Oceans {Joji Miller}

Chapter 8

    

     I woke up wondering where I was. Looking around, I knew that I recognized the place, but I couldn't quite remember where from. "Boo!" George's hands gently landed onto my shoulders in his cautious attempt to scare me. This had no effect on me, but I turned around, surprised that he was communicating with me in my dream for  once. "Hey, dude." For some reason, his words hit me hard in the stomach.
Dude. Don't we all hate getting friendzoned? The word particularly hurt for some unknown reason. A girl trotted up behind Joji and placed her hands around his neck. He giggled, running his hands along her sides until he reached her hips, where his fingers came to rest. That's why.
I felt my eyes well up, but neither Joji nor the girl seemed to notice my pain. I felt as if someone was driving a knife deeper and deeper into my limbs, and right before they gave way, I shot one last pleading glance at Joji, hoping that for sumb dumbass reason he'd change his mind for me.

      For some reason, when I woke up, I knew I wasn't awake. I was stuck in my own dream. "I was worried sick about you." My mother was standing by my bedside. I was in a dimly lit, depressing grey room. My mother wasn't herself. In no way, shape, or form did this mind-made character represent her.
I looked around frantically as she stood there and smiled. There was something gut-wrenching about her smile. I tore my eyes off of her, and when I glanced back, she was gone without a trace. Joji entered the room with the girl he was with earlier. This time, I had time to examine her wretched face a bit more.
She had sickly green eyes, and her skin was pale and looked as if it was decaying and grey in certain areas. Her hair looked more like tangled yarn and her facial features were horrifying. Her nose was inexistent, her lips were as well. She didn't even look like a human being.
Her mouth was in the shape of a straight line, her face was showing no emotion whatsoever. Oh, and this-thing... It was also quite tall. As it moved in swift, terrifying waltzing movements through the door, it seemed to grow taller, and taller, and taller.

    Joji himself looked like the happiest man on this earth. "How are you?" He asked. His twinkling brown eyes seemed to drown out anything other than us, and I forgot about the hideous monster that was located in the same room as us. "Don't worry, I bet I was just tired-" I stared deeper into his eyes. I could see the real him, the George Miller that I actually knew. He was begging for help.

     And he was desperate.

     I sat up in the bed. My eyes were already wide open and my sweat was causing the blanket to become damp in areas. Joji awoke with a soft gasp immediately after me due to my sudden movements. "Hm - what happened, child?" He mumbled sleepily, reaching up with both of his hands to fix his jet black hair that was covering the entirety of his face.
  "I had a really bad nightmare." I breathed, feeling my heart racing in my chest. Joji extended his arm and pulled me closer to him, forcefully cuddling me. "You're a little warm." he mumbled. "Do you think you have a fever or something?" He opened one eye, looking at me. "I don't know." I whispered, not resisting his embrace. "I'll check it when I get out of bed."

     "Tell me your nightmare." He said in a raspy voice, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. I sighed. I remembered every detail of the dream, and as I told it to him, he seemed to doze off back to sleep, but by the time I was finished he was fully awake. "Monster, you say?" Joji yawned. "Sounds like someone's just jealous." He chuckled. I frowned. He wasn't taking me seriously at all. "I'm kidding." He reassured me. "I'm sure it was just a fever dream. Here."
Joji stood up, walking into my bathroom and searching around in the cabinets before returning with a thermometer. "Open your mouth." He ordered as he turned it on. "Come on, at least take me on a date first." I loved annoying him. He looked  up at me with a 'really?' face, causing me to giggle. Before I knew it, Joji had pried my mouth open with his fingers and pushed the device under my tongue. "Keep it there." He said as he saw my shocked expression.

     A few seconds passed before the thermometer beeped, indicating that it had measured my temperature. I took it out of my mouth, reading the numbers out loud. "100.3." I said. Joji stuck his head over my shoulder and looked at the device I held in my hands.
"Geez. Uh... I'll just go to the nearest target and get some flu meds." He got up out of the bed and slipped on his clothes, combing his hair with his fingers. "I'll be back in a few." He said, smiling as he walked out of the room. "See you." I breathed, returning the smile, even though I felt like shit.