Face The Music

Chapter Five: Dream

Dreams computer screen cast a light on his face, highlighting all the imperfections in his skin.

He listened in awe as this boy explained how two strangers could possibly be connected.

"Hold on," Dream said as an idea on how to test George's theory popped into his mind.

He muted himself and jumped out of his chair, jogging to the kitchen where his Alexa sat on a marble countertop. He unplugged the machine and brought it back to his desk where he plugged it back in next to him.

"Alexa, play my Spotify playlist." Dream whispered, checking that his microphone was still muted.

A blue ring lit up on the tiny device as it started to play the song We Will Rock You at a medium volume.

Dream drummed his fingers against the edge of his desk and nodded his head to the beat of the song.

"Alexa, stop." Dream commanded, after letting the song play for a while.

He put his headphones back on and unmuted on Discord.

"Before you ask," George's voiced came through the speakers, "you were playing We Will Rock You by Queen."

Dream's eyes widened, he was at a loss for words.

"You could hear that?" Dream asked, in shock.

"No!" George paused, "well, yes but I didn't hear it through my headphones."

"Then how the hell did you know what song I was playing?" Dream leaned back in his chair, placing his hands on the sides of his head.

His brain hurt, trying to understand how this could be possible.

"I don't know," George sounded exhausted. "But I need to find out so I can make it stop."

Dream thought of his late night drives. How the music would surround him and lift him into the air until he was soaring above the clouds. Music was what gave his life meaning.

"Why would you want to make it stop?" Dream asked, his voice raising in excitement. "This is amazing, you have a gift!"

"Being woken up every night with music blaring in my ears doesn't sound like a very good gift." George huffed.

"This is like magic, George! It's- it's a superpower!"

"I just don't understand why this had to happen to me." George's voice sounded far away, like he was leaning away from his microphone.

"I don't know either," Dream admitted. "But it means that you were right about us being connected in some way."

"I'm always right." George teased.

Jokes seemed natural between the two of them even though they had just met.

Dream wanted to learn more about this strange boy and questions swarmed his brain.

"Your accent," Dream started, "you aren't American, where are you from?"

"England, so it's super late here when you decide to play your obnoxious music." George spoke with a lighthearted tone.

"Yeah," Dream laughed bashfully. "I never thought that someone thousands of miles away would be able to hear it."

The boys chuckled, making a joke out of the strange situation seemed like their only option.

"So what about you, where are you from?" George asked. His once frantic voice was more calm now.

"Florida, I live about a block away from the beach so I spend time by the ocean a lot."

"What's it like?" George's voice rose, he sounded genuinely curious.

"The ocean? It's beautiful, especially at night when the waves are calmer and there's a little bit of a breeze." Dream imagined himself laying by the ocean and taking in his surroundings.

"I've always wanted to see the ocean in person but I don't live near any beaches." George sighed. "Can you describe it to me?"

Dream was taken aback by George's request but talking to him felt natural so he had no problem describing the beach to George.

"Well, during the day it's usually crowded, especially during the weekends. Kids play in the more shallow parts of the water and adults lay in lawn chairs. The sun makes the sand hot and it burns your feet as you walk along the beach so stepping into the ocean and cooling off feels amazing." Dream paused to make sure George was still interested.

When only silence came through his headphones, Dream continued.

"The ocean makes the air salty yet refreshing and the water is foggy so you can't see what's hiding in the depths. The beach during the day is nice but I like it better at night when it's more quiet."

"What is it like at night?" George urged Dream to tell him more.

Dream gave in.

"The moon reflects off the water and the ripples create little sparkles. The sand is still hot but it's cooled down enough to lay on and look at the stars to escape from reality. It's usually unbearably humid at the beach but at night there's a breeze that sways the nearby palm trees and cools you off. Sometimes after I have a stressful day I'll lay on the beach and let the wind relax me while I listen to music at night."

"You really like music, don't you?" George inquired.

"Well yeah, what's not to like?"

"I don't know, I guess I just like the silence. It's peaceful." George seemed embarrassed with himself.

"I understand that. That's one of the reasons I like the beach at night. There's no kids running around and everything is quiet and calming." Dream tried to understand where George was coming from but he couldn't imagine a life without music. Songs were like therapy to him.

"The beach sounds amazing. I hope I get to see it someday." George spoke softly in a proper British accent that amused Dream.

"I would love to take you to see the ocean." Dream's words slipped through his lips before he could think about what to say.

He stared at his screen in horror at what he had done, hoping it hadn't scared George off. They had just met and Dream was already suggesting that George should come visit him.

"Maybe," George laughed and Dream breathed a sigh of relief.

"I mean not any time soon of course. I know we just met but-" Dream stopped himself from messing up again.

He wanted to tell George about the connection he felt towards him but didn't know if the feeling was mutual.

After an awkward silence George finally spoke up.

"I promised a friend I would call him so I should probably go but it was nice meeting you."

"Yeah, we should talk tomorrow." Dream suggested.

"Alright then, I'll talk to you later, Music Man." George said, ending the call.

End of Part One.