In Your Dreams

A First Encounter

The guy with the white hair was staring at her again.

Gwen felt his gaze on her, for the third time since he got on the bus at the central station, despite that only being fifteen minutes ago. The first time she had looked back, but the cocky smirk he flashed her was enough to deter her from trying that again. Staring out of the window, Gwen pretended to be very absorbed by the shops flashing past. She couldn't look again to check, but the guy seemed familiar. She couldn't place where she would know him from and she was pretty certain she wouldn't forget meeting a guy with such pure white hair and taunting eyes. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen him somewhere before.

"Have we met before?"

A voice startled her and when she turned around, there he was. Looking straight, the white haired guy took the empty seat next to her. "Sorry for staring at you, it wasn't because I think you are really attractive, though I do, but you seem very familiar," he continued, seeming pretty pleased with himself. Gwen scooted a bit closer to the window, her face burning up instantaneously.

"I don't think so."
"You sure? The name's Nash, though I hate it as much as the average person, so most people call me Nate," the guy continued, still very much smirking and very much in her personal space.

Gwen stiffened, but forced out a smile. "Yeah, I'm sure," she mumbled as the bus screeched to a halt. She jumped up, grabbed her bag and awkwardly shoved herself past the guy's lanky legs. She managed to squeak out a "Sorry, this is my stop" before she basically threw herself through the open bus doors and into the cold winter air. When the bus pulled away, she glanced at the guy with the white hair one more time. He was staring at her again, but the smirk had been replaced by surprise and something else that she couldn't place. Then, luckily, he disappeared from sight as the bus turned the corner.

She felt like she could breathe again. "Man, that was weird," she mumbled to herself, trying to place the panic she felt rising up in her throat. She attempted to shake it off and looked at the bus stop sign to see how long it would take for the next bus to arrive. Five more minutes. Feeling less cornered, she let her mind wander to the memory that prompted her to get off the bus at the wrong stop.

"Nash, please just go away."
"You know I prefer it if you call me Nate."
"Just go."
"No", he replied, basically pouting as he stood by the sidelines, literally and figuratively. His white hair was nearly blinding, and he looked so tall that one kick to the legs could take him down easily. Gwen had been walking past with another boy, she didn't even know his name, but he was holding her hand and he was nice, when she had spotted Nate's towering figure at the sides of the soccer field.

"Nate, the last time I saw you was like weeks ago, besides, it's not like this can be anything exclusive."
Nate scoffed in reply, "have you ever heard of soulmates?"
"Have you ever heard of this is not real?" Gwen answered, staring at his now familiar unruly white hair and light eyes, filled with suspicion at the moment. Yes, it was weird that he was the only boy she met here with a face, a name and such a consistently annoying personality, but that does not mean anything, especially not soulmates.

That memory would not be that weird on its own, had it not been a dream Gwen had over three years ago. A real middle of the night actual dream, so how was this possible? It must have been some crazy kind of coincidence, or her mind playing tricks on her. Still, with a growing feeling of uneasiness and confusion, Gwen recalled the last thing dream Nate said to her before he vanished from her dreams altogether.

"It may not be real yet, but one day it will be."