Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or Word Processor of the gods. I am not making any money off this.

Kuro Yuki: I am sorry if you guys haven't read that much about Lord of the Rings yet. Don't worry its coming up in the next chapter. And please feel free to tell me if I am going a bit hard with the details… I like to write with lots of detail. I like to write this story, and I am working on another one too. Happy reading!

Key:

'Jake talking to himself'

"regular talking"

Dreams

Chapter 2: Dreams, Memories, Exultation

It was dark, pitch black. So black that when he held his hand out in front of him, he couldn't see it. He groped around, and felt a cord brush his hand. His hand grabbed the cord and yanked down. KERCHTII! The bright light pushed the darkness into the farthest corners of the dusty, cold attic.

Right there in front of him was the magical computer. His fingers started to shake as he typed:

Lily, my girlfriend.

His finger was touching the insert button. Pausing he pushed.

Jake sat up, breathing hard. He warily looked around his darkened room, repeating to himself in a whisper, "It was just a dream. Don't worry it was just a dream."

'It was that computer, grampa talked about,' Jake thought to himself, 'the one which could give you anything you wanted.' Jake yelled at himself, 'NO! You aren't going to get Lily as your girlfriend that way. You're just going to have to ask her out.' The sun was starting to rise in the sky, outside Jake's bedroom window.

Jake was up when his mother came into his room to wake him up. She found him getting dressed, with his hair brushed. "Um, Jake?" she said to him.

He paused in pulling his shirt over his head. "What?" he asked.

"Are you okay?" Jake's mom asked him, concerned. "You look as if you've seen a ghost."

"I just had a dream." He shrugged. "It's nothing."

"Okay, if you're sure." Jake's mother said uncertainly. She turned and went out of his room. She poked her head back into his room for a second, "Hurry to the kitchen, dad and I have some news for you." Then she left.

Minutes later, Jake was downstairs, sitting at the table patiently eating his breakfast, waiting for the news his parents were going to tell him.

'Maybe mom's pregnant.' Jake thought. He glanced at her, 'No, mom's not pregnant.'

Jake's dad came and sat at the table with Jake, bringing his mug of coffee and bagel with him. "Your probably wondering what the news is, right?" His dad took a bite out of the bagel.

"Yeah. Can you tell me?" Jake asked.

"Well," Jake's dad said. "Your mom would probably like it if-" Jake's mom interrupted.

"That's right," she stated matter-of-factly. "I want to be here when we tell him." Jake's mom sat down beside his dad.

"Well…you're both here now," Jake pointed out. "Just tell me already." He glanced at his watch. "I have to get going to school soon before I am late."

"Okay, tonight we are going to have a family movie night." Jake's dad said enthusiastically.

"Yes." Jake's mom clasped her hands together in anticipation. "We have a really, really, good movie chosen too." Her face was lit up.

Jake tried to work up some enthusiasm. "Great and I have to get going. I'm taking my bike." He called over his shoulder before slamming the back door shut behind him.

Jake's mom turned to his dad, "I don't think he is very excited." His dad shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what to do.

***

Jake unclipped his bike helmet, and pulled his bike lock from his backpack. He carefully locked his bike up, then walked up towards the school, looking for his best friend, Edward.

"Jake!" Edward yelled. He ran to catch up with Jake.

"Hey." Jake smiled, then he glanced around, then lowered his voice, "I need to tell you about a dream I had last night."

"Okay." Edward nodded. He punched Jake on the arm. "Did it have anything to do with Lily?"

Jake blushed, a deep scarlet red. "Yeah, it did. Look, we can talk, er, pass notes about this during class. Okay?"
" Sure." Together, they hurried to their lockers to grab their stuff.

While at Jake's locker, Jack walked by saying, "See you later, chicken." He laughed and continued on his way.

"Oh, boy." Edward commented, watching Jack head down the hall. He turned back to Jake. "How did you end up being called chicken?"

Jake smiled wryly. "By deciding to run for my life, instead of getting beaten to a pulp."

Edward nodded, sympathetically. "Smart move man. But, that can't be all of the reason," he cocked his head. "You beat them, all the way to your house, didn't you?"

"My neighbours, actually." Jake shrugged his backpack on, and locked his locker.

"Heck, you were practically at your house." Edward and Jake walked down the hallway towards their classroom. The hallway seemed to have more people then usual. Soon they were walking into their classroom, and sat down at the desks.

Jake pulled a piece of paper out of his binder and started to write on it. He passed it to Edward. Edward looked at it, then turned his head slightly at Jake, and arched his eyebrow. Jake shrugged slightly.

Edward wrote on the note, and passed it back to Jake. After he opened it, Jake smiled, and scribbled back. He passed it back to Edward. He turned to back to the front to write down the notes.

***

Jake walked to his English class. Butterflies were fluttering like mad in his stomach. When he walked into his classroom, he realized he was the second person there. Quickly he sat down and pulled his pencils and books out, and put them on his desk. 'I can't wait to start working on the play!' Jake said to himself.

Patiently and quietly, he waited for the class to begin. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lily come into the room. She sat down in a chair just to the right of him, but a bit farther up. He was excited when she glanced at him, and smiled. He smiled back at her. Neither looked away from each other.

The teacher started talking. Jake turned to pay attention to what the teacher was saying. "Class, please settle down." The class quietened down, except for the occasional cough.

"Today, for this period, we are going to get together in our groups to discuss and decide what the play is going to be about and who is going to do what in it."

A murmur ran through the class, and some kids started to move. The volume in the class started to grow.

"A-hem."

The class quietened down, and the teacher continued. "Now we will work for about fifty minutes, or until three-twenty. This way you will have ten minutes to clean up, and get ready to leave for the day." The teacher looked around at his eager class. "'Kay, lets go!"

Jake, Lily, Michael and Anna, all crowded around Jake's desk. During their discussion, Anna was writing notes about the things they would need. Their teacher came by, and gave them some ideas on what they could do to improve the play.

Time slipped away without them noticing.

All too soon, the teacher announced, "Kids, time for you guys to put your stuff away. Remember to stack your chairs."

Lily, Anna, and Michael were about to head back to their desks when Jake spoke up, "Ummm. Lily, could I ask you something?"

Surprise flashed across Lily's features. She said, "Yeah, but can you meet me at my locker?"

Jake nodded. Lily went to her desk and grabbed her stuff off her desk, and scooted quickly out the door, after stacking her chair.

Following suite, Jake strode out the door after her, but at a slightly slower pace. He went to his locker to get his stuff. Quickly he got his stuff, and headed to Lily's locker.

As he got near, he slowed his pace. Jake saw Lily casually leaning against her locker. When she saw him, Lily smiled warmly. Jake smiled back, and came up to her.

"Hey Jake," Lily said, "What's up?"

"Well, I was wondering," Jake, replied, sticking his hands in the front pocket of his sweater. He looked at her, "I was wondering if I could walk you home."

Again, just like before, surprise flashed across Lily's face. "Sure, thanks."

Together they walked out of the school, and walked down the street. Carefully, Jake watched out for Jack and his gang. He didn't want them to come and beat him (or Lily) up.

"Jake."

"Yeah?"

"What street do you live on?" Lily looked at him curiously.

"I live over on Sunbeam Street." Jake looked back at Lily. Lily looked surprised. "What street do you live on?"

"It's just funny." Lily said, flustered. "I live on Sunshine Avenue. We live just a street apart." Lily looked behind them.

"Do Jack and his gang bug you?"

"Yeah, they do most days." Lily rolled up the sleeve of her shirt to the elbow. There was a dark, blotchy mark halfway between her wrist and elbow.

"They did that to you?" Jake said appalled. "Yesterday they chased me home." He shook his head in disgust.

Lily and Jake walked together in a comfortable silence. Then as if by instinct, Jake reached out and took Lily by the hand. Lily looked at Jake and smiled. Jake looked back at her and smiled.

A twig snapped behind them, and Jake whipped his head to look. He saw Jack, Joe, and Jordan standing three a breast glaring at him.

"Well would you look at that?" taunted Jack. "Chicken and Flower Girl; walking home together."

Jake saw Lily flinch at, "Flower Girl". He took a step in front of Lily, and dropped her hand. "Bug off!" he told the group.

Joe crossed his arms. "So, feeling protective are we?" He turned his head to Jordan and Jack. Jack nodded. The three boys started to walk towards Jake and Lily.

"Run Lily!" ordered Jake. He turned and saw that she was rooted to the spot. Jake grabbed her by the hand, and started to run, dragging her with him. Quickly, Lily started to run by herself.

Jake saw his house. "Lily…my house…up there."

Lily just nodded, "Blue…roof?"

Jake nodded. He let her pass him, as she headed towards his house. Behind him, he could hear the slap, slap of the boy's feet behind them. Gritting his teeth Jake pushed harder. He reached out to Lily's back, placed his hands on Lily's shoulders, and started to push her.

Lily looked back, terrified, but adjusted her speed. Soon they were in front of Jake's neighbours. The sound of feet stopped. Jake ignored them and with Lily in front of him, they went up the front steps, of his house.

Jake reached into his pocket to grab his keys, when THUNK! Something hit him on the back of the head. 'Rocks' he groaned to himself.

"Lily, duck your head." Lily did what she was told. Jake put the keys into the lock, opened the door, and ushered Lily in. He slammed the door behind him. Both Jake and Lily sat on the floor trying to catch their breath.

"Jake, why are you slamming the door?" Jake's mom asked as she walked into see what was going on. She caught sight of Lily on the floor, beside Jake. "Oh, hello Lily."

"Hi, Mrs. Lye"

"Oh, call me Valerie." Mrs. Lye said. "Now, after you get your breath, come into the kitchen." Then Mrs. Lye left.

"Look, Lily I am sorry." Jake told her, honestly. "I didn't know how far your house was…"

Lily shook her head. She put her hand in Jake's. "Don't be sorry. My house is a bit farther from where we were." She looked him in the eye. "You made the right decision, I trust you." Then she looked puzzled, "Why did you tell me to duck?"

Jake stood up, pulling Lily up with him, he admitted, "They were throwing rocks."

"What!" Lily said horrified, "and you got hit?"

Jake nodded. "In the back of the head." He reached behind his head, to feel the spot the rock had hit; he winced. Then remembering what his mom said, he started to walk to the kitchen, still holding Lily's hand.

In the kitchen, on the table was a plate of cookies and two glasses of milk. Jake pulled the chair out for Lily, before sitting himself. Each of them was on their first cookie, when Jake's mom came and sat down with them.

She asked them what happened on their way back from school. They told her everything, from when they realized that they lived only a street apart, until they crashed into the house.

After a few minutes, Jake spoke up. "Can we drive Lily to her house?" He reached for her hand and squeezed it. "I don't think that Lily should walk back." He looked at his mom.