The Price of Our Dreams

 To Do Item #1: Hatch Up a Crazy Idea...That Just Might Work 

"When will my life begin?" -Rapunzel (Tangled)

      The familiar sound of locks clicking open and girls beginning to gossip just before lunch began surrounding us, just like any other average day in this school. One would be surprised at just how average it was, after all, this was New York City we were talking about, how boring could it get? Well the answer was pretty boring, as I did basically the same thing every day. Getting driven to my school, Cress Green Private School by my Dad, sitting down at my locker with my friends, completing the school day with the least amount of stress possible, going home via two buses, procrastinating to no end to do what I had to, and rushing to complete my homework at superhuman speeds. Of course in there was also the usual eating, showering, all of that other fun stuff every human needs to do, as well as tolerating the lack of manners and other bad qualities of the humans around us. I'm not going to act like I and the people I chose to associate it were perfect, we were far from it, but we all had reasonable amounts of common sense, manners, and respect, something people nowadays didn't appear to have, especially in NYC.

Sorry it sounds like I'm bashing people and this city, I love it, I really do, and not everyone is like that, and no I'm not a misanthrope, but too many people act like nothing else exists but themselves for me and people like me not to feel the slightest bit irritated. The pushing and shoving, talking about people behind their backs, the loudness, ignorance, just everything gets to a person after a while.

But this isn't about what irritates me, this is about what happened to really break the straw on the camel's back and what course of action I decided to take.

Back to the beginning though, my friend Rose and I were turning the corner to go to our lockers from our English II Honors class to then proceed to lunch. While we were talking a girl behind us mumbles something under her breath and when her locker was in sight she pushed me into my friend while hitting me with her book bag. Upon getting there she blatantly called us bitches. Yeah, I know it seems kinda petty, I will be the first one to admit that, but I became quickly irritated. 

"You know Rose, sometimes I really..." I started to say as I turned to her but she quickly finished my sentence saying, "yeah yeah, I know, hate people."

Damn, did I really say that that much? I really would like to think I didn't but it was probable that I did. Well gee that sucked.  

I must've said it out loud because she turned to me, smiled, and replied "it's okay you know. It's in our nature to get angry or irritated with one another sometimes, and want some type of escape from it all. Besides, sometimes I hate people too."

"Yeah, but is it normal to want to get away from it all half as much as we do," I asked, really thinking that the answer should be no, but all she said back was "I don't know".

From then on we walked in silence, until I got an amazingly unrealistic idea about what Rose previously said, but then again I decided to tell her since half of the things I had ideas about and or planed were unrealistic or never really happened.

"Hey Rose, wouldn't it be a cool idea to make our own civilization, or city or something, just for us and people like us. It'd be really cool, we can each learn and pursue our own dream job without anyone telling us anything, have whatever we want, do whatever we want, all while benefiting society of course. It'd be...really... I should shut up now shouldn't I," I asked as Rose had stop walking a few feet ago and was looking at me as if I'd just yelled out I was pregnant with the science teacher's child.

"Or not..." I mumbled as I began to speed walk to our lockers. I felt someone slap me across my shoulder and knew it had to be Rose, she tended to hit when she felt... well when she felt anything really.

"I didn't look at you like you were an idiot, because in that instance I didn't, but only because, as amazing as that would sound, you do understand that that's like impossible, don't you," she asked. When I merely shrugged and then nodded in agreement, she sighed and began to explain why, which I didn't really want to hear.

"First of all, you don't need to be reminded, none of us are rich, and this would cost more money than we could count in a year. B, which should have been first, like our parents would allow us to go off and build our own city or whatever you were thinking of. What would we even think of saying? 'Hey Dad, me and my friends would want to go off and build a dream world that has almost no chance of ever ever being successful, I mean we can't even build a fire. But anyways I still would want to know if you would let me go. Gee thanks. Bye-bye."

"Alright alright I get it Rose. When the hell did you become a negative Nancy? It was just a fantasy I had for a split second no need to get so mom on my butt," I exclaimed, while giving her a pointed 'no-shit-Sherlock look'.

Recovering from that conversation, Rose and I kept walking until we reached our lockers. I started turning in my combo, slightly annoyed at her, and when my locker clicked open I started putting in my English books. I began to reach up into Nasira's locker to get my gym clothes, (it was always open), when I felt someone looking at me.

Nasira had placed her lock on a shelf in her locker and gave me a 'what's up' look, her head tilted to the side. I was going to tell her as I bent down to put the clothes in my book bag when Serenity, the fourth of us, was poking my shoulder.

"Jaslyn, Jaslyn, Jaslyn, hey Jaslyn, what's wrong," she questioned while never stopping to poke my shoulder. I glared and pointed at Rose, only saying "her".

Knowing this, Serenity then turned to Rose, and then starting poking her asking "Rose, Rose, Rose, what did you do, huh Rose huh?" We all rolled our eyes at Serenity and smirked, knowing what she could be like.

"Oh nothing, just getting stupid ideas out of Jaslyn's head, pretty much the usual," she answered while glancing at me and her face still holding a smirk.

"That's not nice chipmunk," using the nickname for her I know she hated, although not as much as the nickname little one. I however loved it as she pouted and walked downstairs to the cafeteria, obviously pissed off.

Once we were all seated at our table in the café, what they liked to call the cafeteria, Rose went to go buy M&M's from the vending machine, while Nasira took out the aluminum foil that held hot dogs, and Serenity decided to join me today in simply twiddling with our thumbs while we starved until we got home.

After taking a bite out of hotdog #1, Nasira turned towards me and asked, "Why were you upset doll? Did anything serious happen?"

I laughed because now the idea, the argument, and although I barely say it, myself seemed pretty stupid. "Oh nothing," I explained, "I just had this split second thought that we could make some place in the middle of nowhere where all of our dreams for our future could come true and we wouldn't have to deal with people's ignorance. Basically just the place 'where dreams come true' for us. But, like Rose oh so kindly explained to me on the way to the lockers it's impossible."

Nasira nodded while dusting the crumbs off of her fingers from hotdog #1, in thought, while Serenity yelled at me, "That'd be so cool!" She then started day dreaming about what a place like that would be like, and soon we were all putting in our input, even Rose as she sat down and began munching on her M&M's, ever so kindly lending them to the melodramatic starving children Serenity and I were.

Although we were all putting in our input, Nasira seemed to be putting in the least, besides stating how she would be the architect behind the fictional cities buildings and parks. I poked her while asking "Alright, now what's up with you?"

"There has to be someone who would want that too right? Someone else like us who would understand and be willing to join us on our adventure," she thought aloud while nibbling on hotdog #2. But now it was my turn to look at her like she was insane.

"Oh Nasira," I sighed, "if only there were."

Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks to all that were even willing to click the title to find out more about the story! I promise it'll start picking up soon to the adventure-y part, I just need to put a few more pieces before that can get started! Thanks!