about yesterday.”
“Yeah? “He asked, a little sarcastic. “And what was that?”
“You need to work on that. It’s still not believable. It’s emotionless,” I sneered. But Derek just ignored that, and repeated himself. “I went to a baseball game. Miguel invited me,” I spoke the words like it was no big deal.
“What? I thought you hated that kid.”
“Not anymore. He’s really cool. Unlike someone I know…”
“Fine, fine. I’m going already. But I don’t like that guy. There’s something weird about him.”
“And that’s what he said about you. Now scram,” Derek opened the portal, leaving me wondering: Should I have forgiven him?
No, he left me. He deserved this. He should see that I didn’t need him. Then, maybe, we could make up. But not now. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
The next day, Derek tried to tell me something. He was a nervous wreck, unable to be anything more or less. “Kate, whatever you do, don’t talk to Miguel. He’s a-”
Miguel stepped in front of Derek. “Hey, Kate, what’s up?”
“Nothing much. Nice job in that last inning, by the way.”
“Thanks, but it wasn’t much…” His smug smile betrayed his modest words.
We walked to class, joined by other classmates. Some were surprised to see me, but Miguel made sure to get the point across that I was with him. It felt great.
But Emma and Stephanie still gave me dirty looks. They were paired with Derek’s frantic ones. He was pale, and probably had cold sweat trickling down his neck. Ms. Haggle asked him if he was okay. “I’m fine.”
“Or his he. Maybe he should have his head checked,” Miguel murmured, sneering. I shrugged, and then went to sit down. I found a note on my chair. “I can’t write much, just in case. Just stay away from him. He’s dangerous.” I rolled my eyes, balling it up. I threw it at the back of his head before Ms. Haggle turned around. I thought he would glare, but he didn’t. He probably would’ve been an even worse wreck, if it were possible. His eyes were wide, trying to get a message across. Miguel turned towards him, and Derek forced himself to calm down.
Ms. Haggle had us turn to page two-oh-three in our Lit books. “Who wants to read?” Miguel raised his hand.
“One question, first,” Ms. Haggle nodded. “What’s this even about?”
“Sorcery,” She answered. “I don’t really like it, but you kids seem to,” I don’t know why, but Miguel beamed at that.
He began to read: “I looked down into the pot. Jasper began to chant…” Miguel stopped. “Can I make up my own spell?”
“Sure, why not?” Ms. Haggle answered, exasperated. “You and Kate have already turned my room into the big top,” Miguel and I ignored that last part.
“Jasper began to chant: Through the dreams,
Through the nightmares,
A Dreamer deems
Us evil, but he will pay
In the end
And injuries,
They will not mend.”
Derek shot up out of his seat. “No,” He yelled at the top of his lungs. But, before Derek could do anything, he was frozen in place. The lights surged. Sparks flew. The lights flashed off. People screamed. They went out the door, if they could find it. I fumbled around, looking for a flashlight or something. But I was grabbed. A hand clamped over my mouth. It was still pitch black. I heard Derek yell: Let her go. But how could he see? I couldn’t even see the hand over my mouth..
The next thing I knew, something was forced down my throat. It knocked me out. Before I went out cold, I saw Derek slam into Miguel.
I was in the classroom again. But it was empty. I looked outside. That wasn’t the playground. It was a football field… no, a baseball field. Not two seconds later, Miguel and Derek showed up. They were pushing and shoving. “Derek, chill. It’s only a dream.”
But now they were on the ground. Swinging punches, kicking, thrashing. I told Derek again to calm down, getting freaked out. He yelled amidst his fight: “Kate, run. Now,” He grunted.
“She doesn’t have to listen to you,” Dream Miguel hissed, kicking Derek in the shin before springing up. I went over to the fake Miguel.
“Kate, come back here,” He sounded like a mother, scolding a toddler.
“No,” I answered simply. Miguel took a protective step in front of me.
“Please,” He begged, freaking out. Laughing, the Dream Miguel put an arm around me. I let him, to Derek’s horror. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Yeah, I do. Making a friend out of your enemy. And you don’t like it.”
He groaned. “Kate, please. This is a matter of life or death. Miguel made the lights go out,” Derek was still afraid.
“Yeah, right. He’s probably trying to wake me up right now.”
“Not that I wouldn’t do that,” Miguel grinned with obvious mischievousness, “but I’m right here.
I back away from both of them. “But… you’re… you’re a Dreamer?”
“Why insult me? Of course not. They think they’re so great, giving ‘sweet little dreams’. No, people have to learn to toughen up and take it. Dreams should be a crash course for the real world. No, I’m not one of them. Never.”
“Kate, he’s the one who gives you nightmares. He wants to kill me, on top of that. He’s been learning your greatest fears. Wake up. Now,” Derek commanded. He took a step closer to me. Miguel mirrored him.
“I’m trying,” I cried. “I can’t do it.”
“Yes you can,” He urged. Miguel took a step towards me. I was too terrified to do anything.
My eyes opened. The lights were just turning on as I did. Perfect timing. I scanned the room. Derek and Miguel were just waking up. Miguel leered at us, Derek still was scared. I was completely terrified.
Ms. Haggle pressed a button near the door. “Ms. Haggle?” A voice on the intercom asked.
“The-the lights! They just exploded, and then blacked out.”
“Calm down,” The voice ordered, though not harshly. “For how long?”
“About a minute and a half,” Ms. Haggle took a deep breath. “Can we get an electrician? There were sparks, and one almost hit one of my kids.”
“Oh, is that what happened? Please evacuate. Bring them… one moment please,” The secretary returned after a moment. “Bring them into the auditorium. We’ll have someone in there as soon as we can.”
We all filed out. I stuck close to Derek .Even though we were on opposite sides of the line, I could still feel Miguel’s eyes on the back of my head. “Don’t look back,” Derek muttered.
Once in the auditorium, we dispersed. Derek and I hid behind a brick wall that lined the sitting area. “So he wants to kill you? No exaggeration?”
“Not at all. When I found out, I tried to tell you. But we’ve both made some mistakes. Let’s just forget about all of that and worry about Miguel, okay?”
“Yeah, that’s cool. But how do we shake him? We’ll see him everyday. And why does he even wan t to kill you in the first place.”
“His parents head an organization like ours. But they give nightmares. They think it’ll prepare them for what to come, make them immune. But it only makes it worse. You know that, right?”
“Too well. Now, the answer for my first question.”
“I don’t know. Maybe I can get him to back down with my power. But I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I haven’t gotten a chance to tell the Council. I’m afraid of what they’ll do. I mean, I can take it. But I don’t want you to-”
“Dude, I’ll be fine. Do whatever you have to do.”
“Fine, but promise me one thing. You’ll fall asleep.”
“And miss all the action?”
“Exactly, you don’t have to. I can do it in your dream. That way, the pain will only be an illusion for you. It can’t really hurt you.”
“It’s a deal. But how am I supposed to fall asleep. I can’t just do it at the push of a button.”
Derek thought for a moment. “Miguel had a powder. I’m not sure what it was, exactly, but it got you out cold. I’ll find a way to get it.”
“But Miguel made the lights surge. You saw the sparks. What if he did something like that, but worse?”
Derek’s head snapped towards me. “Wait; say that again, but not out loud.”
“What do you mean, not out loud?”
“Just do it, please,” I thought my past phrase, twice for good measure. “I said once,” He beamed, “you thought it twice.”
“Derek, you just read my mind, word for word,” I gave him a quick high five, knowing how great it was for him. With a triumphant grin, he got up and headed straight for Miguel.
I saw Derek shot a hand into Miguel’s sweatshirt pocket. He looked down at his hand, then sprinted back towards me. I grabbed the bottle and took a quick swig. I fell asleep a few moments later.
As I entered a state of dream, I realized I was in the same coffee shop I had been when I was younger. When my mom made her historic confrontation. I saw the younger me. In the next booth I saw Miguel, leering, waiting for my mom. I glanced up at the clock. I had two minutes.
The door flew open, and Derek stormed up to Miguel. He stood up, defensively stepping closer. Derek shut his eyes in painful concentration. Slowly, the scene began to shift. But Miguel fought back. It was now a big haze, going form place, to place, to place.
I screamed so loud I hurt my own ears. Both boys froze. Miguel covered his ears. Derek endured it, even though he had to hear it out loud and in mind. Miguel’s eyes bore into mine. Hate, fury, rage.”I’m helping you, whether you know it or not,” He hissed.
“Yeah, right. ‘Cause every kid loves nightmares. Now get outta my mind, you creep,” I demanded him.
“Make me,” He snarled, taking a menacing step closer to me.
“Okay,” The rest was a domino effect. That simple, causal word made Miguel snap. He lunged for me. That made Derek attack. While Miguel was coming at me, Derek rammed into his blindside, knocking him to the ground. He thrust his hand to Miguel’s chest, and I realized he was once again using his attack. I remembered a conversation I had with him:
“Then, I grab the person by the wrist, neck, anything really. But the most deadly is the chest. And then, their greatest nightmare will flow to me. I make it greater, more powerful, and shoot it back at them. It only takes a second, though. They’re either paralyzed with fear- literally- or just need to sit down and surrender. I didn’t do anything really bad to that one boy. I can ruin someone’s life with that.”
I think that was what Derek intended to do.

Miguel was screaming, begging for Derek to stop. But he kept his hand planted on the boy’s chest. He had been kicking, but now he stopped. His eyes were wide with sheer terror. Upon seeing this, Derek finally decided to show mercy. Miguel didn’t move. His body dissolved a few moments later.
“Did he…”
“No, I didn’t kill him. I’m not a murderer. He just woke up, that’s all,” Derek then walked over to me, grabbing my hand. Get ready for a lot of pain, my friend.”
But, instead of pain, we heard a voice. “Derek, this is your third time. You better have a good reason for this-”
I woke up. That was probably the head of the Council or something. I hoped Derek would be okay. I looked around. My classmates were running around, joking, teasing, flirting. I saw Miguel. He was in a corner, lying down. His eyes were wide and glazed over. His mouth was gaping. He looked like a dead victim of some horror movie serial killer. But I knew he was alive, his chest was heaving violently with quick breaths.
I looked around for Derek. He was no where in sight. It was going to be hard to cover for him. It was then I realized I had felt no pain. Had he bargained with whoever had come? Had he told the man about Miguel? Whatever he did, it worked. Or had he somehow taken all the pain, causing more for himself and none for me? I hoped not. That could probably come close to killing him. No, I really hoped he hadn’t picked that one.
I stayed in my little hiding spot until Ms. Haggle called us all to attention. She did a head count. “Where’s Derek?’
“In the bathroom,” I lied.
“Oh. Okay, then. Everyone, we will be holding our last period in here. Did everyone bring your books?” Only a handful of children did. She groaned. “I guess not, then. Because some people weren’t thinking. We’re in school. You need books, for Heaven’s sake,” She waved us off. We had free period. I shifted weight. I saw Miguel moving in slow, labored steps. I paced. I thought about vile things that could’ve happened to Derek.
I went to the bathroom, splashing cold water on my face. I couldn’t take it anymore. Where was that boy? I needed to know. I mentally screamed the phrase over and over. I knew it was useless. But oh well, it was something. Better than just standing around here doing nothing.
Soon we lined up for the buses. We had to leave everything in the classroom, as we weren’t allowed in until the lights were fixed. Miguel made them to blow up or something.
After a frozen dinner I made myself, I headed straight up to bed. I saw my mom linger at the doorway, but chickened out. So much for saying goodnight. I slowly drifted into sleep. But Derek wasn’t there. But Miguel wasn’t either so….
I woke up a few minutes late, waiting for Derek. He never came. I threw on a black shirt. I couldn’t find any other color. Was this an omen or something? I groaned and went down to pack up all my stuff. My mom caught me. “Kate, Ms. Haggle’s coming back on Thursday. But if you want to talk about it before-”
“No, there’s nothing wrong. I’m not a nut.”
“Honey, that’s not what we mea-”
“Just leave me alone,” I raced out the door. The bus was five minutes late. I resorted to pacing again. Eventually I sat down, bouncing my feet and tapping the ground. A little boy looked at me funny, and I stuck my tongue out at him. Since he looked like a third grader, it was probably big for him. He glared, then talked with another little boy.
The school had combined the elementary and middle school buses, even though our schools were separate. They said it was so that the younger kids could have good examples set for them. I think it’s just the school board being cheap.
We pulled up to school. I rushed out, but someone caught my hand and pulled me into a bush. I would’ve screamed, but someone whispered: “It’s just me.”
“Derek, don’t do that. And where have you been? I thought you were dead,” I hissed.
“I thought I was, too. The Council found out about you. They’re coming for you tonight. It’s not gonna be pretty. So we need to-”
“How’d they find out?” I interrupted.
“I said that Miguel was in your class. And then they asked me how I knew. And….”
I groaned. “Derek.”
“I know, I screwed up. But I know a place where they’ll never find you.”
“Where?” I asked.
“Well, if they can’t get into your dream tonight, they’ll come for you in the real world. So I’m bringing you to a different realm entirely. No time for questions, Kyle’s coming. Just trust me,” Derek told me to try and fall asleep. Though it took about ten minutes, I nodded off.
Derek met me there. How did he fall asleep so quickly? “Acquired talent. Now let’s go,” He urged. He put his hands on the ground.
“Are you turning me in?” I gasped.
“No, of course not. This is just a pit stop,” Not two minutes later, we were back into the Realm of the Dreamers. But we had no time to marvel. He took me straight to the dorms. I had a hat over my head and sunglasses. He told me a girl named Lisa wore them a lot. I was just her height.
He took me the dorm he and Kyle shared. We found Kyle lying on the top bunk. “Hey, Kate,” He turned to Derek. “We’d better get going.”
“Do you have the-”
“Course I do,” Kyle cried, cutting Derek off. I just hid it,” He walked into the bathroom, which adjacent from the bunk. I was standing at the far side of the room, near the door. Kyle had a book under his arm, and a mess of black cloth. “Let’s go.”
We went out into the field where I first met him. There, we dressed in the black cloaks. Kyle opened the book to a marked page. “Okay, Mr. Dark Magic. Take us to Lost Soul’s Woods.”
“Hey, it’s not dark magic… exactly,” He took the book from Kyle and began to chant: “To forbidden woods, we long to go,
To a frightening, terrible show,
Take us before anyone may see,
And though we may be crazy,
Take us to this prison cell,” I thought an explosion or something would come before us. But nothing happened.
“Why didn’t it work?” Kyle asked. But Derek put a hand up, silencing him. As he did, a hazy door began to materialize. “Well, the rhyming was terrible, but it worked.”
“Leo’s son wrote it, what’d you expect?” Kyle winced.
“I’m sorry. But you’re the ones who’ve been telling me to get a move on…”
“Yeah. Sorry,” Derek linked hands with me and Kyle. Together, we stepped through the door.
No massive, sickening teleport. We just plain stepped through it. But we weren’t in some sunny field anymore. We were in a place that was literally black and blue. Leafless Weeping Willows were thrown around in messy handfuls. Some were sparse, some so thick it was impossible to get through. We began to walk. I saw people in rags, moaning. They had little food. Derek had told me. “Just keep looking forward. They think we’re one of them.”
They gravel path ended. We were over looking a gorge with deathly sharp drop. Not to mention the edges of the rock. I had to look away, though. I thought I saw a skeleton at the bottom. “What is this place?” I hissed.
“This is where I might end up,” He admitted. “It’s the place where the Council dumps all of the banished Dreamers. They stay here for twenty years, on average. The minimum is two years. But I know two or three that are here for entirety. There’s no light, and barely any food or water. And there’s always the danger of falling off the cliff…” He glanced down at the barely visible skeleton.
“Yeah, I noticed. Now, why are we here?”
“They won’t think to look here, nor can they track you down.”
“Wow, you’d think they’d learn,” I smirked.
Kyle glanced around, skittish. “Can we just keeping moving? There was one guy who was glaring.”
After we had been walking for about two minutes, I thought I heard something. I glanced back behind my shoulder. It was that man again, shadowing us. I nudged Derek. “Look,” I murmured. He didn’t react, so I knew it wasn’t too terrible. But his pace quickened. “So does this mean you would be nervous?”
“I’m surprised I’m not freaking. This could break the barrier,” He divulged.
“Crap. Who is he?” Derek shushed me. He motioned Kyle to turn around, but keep walking. I saw Kyle force himself to keep cool. Soon, we reached a fork in the road. Kyle, who we were using as a GPS, had to stop and think. The man- who looked thirty- walked up to us. Derek looked down, hiding his face. I copied.
“Who’re you? You’re not form around here.”
“I just got dumped here,” Derek lowered his voice a bit, making himself sound a little more mature.
“How old are you, kid?”
“Sixteen,” He answered automatically.
“I don’t believe you. Let me see your face and-”
“No.”
“What? Why not? Now, which one of you’s talking?”
“No one talk,” Derek whispered.
“What was that, son? Didn’t catch that,” He leered, and right at me. “Is this you? Why don’t you pull up your hood?” Mentally, I asked Derek what to do. Should I kick him?
“No, please don’t,” He answered my thought. But the man believed that was an answer to his question.
“I told you do it,” He commanded.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Derek spat.
“What are you, a mind reader?” He scoffed. But then he froze, thinking. His face lit up. “Is this why you got banned? You brought your assignment here? Is he here with you?”
“No, I lost my temper. With Leo.”
“Jeez, even I was smarter than that. How long you stuck here? Twenty?”
“No, thirty. They’ve switched up some stuff.”
“Yeah, I haven’t been out in a while. One of the only guys who hasn’t lost it. Take off your hood, you sound like Jack Mason’s boy,” He flipped up my hood before I could react. I immediately backed up, crouching in a defensive position. “Who’re you? Friend of his?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“How’d you come here?”
“Same thing. I was with him,” Derek cringed.
“Gotcha! Boys and girls aren’t allowed private meetings with the Council at the same time,” He grabbed my face, turning it face down. While I thrashed, he pulled away my hair from his neck. Derek shouted threats.
He felt the back of my neck. “No mark. This gal’s not a Dreamer. So why’d they make her come when they banished you?”
Derek flipped his hood off. “Like I said, they’ve switched things up. Please, just let her go,” Hissing with laughter, he complied.
“Sucks for you all. Now get out. I’m gonna give you ten seconds to get out, ya lairs.”
We all sprinted away after putting our hoods back on. Kyle stopped us, panting. He was hunched over, using his knees as support. “You know who that was, right? Dude, we’re lucky he let us go.”
“Who was that?” I was breathing heavily.
Derek answered: “That’s Mark Santos. He was banned here when he was eleven. Kate, he’s banned here forever. I’m not sure, but I heard he murdered the T.K.I.N. he got assigned to.”
I grimaced. “And you didn’t flip out?”
“Yeah, I’m surprised. I just didn’t want him to see we knew who he was. That might’ve made him come up and try to scare us. But when he grabbed you…”
“I’m fine, really. He barely touched me,” I assured him.
“Yeah,” He turned to Kyle. “Which way?”
“See that cave… right over there,” He pointed. “That’s the spot,” We were less than a minute away. Kyle led us deep into the cave, equipped with a flashlight he pulled out of his cloak.
“Let’s hang out here,” Kyle swept his flashlight over to a spot in the corner. It had a bunch of boulders piled around it, forming a secretive little crevasse. We all huddled in the little space. It was kind of tight, but we all made it in.
After a few minutes- and some complaining and fighting- Kyle got up. “I’d better start heading back…”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry, man. Derek pulled out a second spell and began reciting it. Another door opened up. Kyle gave a solemn wave before walking through the misty door.
“So…”
“So…” I repeated. “How’d you figure Miguel out?”
“I knew there was something weird about him. When you thought he was glaring, I saw he was doing something else. His eyes glazed over for a second or two. Then he looked as if he were trying to figure something out, processing something. I did a little research, asked a few questions, and… bam. I got it.”
I decided to open a topic that was a bit less like small talk. “What’s it like… not having all these emotions?”
He stopped cold for a moment. But, after a little hiatus, he answered: “I guess depriving. If I could, I would probably feel… jealous. Jealous of people with emotions. I don’t really want them. I can’t truly like anything. I just remember how great they were. I used to love them. I try to recreate that. That’s pretty much my motivation. I work completely by logic. I ask what I would do if I had greater emotions then all this stereotype stuff. That’s why I help you. I can’t really like you. But if I could, I know you would be an absolutely great friend.”
We sat there in silence for a few minutes. I wanted to, but I found I couldn’t fall asleep. I asked Derek about it.
“Sorry, but mortal’s can’t sleep here. Some rule of nature or something about being in a different realm. And I don’t want to go to sleep. As a punishment for the banned souls, they give them nightmares. Almost as bad as something Miguel’s parents themselves could come up with.”
“And you know this… how?”
“I take history classes. I want to be the best Dreamer in the business,” He paused for a second. “Have I ever told you about Algeria Collins?”
I thought back to multiple conversations with him. “I think you mentioned her when you first took me to the Realm of the Dreamers.”
“Yeah, she was the best dreamer in history. That’s because her first T.K.I.N. was really sick. He… died. But she had felt really close to him. Her mind’s need for agony was so strong, she actually felt it. After that, she could feel everything. And two things at the same time. She had her creativity back. Using this, she could sympathize. She could think up great dreams. All the rest of the kids who were visited by her recovered a lot quicker. Now, all the Dreamers want to follow her. Especially since she was our age when she started her legendary runs. She stopped when she was thirty.”
“Wait, she went to little kids?”
“No, she went to adults. They need a little help here and there, too.”
Looking back on those conversations made me think of his speech patterns. “So that’s why you don’t use a lot of slang? No creativity?”
“Yes. I’ll try sometimes, though. I try to answer with: yeah, but I have to force it.”
“Sorry. I promise I’ll help you when we get to of this.”
“One problem. I’m not sure we will,” He admitted.
“Whaddya mean? I thought you said they won’t find us here.”
“But when we get out, they might find us. Kyle is sending some letters I wrote convincing them. I wrote tons. We’re just hiding here until Kyle comes back saying that we’ve swayed them.”
We lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. I saw a rat skitter across the cave floor. “Anymore questions?” Derek asked.
“You can’t remember stuff from your real life, right?”
“Just tragedies. And the nature of thoughts and feelings. Nothing too specific. Otherwise, no. I don’t remember where I lived, whom I was friends with, nothing.”
“That sucks. So you’ve never asked the Council?”
“They’re the ones who make us forget. It’s so we don’t miss being normal and want to go back.”
“You sure know lot of this top secret stuff,” I pointed out, suspicious.
“I have someone who tells me, most of the time. Everyone knows at least one secret. You just have to put them together.. And I read a lot. If you read between the lines, you can figure them out in the history books.”
“Maybe I should try that,” I guffawed.
“It helps,” He chuckled.
“Let me get this straight. You realized it was a joke, so you laughed to be normal?”
“Yeah, and so you don’t feel bad or think you’re not funny,” He explained.
We heard footsteps running, coming closer. We didn’t breath, huddling close together behind the rocks.
“It’s just me,” Kyle panted.
“What’s wrong?” Derek asked, getting up.
“They’re… they’re coming! You need to do something, one of your little tricks.
Hiding here won’t work.”
“How’d they find out?” Derek asked, scanning the deep cave.
“I’m not sure who, but someone told them. Hurry, do a spell or something,” He urged, afraid. I couldn’t say anything but that.
“Dude, I’m only a beginner. I don’t know what…” He trailed off for a moment. But a second later he said: “Actually, I have an idea. Did anyone say that Kate was with us?”
“Man… I-I don’t think so. Why?”
“In that case, I have a plan. Kate, you stay here. Please. Kyle, come with me,” He grabbed Kyle’s wrist and marched out of the cave. As much as I wanted to follow, I knew too much was at stake. I huddled near the rock. Soon, I heard inaudible voices. I crept forward. It took a little while, but soon I had moved at my slow pace to a position where I could hear. I ducked behind some rocks.
“…I told you, she’s at home or school or something. I made sure to tell her it was too dangerous being near me. Please don’t go after her, it’s my fault. I came here hoping that I could just be punished without as much of the shame. I knew you would find me easy.”
“Yes, but she’s not sleeping. At least not in one of our realms. And its ten o’clock…” A man with a deep voice pointed out.
Derek laughed, now scared. “I’m sorry, but I told her it would be better to, you know… stay awake,” More frightened laughing.
“Why would you do that, my boy?”
“I was afraid you would hurt her so I-”
“So you’ve made an attachment to you assignment?”
“No, of course not. I just didn’t want to feel guilty, should something happen.”
“I thought you of all people would want that. It would give you emotions,” The voice scoffed.
“Yes, but not something of this nature.”
“I doubt that, Derek. Now, you realize you must be punished?” The voice didn’t loose an ounce of the calmness it had been holding throughout the conversation.
“Yes, sir,” Derek replied. His voice was now normal again. He had given up.
The next moment was painful to listen to. I heard Derek, howling in pain. Howls turned to yells. Yells to screams. Soon, it hurt my ears. I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to see what was going on. But, before I could get up, I fell flat on my back. An electric shock traveled up my body. I got the whiplash of the attack, but it was only as bad as the first time.
Soon, I realized I wasn’t in the cave. I was in the woods. I was on the ground. A man stood above me. A boy, maybe Kyle, was shaking me. Three cloaked figures were in the background. I looked down. That wasn’t my shirt. I wasn’t outside. I was in Derek’s head. A memory, Derek’s memory, flashed through my head. A woman lying on a bed, pale. Matted hair. A hospital gown. I was embracing her as a man was gripping onto her hand. Her eyes closed.
We were transported to a living room that I almost mistook for a dump. A man was punching the drywall, beer bottle in hand. A glass shard was in my foot.
I came back to my own body, but I couldn’t feel the floor. I was hovering above it, in slow, steady motion. I was moving towards the mouth of the cave. I struggled against it, but to no good. I was pulled into the perpetual twilight zone of a forest. The entrance to the cave was lined with a red haze.
Just like in my vision, three men loomed over Derek, smirking at his pain. Kyle was freaking out, shaking Derek. One man, whom I assumed to be Leo, wore a red velvet tunic-type thing under his cloak. The other two wore dark cloaks. One tapped Leo, seeing me.
A huge grin spread across his face. “My, my. Who do we have here?” He leered.
“Let me go,” I gasped, having trouble breathing at my odd angle.
“Now, why would I do that? You might try and protect your little friends over here.”
Kyle glared up at the three Council members. “You heard the girl, let her go,” He cried, getting to his feet.
“Quiet, boy. You want this to happen to you?” He pointed to Derek, still crying out in utter torture.
“No, don’t touch him, please. Kyle had nothing to do with it,” I pleaded, trying to crane my neck and look at our captor. Images of Derek’s memories flew through my head, distorting my vision.
“He’s the one who brought you here, correct? And hid the spell book?”
“Who told you?” Kyle demanded, stepping in front of me, crouching a bit.
More images of littered beer cans. “He or she is anonymous, thank you very much,” He motioned towards the two men, whose faces were partially hidden. “Marcus, Andre, take Kyle, the one standing. And the girl. I’ll take care of their little ringmaster,” He snarled, looking upon Derek with disgust.
“It was my fault. Stop hurting him,” I begged. I kept seeing a replay of his mother dying. The memories…
“That’s what I intended, many thanks for letting me know it worked,” He leered, heaving Derek into a standing position. One man, Marcus, grabbed me, pulling me upwards. The other grabbed Kyle. We both fought, but it was pointless. Leo uttered a few words, and we transported into the Realm of the Dreamers once more.
We were at the door of the building Derek had pointed out a month back. It looked like an old Greek building, but with a brownish tint to it. We were dragged up the steps, kids and teens gaping. Especially at me and Derek. Did they know that Derek came to me in dreams? I didn’t know, but I didn’t like people looking at me. I glared at them, still fighting my captor.
We were all thrown in a clump in a room off the right wing of the enormous front room. We were in front of some thrones. Or maybe they were just big chairs. Once we got our breath back, Kyle and I crawled over to Derek. His breathing was labored. His skin was pale, his eyes wide and sickly. His expression was only afraid, though. As always.
The three men joined five others at the chairs. They whispered amongst themselves, as did we.
“Derek, are you okay? I’m so, so sorry. I never should’ve gone up to you…”
“No,” He choked, “I’m fine,” He tried to sit up, but ending up slumping back to the floor. “Maybe.”
Kyle supported him so he could sit. “Are you alright, man?” Kyle apparently had the slang down.

“I’ll be fine in a second,” He mumbled, slurring some of the words and mispronouncing others.
Shame cut away at my stomach, not giving into my pleads for it to stop. But, really, this was all my fault. I should’ve known this would happen. I never should’ve followed him into this strange new universe in the first place. I let it get too far.
“Children, Kyle and Derek especially, why? Why’d you deliberately break almost every rule we’ve passed? And Derek, you had such potential. Any explanations why you didn’t tell us that this young lady was in your class?”
“I knew she would find out the second we saw each other. I didn’t want to make you mad by telling you, so I just ignored her. But that proved impossible. She’s curious, and I gave in. By then, we were past the point of no return, sir.”
“You do realize she’s not safe anymore? She could tell the presses, we could be discovered,” Leo retaliated.
“She wouldn’t do that, I’m positive. And if you don’t believe me, are you going to wipe out her memory?”
“No, that has proven unreliable in dire times such as this. It can’t cover something this huge,” He explained, solemn and threatening.
Kyle asked: “So what are you going to do?”
“We have no choice but to keep her here. But, if you can prove that she can help you or this experience will help you later on, she may go,” He chuckled, knowing that Derek couldn’t prove it. Or so he thought.
“Wait, then I do have proof,” Derek’s voice was now monotone, so I assumed that was good. “I asked her to help me. I remembered Algeria Collins, how that little boy helped her. I thought Kate could help me feel something, since she knows what it’s like,” He explained.
Leo stared straight ahead, thinking. I tapped my fingers silently against my leg, waiting. He exchanged glances with the other Council members. They whispered something too soft for us to hear. One of them, whom I didn’t recognize, stepped up. “We have made our decision,” He paused, looking us over. Derek and I clasped hands in anticipation. “We will give you but three days. Should Derek not have a complex emotion by then, Leo’s original statement shall take place, concerning Kate Jones. In addition, Derek shall serve three years in the Lost Soul’s Woods. Kyle, you are to be on house arrest, though you may leave for classes. Your T.K.I.N will be assigned to another Dreamer for the time being. Your behavior will determine how long your sentence is.”
Leo rose up from his seat. “Now, off with you. I have more important matters to deal with..”
Kyle pulled Derek to his feet. I followed. The two boys bowed, but I had no idea what to do. I bowed my head a little then rushed out with the others. Derek and Kyle were having there own private conversation. After a minute, Derek brought me back to me own dream. We went through the mystical tunnel in an awkward silence. But, once we were safe in my dreams, Derek broke down. Tears ran down his face. Not knowing what else I could do, I wrapped my arms around him. We sat there, crying and embracing, until I woke up three minutes later.
The moment I got up, I got to work thinking about some emotions. I knew his parents got him good, but that was a last resort. We would start up happy, afraid, embarrassed, all that good stuff. Actually, in that order.
I raced through breakfast and got outside ten minutes early. My thoughts were pleads for Derek to come. A few moments later, he round the corner .When he saw me, he broke into a jog. I met him at the sidewalk. “Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, we just need to get an early start. Okay, do you remember what some of your favorite things were?” He shook his head. “Well, then we’ll just have to guess. Meet me by the field at recess.”
“Why?”
“Just trust me, please,” I pulled him towards the bus stop. It got there just as we did. I pulled him into seat six. “Did you like bus rides?”
“I didn’t ride the bus, I think. I don’t know,” He admitted.
“Let’s try; it might jog your memory.
“I’ve been on a bus since then.”
“Yeah, but you’ve never thought about it,” The bus lurched into motion. Derek’s eyes were shut. His face grew lighter and lighter. I saw the realization on his face. I huge smile spread across his face. A real one .Soon, he reached his level of happiness.
“I did, I did,” He laughed.
“Okay, do you remember any friends on the bus?” I prompted.
He thought for a few more seconds. “Yeah, I did,” He cried, snapping a finger. “I remember now. A girl… and a boy. The boy… he had light brown hair. I remember the girl and I…. we teased him, saying he was annoying. But it was all a joke. The girl, she had red hair. She laughed a lot. And, when I was real little…” He trailed off, and then laughed. “Oh, I remember now,” More laughing.
“C’mon, tell me,” I leaned closer, wondering what it could be.
“You sure?” I nodded “I had this crush on her. But we were real little. We’re about ten in my memory. I miss them. If only I could remember there names….”
I had lost interest at the word “crush”. I asked: “You happy?”
His face tuned plain, just like that. “I guess. But not enough to do anything…”
“S’okay. We’ll think of something else. Trust me, I have a plan.”
“Do I want to hear it?”
“Maybe…” He motioned for me to continue. “Derek, we’re going to a movie tonight,” I mentally ran through lists of movies that were out. Nothing scary. I would have to look at some local stuff. But I masked all thoughts of fright.
He shook his head. “I’m not going to ask.”
“Thank you,” I grinned. The bus stopped. We got off. I scanned the school grounds for something that would trigger emotions. Nothing. Oh, well. We had time.

“Kate, please stop tapping your foot,” Ms. Haggle said as she passed me.
“What… oh. Sorry,” I had been thinking about our problem. I mean, this wasn’t a game anymore. If we didn’t think of something, Derek would have to be around all those crooks. And I’ll have to spend the rest of my life there.
I looked around. Everyone had turned the page. I flipped it to the right one before Ms. Haggle could notice.
When we started to pack up our things, I caught up with Derek. “Any ideas that we can do right now?”
“Sorry, but like I said, I’m not very creative. I can use logic to improve your ideas, but nothing else.”
“It’s cool. I have a plan, but I’m just getting impatient. When’s that flippin’ bell gonna ring?” I glanced up at the clock. The boys started a ritual countdown. Ten, nine, eight…
I pulled Derek along to the right bus. We sat through the ride in silence. At stop number three, I got up, and he shadowed me. But the bus driver stopped us. “And who are you? You’re not on this bus, son,” She raised an eyebrow. “What’re you doing here?”
I thought up a quick lie. “He’s my cousin. He’s gonna be staying at my house for the next few days. Sorry, we should’ve gotten a note.”
“And now you think of that,” She paused, thinking. “I’ll let you stay, but only until the end of the week. Then you need a note, okay?”
I thought. Our deadline was a Friday. “Sure, we’ll make sure to tell my mom,” We got off the bus as the driver rolled her eyes.
I snuck Derek in through the back door. We crept silently up the stairs. We could hear my mom chatting away at the phone in the other room. She never made sure I got home, and I was glad. For once.
“So, what’s your plan?” He asked.
“I told you, we’re seeing a movie. I just gotta look something up real quick,” I needed the computer, but it was in the corner of the kitchen. “You wait here, don’t make any noise.”
I went down to the kitchen. My mom waved, and then got back to her




conversation. We normally had movies playing at the park district, so I looked that up.
Perfect. Two out of the three films were horror movies. I picked the later one, seven o’clock. I scribbled where I was going on the scrap of paper and put it in front of my mom. Before she could read it, I sprinted up the stairs and got Derek out the back door before she could come and question me.
Once we were home free, I asked if he could do any sort of teleporting trick.
“I can only do big stuff like that in dreams. Maybe I can quicken our pace a bit, though.”
“Try it,” I waited for him to say something. All he did was shut his eyes. He began to run, but it looked as if he were jogging. I followed. I realized I was going way faster than I had intended. I sprinted, Derek at my heels.
“This is it, right?” Derek panted, catching my arm.
“Yeah, let’s go in.”
“So why are we here again?”
“Will you stop asking? We’re watching a movie, for the tenth time,” I groaned. But I couldn’t suppress my laughter. He smiled a little. I could tell he was faking, but it felt good to know he was trying.
We sat down in the crowded gym. “What movie is it?”
“I dunno. I think it’s for kids, though,” I wanted him to be surprised.
“Okay,” He answered slowly. “I didn’t think you liked these types of movies.”
“Oh, trust me,” I giggled, “I do.”
He eyed me, suspicious. The movie started up. It opened with blood gushing from a person that was on the verge of being a corpse. I laughed at it, but Derek’s facial expression never changed. Ghosts and psychopaths kept popping out, making me jump. Once, I grabbed Derek’s arm without thinking. I n my defensive, this one was way too bloody.
When it was over, I asked: “How’d you feel?”
“I don’t know. But, I’m pretty sure that would’ve made me puke.”
“Would’ve? It was supposed to make you barf now. Or at least scare you. I mean, a ghost popped out every scene,” I moaned, exasperated. I fell backwards onto a cheap couch in the miniscule lobby.
“It was predictable. But it sure made you jump,” He forged a mischievous grin.
“Oh, shut up. It was creepy. You had the upper hand for that one.”
“The only good thing about this. Now, let’s get going,” He helped me up, in a huge rush. Derek told me he was too tired for anymore of his forbidden spells.
It was dark, so Derek walked me home. I gave him a quick, one armed hug, and ducked inside. My mom was reading in the front room. “How was the movie?” She asked, barely looking up.
“It was okay. I actually went there for my friend. He wanted to see it,” Since he wanted to feel an emotion, it technically wasn’t lying.
“What was it?”
“Uh, some comedy,” I lied.
“The title?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t really pay attention to it,” Really, the title might tip her off.
“Hmm, well, goodnight. Sweet dreams.”
“If he shows up,” I muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing, I just coughed,” I cleared my throat, making it more believable.