Everything

Chapter 3

"Eric J.R.!" screamed Mrs. Brown.

I gasped, and stood upright, the entire class' eyes on me.

"Yes, ma'am?" I said.

The memory was so vivid, but when I woke, it became too blurry to recall, like a faded, yellowed photograph.

Mrs. Brown's spiky grey streaks of hair seemed to stand up with electricity, as she glared, her lips pressed together into a thin line, her eye narrowed in disdain. I hung my head in guilt, as she started to pour out words of how I was not respecting the college lecturer and so on. It was so an obvious lecture that I didn't really bother to listen carefully, as she rambled on. The only thing I heard was 'sit down' later. The class seemed to last an etenity, but soon it came to an end. I slumped in my seat, clutching my head, Lawrence dragging a chair next to me and sitting down.

"Hey, man, whassup? Why look so down? You were completely in your daydream. Lemme say 'Eric in his Wonderland'."

I glared, and sighed. "I keep having- dreams when I'm not even asleep."

"Oh, thinkin' of your girlfriend?'

"Hey!"

"Fine, man, fine," he chanted in a pop-song tune. "Cool down, man, cool down. Listen to the music: be happy, don't worry."

I rolled my eyes and threw my hands in the air in exasperation. "You know what? I sort of give up, man."

"Never give up, never give up, ooh hooh," he sang, plugging his earphones into his ears.

I wondered what was wrong with him, though I'd seen him like that for the past eleven years. During lunch in the cafeteria I didn't bother to eat, merely sitting down and thinking, squeezing my brain, using up all my brain juice to recall the flashes of images.

"Ah!" I yelled in frustration, slamming my fist against the wall.

A couple of students looked at me with a weird look on their faces, and I silenced. After school I knocked into Jennifer at the school gate, racking m' brain. She was in a white blouse and a pair of black jeans beneath, listening to music.

"Hi," I smiled.

"Hey," she said, coloring at my sudden appearance.

Then I told her about my 'dreams', and she frowned.

"What is that?" she said, pursing her lips.

"I've got no idea. But I know one thing, Jen," I said softly. "That you're beautiful."

She blushed, and slapped lightly on my shoulder. "Eric!'

I laughed, as I walked down the hill, pondering over the dreams.