Dreaming

Waking Up

"Students!"

Christiana cracks the door open and yells over out chatter. It's surprising how loud a few teenagers can be. "Follow me," she grins. The people here are so... happy. I don't know how I'll ever fit into here.

 I glance at Samantha, just to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Almost at once, everyone quiets down and walks out the door in a not-so-neat line.

We turn the corner into another hallway, with wooden doors with signs that say different things. One door says, "Room 56" Interestng. Another door says "Intermediate Learners," and then another says "Advanced Learners."

We walk into the room that says "Beginner Learners."

"Is this place a hospital or a place for crazy teenagers?" I elbow Samantha. She smiles.

"Both," she replies and we both laugh.

-----

"Settle down, children!" Christina yells over our chatter until we quiet down. All over her walls, she has pictures of mythical creatures and pictures of other places with crazy names like "Porty" or "Renik."

Christina draws on the white board a chart. One side it says "Overworld Cities" and on the other side it says "Underworld Cities."

She turns around and holds three markers in her hand.

"There are two basic worlds. First one is the Overworld. You were probably born there. It includes places like the United States, Canada, and other cities." Christina says with her calming, sweet voice that I'm on the edge of hating, Then she points over the other side of the chart.

"Then there is the underworld," she grins widely. "This is where we are right now. We aren't divided into countries or continents, instead we just live in regions. Specifically called Pieces. Can anybody name a few pieces for me?"

I scan the room, nobody raises their hand.

"Nobody?"

I look again, still nobody raising their hand. So I raise my hand.

"Jasmine!" Christiania exclaims. "Tell us what you think."

I clear my throat and try to speak as loudly as I can, but not yelling.

"Renik?" My voice shivers, but I sit still.

"Yes!" Christina says. She throws me a dry erase marker. "You can write that on the board. Anybody else?" She pauses for a moment, just to check if anybody had anything to say. She grins and says, "This is going to be a great class!"

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Christina continues to talk and I look out the window and see the sun slowly creeping up out of the horizon.

"Jasmine?" Samantha whispers and pokes my arm. I nod at her, and her face looks worried, but not scared.

"You're waking up!" I look at my hands, and I slowly start to see the sunlight peeking through my bedroom window. My alarm is buzzing on my table and I just lay there, just unaware of what just happened.