Don't really have much to say here, except that this is after the third book (I'm still hoping the awesomnistical Mr. Westerfield will write a fourth!) and Jonathan, Jessica and Melissa end up in Hilton, New York. (Fyi, that's where I live and even though not many people agree with me, it's a pretty small town.) Since I can't think of anything else, on to the disclaimer!

Disclaimer: Ha, if I owned the story, would I be writing on fanfiction?

~Alice

"Dammit," Alyssa Wright cursed under her breath, reaching down to pick up the cascade of books that had fallen out of her locker when she had finally gotten it open. She was restless from the strange blue dreams she had been having for the past few weeks now. Most of the dreams had been okay, just her wandering around the town she had grown up in, sometimes seeing other bewildered people, but for the most part it had been fairly quiet.

Then there had been the ones that made her so tired in the morning, the ones with strange snake-like creatures and cat-like creatures that chased her until the dream ended. But sometimes, when she neared home, the strange creatures had already started disappearing, which puzzled her almost as much as the dreams themselves.

Then she remembered the kitty that had led her out of her room in that first dream. It had led her out of her house, across the yard, across most of town, past the high school and almost to the library, before she started wondering. They had almost reached the middle school, which seemed to be the mysterious cat's destination, when Alyssa had completely stopped, frightened at the mass of winged and crawling cat and snake creatures. She stooped down to pet the cat, trying to reassure herself of the tiny creature standing right next to her, when it bit her!

At the memory, she dropped the heavy history textbook she was holding onto her foot.

"Dammit!" She hissed again, reaching down. Suddenly, a hand snaked out and grabbed it for her. She looked up to find herself face-to-face with a boy from her biology class.

"Here," he said simply, handing her the textbook. From behind her dark glasses, she peered at his face more closely. Was just her, or had she seen him in her dreams?

Get a grip, she told herself firmly, straightening.

"Oh, uh…. Thanks…." She stammered, stopping when she realized she couldn't remember his name.

"Jonathan," he said, also straightening and holding out his hand. She quickly shook it, the brief contact making her slightly dizzy like touching certain people always did lately. "I have locker 273." He frowned as he noted her locker number. "And you have locker 288."

"Yeah…." She said, looking confused. What did that have to do with anything? Besides her issues lately with it, it was a perfectly normal locker. And she was sure her problems with it opening and such could just be chalked up to her lack of sleep and her frustration with the odd dreams. But she suddenly found herself wanting to tell Jonathan about her issues with it, found herself thinking- no, knowing- that he would understand. Of course he would.

"But lately I've had problems with it…." She sighed quietly. And to her surprise he nodded, seemingly understanding.

"Oh…?" He stared off into space seeming distracted.

"Yeah, I-" Alyssa started, when suddenly a voice called, "Jonathan!" and they turned to see that other new girl, what was her name….?

"Hey, Melissa," Jonathan greeted her, giving her a look Alyssa couldn't identify, as if he were trying to tell her something silently that Alyssa wouldn't understand.

"Hi. Who's this?" She paused, considering for a moment before saying; "Wait, you're Alyssa right?" she didn't wait for a response before putting her hand out. Alyssa shook it, receiving a shock when she did; not only did she get that dizzying feeling, but there was also something else as her skin made contact with Melissa's. Clear as crystal and as real as the two people standing before her, new information flashing in her mind, blue canvases of memories, like spilled paint, splashed and scattered across her mind, causing her to quickly pull her hand back, staring at her palm. What was that?

Now you know…I'm looking forward to seeing you again.

One last thought before she had taken her hand away, slipped in like a note in study hall, quiet, yet seemingly and unknowingly important.

"I see we have a lot to talk about, Alyssa," Melissa said, walking away without so much as a glance back, Jonathan following. Alyssa saw her slip her dark black glove on just before they were swallowed into the mass of cookie cutter teenagers rushing to get to homeroom before the bell rang.

And as she was still watching and the last stragglers rushed to class, the dread creeping in, tinged with the sweet taste of relief, the bell rang, pulling her out of her reverie.

"Damn," she whispered again as she scrambled to grab her book. And as she rushed down the hall to French, she knew that she had much more to fear than blue dreams, or bitchy preps staring her down in gym.

Okay, I'm not really sure if this is better or worse than my first versions, because I definitely made a lot of revisions. Anyway, review and tell me whether it sucked or not, or I'll keep moping till Lord knows when.

~Alice