Chasing the Reddened Dream

Chapter 1

BEEP BEEP BEEP! The sound of an alarm clock blasted through the silence of the early morning. Very abruptly, Dylan woke up from his deep sleep and stared menacingly at the alarm. At first, he was wondering why it would be going off at the ungodly hour of 5am but then remembered that it was his first day at this big university. It was called Grandioso University and it was supposed to be this upscale, fancy college where a majority of the graduates went to become doctors, psychologists or some other high paying job. The graduation rate was said to be about 90% and the chance of you getting a job out of the university was an impressive rate of 95%. Dylan had to admit that it was promising and he was anxious about where he would end up when his school career was over. He wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to do with his life and mostly signed up for this school because his parents had pressured him into it. His father was a big shot psychologist, who had dozens of clients and his mother was a doctor, who worked at the top hospital in the nation. Needless to say, Dylan had pretty big shoes to fill. The idea of being a psychologist somewhat appealed to him, as he had watched his dad do it his whole life. He liked the idea of listening to people's issues and being able to help remedy them. He wanted to be there for being and help the vulnerable population. It was almost like being a superhero without any powers. The thing was that he didn't want to be as big a psychologist as his dad. He would rather be a small time one and help a modest amount of people. Dylan thought himself to be average and planned on staying that way, despite coming from an extravagant upbringing. Dylan was also glad that his parents were modest people, even though they were highly wealthy. He was also fortunate that this personality rubbed off on him.

Grumbling, Dylan got up slowly and managed to turn off his alarm after the third try. As he walked to the bathroom, he tried to rub the sleepiness from his eyes with only mild success. It seemed like no matter what, it always won in the end. As Dylan relieved himself, he looked into the mirror and stared at his own reflection. On the looks front, he again thought himself to be average. He was by no means ugly, but he knew that he didn't have supermodel good looks. He knew he was cute at best with his short blonde hair and his rather surprising gray eyes. This was his favorite feature about himself and liked it because it was so unique. Only a handful of people in the world had it and he thought it looked good on him. He had received several compliments, as well as several insults too. He figured that it must be some sort of genetic mutation, but it didn't bother him in the slightest. He had gotten his first girlfriend with them and was proud of it.

After he finished up, he made his way downstairs. Although it was so early, he figured that he should try to eat something. The funny thing about Dylan's house was that for the amount of money that his family had, there was never much food around. His parents were stingy when it came to food. They were also obsessed with their looks and since they decided to eat healthy and organic, the food cost them more, so they bought less of it. That didn't stop Dylan from buying junk food. He often hid it in his room and snuck it in the house when his parents weren't looking. He knew they would be disappointed in him and give him a lecture about the importance of eating healthy and keeping the body clean and wholesome. Despite all of the working out and organic products that his parents consumed, he couldn't help but feel that his parents were the unhealthy ones.

The lack of food in the house wasn't going to deter him from eating something because he had a secret that his parents didn't know about: a hidden stash of the most delicious (and unhealthiest) foods known to humankind. As he scanned the stash, he decided to settle on Lucky Charms. It was his favorite cereal and he couldn't resist the sweet crunch of the marshmallows so early in the morning. Usually he ate it plan, but he figured that it was a special morning, so he took the plunge and added milk to it. He then sat down and decided to ponder how his life was going so far. Dylan knew he was a worrier and an over thinker, but sometimes he couldn't help that those thoughts slip into his head from time to time. He rarely stopped and thought about his own happiness, but when he did, he was unsure about it. He knew that his life wasn't too difficult given his family's financial situation and he had a moderate job as a manager at a local well-known restaurant, but he couldn't help feeling that something was missing. Often times, he tried to fill this emptiness by trying to master new things and take his mind off of a growing feeling of angst that sometimes resonated inside of him. Dylan began to wonder if this was another reason why he decided to go to school for psychology; perhaps as a way to better understand himself and a way to deal with this feeling inside. Dylan dismissed these thoughts and began to finish up and get ready for school. He had to pick up his friend and didn't want to be late for his first day of school.