The Difference Between Dreams and Reality[CHPT 10]

A/N: Hello again! I’m back and posting *gasp* chapter five ALL READY. I spend about two-three hours a night writing a chapter because I’m so addicted to writing it. I’m so glad to hear from those of you who have stuck to reading my story and leave me reviews, too. I love hearing that you enjoy my story!

Drop me a review if you like what you read, they keep me going!
Thank you for reading my work!

Enjoy!

Chapter 5: An opportunity to reveal Nine, and Brian Fuller

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Nine:
Teal eyes
Thick hair
Low voice
Thin but muscular build
Doesn’t own a dog

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I scribbled down the last line about the dog. I hadn’t forgotten to keep my tabs on Nine. He wasn’t going to escape my investigation, if I could help it! I flipped a few pages into this new notebook for my investigation and just drew harts and 9’s and the spelling of Nine. I was becoming a love sick sap all ready.

“What’re you doing?” came an unsuspected question from behind. I was sitting on the steps outside of the school on Friday. I hadn’t made another question entry recently and Nine hadn’t shown up yet. School had been over for at least an hour now and I didn’t expect anyone to still be here.

“None of your business,” I growled. Turning, I saw Brian Fuller behind me. If you all ready forgot, he is the guy who is in the drama club and refers to me as Medieval Melissa still behind my back.

When I saw it was Brian, I thought “I should have sounded more bitchy."

He was trying to look over my shoulder at what I was doing, luckily I had all ready pressed the notebook against my chest to hide it's loving scribbles.

"What are you still doing here?" I asked rudely.

"If you forgot, my father works here. I'm just here to help him out with grading papers quickly enough," he replied innocently. I knew he was probably hanging around to do graffiti somewhere or to harass the female teachers. He wasn't lying about his dad, but he wasn't here because of his dad. What a little brat.

"Whatever. You can leave now," I dismissed him. I closed my journal in a very sneaky way, as if to hide my thoughts and feelings from the world. Nine had become my only vice in the world. He was my dirty pleasure. I loved to think of him as my secret boyfriend, even though he didn't know.

"Gee, you sure space off a bit too often," Brian commented. I looked up and shook my thoughts away.

"Hmm?" I asked in a dreamy tone that was a bit too delayed.

"Welcome back to planet Earth," Brian began "What are you always thinking about that makes your mind drift so far into space lately?" He asked. He almost sounded concerned. Maybe being in the drama club and seeing everyone but himself succeed had actually rubbed a few good acting skills off on him.

"Shut up," I snapped "You don't know anything!" I couldn't expect someone like Brian Fuller who was still calling me "Medieval Melissa" to understand.

I turned and walked off the steps toward my car. Brian followed. Why was he always following me? I was getting so annoyed.

Slamming my car door shut, he came up to the window.

"What now?" I asked in a "you're disturbing my peace" tone.

"I was just wondering...about the drama club. You know how I finally got a larger part?" He asked.

"'Bout time," I laughed.

"Anyways, It's got fifty lines and I was wondering if you'd come over sometime to help me you know, memorize them?" He asked in a needy tone.

Wow. Brian Fuller, being kind, to me. He was about as popular as my brother was. He was like the Kenneth of the tenth grade. I was almost surprised, but I figured it was some sort of trap.

"I’ve got things to do—" I started.

"Please," he interrupted me. Even if this was some sick joke, I just couldn't say no. For all those times he called me Medieval Melissa, I wanted to hurt him so bad. He was always teasing me and now... I just couldn't believe his guts!

I accepted and went on my way. We were to get together Tomorrow, Saturday, at noon. We were going to meet at Starbucks and then head over to his house.

I was kind of looking forward to seeing his family. All through grade school and Junior High I'd pictured him having a little brother and an older brother, for some reason. He seemed like the middle child type. I wouldn't know, though. I've always been the youngest, after all.

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That night I pulled out my questions journal. Kenneth was out with his friends at a party, I assumed. He was rarely home, anyways. Mom was having her monthly 'Girls night out get-together." It was nice to have the house 100% to myself again.

Entry five:
Do you doubt my ability to find you someday?
Is it troublesome to write replies to my questions?
What don't you know about me?
Did you see me when I saw you?
Have you ever met someone else with teal eyes?
Are you older than me?

Do you know how to dance?

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I left it at that and decided to turn out the lights and act like I was asleep, just to see if he'd show.

While I lay in bed I heard a shuffling of sounds coming through my window. I couldn't peek, but from what I had in mind, he had climbed the tree next to my window to get into my bedroom through my unlocked window.

"Bingo," I thought to myself.

I slowly got up, as if not to be noticed by the dark figure in front of my desk and journal and went to reach for the lights.

I almost turned them on when I realized something. I didn't want to know who he was, unless he told me himself. I crawled back to my bed and made a little noise once secured under the blankets.

Nine turned in the moonlight that shone through my bedroom window. As always, it was too dark to see anything but those beautifully glowing teal eyes.

He had a large smirk on his face.

"So you're awake, I take it?" he asked in a suspicious "I caught you" tone.

I poked my head out from the covers a bit to see him. His eyes were staring directly into mine. Nine made his way over toward my bedside and sat next to me.

"I'll stay here until you fall asleep," he said in a sleepy tone. We laid together for an hour or so until I looked over. His head still resting on my bed as he knelt at my side, he was asleep. I could turn on the lights and reveal his identity so easily, if I wanted.

I still longed for him to confess it to me himself. I leaned over and kissed his forehead. I traced his face with my fingers and smiled when my fingers went over his lips.

"You should go," I whispered gently in his ear. I leaned over and when I looked back, he was shifting to arise. The window was open to a chilly night and the wind came swiftly into my room, blowing the curtains here and there. He came toward me, hovering over my delicate body and stroked my cheek.

With a soft kiss on my lips he mumbled something, but I couldn't hear it as the breeze came by. I watched as his dark figure, or what I could make out of it, left through the window in the moonlight.

I closed my eyes and didn't even need to whisper "Nine" to keep my beliefs up. I feel asleep and dreamt of one day meeting him face-to-face in the daylight.

That would be a day to look forward to.

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When I awoke Saturday morning, it was 10:00 A.M. I knew I had to be at Starbucks by noon, so I willingly got up.

I walked my way to the bathroom and opened the door. Once stepping into the steam-filled room my sleepiness tumbled away with shock. Kenneth was standing butt-naked in my bathroom!

"AHHHHHH!" I shrieked. "Get out!"

He realized I was in there with him and he shoved me out and locked the door. What an asshole. He didn't even care that I saw him...naked.

I went to complain to my mother downstairs, but she was gone. When I was about to go back upstairs I heard a knock at the door. I was still in a big T-shirt and shorts with bed-head, but decided to open it anyway. There was Toby.

He looked shocked. "Can I help you?" I asked, as if I didn't care. I had all ready began a pretty eventful Saturday, now I was going to embarrass myself with my crazy hair.

"Umm... I heard a scream and came running over. Is everything all right?" Asked Toby suspiciously. He might have been blaming me for murdering my brother, but I didn't notice. I was too tired.

"Nope. Kenneth just decided to take my bathroom and now I can't bathe. I'd use his bathroom but it's in his room and God knows I plan on coming out alive and without some kind of fungus," I replied.

Toby laughed. "You can come over to my house. Everyone else is asleep, but you can use the shower there," he offered. It was too good an offer to pass up. I did have something to do today, so I decided to take him up on it.

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When I got into his house I remembered all the fun we used to have in the elementary school days. It was nice to think of good memories.

I thanked him and headed upstairs to their bathroom. When I got in there, I immediately got the shower going. I stripped myself of my clothes and stepping into the steaming shower. I felt refreshed.

I lathered and rinsed and scrubbed and washed. Once done, I stepped out and wrapped a towel around my chest. It was a bit small, but all they had. It covered me barely, but it was better than nothing. I stepped out, once dried a little and walked downstairs to see Toby.

When I stepped into the kitchen and saw him cooking I sat on a stool and asked "What's for breakfast?"

He was startled and almost flung the eggs he was cooking at me. He turned around to get a second look and I realized we weren't kids anymore. I was a lot more mature and here I was, standing in his kitchen in a tiny little towel and nothing else.

Toby turned away, embarrassed. "Do you want to stay for some eggs?"

I looked down at my feet, a little embarrassed too. "Sure," I replied softly.

We ended up eating eggs together and whatnot until 11:00 A.M. It had been long enough for Kenneth to grab his shit and get out of my bathroom, hopefully, so I hugged Toby(which only deepened his blush and embarrassment), and headed over to my house.

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Once I was upstairs, I fixed my hair in my bathroom. I still didn't know why Kenneth was showering in my bathroom this morning, but I thought better than to ask. I finished up and headed out of the bathroom to pick out some clothes.

Still in a towel, I noticed the journal. Opened it said:

Entry five:
Do you doubt my ability to find you someday? never
Is it troublesome to write replies to my questions? not at all
What don't you know about me? Not much
Did you see me when I saw you? Maybe
Have you ever met someone else with teal eyes? Once
Are you older than me? I am

Do you know how to dance? I can do ballroom dancing

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I smiled, as I always do. I pulled out my list of investigations on Nine and added to it.

Nine:
Teal eyes
Thick hair
Low voice
Thin but muscular build
Doesn’t own a dog
Is older than me
Can ballroom dance

It was nice to feel like I was getting to know him better.

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With that, I threw on some clothes. I chose a green, short sleeved shirt with black designs on it and a jean skirt. I wore my flip-flops and gathered my things on acting and my purse as I was about to head downstairs.

It was 11:50 and I'd probably make it just in time. I flew down the stairs and applied my make-up once I was on the road. It was hard to put make-up on while driving, but I had mastered it in time.

I finally reached Starbucks and before I got out of the car, I saw Brian. He looked a little awkward sitting there by himself, so I quickly went in to join him.

He noticed me as I came through the door and headed toward the table he had chosen. His face lighted up in a way I had never seen before. He was wearing dark jeans and a black T-shirt with "Bill-a-bong" scribbled in irregular writing across his muscular chest.

I couldn't help but think about how good looking he really was. It was so unbelievable that someone with such good looks could be playing such a trick on me right now.

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"Ready to go?" I asked impatiently. There was a large group of people Brian was sure to be friends with watching us in awe. I shot him a look and he grinned.

"Are you sure?" He asked politely. What a sick joke, I kept thinking.

"Yes," I insisted. I pulled him by his arm and we exited the place. I was just a little bit disappointed that I didn't stick around to buy a hot chocolate, though.Once outside I began to question him.

"What are all of your little friends doing here?" I asked angrily.

"Chill. They come here all the time," he attempted to reassure me.

"No. I come here all the time. They're never here," I growled.

"They were just curious what I was doing here and saw me, so they stopped by and I told them to leave, but they wanted to see for themselves. Just chill, okay?" Brian reasoned.

I calmed down and we decided to take our separate cars. I followed behind him all the way to his house. When we got there, It was a lot like mine. Not wonderfully huge or too small, it was just an average house.

When we got inside he called for his dad, but no one came. He shrugged it off and we went to the kitchen.

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"Would you like something to drink?" Brian spoke, interfering with my mental notes on his house.

"Umm yeah, sure," I said.

He pulled out a couple of Pepsi’s and I didn't complain. I had always secretly preferred Coca Cola, though.

"Where's your mom?" I interrupted the silence.

"She's about two hours away. My parents are divorced and I go and spend every other weekend with her," he replied as if it didn't hurt to talk about his parent's separation.

"Oh," I spoke. I didn't say anything like "I'm sorry," because I know, from experience with my father that that was something everyone said when they heard about a kid without both parents supporting him/her.

"My dad and mother are separated, too," I said "Only I live with my mom and I haven't seen my father for years."

"Seems we live on closer worlds than you thought," came the reply from Brian. He could actually be a little understanding. This came as a surprise to me.

After we finished up with our drinks we moved to the living room. He had his script out and we actually practiced. Our drama has two plays being worked on all the time. He was in a separate one than me and I was just working on set for the time being because I couldn't keep my mind straight and offered to do it. His play was probably going to show in a month or so, so he didn't have time to waste.

It was a good system, though, the two plays at a time, that is. It always kept us running shows at different times so there’s hardly a month without some sort of play going on.

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We rehearsed for what seemed like hours. When I looked at the clock it was 5:00 P.M. all ready!

"Brian? I think it's about time I headed home," I said while grabbing my things.

"Oh. Ok," Brian said. He sounded disappointed. Maybe his prank didn't end up happening and he was a little disappointed.

"Thanks for having me over," I said. I thought that I might as well be kind to him for not playing a prank on me yet.

I took my time walking out the door and going to my car. When I got in my car, I started it up and began to drive home.

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I reached my house shortly after and pulled into the driveway. Mom still wasn't home. I assumed she was still out with her friends, so I just walked in.

When I got inside, there was Kenneth. And he wasn't alone. He was making out with some whore on our couch. I slammed the door shut and sat on the porch for a moment. Unlike all good brothers, Kenneth didn't come outside to apologize, but just stayed inside.

I ended up walking over to Toby's house and asking to spend the night there. His mother and father weren't going to be home, though, he had told me. They were at a hotel enjoying what was left of their free nights before the baby came along.

Toby allowed me to stay and called his mom, to tell her what was up. She was glad to hear Toby and I were hanging out again and encouraged us to hang out more often.

Toby and I looked at each other and laughed. His mother was so happy lately, with the baby coming and all.

We set up some blankets and pillows in the living room next to each other to sleep on and turned on a movie of my choice. We were watching "The butterfly Effect" and our night began.

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A/N: Trying to incorporate more characters, as always. Nine has yet to be revealed, but is soon to be, don't worry. The next few chapters, he might just be discovered. I'm actually planning on chapter six or seven for that purpose. I'm just building the drama, characters, and also the plot right now.

Hope you liked chapter five! Review if you'd like to read more! Every chapter is a step closer to Nine's identity!

Thanks for all the reviews lately, too!

-- Jenna