The Dream

Chapter 7, where Sky makes the WORST decision ever

"Come on Nick, we're heading to grandma and grandpa's!" I shout into the mostly empty house. My small brown dog named Eddie runs over, and I rub his head with a smile.

"I'm coming!" My brother stumbles out from his room, wearing a neon orange shirt and gray shorts. He's a bit on the thicker side of the scale, and he's quite tall. He has his normal goofy smile on his face that could change to anger in a moment.

"Did you take your medicine this morning?"

"Yes!" He growls at me, and I pick up Eddie into my arms, burying my face into his soft brown fur.

"Let's go then."

We leave the house, him acting out the scenarios in his head while I hold the dog. My brother has autism, which means he doesn't function normally among society. He sees these 'movies' inside his head which he HAS to act out. Also, he has ADHD, and some anger problem. It basically means he has a temper and acts out on it way too much.

We arrive at our grandparents house, which is right down the road. I set Eddie down, and he runs into the backyard to play with their dog Ellie.

"Grandma?" I poke my head in the house to see my grandma and grandpa working on a puzzle together.

"Skylar!" I hug them both with a small smile.

"Mom wants you to know that the package will be home in a few days for you to pick up." I head to the basement as always and look around. Boxes lay everywhere, holding stuff from my mom's childhood. I head to the keyboard and the case to the left of it. Quickly I fold down the stand and set it in the case with the keyboard and the cord.

I close the case and head back up the stairs to see my brother has joined them. "I gotta get home and do homework, I'll be back for supper!"

"Bye Skylar." I leave the house, Eddie quickly joining me. Together we walk back to the empty house. My parents are, yet again, away on a business trip.

I take a seat on the couch and pull my phone out, texting Ash.

(S-Sky, A-Ash)

S: Hey you there?

A: I'm everywhere, including outside your house.

S: Haha, no you're not.

A: Wanna bet? Look outside NERD!

S:... you are really outside my house...

A: Why yes I am. Can I come in?

S: You literally just walked inside.

A: Yeah, so?

S:... nevermind.

I look over at the girl lounging on my couch as if she owns the place, "Why are you here?"

"To talk about music and shit. I couldn't wait for tomorrow, so I came over today."

I grab my notebook from inside my school bag, which rests on the floor by my feet. "Alright, well what do you wanna do first?"

"Well what do you have?" She peers over my shoulder at the worn notebook, and I flip it open to show a ton of printed out sheet music, mostly blank.

"Well... I uh..." I dig around before finding the three pieces of paper with music written in. "I have a small keyboard piece, and... not much more."

"Well let's use what you have!" I pull the keyboard out of my bag and set it up quickly to my height on the couch. I plug it in and rest my fingers on the keys. I play a few warm up notes before playing the music I know by heart.

After she listens to it, Ash holds her arm out. I pause my playing, and see her frowning.

"It's a bit slow, don't you think?"

"Well... I could try it faster..."

"Do it then!"

I play it a bit faster, speeding up more and more until I'm told to pause once more.

"There. That speed. Now, where's your poem from before?"

I hand her the book, and she digs around for the poem I first showed her when we met. "Alright, now play that again."

I play the melody again, and she hums before joining in with the words.

"It's alright,

You're ready for the night

Of your life

Stars will shine so bright"

Ash's arm goes up as she stands as if in a spotlight, before her arm goes down toward an imaginary audience.

"They say

We're dancing the stress away

(Hey hey)"

Ash slides next to me, to let me see the poem too, in case I want to join in.

"This beat

Is underneath your feet"

Ash shuffles her feet and does a spin, without missing a beat. I chuckle.

"Right now

Together we will meet

This place

Will blow your mind away

(Hey hey)"

I change up the melody a bit, looking on the poem with her. Ash mimes her drum motions.

"Welcome to the club now

Gonna pump it up now

This is an emergency"

Ash's feet are dancing as she sings, fingers playing an imaginary... guitar? Dork...

"Music is my galaxy

Welcome to the club now

Everybody's up now

We've gotta going on

Until the break of dawn

Welcome to the club now

Gonna pump it up now

This is an emergency

Music is my galaxy

Welcome to the club now

Everybody's up now

We've gotta going on

Until the break of dawn

So put the record on"

I stop playing and see the grin on her face. "See? You're amazing at keyboard, why worry about messing up?"

I frown a little. "It's not that I'm worried about messing up... more like I'm scared that people will judge me by what they see me do. That's part of my social issues as well..."

Ash purses her lips in thought. "Then what made you open up to me?"

I giggle a bit, startling her. She jumps a little before giving me a very cross look.

"Well for one, you kinda forced me to open up. Second... well, you gave me a reason to not be nervous. I mean, you helped me relax a little and you seemed to genuinely care, for once. Is that crazy?"

"No, not really. Now, let's get back to playing this song."

A/N

Hey, chapter spam INCOMING! Kinda. Ash and Sky needed a bit of time to struggle through finals so... sorry?

~Skylar and Ashbel