Wildest Dreams

e l ev e n

Classes passed by at the speed of a jellyfish walking on land. Boring silence enveloped the room. So quiet, so dull, and so motionless. At the same time, there were compelling thoughts present in everyone's mind. I sat soulless on my seat, the echoes of my nightmares louder than the class reporters up front.

If today was a normal day, the scene surrounding me would be completely the usual. But no, today was far from normal. Something happened, something unusual and gruesome, like straight out from a nightmare. Maybe something like Tina had dreamt, she said those scare her a lot to wake her up gasping and sweating.

The bell ringing brought be out of my trance. It was lunch and I planned to talk to Nancy. I grabbed my bag and hurried to the cafeteria. I found her instead in the schoolyard, sitting under the shade and drinking from a milk carton.

"Hey Nancy," I softly spoke as I sat beside her.

She turned to me with her red-rimmed eyes and a tired sad smile. "Maple, hi."

"You look so worn out. No sleep for you, huh?" I handed her one of my string cheese snacks but she kindly refused.

"You think," she replied, chuckling.

"I read about what happened. I'm so sorry." I placed my right hand on her back to comfort but Nancy pulled me into a hug. She held to me tight as she let a few tears slip. I rubbed her back to comfort her. She pulled away after a few seconds, wiping her tears with her sleeve.

"You seriously don't want a string cheese? It makes me happy every time." I offered. Nancy cracked a smile but shook her head. "I really think you should be at home right now. Our teachers will understand it," I told her.

"I got nothing to do at home, my mother won't even let me watch TV. I'd go crazy if I think about it all day."

"Good point. Have you talked to Glen?" I asked.

"Not since last night. Rod talked to me on the way to school by the way. Then he got arrested as well when my father turned up."

I adjusted my seat by pulling up one knee to my chest. "What did Rod say to you?"

"He said he didn't kill Tina." Nancy spoke calmly, she doesn't accuse him clearly. Just confused as I am.

"Do you believe him?" I tilted my head, finishing the rest of my snack.

"I'm not really sure." Nancy sighed. "Some things just don't add up — Rod can be scary sometimes but he's our friend and he loves Tina. It was unexpected to see him last night, but we should've seen it coming when the whole gang's present."

She nudged my shoulder, which made me laugh. I missed them and it destroyed me that when we were finally healing our friendship that one of us suddenly died and the other was the prime suspect.

"We lied by the way," Nancy confessed out of the blue. I furrowed my eyebrows at her. "We weren't there just for a sleepover. Remember Tina's nightmare, she had been dreaming that someone was going to kill her. So Glen and I agreed to stay with her while her mom's away."

"So she somehow dreamed what was going to happen to her? That's... strange."

"I know right. Do you think it's coincidence or dreams predict the future?"

I scoffed in a friendly way. "I think dreams can tie to coincidences, but they can't be the real reality."

"Why do you have to be philosophical much, Maple? It's kinda scary," Nancy laughed at me.

"It's called circumventing," I retorted.

"Okay, whatever." Nancy's tired gaze dropped to my gloved hands. Her fingers traced the rough wool. I can already hear the question forming on her mind. "I've seen you wear those gloves ever since we met. What's the reason?"

"Sweaty hands," I instantly answered like it was built-in inside of me. "Gives me a good grip on everything, especially reality."

"Wow, I'd like to have one please." Nancy laughed but the worn-out expression replaced her smile again. For a happy and serious person like her, I haven't seen her this sad ever since I left.

She saw the time on her watch and stood up. "I gotta get going. It was nice talking to you, Maple."

"Hey, let me walk you to class. I got like a long free period before my next class anyway."

"But you haven't eaten lunch yet."

I shrugged. "It's fine. I told you — I'm satisfied with string cheese."

"Then I'll think you'd be happy with more." Nancy shuffled into her bag and handed two pieces of said food. "I remember Glen told us you like string cheese."

Yeah, he even bought me two packs of it before.

"He's such a stalker, but thank you."

Nancy gave me a smile that has a meaning I don't yet understand. We left the courtyard and chatted about things until we reached her class, which was English. I assured her she'll be alright and she gave me another hug before going in.

After taking a few steps away, I rushed to my next class because I lied about having a long time period to spare. Realizing that I was thirty minutes late to Mr. Wilson's class, I decided not to go anymore and spent the rest of the remaining class time at the cafeteria.