Dreamcatcher

3

Family car journeys are squished. Very squished. I have three siblings: Ben, Magnolia, and Liam. Therefore the eldest two, Ben (our driver) and Magnolia get the spacious, luxurious front seats while I'm stuck between suitcases and Liam. Suitcases of course, which make it their one job to ensure I feel discomfort. Why am I affected so much by suitcases? I really don't know.

I just hate being squished around people. Physical contact is not really my thing.

Luckily our school's not too far away. I expect there'll be a couple of new kids, as it's September, the start of a new academic year.

I check my phone only to see a sting of messages from one of my best friends.

Leigh: can't believe we're in the same dorm!

Leigh: yayyyyyy

Leigh: bonjour?

Leigh: hello

Leigh: r u not excited

Leigh: have u forgotten me

Leigh: do u hate me

Leigh: r we not friends any more

Leigh: im rlly sorry

Leigh: pls don't hate me im not that bad i promise

I swear she always has her phone on her. Like, even in the shower.

Me: Leigh, don't worry. But don't spam messages like that please

Me: I don't always check my phone 24/7. Am excited, see ya soon

Leigh: :D

***

We all have dinner as a year group. My school do the best turkey, with potatoes and carrots, and gravy. There's even an entire dessert station (chocolate brownies are to die for)!

I sit between Leigh and Cedric, who do not get on, yet are still my best friends. Cedric is very proud of his jade bracelet, which he received recently. He thinks his soulmate will be in our school, but I keep telling him that in a world of 8 billion people, what are the odds that your soulmate is at your school?

And next to Leigh is that bully Valencia. Two new kids Rowan and Lapo are opposite to us, seated next to Liam and Kaede.

Liam and I are currently mercilessly kicking each other for dominance over the Under-The-Table Territory, but my foot accidentally strikes the wrong person. "Who kicked me?" growled Rowan, joining in with the war.

"Stop kicking!" Valencia says through a mouthful of turkey.

"What's it to you?" I demand. She's so rude and annoying. Even her voice just makes me want to shove my fork into her neck.

"You're denting my new shoes, you diphthong!" she wails. My god, I don't know how she even got into this school. A 'diphthonng' is not an insult. At all.

"A diphthong is a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable, in which the sound begins as one vowel and moves towards another-" my brainy brother explains.

"Or a digraph representing the sound of a diphthong or single vowel, as in 'feat'. It can also be a compound vowel character; a ligature," interrupts Kaede, also extremely smart. It's actually weird, the level of her intelligence.

"Which is not an insult," Leigh finishes, rolling her eyes. She moves uncomfortably in her chair and slides her plate away from Valencia's. "If you've unhappy here, move to that table with your TikToker friends." Cedric and Rowan agree, in other words, kicking that brat out.

I subtly sigh in relief. Valencia hasn't been kind to anyone since most of us started at the beginning in Year 7. Her behaviour almost got her expelled, and if it wasn't for her rich parents, then our lives would be nice and Valencia-free.

I notice the only one who stayed silent was Lapo. His dark curls and eyes contrast to his pale complexion, and he hunches over, quietly eating his food. My eyes move toward his wrist, which is covered by a jumper. His bracelet is not visible. But his face seems familiar. Very familiar. But I cannot place it. Probably just has one of those common faces. I wonder if he's just shy as most new kids are, or ignoring people is his thing.

"Lapo?" Cedric seems to have noticed this too. "You are being unusually silent and inactive for the typical human. These symptoms are rare; is there any known cause of this?"

Lapo looks up with a brief look of confusion, and then starts swirling his food around his plate with his fork.

"I'll simplify my words: why aren't you eating?" Cedric tries again.

"I'm finished and bored. But your rules forbid me from leaving the dining hall until my table is finished eating," he answers. Lapo's voice is confident, rich and medium-pitched. His accent is British, but with a faint Italian ring.

"Well, you are not alone in the I-Am-Finished-With-Supper-Realm," Cedric dramatically declares, standing up. He nods in my direction, and we all clear are plates after them.

"Shall I escort you to your boarding house?" Cedric asks the boys. Lapo and Rowan nod as they have no idea where they're going, and I walk with Leigh and Kaede next to them. The air is cool, and the sky is streaked with orange pastels as the sun sets. The walk up to house is fairly silent after Cedric and Liam make a few attempts at starting a conversation with Lapo. I know it's incredibly strange, but in the dark, I stare at Lapo's face, thinking that some thought will come to me and explain why he looks so familiar. We all reach the fork in the road. Then, Leigh, Kaede and I depart up my separate route to Mayfield, one of the girls' boarding house.

The other girls (including Marianne, in the dorm with Leigh, Kaede and I) join later, and we do our usual evening routine, except with a fun twist for the first evening back.

After lights out, my dormmates Leigh, Kaede and Marianne chat a little, but I think about why Lapo looks familiar. Yes, I know it sounds strange that I already have a mental image engraved in my brain of him. THEN WHY DO I DO IT AM I DEMENTED AND DO I NEED MENTAL HELP IM-

Afterward, I slip into my sleep, and into my continuous dream where the world ends.

Do I cause the end?

Or stop the end?

With my soulmate? The boy with the black opal bracelet like mine.