The Dream Machine

Twenty-One

SANDLER

Trumpets of triumph couldn't stop ringing in my mind. All the way through History, Science, and English. I couldn't stop thinking about it. Lizzie and Lloyd were done! I know I can't get together with Lizzie right away, but I can wait. I guess I didn't understand why they broke up. I mean, I heard their conversation, but the main lines drowned out everything else.

Fifth period soon ended and I headed to my locker, waiting for Lizzie's appearence. We always walked to six period Math together. The science room right next to my locker opened and students started leaving. She was the first to exit.

"Well, it seems that you're the suspect of most of today's school gossip," I chimed.

"Hilarious," she said and stared my right in the eyes, "I want you to tell me the truth," this is odd. Lizzie was starting to make me feel oddly uncomfortable, "Do you love me?"

I looked her in the eyes and stated, "Yes, I do."

Lizzie playfully punched me on the shoulder, "Nice try. I know you're kidding."

I faked, "Yeah, totally."

"Cool,"

That was the end of it. Nothing else was said regarding the subject, that is, until after school, when Lloyd approached me outside. I was sitting on one of the school benches in front of the main school entrance, "I know you put her up to it," he stated.

"You're crazy," I replied. If Lloyd thought it was true, so be it. I already knew our friendship was over.

Lloyd sucked in a deep breath, "Don't deny it. I know it's true. You wanted Lizzie all to yourself, so you gave her a reason to break up with me besides the obvious. You love her, Sandler, you loved her so much to yank her away from someone who had her. I hope you're proud of yourself."

"I didn't..."

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Lloyd yelled at me. He shoved me off the bench, my lower back hitting the ground first.

I have to admit, I was getting a little steamed, "Dude, I didn't make her break up with you! She just thinks that early relationships won't work out! That doesn't mean she'll leave you forever! It just means she wants to wait awhile!"

"I'm tired of your crap lies," Lloyd said as he leaned down and punched me across the cheek. I felt a cracking sound in my jaw and stood up, clutching my cheek.

It was all over then. I tackled him to the ground, kicking and punching any area I could, Lloyd did the same. No one was there to stop us. No one to say anything. No bystanders, just us and our tempers. We let out our fair shares of shouts and soon just stopped.

Lloyd grasped for breath as he got onto his feet once again, "I'm done being your friend, Sandler," with that said, he brushed himself off and walked away.

I remained on the ground. There were no marks on my body to indicate that I had just gotten into a fight, because Lloyd and I wouldn't let either of us get any really good shots in. I picked myself off the ground and rearranged my mismatched clothing. So this is what it felt like to lose a best friend.

I limped down Frederick's basement steps behind George, ready to get away from this world only to go to one that was the same.

"Why are you limping?" Frederick asked me as we reached the bottom.

I swallowed and answered, "Nothing important."

"Okay, then," Frederick muttered. George was already fiddling on his computer, setting up his Dream Machine application.

"What's on the agenda for today's adventure in lucid dreaming?" I scoffed.

Frederick cleared his throat, "We are trying to increase your abilities in dreams, so we can access them in the real world."

"Wait, so I could do what I can do in dreams, in the real world? That's massively trippy,"

"Yes, it seems that while Bob doesn't know much about you, he knows quite a lot about your power capabilities."

"That guy is a massive creep." George confirmed, still having his eyes glued to his screen, "He insists that he has this daughter and that you need to help him get her? It sounds like a Lifetime movie."

"Whatever, just hook us up."

I awoke in the light-filled room once again. Bob wasn't there however. Frederick and I walked around the room in silence. I looked into the distance and saw a figure shimmer to life. Once the process stopped, I recognized it. The object was Lizzie. My Lizzie. Maybe Frederick placed a model of her there or something to mess with me. But then again, I never heard that you could copy a human being into your dream with knowing. This couldn't be just a figure.

"Hi, Sandler," she said to me. Lizzie was there and she was real.