Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 18:47:45 -0500
From: kell1reilly2@aim.com
Subject: The Real Dream-8

People around me were acting a little different. They almost
seemed...nervous or anxious, like something big was going to happen. But
I just couldn't put my finger on it.

Even when I got to school on Tuesday, Jamie seemed a little off beat from
his usual perkiness & hyper, but not annoying personality. I wanted to
find out what was up with everyone, so I went to look for Bob Brown, this
creepy emo senior who used his locker for some sort of business, probably
illegal stuff, considering he was Latino. Also, Bob Brown was not his
real name. No one knew his real name. Every time there was a sub,
supposedly, he would go up to the sub & secretly tell them to call him
that. No one knew his real name.

But, he had a good part of him. He always knew the street news. Always
knew what was up. So I went up to him during the time between first
period & well...second period.

"Excuse me?" I asked carefully as I walked up to him.

"What?" he said with an attitude.

"Um, Bob, you always know what's going on, right?"

He looked impatient. "Yeah, so?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me why everyone is so...anxious
today, like the world is going to end or something."

"Kid, you're the second to last person I would ever tell that reason to.
Just let it go & ignore it" he said as he walked past me to his next
class.

"Thanks" I answered sarcastically as I went my own way. Just as I turned
the corner, I bumped right into Todd.

"Way to go graceful" I poked.

"Not to bad yourself princess" he shot back.

"What are you doing over this way? Isn't your math class like on the
other side of the building?" I questioned him.

Todd said "Yup, but I noticed that everyone is so gloomy & fugly looking
today & I wanted to see what's up. So I'm thinking of talking to BB."

"BB?" I said confused.

"Yeah," he said, "Bob Brown."

"Oh, oh. Well I tried the same thing, I don't know what's up, so I went
to see him to. He told me to just ignore it & that I'm like one of the
last people he would ever tell anyway."

"I'll bet you feel special now, dontcha?" he said. I gave him a smirk.

"Well, I don't really care now anymore anyway, so I'm not going to
bother." He looked at his watch. "Alright. Well, cause of you, I'm going
to be late for math, so I'll see ya at lunch" he said, as he ruffled my
hair & walked away. I liked the fact he was about two inches taller,
cause I liked it when he ruffled my hair, made me still feel young.

"Later" I replied, which was answered with a wave of his hand from
behind.

I looked at my own watch. Ahh, I had 41 seconds to get to Ms. Rump's room
before I got a week's detention. She was my least favorite teacher ever.

At lunch, I saw Michelle walk into the lunch room with Katie & Nirali,
two very pretty s who I think I could have liked if I wasn't into guys.

"Ladies, can I borrow Michelle for a brief moment?" I asked like a
gentleman. Inside joke.

"Take your time sir" replied Nirali with a curtsy. I grabbed Michelle by
the arm & dragged her into the hallway, but not before looking back at my
table & getting a glimpse of Jay, who gave me a -up.

"I can walk on my own ya know" Michelle said to me.

"Look, ya know Jay Darly?" I asked, ignoring her.

"Yup."

"He wants to know if you like him" I said flatly.

"How come?" she asked slowly.

I explained to her what Jay & I had talked about when I had gone over to
his house.

"Oh my God, does Jay really like me?" Michelle asked.

"Well, he wants to know if you like him."

Michelle had to think for a minute, like she had to remember the answer.
If i knew Michelle as well as I thought I did, then she liked him. They'd
be a cute couple if they were going out.

"Come to think of it, I think I do like him."

Good, now if they went out, that'd be pretty cool.

"Ok, I'll tell him and then you guys can talk to each other sometime and
set up a date. Oh I know! Jamie and I are going to see Alvin and the
Chipmunks next weekend. You guys could come too, but I'd have to see if
he'd be ok with that" I blurted out.

"Um, ok" she with a down look on her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Suddenly, I had a bad feeling in my stomach.

"I...um, heard a rumor going around that Gonzalez is coming back to this
part of town & that's he's kinda...after you & Jamie..." she stated.

Ugh, not Gonzalez again. He was the one they had found out had beaten
Jamie in the bathroom & left him in there all y & bruised & yeah. I
wasn't scared of him, I was just annoyed every time his name was
mentioned because of the things he "allegedly did". Yeah, allegedly my
ass. He did terrible things & everyone knows it.

I said to Michelle "Then I'll call the fuz & they'll arrest him & this
time he won't keep getting away with everything. Everyone knows that he's
a Mala Noche member, one of the bosses. If they arrest him, I'm sure
that'll help the whole deal."

"Ok, but what if none of that works?"

I though about that for a moment. "Then I'm doomed."

We laughed.

She was the first to reply. "Well, I'm going to be doomed & starving if I
don't get some food in me. So can I go back to lunch now?"

We went back to lunch & I thought about Jamie a lot. I got angry. If that
Gonzalez touched a hair on Jamie, I swear I'd beat the s*** out of him
until every organ in his body had turned to soup.

"How was your day sweetheart?" Mom asked as I walked in the door when I
got home.

"It was ok."

"Homework?"

"Yup. I got biology reading, algebra problems & a poster project for
English."

"Well, then you gotta buckle down tonight & make sure you get it all done
before your father gets home" said Mom.

"Why?"

"He's taking us out to dinner with his boss & his family. You remember
the Blares, right?"

"Aww mom, I don't wanna go...I remember Alison, she was so annoying," I
thought back to where a one year Alison kept spitting on me. "Why can't
all babies be good babies like I was?" I whined.

"I don't know honey, I'm not God, I don't do miracles like that.
Especially that" she teased.

I couldn't help smile, but I still pleaded my case.

"Mom..." I complained.

"Tanner, there's nothing I can do. Everything is already set up. We just
need to go & pray it goes by without sneezes from her. They have a son
too, he just wasn't able to come last time."

"She was spitting for your information" I replied.

"You're wasting your break time. Use it up before Dad gets home."

I finished my break & then finished my homework for the night. Just as I
sat down on the couch, Dad walked in.

"Done your homework?" he said to me.

"Yeah."

"Go get ready."

I got all ready. I showered, put on deodorant, made my hair look normal &
got some clothes that would be nice, but at the same time, not lame
looking.

We entered the restaurant & that's when I saw Bob Brown next to my dad's
boss on the other side of the room.

Oh God no I thought.