Crud, I haven't updated in forever, huh? I've had some issued with computer access, but that's not a good excuse. I'll have to try harder. Show your support with more lovely reviews!
OoO
When Jenny had the dream again, something very unusual happened. There was the blue light, as always, but the little white bird did not come. Instead, a much larger shape appeared. Jenny squinted at it.
Whoa. Human body, wings.
"An angel?" She breathed.
"No. but I guess I can see why you'd think that."
The voice, to Jenny, was unmistakable, and the form became clear. It was Julian, and he was flying The wings-his wings-were big, white, and feathery, like bird's wings. They were oddly transparent. He landed beside Jenny, a huge smile on his face.
"These are fun," he said, nodding toward the wings that were now rapidly disappearing into thin air.
"I'll bet," Jenny muttered enviously.
"You wanna try them?" Julian asked. Jenny wasn't sure exactly what he meant by that, but she felt an odd, electric sensation between her shoulder blades.
"Maybe some other time," She said, and the feeling disappeared, "what are you doing here?"
"Dunno," the white-haired boy shrugged, "this is your dream. D'you want me to leave?"
"No! you can stay," Jenny said quickly, "But…"
"But what?" Julian prompted, preoccupied with a Rubix Cube that had materialized in his hands. For an instant, Jenny was miffed that Julian was focusing on the toy rather than her, then remembered that this was only a dream, which brought her back to the subject at hand.
"I'm going to wake up soon," Jenny sighed, "and I don't wanna wake up. Not for a while anyway."
Julian looked up from the Rubix Cube, right at Jenny, "So don't."
Jenny regarded him skeptically; she didn't think it could really be that easy.
"I mean it," Julian insisted, "Tell me whatcha wanna do. I'll make it happen."
Jenny was suddenly aware of a disturbance in the nothingness surrounding them, a sense of energy, a suggestion of shape and color. She looked at Julian, surprised.
You're doing that…
"But…" She frowned, "I thought this was my dream."
"Well," Julian said with a grin, "I guess it's our dream."
OoO
The next day, Jenny was eager to tell the real-life Julian about her dream, but he wasn't at his house. His mother said he went to the park, but Jenny couldn't spot him. After a perfunctory search, she gave up looking-it was no use trying to find Julian if he didn't want to be found.
"Hey," a tap on the shoulder made Jenny turn around to see Dee, grinning through the gaps in her baby teeth, "Mikey brought a Frisbee. Wanna play?"
Michael, red-faced from keeping up with Dee, waved vaguely at Jenny. The blonde smiled and accepted.
As it turns out, none of them were very good at Frisbee, even Dee, who became increasingly frustrated as the game wore on. When a puff of air set the Frisbee soaring over their heads for what felt like the bazillionth time, Jenny sighed.
"I'll get it," she volunteered and went to fetch the wayward disk.
A few steps into her search, Jenny was pleasantly surprised to see Julian sitting on the nearby swing set, turning the Frisbee over in his hands.
"Julian!" Jenny called. He didn't look up, so she ran over, "Hey, I was-"
"Here," Julian cut Jenny off and handed over the Frisbee at the same time.
"Do you want to pla-"
"No."
Jenny was taken aback. By this point, Dee had joined Jenny by the swings, with Michael trailing behind.
"You're that kid who was watching us before," Dee declared when she saw Julian.
"Wow. Nothing gets by you," Julian deadpanned. He barely looked at Dee.
Dee, naturally quick-tempered and already wound-up from the Frisbee game, bristled.
"What's your problem?"
"You," Julian's response was immediate and matter-of-fact. He flicked a glance between Dee and Michael, much the way one would note a pair of flies buzzing at the corners of a room.
This was all Dee, an infamous playground scrapper, needed to hear, "You wanna fight me?"
"Not really."
"Ya scared?"
"No. It'd just be a waste of my time," Julian said, finally looking Dee straight in the eye.
Dee gaped, uncharacteristically speechless. Michael, who'd been carefully studying the little lights on his Star Trek sneakers, spoke up.
"Uh, Dee? Let's go over there," Michael said, pointing out a random location with a blatant disregard to subtlety. He tugged at Dee's arm.
Dee opened her mouth to speak, then snapped it closed. Her jaw set, and she glared at Julian one last time before turning towards Jenny.
"Your friend's really weird," Dee told the blonde. With that, she let Michael drag her off to the slides.
When they were gone, Jenny faced Julian, who continued to sit stone-still on his swing.
"She's right, you know," Jenny said, "you can't be like that."
"Who says?" Julian demanded. He obviously felt like being contrary-Jenny caught the tell-tale spark in his eyes that revealed how much he was really enjoying these back-and-forths.
"You're in a bad mood," she lamented. Jenny didn't understand why her friend was acting this way.
"I just don't like sharing, is all," Julian said and hopped off his swing, "Bye, Jenny."
As Julian walked away, Jenny wanted to run after him, but she felt as though the breath had been knocked out of her.