The Impossible

The Past

Sobbing, I crawled into bed. I squeezed my eyes tight and prayed to fall asleep quickly.

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I hate dreams. As soon as I fell asleep, I drifted into a dream.

I was back home. Only it didn't looked like before. It was a mess. I went around the house, searching for anything interesting. There was no luck. With a sigh, I went outside. There is saw a girl standing between two boys. I inched closer to see their faces clearly but whenever I tried to focus of their faces, my vision blurred. So I just watched them without squinting my eyes.

The girl faced one of the boys and tried to walk towards him. However, the boy turned away when he noticed the girl walking in his direction. Even though I couldn't make out their faces, the girl seemed hurt. Giving up, she turned to the other guy. The guy smiled at her but when she walked towards him, he drifted further. It was as if an invisible force was dragging him away.

The girl finally sat on the ground and I could hear sobbing. I wanted to comfort her but just as I was about to step forward, I realized I couldn't move. My feet were glued to the ground.

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I sat up, panting. I was now wide awake. I was shivering even though I was drenched in sweat.

I wondered what that dream was about. I was curious of the three people in my dream. I wondered who they were.

I grabbed my phone and checked who was online. Surprisingly, Jeff was.

Hi. I typed.
There was a reply. Hi.
I sighed. I hated this awkwardness between us. But the thought of Jeff brought back old memories.

Dad slammed my report card on the desk and stormed out of the room. Mom and I watched him go. Mom was close to crying. "Chloe, I warned you, several times. When will you ever learn?" Just as I was about to answer, Dad called me from the living room.

"That's it! We now know that you'll never study if you're alone. You need a study partner. Call Sarah."

I dialed immediately. I was just glad that I wasn't grounded.

"Sorry, Chloe, but as you probably know, my place is so far from yours. Why don't you ask others?" Sarah answered, with regret when I told her.
"Ask who?"
"I don't know. Jeff, maybe?"
I snorted. "As if! He'll never agree."
"Who know? Maybe he'll say yes. He lives just across the street."

I hung up. Sarah was right. It was worth a try. I dialed the number immediately. He picked up on the third ring. I told him about my problem.
"Please? Dad said if I can't find a study partner, he'll cut off my allowance for a year!" I begged.
There was a sigh.
"All right...I'll be your study buddy."
"Thanks a ton, Jeff. I owe you one."
"Don't be such a girl."
He hung up.

That was in eighth grade. From that day, one of us would cross the street every night to the other's house. We had a lot of fun studying, I thought. I sighed. If only things had turned out the way I expected. But tables turned and Jeff and I grew apart slowly. We would barely talk. Even if we happened to be sitting next to each other, we would try our best to ignore the other and if it got worse, one of us would even switch places.

I was snapped out of my thought by a soft ping. There was a message from Jeff.

You OK? Why aren't you sleeping?

I just can't.

It's bad for you health. Go back to sleep, Chloe.

Don't make me.

It's an order.

I sighed. Jeff could be like that sometimes. I went offline and went back to sleep.