“'Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why
on earth should that mean that it is not real?'”
–-Professor Dumbledore from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
I jumped into
bed, exhausted. What a horrible day, I thought to myself. Couldn’t
I ever do something right? No matter
what I tried to do, I could never live up to the expectations of everyone
around me, especially my parents. Just
that evening my parents, my older sister Melody, and I had sat down to
dinner. As usual, Melody began chatting
excitedly about her friends, the big dance coming up in a month, and all of her
classes that she was excelling in. I
sighed and picked at my meatloaf, thinking of how I’d never be as amazing as
Melody. She was smart, beautiful,
popular, and friendly, pretty much as perfect as a Barbie doll. I ate my meatloaf in silence, not wanting to
bring any attention to myself and my endless flaws. After a bit, however, my father turned to me.
“So, Lyra, how
was your day?”
“Good.”
“Did you make
any new friends today?”
“Um, not
really,” I said slowly, looking down at my plate. I felt like I was going to cry, so I asked to
be excused. As I walked away, my mother
and sister were whispering together in low voices, but I could clearly hear
what they were saying.
“Melody, did Lyra
sit alone at lunch again today?”
“Yeah. I saw her while I was walking to my history
class.”
“I don’t know
what to do about her.” My mother sighed, and then addressed my father. “Do you think we should have her see a
psychiatrist?”
I froze, while a
feeling of anger and fear crept over me.
No, I would not see a
psychiatrist! I was not some crazy
person. I was just an introvert and
didn’t feel the need to talk and be with people all the time. Why couldn’t people accept me for who I was?
In bed, I closed
my eyes and waited for sleep to come, but it did not. My mind was too full of thoughts of the
evening, and they were weighing me down.
I tossed and turned but still couldn’t get comfortable no matter which
way I turned. Sighing and staring up at
the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling, I eventually slipped into a soothing,
magical slumber.
----
I opened my eyes, and there he was, sitting in
a piece of moonlight at the foot of my bed, gazing at me. Sitting up fast, I curled my legs up close to
my body and flipped on the light switch.
I squinted in the blinding light for a few moments before completely
taking in the scene before me.
“Um, hello,” I
said dreamily, half-asleep, “Wh-who are you?”
The boy looked like he had just woken up and was half-asleep as well,
but he was still absolutely handsome.
His wavy brown hair was a bit ruffled, and he was wearing a navy blue
shirt and pajama pants. And those eyes…I
felt like I was melting and willingly falling into a black hole as I gazed back
into their warm, sweet depths.
“My name’s
Adam,” he responded.
“Oh. Well, it’s…um…nice to meet you, Adam. My name’s Lyra,” I flustered out.
“It’s nice to
meet you, too.”
There was an
uncomfortable silence as we both sat there, unsure of what to say. I looked down at my fingers and began
fidgeting with my nails, while Adam bit his lip and looked around the
room. Finally, he broke the silence.
“Umm…I have a
question for you,” he asked. “Is this a dream?
It seems really real, but how would I have ended up here? I have no idea where I am, and I’ve never met
you before…” Adam looked around the room and bit his lip again.
I stared at him
in disbelief. He didn’t know if it was a
dream or not either? How peculiar. Maybe this was real. But…how?
“Well, I suppose I could…pinch you.
Then you’d know if you’re actually dreaming or not…and if you’re not dreaming, then you can pinch me to see if it’s me who’s dreaming!” I laughed
nervously, amazed that I’d had the courage to talk to this beautiful boy.
“Good idea! Yeah, pinch me, please.”
I leaned over
and clumsily pinched his arm. We both looked
away, feeling awkward. Adam closed his eyes
for a second and then opened them, looking around and still seeing me. His eyes grew wide. “Woah. I…guess I’m not dreaming. This is just too weird.”
“Could you pinch
me now?” I asked.
“Sure.” Chills of delight ran down my spine as his
warm fingers touched my cold skin, and when I closed my eyes and opened them
again, Adam was still there. Oh. My.
God. This was happening. This was really
happening. I suddenly got light-headed
and felt like I was going to faint.
Awful timing. I put my head down
and rested my hands on my forehead, taking in deep breaths.
“Are you okay?”
Adam asked. His eyes shone with concern.
“Um, yeah. I just need some water,” I said weakly as I
got up out of bed. I got up too fast,
however, and the world turned black.
Nothingness. Then, all of a
sudden things came back into focus, fuzzily at first but slowly
sharpening. I felt, and blurrily saw, a
warm hand brushing my hair away from my eyes.
When I could properly see again, I found Adam sitting right next to me,
gazing at me with deep concern and holding a glass of water. He blushed profusely, as he realized his hand
was still resting on my cheek.
“Sorry,” he said
quickly.
“It’s okay,” I
said, gawking at his face. I was
completely enchanted by his very presence.
He seemed to radiate with beauty, like an angel or a star. I snapped back into reality, as I noticed his
discomfort at being stared at. “So, um,
what would you like to do?” I asked.
“It doesn’t
matter, really. Whatever you want to do
is fine.”
“Well, are you
hungry? I could make some waffles or
something…”
“Sure! That
sounds great.”
----
That evening was
absolutely enchanting. A mixture of
fireflies and stars lit up the night sky as Adam and I snuggled up together
under a warm, fuzzy blanket, gazing up at the stars. Suddenly a brief and glorious flash of white
light whizzed across the sky. We both
stared with our mouths gaping, wonderstruck at the beauty of the moment. I wish
that this night, this moment, would never end, I thought to myself. I closed my eyes and sighed in contentment as
Adam held me close, whispering in my ear: “You’re my sweetest dream come
true.” I blushed and opened my eyes. I looked
into his eyes with intensity and said, “You’re my sweetest dream come true, too, Adam….if this really is
reality. I’m still not so sure…”
“Well,” Adam
said shyly, “even if this actually is
a dream, I still want you to know this as well: I’ll never forget you.”
“Never.” I nodded
in agreement. “I’ll never forget you.”
Adam cradled me
tightly against him as he began to softly sing lovely lullabies in my ear. I snuggled up against his chest, closed my
eyes, and drifted off into a sweet sleep.
----
I
woke up to blinding light drifting over my eyelids. When I opened my eyes, I
looked around and found myself sitting in my backyard with a blanket wrapped
around me, but Adam was nowhere in sight. Gone. Was it really a dream after all? I thought to myself. And was Adam waking up right now, wondering the very same
thing?
The next month passed by slowly. I never
figured out for sure what really happened, but I knew it couldn't have been a
dream. Whenever I'd gaze up at the stars or light a candle, I could actually
feel him all around me. Sometimes when I
was thinking about Adam, I'd have this feeling come over me that he was
thinking of me at that very same moment.
I knew I had to see him again.
----
I
hated dances because, besides being socially awkward, I was also a terrible
dancer. Melody had almost literally
dragged me to the school dance. I moodily
sat on a bench in the gym and gazed with envy at the dancers. I wish
Adam was here. The instant I thought
this, I sighed in contentment and drifted into my daydreams, pretending the
couples out on the dance floor included Adam and me. Suddenly I had this powerful feeling of déjà
vu and a sense of exhilaration that I hadn't felt since……..and then a pair of
chocolate brown eyes found me, and our eyes met. And I knew. It was real. The dream was real. Our eyes were locked on each other for a moment that seemed
to last forever and be far too short, all at the same time. It could have been
one hour, one minute, one second...I don't know. Eventually I looked away, suddenly hesitant.
I could feel Adam’s gaze still intensely focused on me, but I was too shy and
couldn’t get the courage to meet his eye again. Adam eventually looked down at
his feet, looking timid and perplexed. He drifted off to the door of the gym, but
not before slipping a glance back at me as he closed the door and disappeared,
leaving a trail of stardust behind.
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