Despair Inside Of Dreams

4: The Initial Realization

The morning birds were chirping outside the window. My room was chilly and colorless. I woke up and looked around. Apparently, I either passed out on the floor last night, or I fell off of my bed and didn't care enough to get up because I woke up on the carpet, next to my bed. I cracked my back and let out a soft sigh. As I got up, I noticed a small, white piece of paper on my nightstand. '0513? Save her?' I thought to myself. 'Is it some type of code? A date? A number?' I put the paper back on my desk. I went to the bathroom, put on a shirt and a pair of jeans, and headed out to my car. It was a cold morning for September. It doesn't help the fact that I live near the southwestern coast. I headed to school.

As I got out of my car, I opened the door to the backseat of my car to get my backpack out. When I closed it, I heard Halley's voice from the opposite side of my car. "I think you purposely parked next to me, just so you could talk to me, right?" she said, giggling.

"Maybe so. Maybe it was just meant to be," I responded.

"Either way," she smiled. "How are you feeling?"

I thought about the fuzzy dream I had last night. I thought about the mystifying numbers. The pain sprung across my head. "I'm feeling better. Tired, anyways."

"I feel you. Hey, are you busy after school?"

"I shouldn't be. Why?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to do something after school. You know, just get to know each other more. We didn't get to talk much last time."

My heart raced. "I'd like that! It'd be nice to get out of the house."

"Sweet!" She had the most innocent smile on her face. Her face lit up brighter than the moon. "Where do you want to go?"

"I got just the place! You'll love it, I promise. It's amazing."

"Can't wait," she giggled. Her giggle was the cutest laugh in the world. "See you then, Aries." She walked away.

The rest of the day went by, smoothly. Not much happened, besides writing, reading, boring notes, and homework assignments. I tried to find Halley at lunch, but I assumed she left the building to eat lunch somewhere else. The thought about us hanging out after school was nerve-wrecking. I haven't ever been on a real date before, if that's what this was. I never thought about us being together. I might have had a very small crush on her, but it wasn't anything big. But here I was, worrying about it. 'She probably has a boyfriend,' I thought to myself. 'But if she did, there's no way she'd want to hang out with me. Especially alone.' The thoughts made me more uptight and tense. Almost, as if butterflies were fluttering in my stomach. I liked the feeling, but the stinging pain that raced across my mind made it go away. The final bell rang.

"Hey!" Halley found me and ran up to me. "I found you!"

"Found you first," I smiled. "Ready, ma'am?"

"Never been more ready in my life." she said, excitedly.