CHAPTER FOUR: Dream Aftermath
"CASEY!!" Derek woke up in a thick sweat, breathing in rapidly he sat up in bed trying to regain his composure. It was a dream! It was all a dream. Checking his clock it read 5am. Derek gulped and found himself thirsty. He doubted he could get back to sleep after that anyways. His comforter had somehow managed to mangle itself around his legs and he kicked them off feverishly. Walking to the bathroom to guzzle back as much water as he could. Deep breaths ...deep breaths he kept telling himself. Not wanting to wake anyone up. He splashed his face with the cool liquid and stared himself in the real mirror for a long time, touching his face many times, poking and prodding to make sure it really was there.
Derek Yawned as first period Monday morning finally ended. He hadn't slept since 5, and he wasn't sure how much of that could actually be counted as sleep anyways. I have the next period with Sam, he told himself. He definitely needed advice, but he would have to tell a little white lie to his friend in order to get the information he needed.
"Venturi!" Max yelled from down the hall. Derek rolled his eyes at the very sound of Max's voice. The 6 foot 2 brute of a man was the quarterback for the school football team. Only Max rivaled Derek in terms of the popular vote among the female demographic, and Derek knew it. Max caught up to Derek in no time, whirling around, Derek asked "What's up Maximillion?" "I just wanted to know if maybe... you knew if Casey had a date for Grad." "Don't worry Max, I'm sure as her leading man, she'll do all the work and you'll just have to show up to a tux fitting... or two... or three." Derek knew Casey well, and he imagined that she'd already have everything all picked out. Matching outfits no doubt. Max looked very off put by Derek's off the cuff remark. "Leading man? Casey didn't tell you?" Max questioned. "Casey? Tell me anything? Pfft... never... well... more like I never listen." Derek smirked, a flash of his dream coming back to him very inopportunely. "Casey and I broke up months ago..." Max said in a questioning manner, perhaps it would refresh Derek's self centered memory. "oooooh riiiiight... that would explain why you were making out with that hot blonde after the game a couple weeks ago. Waita go dude..." slapping max on the shoulder Derek grinned and turned to walk away. "But Derek... is she going with someone already?" Derek just wanted to get off the subject all together. "I have to get to class Max." He shouted back, proceeding further and further down the hall. "Common Derek" "Yes! She's got a date, ok?" Angered by his own lie he turned the corner to get to... oh for crying out loud Derek grumbled... Bio Class.
Plunking himself in his desk at the back of the room, he was greeted with various forms of adoration from his fellow students. "Venturi, all right!" Wassup Derek?" "How's it hanging V-man?" He smiled half heartedly at them. Tapping his fingers against his desk, waiting and hoping for Sam to show up. He knew that this was supposed to be an preparation study slot for his bio exam, but he had hoped Sam would show up anyways, being the guy he was. As luck would have it, Sam showed up right at the sound of the bell. Settling into his seat beside Derek's he unzipped his backpack to pull out three horking textbooks. "Sam, dude, boy am I glad your here!" Derek was thrilled, now he just had to pick his words cautiously and not give away too much.
Sam's blue skater hat was a staple in his wardrobe. Derek wasn't sure how long he'd had the infamous hat, but it had become a symbol of Sam and everything he stood for. Which Derek remembered was often very feminist oriented. Derek opened his mouth to say something, he lifted up his hand and forefinger to start the conversation and was taken aback when nothing seemed to come out. He lowered his arm and righted himself in his desk. He had NO idea what to say. Derek Venturi, without a word or remark was a rare sight indeed. Sam had been watching Derek this whole time. Something was clearly up. "Derek, you don't look too good man, are you ok?" Derek responded wordlessly by shaking his head from side to side. "What's wrong bud?" Sam asked inquisitively, rarely having seen Derek in such a state in all their 13 years of friendship. "I had this dream" Derek answered quietly so as not to attract attention. "About this girl..." he continued. Sam grinned stupidly "Alll right... Who was the lucky ladaaaayy?" he coerced. "Not that KIND of dream Sam, not the fun kind AT ALL." Derek sheepishly admitted. It certainly wasn't my normal dream when a girl was involved he thought to himself particularly not when pretty girls are involved groaning at his own thought. Slapping himself in the forehead. Sam's expression turned slightly more comical... "You had a NIGHTMARE with a girl in it?" He said rather loudly "...what, did she kick YOUR pansy ass?" he added jokingly. "You know what? Forget it" Derek spat out angrily. He should have never bothered trying to explain it to anyone. After all it was just a dream. Besides, even though it had shaken him awake he wasn't sure the dream could be classified a nightmare, even if it wasn't his average every day type dream. Derek got up to leave, he didn't really care about being studious anyways. "Derek wait!!", Sam reached out to grab the back of his shirt "I'm sorry I'm sorry, I was just messing with you, you know you can spill your guts, I won't say anything." Sam promised. Derek sat back down at his desk, lazily dropping his backpack at his feet. Over the course of the next half hour Derek explained the dream in full detail, but instead of telling him who the girl was at the end, he changed it to a girl named Clare, whom they'd both gone to school with since elementary.
Sam sat there thinking. He was always the more intuitive type out of the two. Maybe the fact that he had four older sisters made him more sympathetic to the mystery that was the modern teenage girl. Or maybe it was just his shtick. Either way, he visibly took the time to think about all the elements of Derek's dream and finally said. "It kinda sounds like she's the yin to your yang. You're sure you've never thought about her in that way before?" Sam asked curiously. "ABSOLUTELY NEVER" Derek responded, completely straight faced and serious, not a look Sam was used to from his friend. "Ok... hmmmm... See the thing about dreams Der, is that they are often a mixture of the events of that day, mixed with sometimes conscious or subconscious thoughts or hopes." Derek looked at Sam as if he was meeting him for the first time. He'd never seen this side of Sam before, and it kinda gave him the willies. "Uh, what?" Derek said stupefied by the words and meaning of Sam's diagnosis. "Basically, it means you probably like her, want her around, and are only just starting to realize the potential she has as a significant other." Sam tried his best to put it into laymen's terms and sighed when Derek still looked slightly confused. "Let me ask you something, did something suggest her to you? Or bring her up as a topic of conversation? Random people don't often show up in dreams, and Clare would definitely be random unless someone planted the seed." Derek nodded. "You could say that", he replied. His mind racing over all the things Sam had just explained, he felt a twinge of painful truth to the whole thing..."What do you mean planted the seed?" he asked trying to verify what he felt at the moment was the worst possible conversation he could have with anyone...ever..."Like someone finally said something about her, that made what you might have, sub consciously..." Sam paused, noting that Derek didn't look as if he understood the concept of sub conscious thinking. "...say something about her that made what you might not have known you were thinking of feeling, come to the surface. Like a seed would grow through the earth? That type of thing." Sam explained. "Oh" Derek said when the bell rang. "Time for Psych class, see you later D, good luck with the whole Clare thing." Clare... How Derek wished it had all been about bright eyed, simple blonde Clare. Blonde! Crap! Derek thought. Clare was blonde not like the brunette he had explained from his dream. Crossing his fingers and pleading with a silent god that Sam never figured that part out.