I recall even once asking The Kind Stranger in the dreaming world if he was or knew of Nolan, and he shook his head, telling me that their paths were never meant to intersect.
Suddenly, I was snapped out of my reverie as a taller girl loudly leaned against her locker beside me.
"That your boyfriend?" the girl asked, tossing her ridiculously luscious, woolly black hair over her shoulder, where it then proceeded to fall against the side of her face again.
"No. He's dead," I said emotionlessly, retrieving my binder, then slamming the locker shut and turning for first period.
"Wait," the girl spoke with a commanding voice, an extension of her dominant personality, and I faced her, attempting to hide the anxiety I felt under her sharp gaze.
I couldn't will myself to speak with her eyes on mine, afraid of something big and indescribable, so I pretended to prompt her with silence.
"Come to a college party with me tonight," she ordered me, and I sighed of exasperation.
"Is this your idea of a joke? It isn't very funny," I turned to disappear into the crowd of chattering students, but she pulled me back with a smirk on her face.
"I wasn't joking," she said with an air of finality, and I was afraid that if I maintained this eye contact for too long, she'd somehow undo my thoughts and uncover my secrets.
"Why would you ask me to go? Probably the only reason you know my name, assuming you even do, is because I'm notorious for being picked last in gym class."
There was a cool and intriguing disinterest in her chocolatey eyes as she disregarded what I said. I swiftly deviated my gaze to fall on her perfectly clear dark brown skin. She smiled at me, and her pearly white teeth seemed to sparkle in the fluorescent lighting as if she were on a toothpaste commercial, revealing deep dimples. Her overly glossed lips were so much fuller than mine...
"You talk white, you know," she said finally, after what felt like several excruciating eternities meeting her unwavering gaze.
I rolled my eyes, "Okay, I'm done now."
I had to conjure all the strength within me not to give in to her demanding voice calling out to me, and I knew that she was confident enough to sense the ways she'd stirred my emotional barriers. I almost forgot my restlessness as I fled, and perhaps if I had been lucky enough to completely forget it, I would not have walked head first into the janitor's cart and fell to the ground with a crashing thud.
Chapter 2
The dreaming world sprung to life around me. I found myself in the center of several golden, rolling sand dunes that lit up as if it were day, but looking at the sky I could see the murky moon covered in clouds, much in the likeness of a fetus on an ultrasound.
"Back so soon?" The Kind Stranger spoke from behind me, and I tried turning to him, only to realize that I was wearing a complicated crimson ballgown that swung with every step.
"I'm not meant to be back here! I'm in school!" I told him, panicking, and he nonchalantly took a seat on a glimmering throne that appeared out of thin air.
"Sleeping in class, are you? Naughty, naughty," he said, and he reclined in his chair, playing with orbs of light in his hands.
"No, I ran into something really hard! Just please tell the Queen not to make me do another trial!" I begged, but he shook his head.
"After all this time, I thought you'd come to understand that what Queen Luna dictates is final, Selene. She is our Holy Ruler."
Tears welled up in my eyes and I swiped at them with a newfound ferocity.
"Then why are you just sitting around? Let's get this over with!"
The Kind Stranger chuckled, tossing a light orb at me. I dodged it but he wagged his finger.
"No, wield it, Selene," The Kind Stranger told me, and he showed me what gestures to make in my palm.
After a few seconds, the orb began to sear into my skin and I threw it to the sand dunes, squealing in pain. The Kind Stranger's face fell and he jumped out of his seat, yanking me along with him as he bolted to the river far off in the distance.
"Why are we running?" I huffed as I scooped up the hefty dress, desperately trying not to trip.
"You are NOT to aimlessly discard sacred Andromedian orbs! I'm getting you out of here before they arrive!" he shouted at me, and as soon as he said it, what appeared to be an entire army of fiery soldiers atop golden steads began to surround us at every angle.
"What's happening?!" I cried, my face red and flushed.
The Kind Stranger said nothing as he tore the train of my dress and converted it into a pair of wings in his fists with a flash of light. The soldiers got closer by the second and I feared for my life, knowing I could never outrun them. Suddenly, The Kind Stranger stuck the wings to my hands and forced my arms above my head.
I screamed as I began to be carried away with the winds, "What about you?!"
The soldiers took their positions, none of their eyes on me as I rose higher and higher. I was scared out of my wits. All I could think about was what would happen to The Kind Stranger.
I tried to remember how to conjure the light orbs. Maybe I could defend him with the techniques I'd learned, right? I concentrated for several moments, but I only rose farther up as the relentless soldiers got farther away. Then, at last, a dismal orb of light appeared in my palms, and I took great care as I directed it at the soldier pointing his sword to The Kind Stranger's neck.
"Watch out!" I shouted to The Kind Stranger in warning as a flurry of molten energy erupted from the orb.
All at once, the hundreds of soldiers peered up at me. The gushing liquid disintegrated the soldier I'd aimed for as soon as it grazed his helmet, and a chain reaction was caused, so one by one, they all crackled into nothingness.
The Kind Stranger raised his fist, and waves of disorientation circled around me, causing me to fall from the sky. At the exact right moment, he caught me and jumped into the rushing waters of the river, seeking out the crystal cave we'd use to send me back to the waking world.
We submerged together and he dragged me to the entrance, ducking inside and raising me up to the ledge as I caught my breath.
"I'm so sorry!" I whined to him, and he only laughed.
"You did great, Selene," he smirked, and it occurred to me that this had all been carefully planned.
"Wait! You-"
"Yes. I did."
I didn't know whether to laugh, sigh, or slap his shoulder, so I settled on pouting as the waters