When I finally got home, it was already dark, and I was exhausted. My finger ached and my stomach hurt, so I took a quick shower and went straight to bed.

  All night I kept jerking awake, feeling panicked. I could just remember little snippets of dreams. One was of a small boy with blond hair and brown eyes that sparkled when he smiled. Another was of a cruel-looking man, his black hair sprinkled liberally with gray. His dark green eyes were hard as he watched a burning town while the women and children who were scattered around him shrieked and sobbed.

  When my alarm finally went off, it was almost a relief to get out of bed. I dressed in a hurry and pulled on shoes, pausing for a second to stare at my somewhat bedraggled reflection in the mirror. I shook my head and sighed. I had never been a morning person, and I was pretty sure that I never would be.

  I hurried downstairs, grabbing my backpack on the way. In the kitchen, my little brother was eating a bowl of cereal at the table.

  “Hey, Zach!” I said. He smiled at me, then glanced at my mom. She raised her eyebrows at me as I grabbed a piece of bread and started eating it plain.

  “I know. I know,” I said. “I need to get up earlier.”

  “Well, bread is hardly a breakfast,” Mom said.

  I shrugged and smiled at her as I headed out the door. “Love you, Mom!”

  She shook her head. “Love you too.”

  I could see the bus waiting on the road, and I dashed down our long, winding driveway, trying to avoid the puddles.

  “Sorry, Barb,” I said to the scowling bus driver as I climbed the steps. I saw Jessica sitting in our regular seat and headed to the back of the bus, plopping down as Barb started down the road.

  “Good morning!” Jess said. Her make-up was done, her hair was lying in loose curls on her shoulders, and her blue blouse looked like she’d ironed it.

  “Too cheery!” I said, scowling at her. “It’s people like you who make the rest of society get up at this time of the morning, you know.”

  Jessica laughed and gave me a quick hug. “Are you ready for the Chemistry test?” she asked.

  “No, tell me that is not today,” I groaned.

  “Sorry, friend.” She pulled her Chemistry book out of her bookbag and handed it to me. She had little sticky notes stuck all over chapter 3, and I hurriedly read through her summaries. “What would you do without me?” she asked.

  “Fail,” I said. “I would fail.”

  “Everyone calmly exit the bus!” Barb called as we pulled into the parking lot of the school we shared with our neighboring town.

  My cousin, Drew, was waiting for us and kissed Jess as she stepped off the bus. His stocky build clashed with her lean figure, but she loved everything about him, from his bright red hair to the freckles he got from his mom’s side of the family.

  “Coming to the game tonight, Ria,” Drew asked.

  I nodded.

  “Really?” he asked, surprised. “Why?”

  I glared at him. “You literally ask me every week if I’m going to come to the game.”

  “Yeah, and you’ve said no for the last two years.”

  “I know, but…” I trailed off, looking around. I wanted to tell them both what had happened with Keegan, but I had pressed my bloody fingerprint onto his just the day before. Finally I shrugged. “I just want to come, I guess.”

  Jessica stared at me but didn’t say anything as we walked inside, grabbed books from our lockers and headed to class. We walked into first period and sat down together. Talk swirled around, and I laid my head down on my desk.

  “You okay, Maria?” Mr. Mike asked, tapping on my desk as he walked by.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  I sat up, surprised I had actually drifted off to sleep and class had started. “I think so,” I said, rubbing my face.

  Jessica looked at me with concern. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Just really tired, I guess,” I said.

  Mr. Mike moved back to the front of the room. We had just finished reading The Odyssey and Mr. Mike assigned an essay about the concept of home.

  I tapped my pencil on my desk, trying to clear the sleep from my brain. Finally I started writing, describing how much I loved my hometown. I loved the hills and trees, the winding roads, the big old houses, the stone churches, the freezing cold public pool, and the tiny little library. ‘But can a place be home if I want to leave it so badly? Odysseus did everything to get home, and I am going to do everything I can to leave.’ I couldn’t stay. Every place I loved was filled with memories I wanted to forget.

  Our Chemistry test was the next period. I did my best to remember what we had talked about that week and Jessica’s notes, but I finally gave up and guessed the rest of the answers. I spent the rest of the period doodling on a blank piece of paper. The drawing slowly turned into something that resembled a dragon, if you squinted at it and were generous with your imagination.

  The bell finally rang and we headed to our Psychology class. Jessica and I were the only juniors in the class, and we sat together at a two-person table. I could feel myself start to tense up, just like I did every day, waiting for him to walk in.

  “I hate this class,” I muttered, annoyed once again that I had let Jess talk me into taking it with her. It wasn’t really the class that I hated. Ms. Douglas was actually one of the coolest teachers I’d ever had in high school. Although she was from the area, she was always telling us about wild adventures she’d had, and she made me feel like there was a whole world out there that I could explore.

  Keegan walked in, and I exhaled, watching to see what he would do. He didn’t even glance in my direction as he went to sit in his seat.

  The bell rang, and Ms. Douglas swept to the front of the room wearing a bright red wrap dress and an odd little cap on her head.

  “Dreams!” she exclaimed. “Someone summarize what we discussed yesterday.”

  Next to me, Jessica raised her hand, and Ms. Douglas pointed to her.

  “For thousands of years people believed that dreams were a bridge between us and the universe or the divine. At the very least, dreams are viewed as important gateways. Sometimes to the future, sometimes to wisdom, and sometimes simply to our subconscious.”

  Ms. Douglas smiled at her and nodded. “Yesterday I assigned you a dream journal. Today, I want you to use these dream dictionaries to look up their significance. There are dream dictionaries here on the table. If you haven’t already, I want each of you to write down the most recent dream you remember and then look up what the different elements of those dreams mean. As you practice this, you will begin to remember more of your dreams, and maybe piece together some deeper information about yourselves. Come grab a journal and a dictionary and get to exploring. You may discuss your findings with your table partner.”

  “I’ll get them,” I said to Jess, standing up.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Keegan walking towards me. Heart pounding, I got into the line that was forming in front of the stack of books at the front of the room.

  Keegan stood beside me. “Any more dreams?” he asked quietly, eyes focused straight ahead on the table full of dream dictionaries.

  I gave a little nod. “I can only remember bits of them.” I wasn’t sure why, but I kept my voice as low as his. “A man destroying villages. A boy with brown eyes.”

  Keegan froze, then gave a jerky little nod.

  “Everything okay, Keegan?” Ms. Douglas asked, coming to stand next to us.

  “Everything is fine.” He stepped past me, grabbed two dream dictionaries and stalked away.

  Ms. Douglas smiled at me and handed me two dictionaries. I walked back to my seat, but couldn’t help glancing at Keegan a few times. He was scribbling in his journal, his jaw clenched tight and his other hand balled into a fist at his side.

  “What was that all about?” Jessica asked as I sat down.

  I shrugged and opened my dictionary, looking for “dragon”.

  I could feel Jessica staring at me again, but she eventually started writing in her dream journal, pausing every few moments to think.

  I found the entry for “dragon” and read, “Dreaming of a dragon symbolizes powerful, untamed emotions and impending personal transformation.”

  I frowned and skimmed through the pages looking for Nazi. I was surprised that there was actually an entry, “To see a Nazi in your dream represents a form of evil and merciless force that cannot be reasoned with. It suggests you may be facing some kind of obstacle or danger.”

  I looked up at Keegan. He was staring right at me.

  My hand shook as I wrote down the definition. Jessica was muttering as she wrote, but I didn’t hear what she was saying.

  Everyone spent the rest of the period going over dreams they had had, laughing uproariously or “hmming” thoughtfully most of the time. I flipped aimlessly through the dream dictionary and nodded as Jess explained her dreams, brushing her off when she asked about mine.

  The bell rang, and I told Jess to go ahead. I lingered at my desk, watching Keegan as he slowly packed up. Soon the room was empty. Even Ms. Douglas stepped into the hallway, and I could hear her chatting with different students.

  Keegan fidgeted with his backpack as he walked towards the door. “Did you see the definition of dragon?” he asked.

  I gave a quick nod.

  Keegan held my gaze for a moment then looked away.

  “I’m sorry,” he said and rushed out the door.