A young girl sighed as she walked along the banks of a river. She briefly paused as she turned to face the narrow body of water. No matter how bad of a day she had, Chihiro could always count on the river to cheer her up. She never knew why, but she had long ago learned not to question it. She glanced at her watch. Realizing she was going to be late for her favourite class, she took one last glance at the river before dashing off.

"Chihiro, what's up with you? You're being unusually quiet," her friend and roommate Amanda said.

"Nothing, I guess I'm just spaced out today," Chihiro replied, smiling at the other girl. They had known each other for the last two years, but it was really scary how well the other girl could read her sometimes.

"So what do you think of that project the Professor gave us?" Amanda asked as she gathered her long black hair into a ponytail.

"I think it'll be really cool," Chihiro replied. Actually, she thought that the project would be a lot of fun. The Professor was giving them a chance to do a project on mythological creatures in Japan's history. They had drawn the names of creatures from a hat and Chihiro had drawn water dragons. Amanda had told her that it fit her, seeing as though she spent so much time by the river that ran through the campus.

"I still think you're lucky to have drawn a dragon," Amanda commented as she sat on her bed.

"Like drawing a thunder bird isn't cool," Chihiro retorted, throwing a pillow at the other girl. Like Amanda, she had long hair that went down to her back. However, unlike her friend, who usually kept her hair loose except for today, she preferred to keep it tied up in a ponytail using a purple elastic band. There was something almost magical about the band, but Chihiro couldn't place it, nor did she say anything about it to anyone. Back in high school, everyone had thought that she was weird. Making a comment about her elastic would have only made things worse. She shuddered at the thought of what would have happened.

"Thinking of high school again?" Amanda asked, getting up to sit beside the other girl. It had taken a few months, but eventually Amanda had learned what Chihiro had gone through at school in her old town. If she ever got a hold of those asses, they would regret the day they were born. Not the time to be thinking about that, Amanda thought as she gave her friend a hug.

"Don't think about those assholes. They're jerks and who needs them? What we need to do is have one night of fun before we buckle down and do our homework." She grinned as she stood up and pulled the other girl up.

When Chihiro had moved to the town where her parents now lived, she had known that fitting in was never easy. What she hadn't known was that she would have such a hard time. It was almost like the children had known she was different, and had treated her as such. They had begun to call her names, tease her, beat her up and alienate her. Over the years, she had become sullen, quiet and withdrawn.

By the time she had graduated from high school and been accepted into her university of choice, Chihiro had made a promise to herself that her university experience would be nothing like her high school experience. She had wanted to make friends, to live a different life, so she had made herself over. Not appearance-wise (she was happy with the way she looked) but attitude-wise. She had gained confidence in her abilities and, during the first couple of months, she had been able to make a few friends. One of those friends was currently sitting across from her, busy doing her makeup.

However, not everything in high school had been bad. Chihiro had discovered a love for history, more specifically ancient history. There was just something about it that fascinated her, drew her in, and captivated her. Sometimes she felt as if she couldn't get enough of the subject. Amanda had often teased her about it when she had found Chihiro in the library reading another book on something they had learned in class. She would just smile at the other girl and return to whatever she was reading at the moment.

"Are you going to get ready?" Amanda asked, jolting the younger girl out of her reverie.

"Ya, sure," Chihiro replied smiling. "Got any suggestions on what I should wear?" she asked.

"You bet I do," Amanda replied. The glint in her eye told Chihiro she was probably better off not asking, but it was too late now. She was stuck with whatever Amanda came up with, which was admittedly good most of the time.

There were advantages to being twenty-one, she could defiantly say that. For one thing, she and Amanda no longer needed to sneak into clubs; they could now buy their own drinks. Chihiro didn't drink a lot, but she didn't mind a drink every once in a while.

From her seat at the bar, she could see a few pair of eyes on her. Amanda had really outdone herself this time. Somehow her friend had managed to convince her to wear a pair of snug leather pants that showed off all her curves, or so Amanda told her. Her friend had given her a jade green halter top. Like the eyes of the man in my dream, Chihiro thought, glancing at her friend. She shook her head, determined not to think about the dream, but she could already feel her mind going down the familiar path.

The dreams were of a man with dark hair that was tinted green and jade green eyes. Occasionally, a dark-haired female would also be in the dreams. Chihiro had always gotten the feeling that she knew them, but she could never place them.

The dreams had begun shortly after she and her family had moved to their new town. The dreams had come to her nearly every night for several years, and then they had become less and less frequent. However, she had never forgotten the dreams. How could she when she still got them occasionally? Even if she didn't, Chihiro highly doubted that she would be able to forget them. They were too vivid, almost like a memory.

"Spaced out again?" Amanda asked, appearing beside her.

"Kind of," she admitted, knowing that it was no use lying to the other girl.

"You worry me sometimes," her friend replied, ordering another drink for herself.

"How so?" Chihiro asked, turning around to face the bar, the feeling of people staring at her starting to become uncomfortable.

"You're spacing out a lot more then normal lately. Have you had another one of your dreams?" she asked, knowing that for a few days after these "dreams" her friend would become quiet and withdrawn and spaced out easily

"I guess I am, aren't I?" Chihiro laughed, trying to get her friend to relax. She didn't want her to worry. She was fine, she was…well, she really didn't know, but she did know she was fine. They were just dreams, a figment of her imagination…but why did the feeling that she knew the man in her dreams keep nagging at her?

"You know there's a guy over there who's staring at you, right?" Amanda asked, subtly pointing in the direction Chihiro was supposed to look.

"Ya, I know," Chihiro replied, taking a small sip of her drink.

"Well?"

"Well what?" she demanded.

"Aren't you going to do anything about it?" Amanda asked, looking over at the guy. If she doesn't want him, then I'll take him, Amanda thought.

"If you want him, go for it," Chihiro replied, talking another look at the guy.

"Are you nuts? He's freaking gorgeous, hot as hell, girl!" Amanda replied. Sometimes she wondered if her friend was blind to hot, gorgeous guys.

"Not everyone is as boy crazy as you," Chihiro replied. "Go and talk to him, I'll see you back at the apartment. I'm a little tired anyway."

"If you're sure…."

"Definitely, now go have fun!" Chihiro said, laughing as she pushed her friend in the direction of the guy who had caught her interest. She took another sip of her drink and settled back in her seat, watching as Amanda approached the man she had pointed out seconds before and asked him to dance.

Standing in an empty field, a young girl in her early twenties could see an old-style Japanese building looming in the distance.

Chihiro sighed as she continued walking. She had this eerie feeling that someone was watching her, but every time she turned around, she couldn't see anyone. It was beginning to freak her out.

"Chhiiiihiiiiiirooooo," a voice whispered

"Who's there?" she questioned, spinning around.

"Chhiiiihiiiiiiroooo," the voice whispered again.

"Show yourself!" she said, fear beginning to take its hold.

"Chhiiiihiiiiiirooooo, yyyyooouuu mmuuuussst rreeetuuurrrnnn," the voice said again, getting louder each time.

"Who are you? What do you want?" she cried, turning in the direction the voice had last come from. Suddenly, a body appeared out of nowhere, standing right in front of her.

"You! What do you want? Leave me alone!" she cried as she turned from the man and ran.

"Chihiro, you need to come back to us," the man called after her.

"Leave me alone!" she yelled sitting up in her bed. "Just leave me alone," she whispered again to a seemingly empty room.

Chihiro paused and looked up from the text book she was reading in the library. She rubbed her eyes, trying to banish the tiredness she could feel creeping up on her. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was late. I should probably go to bed soon, she thought as she slowly began to put her books away.

"Goodnight Chihiro," the librarian said cheerfully as the young girl made her way back to her apartment.

"Goodnight," Chihiro replied in turn. She smiled once more at the elderly librarian before returning her attention to the path that would take her back to her bed. She and Amanda had discovered this path sometime last year. It cut more than fifteen minutes off of the time it would normally take to walk from their apartment building to the campus library.
Granted, the walk was only twenty-five minutes, but hey, who would want to walk for twenty-five minutes when you could walk for ten, especially late at night. Then again, adults have always warned children never to cut through bushes late at night, but neither Chihiro nor Amanda had ever come across anyone "dangerous" on the path.

"Chiiiihiiiiroooooo."

"Who's there?" Chihiro asked, quickening her pace.

"Chiiiihiiiiroooooo."

"Who's there? Show yourself!" she called out, turning around.

"Chhiiiihiiiiiirooooo, yyyyooouuu mmuuuussst rreeetuuurrrnnn."

"Who's there?" Chihiro called out again, voice quivering in fear as she turned around in a circle.

"Chihiro, you need to come back to us," the man called after her.

"That's what the man in my dream said," she whispered to herself, running towards her apartment.

"Chihiro! What the hell?" Amanda said as she watched her friend and roommate burst through the door.

"Woods…voices…man…dreams," Chihiro panted, trying to catch her breath.

"Whoa, slow down and try that again," Amanda said as she gently lead [led her friend to the couch.

"I heard voices in the woods, they were calling my name. They were saying stuff like I needed to return," Chihiro said, gladly accepting the glass of water her friend offered.

"Are you sure they weren't in your head?" the other girl asked.

"Amanda!" Chihiro cried.

"What? It's always a possibility. I mean, with those dreams you've been having lately it very possible that the voices in the wood were due to lack of sleep," the dark-haired girl said.

"That's just it. It couldn't have been in my head. I could have sworn I saw someone."

"I think you're just overtired and you're letting the dreams get to you," Amanda said. "You should try and get some sleep tonight. There's no man in the woods calling your name, it's nothing but your imagination. You're stressed out and way overtired, so naturally you're letting the dreams affect you."

"No, this isn't my imagination! Don't you believe me, Amanda?" Chihiro asked, her eyes pleading with the other girl.

"What I do believe is what I've already said- you're overtired and should probably go to bed and get some sleep. I was just about to hit the sackmyself when you came crashing in," the older girl said, sticking her tongue out. "Now, off to bed shall we?" Seeing that she had already lost the fight, Chihiro simply nodded and followed her friend into the back of the apartment. Maybe Amanda is right, maybe it's just my imagination.

"Chihiro! Chihiro, wait up!" Amanda called, jogging to catch up to her friend. "What's up? You seemed spaced out. Don't tell me, you're still freaked out by what happened on the path?" her friend questioned, draping her arm across the other girl's shoulders.

"Maybe, I just...I just can't stop thinking about it, you know? Maybe I'm letting my dreams get to me or maybe I did hear that voice, maybe it wasn't a part of my imagination." The younger girl sighed as her friend removed her arm and they walked to class.

"Don't worry about it so much, Chi. Just relax, take in the beautiful...Chi?" she asked as she felt her friend tense up beside her. "What's wrong?"

"Do you see that guy other there, the one with the green tinted hair?" she asked, waiting for her friend to nod before continuing. "That's the man from my dreams."

"You're imagining things. The man in your dreams is nothing but that, your dreams. He doesn't really exist. That's just a guy who maybe looks a little bit like him," Amanda stated, her patience with her friend beginning to wear thin.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Chihiro asked, turning to face her friend.

"What I do believe Chi is that you're stressed out and allowing your dreams to get to you. You're mixing up reality with fiction," Amanda reasoned logically, her face softening a bit. "You know what you need? Ice cream to forget about your dreams." She smiled as she began to drag the other girl along with her.

"What about class?" Chihiro demanded, letting herself be dragged away.

"We'll get the notes from Mina later, don't worry about it," Amanda replied, letting go of her friend once she was certain that the younger girl was coming with her.

Maybe getting some ice cream and talking about the dreams will help, Chihiro thought as she fell in step with her friend.

They chatted as they walked to a little ice cream shop they had discovered in second year. It sold the best ice cream in town, but since it was a little hole in the wall, not very many people knew about it, which suited the girls fine. They usually went to the shop to eat ice cream and have some privacy to talk.

"So," Amanda said after they had ordered their ice creams and sat at their usual table.

"So, what?" Chihiro asked, looking at her friend.

"Any hot guys catch your eye?" her friend asked, wiggling her eyebrow.

"Not really…."

"That sounds more like 'there is a guy, but I don't want to talk about him.' Now spill girl!" Amanda chastised, poking the other girl in the arm.

"Remember the guy that came up to us the other day in the cafeteria?"

"Ya, the one with the brown hair and sexy ice blue eyes?" Amanda nodded remembering.

"Him, yes. He's kind of been flirting with me lately and he's nice and everything…."

"Then go on a date with him!"

"I don't know…"

"Pffft, just go on a date! It won't kill you," Amanda exclaimed "Besides, I'll help you get ready for it." Her eyes lit up at the prospect of finally having her friend on a date.

"Alright! Alright! I'll go, just get that gleaming, scheming look out of your eyes!" Chihiro laughed as they continued to eat their ice cream and for once in the last several weeks, she wasnot thinking about her dreams.