REAGAN

It takes time for me to recollect myself and to process what just happened.

Was I dreaming?

Did any of it happen?

It felt so real, but it couldn't have been, Could it?

Nevertheless, it was 7 in the morning, and I felt like crap. My mother comes into the room with not a minute to spare, telling me to get ready.

Like any other kid in Fairport, school wasn't our finest moment unless you were the Dablin twins, the most popular kids around town also Eden High's infamous bullies.

I wasn't very popular at school, but I have a few friends.

By a few, I mean around two.

My best friends Simon and William. They would follow me to the ends of the earth. It seems I'm just not sure if it's right for me to take them there.

I take a shower and get ready, combing my hair into my regular faded ponytail. My hair isn't that long, so it doesn't take much time.

I put on my favorite sweater, grabbed my bag, and headed down the stair to the kitchen. My mom had already left, leaving her usual note and breakfast on the counter waiting.

I grab the note, and it reads.

Good morning my ray of sunshine! Breakfast is on the counter as usual. I hope your day is better than mine. I love you -Mom P.S. working the double shift tonight, so see you in the morning.

I set the note down on the table, grabbed the sub on the counter, left the house, grabbed my bike, and rode to school.

As I'm riding, I meet up with Simon, who doesn't live far from me, neither does William, but we don't see him yet.

Simon looks at me with a confused face, and he begins to speak,

"you look like hell."

and he laughs.

"That's a two-way street, but I had one hell of a night."

we laugh and keep on riding until we got to the school. We park and lock our bikes on the racks and walk to the outside sitting area to meet with William.

He sees us, and when we sit with him, he says the same thing Simon said to me,

"you look like hell."

"So I've heard... had a pretty rough night."

Saying that had the mood change from light to concerning.

"What kept you up," Simon's voice seemed tender he wasn't much of an emotional guy, but he had his moments, and this was one of them.

"That's the problem. I was sleeping, and It was like I was awake while I slept, or to simply put it, I just had my eyes closed."

Just as I thought they would, looking at me with crazy eyes like I said something completely out of my ass.

Now I'm just stuck wondering if I should tell them the full story or leave it out, but I end up telling them anyway.

They're my best friends. I can't keep this away. They could probably help me understand.

"Ray, are you on drugs?"

"What? No"

How can he even think something like that? He's known me for 15 years and automatically thinks of drugs like he doesn't even know me.

I ignored his question and went on to telling them the story.

"I had a dream, well I think it's a dream. I'm running through the woods, and then a force comes out of nowhere, carrying me to this place. When I get there, I see this gazebo.

There is no one around, so I sit and then this woman comes out of nowhere,

Mind you, throughout this whole time, I'm scared, and I'm thinking the worst, but she comes, and instead of getting the death I was expecting, she tells me something else.

The complete opposite, actually.

She tells me that I'm from this other world and I have to go back to that world and that it's inevitable."

As expected, they laugh and proceed to tell me that it was nothing more than a dream.

But it felt so real if they were there, they would know. It wasn't just a dream. I don't know what it is, but it wasn't a dream.

I guess there is only one way to figure out what's going on, and I have to wait for this person she claims will come to me.

Should I tell them? Will this make them not want to be friends with me anymore?

I decide to tell them I guess it couldn't hurt me more than it already has. "I think I have a way to prove that it wasn't just a dream."

"How, wait, you said it was just a dream, now you wanna prove it wasn't?"

"Ray, do you hear yourself right now?"

William's voice pierced me. It seems like the more I talk, the crazier I sound.

But I know I'm not crazy. I know I can prove this wasn't just a dream.

"The woman told me that she would be sending someone to me. If this person does show up, then I know my dream wasn't a dream."

Without giving either of them a chance to speak, the bell rings, and a sudden relief fills my body.

I'm not sure I want to hear what they had to say to me next with the response I had been getting. I quickly get up to go to class.

Walking down the halls, not minding anyone, and staying to myself so I don't find myself in trouble.

Like always, the Dablin twins and their crew are surrounded by a group of desperate girls.

Do they even know them on a personal level? Not likely, they walk down the streets of our town and down the halls of our school like they own something.

Someone ought to teach them a lesson, but that person most certainly won't be me. I'm not a fighter but don't get me wrong. I'd fight for what's mine.

If Simon or William ever needed my help, I'd take one, two, maybe even three punches for them, though right now, it seems like they wouldn't do the same for me.

I finally get to class and sit in my regular seat at the back of the classroom.

Mr.Jones greets us like he does every morning, and then he introduces to us the new student.

He introduces her as Charlotte, a foreign exchange from Scotland.

She spoke a few words introducing herself.

She sounded familiar to me, but I haven't even been out of the county. I sure as hell haven't met anyone from halfway across the world.

Mr. Jones goes on to teach his lesson, and I can't find it in myself to pay attention. With all that has happened in the past day, I can't focus on much of anything.

I find myself either going back and reliving my time in the woods or trying to figure out where I had seen charlotte. It's like that for much of class and then much of the day.

Class after class, and it's all the same, zoning in and out, not able to get my head around anything but last night.

School has finally ended, and I am all over this day. I want to go home and sleep since I didn't get any last night.

As I'm walking down the path to get my bike, I spot Simon jogging towards me.

I don't want to talk to him or anyone for the matter, so I pretend not to see him and hurry to my bike, but he catches up to me anyway.

He catches his breath before speaking to me. "Look, Ray. We're..worried. How can we help" I can't believe what I am hearing? My friends think I'm going completely nuts.

"This is not one of your problems Sime. You don't get to worry or try to fix me."

He stands in silence, but his face said it all.

But how can I blame him? Listening to myself, I think I can be on the little offside. But I still feel hurt because, after all these years, my best friend probably thinks I need help.

Mentally.

Shame prevents me from talking anymore. I just grab my bike off the rack and leave.

I look back as I leave from view, and a look of sorrow is stretched on his face. But I can't feel guilty.

I'm going to prove I'm not crazy. I ride off as fast as I can, trying to get home quickly.

And trying to forgive me for treating them the way I did.