Into A Dream

Summoned

If I was honest with myself, which I'm not often, then I would admit that I doodle more than I actually pay attention in class. Which is not being generous. The majority of my doodling is in first-period Mathematics for multiple reasons.

The first reason being, it's the first place I end up after leaving my aunt and uncle's house. I attempted writing a dream journal but ended up not being very successful at it, but doodling was what I was good at. Whenever I have a dream I find it useful to draw them.

The second reason being, I hate math. It's tedious and repetitive, everything has the same end goal. You're always solving for the "X" or trying to find out how to solve for "X" with a bunch of other useless numbers.

Either way, today I find myself sitting in math twice. Once during this morning and now again, during my second half lunch period for tutoring.

I was sitting in my usual desk near the window in Mr. Thomas's class, pretending to work on the worksheet he handed to me. When I pulled out my bag lunch the classroom door opened and a strange student entered.

"Mr. Thomas?" It was a guy I've never seen before, he wore a brown jacket that looked too big for him. He looked worried.

Mr. Thomas looked up over his low rimmed glasses at the kid, "What?"

The kid fidgeted with his hands. "The principle needs you." He glanced at me.

Setting his fork down, Mr. Thomas pushed himself away from his desk, and the heart-healthy salad his wife made him, then looked at the kid. "Really? Why didn't he use the intercom?" He made a sucking noise with his mouth like something was stuck in his teeth.

I pulled out my bag of chips.

The kid stood up a little straighter. "I don't know sir, he just asked me to run down here and grab you." The kid reminded me of a lizard, a skittish lizard.

After sighing dramatically, Mr. Thomas stood up. "If this is a lie, you have my word that you are getting detention for the next two months." He excused himself from me and one other student then entered the hallway.

The kid slide into the room as Mr. Thomas left. He watched me for a moment then opened a piece of paper from his pocket.

Weird.

I turned back to my worksheet, dusting some chip crumbs off the paper, okay find "X". Divide a and b, multiple by the c, and add the two together. Maybe not, minus the given value and then add them together. I sighed and grabbed my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Okay, so definitely add the two together and then use that sum to find "X".

That wasn't so hard, the next one was the same just different numbers. Who buys 360 jelly beans? Why not a bag? So, they have 360 jelly beans and they need to split them amount 13 classes. The given formula is how to find out how many jelly beans each class gets to make it even.

The classroom door opened again, I refused to look up and bit into my sandwich. Why do 13 classes have to share 360 jelly beans? Plug this number into "C" and-

"Excuse me, sir?" I looked up, a kid with combed hair and an English accent stood in front of me. "May I have a word?"

I looked around and set my sandwich down. "Sure, I guess."

He looked at the other kid and then back at me, "Outside of the room?" He nodded at the door where the other kid stood, looking worried and down at the paper.

After a moment I stood and put my sandwich in the paper bag, placed it in my bookbag then followed him outside. I followed the kids down the hallway and outside to the school's greenhouse.

They didn't stop until we got inside the greenhouse.

"Walter R. White." The kid with the comb hair said, holding out his hand. It was gloved.

I took his hand. "Are you one of those foreign exchange students?"

Walter raised an eye at me, then looked back at the other kid, "Um, no lad, I'm not." He took his hand back and then nodded at the other kid. "This is Bill. My associate."

The kid, Bill, rolled up his sleeve and took my hand. Shaking it awkwardly then letting it go. He was standing behind Walter.

Walter sighed. "You'll have to excuse him, he doesn't do well outside of his habits."

Bill looked at Walter then down at his hands. Messing with the piece of paper that he had back in the classroom.

"Um, lunch is almost over," I said awkwardly. Walter looked surprised then nodded and took out a piece of paper.

"We are looking for someone and you fit the description." Walter handed me the piece of paper then checked his pocket watch, and gave a concerned sigh.

Glancing at the paper, I realized that it wasn't in English and handed it back. "What does it say?"

He took it back, "Pale hair, ocean eyes, male.." Walter looked up at me, did his nose twitch? He then glanced at Bill, there looked to be some form of agreement between the two of them. "The description fits you, but are you really the one we are looking for?"

I couldn't help but laugh a little, "Definitely not," I glanced at Bill, he was starting to look a little green. "Is he okay?"

"I'm fine," Bill said placing a brown hat on his head, wait, did his tongue flicker? I turned my attention back to Walter. I didn't sleep very well last night, that must be why I'm seeing things.

"You must though, you're the descendent of Alice, are you not?" Walter held out his hand but it was no longer gloved, it was.. fur? I took a step back. Descendent?

"Alice? Alice Kingsley?" Bill shook slightly, almost like the name worried him. He kept looking around nervously, especially at the potted flowers.

"Alistair, please, we need to know where Alice is. You know, don't you?" Walter held the piece of paper for me to see. Somehow it changed into a woman, was that mom? Now it's in English, a royal decree of the Card Court? I continued to back up, that was all too freaky, this can't be real.

"He isn't answering, lemme just grab him." Bill tried to step around Walter, who had taken his pocket watch out to look at the time.

"No, no Bill," Walter sighed and put the paper back up, "Are you her son or not? That's what we need to know." They both took a step closer to me.

I backed against the door of the greenhouse, it creaked quietly, the bell was ringing and so were my ears. My heart was beating faster, they shouldn't know about her. No one here should. That's why we moved. Because of this, because of me, because of her.

Walter and Bill both spoke again, but I wasn't listening, I fumbled with the door handle and sprinted out of the greenhouse.

No. The world began to close around me. No. My lungs began to collapse onto themselves. No.

I didn't return to school, I couldn't those two would find me there easily and I'd be right back out here again. I couldn't go back to my aunt and uncle's house, if they know I go to school here then they know where I live. And where I work too.

So I kept running until I found myself at the old Castle Park.