Dreamer Chapter 4

Lucy, Abbie's sister, befriends Dyer.

I knew she was going to be angry; I had been counting on that. What I hadn’t expected was the sheer force of the reaction. The real kicker was that she had actually asked me to make her do all of the things she did. She got her wish, didn’t she? But apparently, she felt so vehemently angry towards me that she didn’t even think strangling me to death was a good enough punishment; she did the one thing that she knew would be worse for me. She was ignoring me. Infantile, yet effective. Obviously, I had imagined that she had fallen for me, because it didn't look like she did- and now, I found myself craving her.

 

After changing Abbie back, lunchtime went back to the way it was before we had met for a few days, with the notable exception of Lucy’s company. Bless her, she’d been trying to get Abbie to talk to me. But it wasn’t going to be that simple. I had tried to talk to Abbie for a solid week now, with no results. All I got was stony silence from Abbie, awkward glances from Lucy, who looked almost ashamed of Abbie’s behavior, and, for some incomprehensible reason, a smug grin from Ellie. Whatever Abbie had told her, Ellie seemed to have some sort of unexplainable vendetta against me now.

 

And all this, of course, persuaded Rich that I was completely head over heels in love with Abbie, because, according to his reasoning, there would be no way I’d chase after her like I was now, unless I liked her. He had apparently deduced that we had gone out, accounting for the episode in the cafeteria, but that she’d broken up with me, which explained why I was so desperate to get Abbie to talk to me. I guess that would’ve been the only sensible solution to somebody besides Abbie and I, but this perpetual annoyance quickly became draining. For this reason, I preferred to skip lunch, opting instead to read and do homework in a quiet, abandoned room next to the gym, which was on the other side of the school from the cafeteria.

 

An entire week had passed like this before Lucy started to join me. I was sitting alone in the empty classroom like always, when the door unexpectedly cracked open. Bolting up, I grabbed my backpack, burning my forearm on the rough fabric in the process, and tensed up, prepared to run in case it was a teacher; I was pretty sure I was allowed to be in the room, but I wasn’t positive… And I’d much rather miss the discomforting questionnaire that was sure to follow anyways.

 

“Dyer? Are you in there? It’s Lucy.”

 

Her familiar voice did not reassure me; I didn’t get out of my tight crouch, still preparing to run if the wrong words were said. “Yeah. What do you want?”

 

The dark, wooden door opened all the way and now, being in my full range of vision, she shrugged. “Dunno. But I’m sick of talking to Abbie and Ellie, and Rich gave me weird looks every time I tried to sit at your usual table. I’m tired of everyone.”

 

“I don’t have a usual table.” The bitterness stained my words.

 

“Anymore.” Her tone of voice implied that she couldn’t blame me for isolating myself.

 

I threw her an angry look. “So why do you want to hang out with me during lunch?”

Lucy glared at me impatiently. “Like I said, I’m tired of Abbie.”

 

“No, you said, before, that you were tired of everybody, just like me. You didn’t say it was just Abbie.” There was a note of accusation ringing throughout my speech.

 

She shrugged again.

 

“How do you two live with each other?”

 

At this, she just laughed.

 

Realizing that I was still tensed up, ready to run, I relaxed and sat down, although I still wasn’t completely at ease. “Do what you want.”

 

Smiling, she sat down across from me. “I thought I’d get my way.”

 

Stupid Randals. Was it in their genes to be this annoying? Caroline always spoke highly of William, their father...

 

There was a long,extended awkward silence, but it didn’t seem to bother her as much as it bothered me; I was sure that, living with Abbie, she was quite used to awkward, unexplained silences. That, and having absolutely no privacy. Just another drawback to having a mind-reading sibling. It made me wonder, vaguely, about how her father reacted to the one-sidedness of the family conversations, and I could almost feel my eyes glaze over as I started focusing absentmindedly at her face.

 

In a way, you could see a little bit of Abbie in there, although the family resemblance wasn't totally obvious at first glance; a comparison of the two faces would help a lot, but I was sure that everybody would preoccupy themselves with Abbie’s eyes when the two were side by side. Drawing on some mental pictures of Abbie, I tried to look at Lucy in a new light. Her face still had a little bit of childish roundness to it, although it wasn't unpleasant at all; there was sort of a youthful charm to her- cute, not sexy; beautiful, not gorgeous. The softness of her nose contrasted well with her sharp lips. Her eyes, a pretty hazel sort of color, traced the whitewashed walls of the room absently, studying the generic lab safety posters behind me before stopping at Carol, the blind girl who never wore her safety goggles. For some reason known only to herself, Carol appeared to be a subject of great interest to her.

 

“So, I bet there’s been some interesting talk about me,” I said, trying- and failing- to sound casual again.

 

Lucy just munched on her stale school lunch cookie thoughtfully. Just like her sister… With kids like these, I had to wonder what their father was like. Did Lucy and Abbie show their father this level of blatant disregard? When I got home, I’d have to ask Caroline… Not that she’d “talked to him in years”…

 

Ignoring my previous question entirely, Lucy stated matter-of-factly, “I really hope you haven’t been eating in here.” With that, she turned to face the poster of Carol once more, not seeming to realize that what she said last was about as random as it could get, under the circumstances.

 

My curiosity got the better of me. “Why?”

 

She laughed again. “It’s an old chemistry lab. There’re probably thousands of toxic chemicals lying around on the table. And when they get on your food, well, guess what you’re eating… Peanut butter and cancer, basically.” She looked solemnly at my sandwich.

 

I frowned. “ But you’re eating in here.”

 

“So? This school lunch probably has twice the amount of toxic chemicals in it than all the countertops in here combined… 'Sides, I'm making my food doesn't touch the tables.”

 

She kept a straight face, and I couldn’t tell if she was kidding or being serious. We looked at each other for a few more seconds, then looked at each other's lunches. Sighing, I put the remainder of my sandwich back into my paper bag and set it down. I couldn't be sure if what she was saying was true, but I had lost my appetite all the same.

 

Switching tracks suddenly, she asked, “Do you know why she’s so angry?” She didn’t have to say the name for me to understand exactly who she was talking about.

 

My lips slashed down at the ends unhappily. This was not something I wanted to talk about with anybody, and especially not with Lucy. Not only was she practically a stranger to me, but she was the sister of my tormentor. Maybe I should rethink the whole running away idea. It was uncanny how she had the knack for saying the same kinds of irritating things as Abbie did. “I could take a wild guess.”

 

“Go right ahead.” She even used the same patronizing tone as Abbie did.

 

“Oh, I dunno… Couldn’t have had anything to do with last Friday, could it now?”

 

“Actually-“ she paused, as if deliberating how much she should tell me- “it doesn’t. Well, some of it does, but most of it doesn't.”

 

“Is it just a Randal gene to speak in riddles and say incoherent things?” On reflection, it sounded sort of mean, but in my opinion, it was quite justified, considering all that Abbie had done to me. And now, Lucy was willingly keeping all this knowledge away from me. It wouldn't have been so bad if she didn't constantly drop provocative hints.

 

Lucy disregarded this. “How much do you know about Abbie? About anything. Personality, lack of it, her life story, etcetera.”
 

This change of direction threw me for a loop for a second- but only for that split second; my frustration came back easily. “Barely anything. She’s awful nosy for somebody who doesn’t like to talk about herself.”

 

She laughed again, but it sounded different from before- like she was anxious. “She’s only nosy to you, dreamer, only to you.”

 

I could feel waves of fury wash over me, almost literally feel the heat and see red as my entire body stiffened up and blood pumped through my veins feverishly. This was too much. Abbie had entirely crossed the line. First, she’d weaseled me into exposing my past, then lied to me about explaining herself, blackmailed me into doing something I very well did not want to do, gotten angry at me for doing that exact same thing, and then betrayed my darkest secrets to- oh, her little sister, no less.

 

Lucy may not have been a mind reader, but it’d take a fool not to notice my bared teeth and balled fists. I could feel my muscles stiffening and tensing even tighter, trying to keep my anger inside of me, willing myself not to let it all out on this innocent bystander… Bad things happened when I got angry… My whole life story was proof to that...

 

“Calm down kid. Don't get yourself all in a twist.” Her voice sounded just as cool and detached as it did when she first entered the room, even though she could see how hard I was struggling to keep control of myself. Shouldn't she be more alarmed? Or at least more concerned for her physical safety? She was just like her sister! Complete disregard for everything and everyone. Even herself.

 

And then she derailed me again. “How much do you know about her… Extra abilities?”

 

The question took me by surprise, so I couldn’t help looking down at her shoes while I lied. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you’re talking about her ability to annoy me without fail every single time she talks to me… Then plenty. Otherwise...”

 

A long gust of air escaped her lips, and when she had no more air in her lungs, she breathed in and snapped at me, “Then look me in the eye and say that again.”

 

Just like her sister! In every way imaginable!

 

Unwillingly, I let my eyes come back up to meet hers- but at least here, there was some difference between the siblings. Lucy’s eyes weren’t ugly, not by a long shot, but they did not penetrate me like Abbie’s did. Here, I could only see normal human eyes- filled with suspicion and frustration, but normal nonetheless.

 

Keeping this in mind, it was easy to lie. “I don’t think I know what you’re talking about. Maybe instead of getting angry at me for not knowing things you think I know, you ought to just take what I say at face value.”

 

Her eyes narrowed. “I think you know exactly what I'm talking about.”

 

“What’s wrong with you Randals? Every single time I turn around, I'm being made a victim. Don't you think what Abbie did to me was enough?” I tried to make it sound like I was wounded, like she had unfairly accused me of lying.

 

Of course she didn’t buy it. “So you weren’t up until three in the morning last night, pacing around your room, wondering if she could read minds and thinking about what her problem could be?”

 

The explosion of fury burned through my body again, and before I knew it, I was yelling. “Bloody hell! How do you two know these things?!” Without realizing it, I had stood up with enough violent force to knock my chair a few feet backwards.

 

She shrugged. “I don’t see these things personally, but Abbie always tells me about 'em.”

 

This was just unbelievable. “So what’s Abbie’s problem?! Does she come watch me sleep every single night?! Is that what it is? She's got some hangup with stalking me?”

 

Lucy laughed derisively. “You wish. If that was the truth, you’d have good reason to be glad right now.”

 

“Oh, so now we’re onto something worse than stalking? Please, enlighten me. I want to know exactly what to tell the officer to put on the restraining order.”

 

The bell rang, signaling that lunch period was over, but neither of us moved an inch from where we were- Lucy, sitting serenely, watching my face, and I, standing and taking deep breaths.

 

Lucy tried to make peace now. “Look, Abbie’s not in any fit shape to explain this-”

 

“You think?” I cut her off, still angry.

 

Lucy started speaking again as if I had not interrupted her. “She’s really not, so I think I’ll have to explain everything to you. She’s going to be mad at me, but… I think you ought to know. You're too caught up in what's happening not to know. She's done you wrong, but at the heart of it, it's honestly not her fault.” She thought for a second. “I’m pretty sure that nobody else is hanging out at the shack today, so let’s meet there after school.”

 

The promise of some reasonable answers made me nod in agreement, although the rash side of me still wanted to continue being tempestuous.

 

Picking up her tray, which still had an uneaten hamburger and an apple on it, she stood up and walked wordlessly out the door.

 

Stuffing my packed lunch back in my backpack viciously, I was about to follow suit, but Lucy popped back into the doorway.

 

“Don’t forget to call your mom this time around. You wouldn’t want her to worry.” And with that, she left again.

 

I gnashed my teeth to myself.

 

***

 

It was overcast when I walked out the blue double doors, so the woods didn’t offer their customary shade… My skin prickled up with goose bumps- it was cooler today. Maybe it was the clouds or something, but for some reason, the entire forest seemed darker and more menacing. As the chilling wind ran across my face, I couldn’t help but convulse. It felt several degrees colder than it should have been, even for the oncoming fall… More freak weather. Great. Complemented the full course of freaks living here. The forest itself seemed to agree with me. The vibrant colors of summer had all faded into drab, unexciting shades. On either side of the main trail, the flowers seemed to all have wilted.

 

“Or maybe,” a little voice chided in the back of my head, “this is just how you’re seeing this place since you know it’s not Abbie who’s waiting for you at the end of the trail.”

 

As much as I hated to admit it, that’d make sense too.

 

But once I hit the clearing, there was no doubt that the warmth of the summer sun had indeed been absent from Atway. Obviously, the lounge looked its best in summer and spring, not that many of the people who visited would actually care what the clearing looked like… Nothing was dead, but everything just seemed so lifeless. It was as if the flowers and grass had just suddenly decided that their short and pathetic lives were not worth living, and were dejected, waiting for their demise with gloomy outlooks. So hopeless.

 

I didn’t stay in the lounge for too long. Once my eyes raked over the nearly invisible trail to Abbie’s shack, I got going. There were things to get done.

 

Pushing through the last of the brush and uncut wilderness, I squinted, trying to remember exactly where it was… If memory served me correctly, it should be in front of the large bush, beside the biggest tree in the forest about 10 paces. There! Behind the tree, barely even visible, like last time.

 

It was about time I got my well-deserved answers.

 

Taking a deep breath, I trotted down the steep undergrowth down to the front door, praying that I wouldn’t trip on something and fall flat on my face. And it wasn’t from my own personal clumsiness either- the tree roots and plant leaves all seemed to reach out towards my legs, trying to drag me down to the dirt. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I heard a low chuckle at my attempts- or maybe it was Lucy watching from the door. It wasn’t as if I was about to look up from the treacherous ground to see.

 

When my feet finally hit the stone doorstep of the cottage, I looked up and nearly hit Lucy in the face with my head- she didn’t even flinch, but instead broke out into a huge grin. It sort of bothered me how glad she looked to see me. Like a kid who'd been left alone in a candy store.

 

“I was beginning to wonder if you were going to come at all.”

 

I grimaced. “Coach Hughes dismisses us ridiculously late. And I’ve only been here once. For all you knew, I might’ve gotten lost. The forest path is pretty difficult to navigate.”

 

Her grin got impossibly wider. “I didn’t think you would. There are too many things I know that you desperately want to know that I’m willing to tell you about, but then again, I know that you don’t believe me when I say that I want to tell you what you want to know so badly.”

 

Scowling again at her contorted sentence, I motioned for her to get back inside with my hands. To my surprise, she took my right hand, twined her fingers around mine, and led me to the two-person couch, pulling me onto the fuzzy fabric next to her. She apparently found my bewildered expression absolutely hilarious, and she began laughing, her eyes bright and twinkling.

 

Maybe I was wrong about Lucy. All in all, this was a very different atmosphere from Abbie’s usual persona.

 

Letting go of my hand, she smiled again before she began talking to me. “Well, now that the ice is broken, let’s talk. No matter where the conversation goes, there's no way it can get more awkward than that. What do you want to know first?”

 

I resisted the urge to ask if the entire Randal family was socially retarded, but only because Lucy seemed nice enough about her strange actions. So I went with the other blatantly obvious question. “How does Abbie know everything I'm thinking?”

 

“You probably think she’s a mind reader by now,” she began, looking at me warily, “but it’s more like… Mind watcher. All those thoughts and memories are just instantaneously there. It doesn't take any effort on her part, but it's not like watching a movie. She doesn’t know how it works either.” She gave me a measured gaze, waiting to see how badly I would take it. Honestly, I had expected a whole lot worse. Keeping quiet, I just nodded, giving her the signal to keep going.

 

“Usually, it only works when she’s looking directly into somebody’s eyes, and she only can see what they’re thinking at the moment. And if they’re not thinking about anything in particular, she just sees herself as other people see her. It's disorienting- imagine looking into a mirror, but with a flipped image. But sometimes, if she stares long enough into their eyes, she can kind of delve into their minds and see their past memories. That part is a mystery to us. It seems like the most prominent kinds of memories she sees are the worst ones they’ve got- dark secrets, embarrassments, tragic events, etcetera. All the cheery ones, in short. We’re not exactly sure why those kinds of things show up more easily in a person’s memory. I thought it might’ve been because the people remind themselves constantly about the bad memories, until it became etched onto their brains. But that didn’t make sense either, because sometimes, Abbie just saw trivial embarrassments, like people tripping down the stairs, or...” She winked. “Peeing their pants as a little kid.”

 

My mind was reeling around, tied to life by this bizarre truth, but I had enough of myself left to give her a dirty look, to which she laughed again before continuing.

 

“She seems to think that you’ve got some extraordinary power, because of what she saw in your eyes. It looks like you consciously remember all of your dreams- most people don’t, but the fragments are still in the mind, if Abbie looks hard enough. And there was something…” She looked at me with the same curiosity that her sister had had before. “Else there, something inhuman. I mean, not in a bad way, necessarily, but enough to make a person wonder. I guess what drew her to you were those dreaming… Powers. She’s used to seeing the same types of things when she looks directly at people, and it took her by surprise when she looked at you the first time, to see herself- but not as she does when she looks at somebody who’s not thinking about anything in particular. I’m not sure exactly what kind of relationship you two have here,” pausing to give me a devious glance, “but she isn’t used to seeing herself wrapped around other people, making out.”

 

It was my turn to laugh. “Bet she isn’t. Keep going please.”

 

Lucy looked at me with the same intent look of concentration that was uncannily like Abbie’s, with a touch of longing. “I have a thousand questions I want to ask you, but I did promise to answer all of yours today.” She paused regretfully as though she was thinking about reassessing that decision. “Next question.”

 

I had to recollect my scattered thoughts for a minute. “So, why is she so angry? And if she’s not angry about what happened Friday-” I winced as I said the word- “then what’s she so hung up on?”

 

“Another easy one. You could've probably guessed that she needs to keep her secret under props, just as much as you do. I mean, if people hear about these weird superhuman powers, they're either going to think you're insane, exploit you, or try to use you as a guinea pig. When she left herself vulnerable to you like that, well…”

 

Things were starting to make sense. “She thought I was going to rat her out for a secret she didn’t even actually tell me? That's why she refuses to acknowledge that I'm a living and breathing human?”
 

Lucy's eyes twinkled again, and an easy grin spread out across her face. “Well, you were just about right when you guessed all those things about Abbie, weren’t you? She was slightly justified.”

 

“Justified for not trusting me? And then for turning into a cold statue every single time I tried to talk to her?” The anger was easy to hear.

 

“No… She was justified for worrying that one day, somebody would find out. You know, she hates herself for having to lie to you. You have no idea how much pain she's going through to keep herself strong enough to ignore you.”

 

“What?!” It was a reflexive word, the result of the shock that had brutally hit me and spread over me in less than a second. I could have stopped there while I was still ahead, but there was a second part to the brilliant retaliation. “So why doesn’t she just come clean?”

 

For the first time, Lucy frowned. “You have to realize how weird it feels to her when she's even considering telling another person about her, eh, gifts. We’re just as good as best friends, and she still barely told me when she first started noticing. It’s her natural instinct, I guess, to lie about it. No one likes a padded cell in some hospital for loonies.”

 

Even though I could totally emphasize with Abbie now, I could still find the spite within me to snort loudly. “She can’t lie about anything she refuses to tell me.”

 

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Duh. She was angry at herself because she set herself up- either she’d have to tell you the truth, which she thought was unacceptable, or else she’d have to avoid you until you forgot about her. Think about it Dyer.”

 

“Oh.” I hadn’t considered that. But it all made perfect sense. “So, do you think she’s going to be angry at you for telling me all this?”

 

“Absolutely furious. She'll be foaming at the mouth,” she replied cheerfully. Only Lucy could be this sanguine about keeping a secret from her mind-reading sibling.

 

It was my turn to roll my eyes. “Well, you’ve been pretty honest with me… Thanks. I didn't expect that I'd get so much openness from a Randall. I’ve got just two questions for you left…”

 

“Shoot.”

 

“First… Why are you being so honest with me?”

 

She frowned again. “You know, I don’t even know. It’d be in my best interest to keep my mouth shut, but… I dunno. There’s just something about you Dyer Kegan. Something that I can’t explain. It’s just a feeling. Don't get me wrong- it's not some romantic feeling or anything. I have a feeling that we'll be best friends as well, but.. But... There's something about you that tells me that you're special, and not in the obvious 'dreamer power' way. And my gut feeling has yet to fail me.”

 

“Fair enough.” And it was.

 

“And the second?”

 

“I’m not sure if you’d know, but…”

 

“Yeah?” she prompted me.

 

“What do other people’s eyes look like to Abbie?”

 

Lucy’s frown turned back to her usual carefree grin. “She can’t really see anybody’s irises, per say. All she sees there, where there should be irises, are people’s thoughts. It drives her absolutely crazy, not to be able to see the beauty that everyone else takes for granted. Sort of ironic, in a fuzzy way, if you think about it… But yeah. I thought you might be curious about that.”

 

I nodded thoughtfully, and without saying anything, the two of us got up at the same time and walked out the door, back into the woods, which had gotten significantly darker since the time I went in. Still maintaining the quiet serenity of the majestic outdoors, we both instinctively felt for the other's fingers, and walked back up the trail, hand-in-hand. It wouldn't do either of us any good to get separated from the other and lost in the great black forest. Even if the odds of that were close to zero.

 

About ten minutes into the walk, Lucy broke the silence gently. “Oh, by the way, Dyer?”

 

I turned my head to where her head would be, if I could see it. “Yeah?”

 

“I hope you enjoy my company, because I have a huge list of questions I want to ask you, and I plan on joining you for lunch every single day. I don't mean to be pushy or rude or anything, but you owe me.”

 

“Nah, it's not being rude. I really do owe you. But don't worry. It'll all be voluntary. It'll be great. I'm looking forward to it.”

 

“Was that sarcasm?” Her voice was light and teasing.

 

“Not at all.”

 

“Really? Are you just trying to spare my feelings here, or do you mean it?”

“No, I mean it. I think you were right- assuming that we don't both get axe-murdered by Abbie, we're going to be great friends. I'm not positive yet... But I think I enjoy being around you.” And the weird thing was, I honestly meant all of that.

 

The rest of the trip back to the school was silent, but it wasn’t the awkward kind of silence at all- it was pleasant for the both of us just to muse to ourselves, mulling over the day’s events. Heavens knew that I had a lot to think over, and I guessed that she did too. And somehow, it didn't mean anything to me that I had been holding this girl's hand for an extended period of time. Somehow, I knew that she didn't take it the same way any other girl would take it. It wasn't romantic, but it wasn't purely just practical either- the actual probability of getting lost was pretty low. There was enough moonlight poking through the canopy of trees for anybody to be able to find their way out. Such an odd girl, Lucy. Charming and enjoyable to be around though, once you got to know her. Maybe I'd completely misjudged Abbie as well. Maybe, underneath that tough mask, there was a genteel, reasonable girl who was actually pleasant to be around. Being around Lucy opened my mind up to how others thought and felt. Already, I found I could empathize with others in strange, unfamiliar ways.

 

The dull, yellow light from the streetlights obscured the perfectly clear night sky as we approached the brick walls of Atway High; the off-color illumination turned the dull red bricks into a sickly-looking yellow-orange color. The real world seemed so distant and unconnected with my life now... After all that Lucy and I had gone through, reality seemed galaxies away. But here I was again, back home where- Home! Oh! HOME.

 

“OH!”

 

Lucy didn’t look taken back with my outburst and looked at me with mild interest. “What is it? Did you forget something at the shack?”

 

“I forgot to call Caroline to tell her I was going to be late!” Panic bubbled inside my chest, and I started running in the direction of my house in full-blown alarm. It would take me another ten minutes to run to the house- and Caroline. Oh. I was in so much trouble... It was already past eight o'clock...

 

Lucy was laughing loudly behind me, still at the same spot where I had taken off, and choking over her airflow, she managed to yell out, “I told you to call her!” before doubling over and bursting into loud hysterics again.

 

I probably would have found it pretty funny too, if I wasn't so concerned for my life.