Room for two

"You're insane!"

I couldn't help but giggle. Surely the corners of my grin were stretching far off my face by now; the perfect Cheshire smile. "You're only just catching onto this now?" I fought to raise my voice above the water streaming torrentially down from the mountain side. I could see the flaxen haired figure of Lyn hanging off the rock face desperately, clinging with a monkey-like grip.

"Come on Alyse, there's gotta' be rocks down the bottom or something!?" she pleaded, whining like an aeroplane on a collision course. "You jump first! Then I'll go, okay?"

"Hey! This is your dream, not mine!" I cackled once again, floating through the air. Dreams were so surrealistic. It always amazed me; infinitely preferable over taking the backseat in Lyn's mind.

"Please! Please! I hate heights!" The same whine. I should really start wearing protective ear wear.

I sighed, appearing next to her in an instance. Surprise coursed through her hickory eyes, her grip on the slippery surface faltering for a second before she resecured herself. I pursed my lips, "I know you do. You're only doing this to yourself! I could push you to do it, you know. But! You're only going to live through it and most importantly enjoy it though, if you take the leap yourself."

My speech was wasted on her, however, having managed to tune me out. Figures. Right when I actually said something of use. I guess this time wasn't going to be any different. I could feel her heart rate; rapid like a birds’, sweat was streaming down her face at a rate the waterfall would envy and her knuckles were glowing white as she muttered reassurance under her breath.

It was then, of course, I placed my hands on her shoulders, looked her in the eye and sent her plummeting into the water.

Surely, just as she was about to hit the water, she bolted upright, panting. Back in the safety of her room.

Reality again. How dreary. I didn't get as much of a say here.

Lyn, please. Go back to sleep~ We were just having fun!

I can't really go back to sleep now, Alyse. If you liked that dream so much, you shouldn't have pushed me!

This girl! Never could tell that I simply wanted what was best for her. Her happiness was my happiness, after all.

Look, go downstairs, get a drink of water and you'll be fine, I assured her. It was just a dream.

She swung her feet over the bedside, glancing at the digital clock buzzing lightly on the table beside her, it read 3 am. She might be able to get a few hours shut-eye in before school. Grumbling unintelligibly, Lyn attempted to sneak down the stairs without alerting her parents. Stepping lightly into the kitchen, she filled a ceramic mug with water from the tap before sitting on one of the maple chairs she pulled from the dining setting. She milled through her thoughts, trying desperately to tune me out – she’d need a waterfall to manage that.

The fluorescent light bulb above kicked into life, revealing the worried figure of Harvard Bingley; Lyn’s step-father. I hissed from my perch within Lyn’s mind at the sight of him, but she simply greeted him with a sleepy smile.

“Having trouble sleeping, pumpkin?” he queried his voice rough from sleep. He eyes flitted as he blinked, adjusting to the dramatic change of light.

Lyn nodded sadly in reply, cupping her hands around the mug and staring through to the bottom. “Yeah, just Alyse and her nonsense again. The dreams . . . are getting really vivid now.”

 Harvard pulled up the seat next to her.

“I’m sorry. I wish I we could do more for you, Lyn. You know, your mother and I, we’ve been talking. I’m sure we can gather the money together . . . if you want to see a therapist.”

 I winced. Lyn winced.

“I don’t need a therapist, I’m not crazy,” she murmured, slumping onto the table. I could feel the anger bubbling within her, and I hoped she’d shoot some of that raging dragon fire out into Harvard’s stuck up, wrinkly face. For thirty-five, he looked like he’d been run over by a bulldozer a few dozen times. For all we knew, dragon fire might prove to be an improvement.

A sympathetic look crossed his face as Harvard stroked her hair. “We know. We’re just worried about you.” Her rage quelled in a second. Darn. We had something good going on there. She remained on the table and there was silence for a few moments before Harvard patted her on the back, his joints groaning as he stood up. “I’m going back to bed. If you need anything, just wake us.”

He took a few steps, before glancing back and adding. “Goodnight. Please try and get some rest.”

“Ganaight,” was her reply, muffled by the table, as she prepared herself for yet another sleepless night.

* * *

Lyn headed out of the house and off to school, eyes sunken and glazed from sleep deprivation. Meanwhile, I was bouncing around, reacting to the caffeine before she’d even gotten a chance to embrace its effects. The bus reliantly pulled up to her house and she stepped inside, greeted by the general chaos native to school buses world-wide. She paced along the isle, finding her designated seat beside her good friend Mira. I liked Mira. Straight and to the point. No nonsense. Trustworthy. Reliable. They knew almost everything about each other. That’s why, I thought, it was sort of strange Lyn still hadn’t told her about me. I’m sure we would be great friends.

“Wow, rough night, princess?” she asked teasingly, flicking away a strand of auburn hair. Ahah. Princess. I’d have to add that to my list of ‘derogatory nicknames to refer to Lyn with’ list. Oh yes, there was one. Growing by the day.

“Shuddup,” Lyn groaned, banging her head on the seat in front of her, much to the irritation of the boy in front. She gave a quick wave of an apology, before resting back into her seat and turning to Mira. “Look at you. I don’t know what’s wrong with you. It’s the morning. You’re, like, smiling.”

Smiling indeed. Beaming like a lighthouse was really the only way to put it.

“Well, some of us actually sleep!” she retorted, but the smile still didn’t leave her freckled face. She glanced around once or twice before deeming it unsafe, as she finished with, “I’ll tell you after English.”

Ooh! Juicy. I wonder what it could be. Had an evil clone rocked up on her door-step? Had she somehow managed to get her hands on Zombification serum? Was she harbouring an illegal family of penguins ‘misplaced’ by the zoo?

 Surely enough, Lyn was wondering too and it visibly showed as she furrowed her eyebrows. Though, she was jumping to more rational conclusions.

The bus quickly pulled up at the school; it was a monstrous dreary sort of building, very school-like. Or prison-like. Synonymous, really. It wasn’t very far from home either, but the area you had to cross through to get there wasn’t exactly the safest. I still reckon we could take anyone who dared jump us. Lyn disagreed.

The students poured onto the grass, breaking off into their little cliques. Often, I’d try and figure out which of them I fit into, since it obviously wasn’t with Lyn’s friends. At the moment, I was tossing up between the Metal heads and whoever the kids hanging out behind the sports equipment shed were.

A combination of the coffee kicking into gear and exposure to her friends caused Lyn to perk up instantaneously. For her, time passed too fast before the metallic bell echoed through the school grounds. I, however, was eager for the day to progress, hanging onto my hopes of Mira’s news. I’m betting its gold.

English flew by. I was hardly coherent enough to listen into Lyn’s worries about the Macbeth exam.

The between class bell rang and I urged Lyn to dash outside as swiftly as possible. She was almost as eager as I was. Almost. Life can be very boring within someone’s head. All I have to look forward to is dreams and gossip. Here was the gossip train right here! Mira beamed, but as she turned the corner, we realised, someone was with her. Someone of the male persuasion.

“Lyn! Meet Anthony! He's my boyfriend!”

Our jaws dropped in unison.