I spent most of my remaining Saturday afternoon rummaging through my stuff to see if I could come up with a decent costume still. Cory's parties were always a pretty big event, so it was necessary to go in and come out looking like a total rockstar. I did buy a few scraps that would allow me to go as a pirate, which would be fine for the party....but lame if I was going to the party with Austin. You know? I don't know...I just wanted to find something cool that he would like. Something that complimented him. He's going as a vampire...sooo....what has hot passionate sex with vampires? Um...other vampires, I guess? No, I can't go as the same thing. That would suck. I wanna find something that seems kinda compatible, but not an obvious attempt to....

Ah fuck it, I'll just find something weird that won't smear if I end up kissing him on the lips. Hehehe, wow, that would be cool. After weeks of falling for a complete stranger, I find it hard to believe that I'm actually thinking about asking him out. Am I crazy or what? You know, this is all Jeff's damn fault for making me do this! If I don't ask him now, he's never gonna let me live it down. Ugh...homosexual peer pressure bites.

That night, I remember looking through my closet for more accessories for my costume. I must have been digging for a long time, because there were heaps of clothes and old toys as high as five feet off of my bedroom floor. That was...odd. Not to mention that I don't remember my closet being this big. I turned around to look back at my room, and saw Jeff, April, and Baxter, sitting on my bed watching me. But for some reason, Bax had his shirt off, and him and Jeff were making out like crazy. April snapped a picture of it, and smiled at me as the two boys leaned back on the bed to get hot and heavy with one another. Wait a minute. This...this is wrong. Ths doesn't make sense. Am I dreaming this?

The room seemed pretty normal as always, but when I searched for my alarm clock, it was missing. I looked all around my room and it was nowhere to be found. Finally, with a bit of concentration, I caused it to appear on the desk next to the bed. And just as I suspected, the numbers were going all weird on me. This wasn't real. None of it. Geez, I don't even remember falling asleep. I remember...I had eaten dinner, and I came upstairs...I vaguely remember sitting back on my bed to take notes and look over Caleb's info...and then? And then....? Shit...I must have dozed off. I've been so exhausted lately.

Nobody was saying anything, but the sound of Jeff and Baxter making out was clearly taking over the dream. Hehehe, I just stood back and watched for a few moments. It really looked like them. God, it was such a freaky thing to witness. I almost didn't wanna look at it. But that sickening sound of lipsmacking would have just flooded the room and filled my imagination with the sights I was trying to avoid. They were really going at it. Damn you, Jeff! Why did you have to put THIS in my head?

The weird thing is, now that I kinda get a chance to look at him...Baxter wasn't half bad. Maybe it's just my mind that's making his chest and stomach look so fit and smooth. Maybe it's the dream that makes his shoulders look so broad, or his ass look so tight, or is making that feathery mop of bright blond hair on Baxter's head look so...dare I say, sexy? I never in a million years would have thought about Bax in this way before. But then again, I never really saw him kiss anybody before. I never really saw him be even remotely sexual with someone else, much less another guy. And now that my mind had been opened to it, I can't deny that he is actually prety damn cute. I'm thinking that Jeff put some kinda hypnotic curse on me, and when I wake up, Bax is gonna go back to being the same old lovable asshole that I'm used to. But for now...it's kinda hot to watch him make out like that.

I looked up above me, and noticed that the ceiling had vanished. There was nothing above me but a clear blue sky. I lifted my arm up slowly, and gently stirred the clouds up with the tip of my index finger. It was almost like mixing paint, and it felt warm to the touch. Wow...this is cool. I walked over to the wall, and touched it, feeling the surface wrinkle up under my palm like paper. I crumpled it up, and pulled it away to get a fresh view of my neighbor's house next door. I litterally ripped a hole in the wall, and when I let the ball of paper go, it floated out of the hole and up into the clouds like a hellium balloon. Sighhh....I know that Chucky and April told me that I should be free dreaming a lot more before I go completely crazy, but this is just too cool! I never get tired of this stuff! Just ONE more night of fun...just ONE more...and then I'll stop. I'll stop for a whole week. I swear.

I saw a huge flash from the side of me, and April had taken my picture. She smiled warmly at me, but her movements were so artificial. Kinda like a mannequin made of clay. "I'll save this one for the yearbook. The yearbook. Yearbook." She said quietly. You know,when you actually pay attention to the characters in your dreams, more often than not, they can come off as being kinda creepy. I looked back over at Baxter ad Jeff, and smiled as I reminded myself that all bets were off when I was here, in my own little dreamworld. I wonder...I wonder if maybe I could just see what it's like. You know...to kiss Baxter. Hehehe, how many chances am I gonna get to do this, huh? "Don't you go getting goofy on me." April told me.

"Hehehe, I won't." I grinned.

"What happened to the free dreaming, Donnie? You're supposed to free dream." She reminded me.

"I will. Later. Just not right now."

She put her hands on her hips as I slowly approached the bed. "Please, Donnie...don't encourage him. Baxter is screwed up enough as it is." It was weird, but everything that April said to me seemed to be pieced together from conversations that we had already had long before now. It was her, but it wasn't her at the same time. Hard to explain.

I walked over, and I think that I actually felt myself blush as I reached my hand down and touched Baxter's leg. Hehehe, God, this is so wild! What am I DOING??? The moment I touched him, April and Jeff seemed to disappear, as did the rest of Baxter's clothes. Omigod, he was NAKED on my bed! Even in a dream, my first instinct was to shyly turn away from him...only peeking back to see him still lying there. He was leaning back on his elbows, legs spread wide, with a nice piece of meat dangling there for me to feast on. It took me a few seconds to actually get myself to stare at him without feeling weird about it. He had this classic Bax smirk on his face, and he was staring at me. Damn...he looked good. What the hell, right? It's not like Bax is ever gonna know. I sure as hell don't plan on telling him. So just...GO for it, right?

"H-h-hey...Bax..." I said nervously.

"Hey, dickwad." He grinned. He leaned back all the way on my bed, and spread his legs even wider, taking a hold of himself and lightly stroking it for me. "Sweet dreams, Romeo."

Ok...this is a dream. All of it is just a dream. So...have some fun. Our secret. Hehehe, geez, he's....cute! I hope I can forget about this tomorrow!

I slowly sat down on the bed next to him, and after a few seconds of hesitation, I reached out a shakey hand to lightly slide over the muscles in the soft part of his stomach. I swear that I could actually feel it. I could feel the light ripples of his subtle sixpack underneath my fingers, and I let my hand move up to feel his erect nipples tickle the center of my palm. I could feel myself getting so hard, feel my breath getting heavy, it was all so real. I could smell his aroma. That scent that was uniquely 'Baxter' since the seventh grade. I had to look down to make sure that this was still just a fantasy and not the real thing. Damn...Jeff definitely had a point. Bax was a certified hottie. At least, in here he was.

My hand gained some confidence, and made a soft 'S-curve' motion down to his soft pubic hairs, and then further down to grip the hardness in front of me. I wrapped my hand around it, and my fingertips were warmed by the sensual heat of it. I figured that I had better make the best of this before I wake up from the excitement and ruin it all. So I gave him one last look before leaning over and taking him into my mouth. How can this be so amazing? How can this feel so authentic? I don't know, but it was like I could actually feel the length of his hardness sliding back and forth over the surface of my sucking tongue and lips. I could taste his flavor, and it made my heart race like never before. I 'willed' my clothes to disappear, as I spread out on the bed and got comfortable. At first, my only concentration was on wrapping my lips around Bax's hard on and milking him for all I was worth. But then I realized that he wasn't really moving or anything. I imagined him moaning a bit, and he did. I tried to make him pump up and down into my mouth...and he obeyed, instantly. His hips began making a slow circular motion, lifting his hips off of the bed, and pushing himself deeper and deeper into me. Jesus....this was HOT! Ok....what next? Um...I want Bax to touch me. No...I want him to suck me too. Yeah...I want him to....

No sooner had I imagined it, before I could even complete my train of thought, I felt this warm wetness engulf me from the head of the bed, and a hand grip my ass gently as Baxter returned the favor. It made me suck harder, and harder...my pulse racing. It was the most intense thing that I have ever felt before. I was literally out of control. We sucked each other, and Baxter moaned everytime I wanted him to. Pushed everytime I wanted him to. Licked my balls everytime I wanted him to. It was heaven. Pure heaven.

Then, something changed. I thought, for a moment, that I had heard the far away rumble of thunder in the bright clouds above us. I stopped sucking for a moment to look up through the ceiling, and didn't see any storm clouds or anything. So I shrugged my shoulders and went back to licking up and down Bax's long hard erection. I soon spun around to see him face to face, his steel blue eyes piercing right through me, and I kissed him deeply on the lips. God, his lips were soft! What have I been depriving myself of all these years! I rolled over, pulling him on top of me, and grabbed two handfulls of his tight, ripe ass...pulling him into me as he began to hump and grind on me at an erotic pace. He whimpered above me, and our lips connected again, a passionate urgency in our embrace. And then....another rumble of thunder. This time, it was a bit closer than before.

I opened my eyes, looking over Baxter's broad athletic shoulders as he pushed his hardness against mine, lightly forcing the air out of me in tiny sighs and yelps. It felt soooo good. I didn't wanna ever let go. I kissed his neck as he wrapped his arms tight around me. My legs locked around his, and we were as close as two bodies could possibly be without merging into one entity. And it was at that moment, just as I felt my orgasm building up to an Earth shattering climax, that I noticed a very dark storm rolling in overhead. I watched as small strikes of lightning shot back and forth inside the swirling dark grey mass of clouds, and the thunder caused the walls to vibrate gently around us. But I was so close. Sooooo close. Until finally, my eyes rolled back, and I held on to Bax with both arms and legs as I felt myself bubbling over into an orgasm that beat all others. Oh God...hump me harder, Bax....harder....mmmmmm....

*GASP*!!!

I woke up just as the first few squirts began to fill my boxer shorts in bed. There was no stopping it, nothing I could do. I rolled over onto my stomach quick to try to 'cut off' the flow, but having my hardness pressed against the mattress only made things worse. I reached down quickly with my hand to see if I could squeeze it tight enough to prevent an even bigger mess...but it was too late. By the time I had reached into my underwear, I was already reeling from the last remaining shivers of my unexpected explosion. My boxers had been thoroughly 'slimed' from the inside, and my late night rendezvous with Baxter was officially over. Shit...I should have known this dream sex thing was going to have some sloppy side effects. Looks like I need a shower.

When Monday morning had rolled around again, I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed that I was starting to get this darker shade of skin underneath my eyes. It wasn't extremely visible yet, but it was more visable than before. I don't get it. I've been sleeping pretty regularly. It's not like I've become some insomniac or anything, if anything, I've been sleeping even more than usual these days. I'm seriously losing it.

I went into the kitchen and poured myself a healthy bowl of cold cereal, setting it on the table. I was running a little behind, and remembered that I'd better get my English paper off of my desk upstairs before I forgot it. That's all I need is to have old man Lipton start in on me this early in the week. I looked next to it, and took notice of the folder April had given me. All that searching and weirdness surrounding Caleb Jordan...what the hell was that all about? Whatever. I haven't seen him since that night of that weird 'dream storm', and I was really starting to think that it was all just some sick nightmare that I had once or twice and would never think of again once I got it out of my head. Ghosts...psh! I should just toss this folder in the trash and forget it ever happened. If nothing else, my friends will stop looking at me like the town screwball.

"Hey Donnie! Open up, bitch! I'm hungry!" I heard Baxter shouting up towards my window as always, but I reacted a bit different to it this time. I have to admit, the sound of his voice made me squirm a little inside. I didn't think that last dream would really mean anything once it was overwith. But now that I was actually going to physically 'see' him again, I was a bit nervous as to what I was gonna feel when he was close to me again. I made my way downstairs and opened the door to let them all shuffle their way in. April gave me a friendly peck on the cheek, Jeff ruffled my already chaotic looking hair, and then...came Bax. "It's about time, slow poke." He smiled. He had been walking through that door the same way for years now, but for some reason this morning I felt myself blushing furiously from the event. "Hey, does your mom still keep those Pop Tarts on top of the fridge?" He asked, searching for something to munch on before school. Jeff looked pretty worn out, laying his head down on his arms on the table next to him.

"Didn't get enough sleep last night?" I asked, and he responded by lazily nodding his head.

"To be honest, I kept waking up every ten minutes. It was annoying." He yawned for a second, and said, "You know, you've been talking about your dream boy so much that even I'm starting to dream about him now. I think you drilled him into my subconscious or something." HE was one to talk!

"They're not up there dude." Bax was still frantically checking the fridge.

"I think there's more in the pantry over there." April replied, knowing my kitchen better than I do.

"Ahhh, got 'em! Score!"

My eyes bashfully wandered over his body as he plugged in the toaster and took the wrappers off of the Pop Tarts. It wasn't just the dream making him so hot, was it? I mean...he really was cute. His blond hair, his cute face, his blue eyes, his slim and trim physique...and his ass? Wow...even in a pair of baggy jeans, his ass was amazing. All I could think about was his kiss, and the feel of his hardness in my hand...in my mouth....and him on top of me...my hands on his soft squeezable ass....

"AHEM! Are you even listening to me?" April said with a grin. It snapped me out of my fantasy instantly, but failed to fill me in on the last few seconds of conversation.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said that I'm gonna find out whether or not they're gonna use my pics for the yearbook today. Not only that, but I might get the chance to enter some of my other stuff into the art fair next month. I'm so psyched about it!"

"Sweet! That's awesome, April. Congrats." I smiled, and heard Baxter's toaster go off so he could eat. I found myself secretely peeking back over at him as he sat up on the kitchen counter. His legs were spread, and he leand back against the cabinets behind him. His first bite left this awesome design of crumbs on his soft pink lips...and he just...sighhh...what the hell am I doing? Just dreaming about having sex with somebody cute doesn't mean that you're supposed to get...'emotionally attached', right? I mean, that's just ridiculous. Bax is like my brother, it's silly to have some intant infatuation with him all of the sudden. My hormones are so out of whack right now. I had to shake myself loose from staring at him and get back to talking to April. "So...which pics did you submit?"

"Don't worry, Donnie. I made sure that my best friends in the whole world got an advantaged opportunity to be immortalized in the lost pages of West Hill High School's yearbook." She grinned. "Besides, you guys are the only ones I know well enough to let me photograph them willingly. Some of the other ones turned out kinda blurry."

I glanced back over at Bax again. I like the way he chews. He has a cute chew. I never noticed that before. Just then, he looked up, and caught me ogling him. "What?" He asked.

"Huh? What? Nothing." I said, turning away from him.

"Well, quit peeking at me then, weirdo."

"Psh! Yeah right. Like...I've got much better things to do than 'peek' at your sorry ass." I lied.

I glanced up at Jeff, and as a tiny smirk appeared on his face, I wondered if he knew. Dammit, I bet you he knows what I'm thinking. Jeff always knows what I'm thinking. I rolled my eyes and tried to play it off as though it were nothing, but I think he noticed the shade of rose in my cheeks.

"Hey...is this him?" Baxter asked, looking at the folder that I had put on the counter with my English report. Funny...I don't remember bringing it down here. "This is the guy you've been dreaming about?"

"Um...yeah. Well, no. Not any more, I mean."

"He's a freshman? Hehehe, cradle robber." Bax grinned, looking through the pictures. "Did you mentally rape him yet, or are you going for a big dreamy romance this time?"

I snatched the folder back from him and put it in my backpack. "Neither! It's just a dream."

"If you say so, 'spanky'." He smiled at me, and it was...it was almost like the smile he had in the dream before I...touched him, you know? I felt this weird giggly sensation rush through me, and I backed away from him. "Come on, let's get out of here. I gotta get gas before we get to school." He tapped Jeff on the shoulder and said, "Wake up, cupcake. We're out of here."

I was GLAD to get up from that table and pile into Bax's car. The less time I had to stare at him, the better. Even though I did take a few other peeks at him in the rearview mirror on the way there. After catching me staring once or twice, Bax finally asked me, "Dude! What is WITH you today? You're being weird this morning, even for you."

"Just drive, will ya?" I answered, holding in a blush. Jeff looked back at me, and his smile got even wider. My natural reaction was to silently give him the finger. It's not like I could help myself. I have this completely random emotion wrapping itself around me, and it's connected to this gorgeous guy in the front seat, based on the passionate memory of a special moment between us that didn't even happen. Ugh, my brain is so confused right now!

By the time we had gotten out of the car, I worked out a way to force myself to stop looking at him every fifteen seconds and thinking about that mindblowing sex....that we didn't have. But it was mostly a mix of focusing on April the whole time and looking down at my shoes everytime I got the urge to stare at his round tight ass in those pants. There is definitely a hidden pervert inside of all of us.

"Alright, I've gotta get to class in a hurry. I'll see you guys later, alright?" I said as we came to the point where we'd be splitting up for the day. "Hey April, good luck on the photos, hon."

"Thanks, Donnie. I'm keeping my fingers crossed." She replied, and we all went to our first periods.

The beginning of the day had gone by pretty regularly. Nothing special. I think a part of me was just happy to be melting back into my life again after a few days of relentless panic and silly persuits. It felt good to actually let it go. You know, Chucky was dead on when he was talking abut this dream stuff. It really has an effect on you, you know? I just gotta get myself some good old fashioned sleep for a change. I don't even wanna KNOW what I dream about while I'm out of it. I just want to have a complete and total blackout for a few hours. Nobody wants to be thinking twenty four hours a day like this. I'm starting to think that that's the whole reason for being unconscious to begin with.

I know that Chucky has a special double period lab on Mondays, so going to see him is a waste. But I always make sure to walk the same halls anyway. Just to see....'him'.

"Hey, Donnie." Austin said to me as we crossed paths again. God, there was something so alluring about his smile. Every word that he spoke to you just sounded like fine poetry. Does he know how damn fine he is? He's gotta know, right? He's probably rubbing it in my face. Like, 'Look what you'll never get, loser'. Damn...what am I about to do? What am I even thinking right now?

It crossed my mind, and I wondered if I actually had the guts to do it. But...if I didn't do it now, I'd just find reasons to not do it later. And the longer I wait, the harder it's gonna be, right? Shit...I TOTALLY hate myself for doing this....but.....here goes.

I turned around in the hallway, and followed Austin to his locker as he opened it up. I could feel my heartbeat pumping so hard that my chest was shaking, and suddenly, my hands felt like they were twenty times their normal size. I tried to put them somewhere where it would look cool and 'casual'...but they just awkwardly flopped about like seal flippers as I tried to get up the nerve to speak. "Um....hey, Austin...?" I said breathlessly.

He peeked around his locker, his light blue eyes turning me into a stuttering idiot instantly. "Hey..." He smiled.

"Um....you know....my friend, Baxter, has a car...so..." I nodded, and wondered if that made ANY fucking sense to him at all! Did that come out right? In my mental plan, I think I had like 100 more sentences planned to explain that statement. But I was too scared to give him the whole speech. Shit, I probably could have given him a little bit more though. He wrinkled up his forhead a bit, and I forced myself to keep talking. GOD, was it hard! The talking, I mean! "Well...I figured...since my friends and I were going to Cory's party on Friday...and you wanted to go to Cory's too...that...um..." I got lost with my train of thought, and simply repeated, "My friend, Baxter, has a car." Did that come out any better than last time? God, I hope so!

"Oh...you mean, come with you guys to the party?" He asked. Omigod! He looked so fucking CUTE when he said it! I nearly collapsed when I heard the words come out of those kissable lips.

"Uhhh...yeah..." I whimpered.

"Sure! That sounds cool. Thanks. When should we meet up?" His blond curls were gorgeous, his eyes were mesmerising....I could hardly contain myself.

"Um...er...how about seven o'clock? Is that ok?"

"Sounds great. I'll be sure to get dressed up before then." He smiled. "Thanks Donnie. It would have sucked if I had to ride my bike there. I'll see you then?"

"Yeah....I'll see ya then. Sure. Friday. Hehehe! Cool." I grinned, and hurried to walk away from him before I literally exploded into a burst of joy and sparkles! I was walking forward, trying to keep from smiling until my cheeks burst, when I ran right into Jeff at the end of the hall.

"Dude, I TOTALLY saw you!" He said with a playful grin and a bit of shock.

"Hehehe, saw me what?" I giggled.

"Dude! You just fucking asked Austin to come to the party with us! Didn't you?" He beamed.

"Maaaaaybe. Hehehe, so?" I couldn't stop smiling! Jeff was making it worse.

"Holy shit, Donnie. You are, like, my hero from now on. Seriously." With that said, he walked all the way to my next period with me. Asking how I did it, what I said, what HE said in response! Hehehe, to be honest, I hardly remember what I told him. All I know is...the part where he said 'yes'.....that was my favorite.

At some point during the next class, still giddy over the feelings inside, I just let my mind drift off to thoughts of what it would be like to actually connect lips with such a hottie this coming weekend. It kept me completely preoccupied, believe me. However, while I was sitting there doodling in my notebook instead of taking notes...I can remember a moment where I felt...'strange'. I wasn't really sleepy, but I couldn't really focus either. It was like this...'pull', you know? This gravitational yank on my conscious that just kept me from paying attention. Not just because of Austin. Instead, it was this random haze of untrained thought that swept in and seemed to cloud my eyes with this surreal feeling of 'escape'. I didn't understand it. Everybody daydreams from time to time, but this was different. This almost felt like it was being forced on me. I straightened up in my seat, and took a deep breath, widening my eyes so that I could concentrate. I couldn't really afford to have my mind wandering off in here.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, books off of your desk. We're having a pop quiz." Our teacher told us, resulting in the appropiate groans and grumbles of a class that really didn't want to hear that. "Oh boo hoo, quit your complaining. It's an open note quiz. So if you took proper notes on the lesson, you should do just fine." Great. The open note quiz. The last acceptable line of betrayal between teacher and student. Keep the lectures boring and then give us a test on the stuff we practically slept through so our teacher can say, 'See? You should've been listening.' Sighhh...legal torture is what it is.

I took everything except for my half empty notebook off of my desk, and he handed out the quiz sheets. Three whole pages. Shit, my average is certainly going to slip a little from this one. The room got quiet, and I looked down at the paper, hoping that I'd at least be able to bullshit my way through some of the answers. Teachers give you credit when they think it was just a matter of you 'explaining' it the wrong way instead of not knowing what the hell you're talking about. But, that 'pull' was still there. Still strong. Getting stronger. Until...I heard a drip coming from the corner of the classroom. It was very...slow, and steady, and pretty quiet. But I could definitely hear it. I looked over towards the empty corner...and I noticed that...there was a small puddle on the ceiling. Naturally, I focused on it for a moment or two, trying to figure out what that was. And then I heard another drip. But it didn't come from the ceiling...it came from the floor. I looked down, leaning over to the side in my desk, and sure enough, a small droplet of water stretched out of the tiling in the floor, released itself, and then floated upwards until it hit the puddle on the ceiling, causing small ripples from the impact.

"Donnie?" I heard my teacher say, and I looked over in his direction. "The quiz has to be finished by the end of the period. More work, less daydreaming, ok?" He said.

"But I..." I looked at the corner again, and the drip was gone. "...Nevermind." I looked back down at my paper, trying even harder to concentrate on what I was doing. A few minutes went by, and I was ignoring every possible distraction that I could, when all of the sudden, something pulled my pencil out of my hand. I watched as it dropped up towards the ceiling, and stayed there. What the hell is going on here??? I looked back down, and noticed that everyone else in the classroom was gone. It was completely empty except for me. This isn't hapening. Is it? It can't be. I'm awake. I KNOW that I'm awake!

"Hi!" Came a voice from beside me all of the sudden, and I jumped in horror as I saw someone sitting next to me.

"C-Caleb?" I couldn't believe that I was actually seeing him again. I thought...I thought I was done with this madness.

"I missed you." He grinned.

"What...what's going on?"

His eyes lowered for a moment, but then he returned to his charming smile. "Look, I'm sorry about...you know...running away like that. I was just being stupid. I shouldn't have done that. I should stayed right here with you instead." I felt my chair mysteriously slide closer to him, and he leaned in to give me a kiss.

"Donnie!" I was yanked out of the dream, and quickly looked back over to my teacher. "Are you going to take this quiz seriously, or are you going to spend the rest of this period staring off into space? Because honestly, you can do that out in the hall."

The room was back to normal. I couldn't tell if this was real or all a dream. Or if it was just...'part' of a dream. Or...if it was all dream with a part of it being real. "Sorry." I said, and really sat up and leaned forward to give my blank quiz maximum attention. But even then I felt the pull towards something 'outside' of this place. The more I tried to fight it, the harder it worked to dig its claws into me. Until at one point, my words on the page of the test began to move and warp on their own. Right before my very eyes, I saw my pencil strokes turn into scribbles and start spinning around the page with a high pitched laugh.

"Donnie..." I looked to the side, and the room was empty again. It was just me and Caleb. "...Come on, talk to me. You're not mad at me for last time, are you?"

"Caleb, what are you doing to me?"

"I'm not doing anything to you. I just wanna talk." He said, and he moved over to wrap his arms around me. "And maybe...kiss a little bit more. Hehehe!"

"Wait...you're not...you're not REAL. This is all in my head. I'm making all of this happen on my own, and I can stop this whenever I want." I said, backing away from him.

"Hehehe, no you can't. Why would you want to?" He said. "Come on...take a little break with me for a while. Tell me you love me again. Just like last time. It made me feel so good to hear it last time."

"What the hell are you?" I asked him, and he got a confused look on his face. He walked towards me, and I suddenly got out of my seat and backed up against the wall.

"What's the matter with you, Donnie?"

"Get away from me!" I jerked when he reached out his hand to me. "STOP IT!!!" I shouted. He tried to lean in and kiss me again, but I fought him off and held on to his wrists to keep his hands off of me. "You're not real, Caleb. Do you hear me? You're not real."

He got the most seriously hurt look on his face when I told him that. He gnashed his teth together for a moment, his eyes filling up with tears. "Why do you keep SAYING that? I AM real!" His voice changed to something as deep and guttural as a lion's roar, and his eyes turned completely black with a single blink. "I AM REAL! And you LOVE me! You SAID you loved me! I was there!"

"Caleb...try to think...ok? Where are you right now?

"I'm here...with you..."

"No...you're not." I said, trying to make sense of all this. "Caleb, think hard, what happened to you?" Caleb's eyes returned to normal, and as he struggled to remember, his entire mood softened a bit. He seemed so lost at that moment, so fragile. "Did you hurt yourself, Caleb?"

Tears ran out of his eyes, and he whispered, "I don't like this game."

"Caleb..."

"I DON'T LIKE THIS GAME!!!" He screamed. He bagan to cry as I noticed something warm running over the fingers of my right hand. It was blood. "No...I didn't want this. I wanted...I wanted love...love." He mumbled as the blood began to completely cover my hand as I held on to his wrist. I let go and it began to sputter and spray the front of my shirt and some into my face as he reached down to grab the wound with his other hand. "You wanna hurt me."

"No, Caleb. That's not true."

"You wanna hurt me! You're just like everybody else! You don't love me! NOBODY loves me! You all HATE me!"

"Who hates you, Caleb? Who's trying to hurt you?"

"He let me die, you know? He let me die." Caleb began to sob and sniffle uncontrollably, and there was a growing puddle of blood at his feet. Soon, the blood began to prickle up and drip up towards the ceiling as well, creating a rain of crimson both above and below him. For every 40 or 50 drops of blood that floated up to the ceiling, 40 or 50 drops rained back down to the floor. And as his open wrist bled more, both puddles began to grow in unison until half the room was covered in the gore of it. The sound of it was almost as loud as a crashing waterfall, and small flashes of lightning began to spark up underneath it all. I backed away as far as I could, my back pressed firmly up against the wall, and Caleb looked at me with sad eyes. "He...let...me...die..."

It was then that the clock on the wall began to spin in circles, and a record needle bent down to touch its surface. I heard the distinct snaps and pops of old vinyl again, and the familiar haunting tune of an old jazz song playing over the school's announcement speakers.

"Somewhere, someday....we'll be close together, wait and see. Oh, by the way....this time the dream's on me."

He began to mumble something over and over as he turned his back to me, his voice changing and warping with ever few words. It seemed like his whole dream body was vibrating rapidly, as though in torment. The very outline of him was a blur, shaking violently beyond perception...and it didn't stop until he began to face me again.

"Now I lay me down to sleep...I pray, the Lord, my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake. I pray, the Lord, my soul to take." He said. He repeated it over and over again, as he slowly rotated to face me. His face was almost blue, pale beyond comparison, and his eyes were dead and cold as he continued to chant to himself. "Now I lay me down to sleep...I pray, the Lord, my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake. I pray, the Lord, my soul to take. Now I lay me down to sleep...I pray, the Lord, my sould to keep..." Then, he stopped, and looked directly into my eyes. "...And if I die before I wake.....if I...die...before I wake..." His voice got softer and softer..until it was almost a whisper. "And if I die........."

Suddenly, his hands LASHED out in an instant! He grabed a hold of my arms, his palms smearing my skin with coagulated blood! It took a strong hold of me, and pulled me into the constant rain of crimson surrounding him, soaking me in it. My clothes, my hair, everything! I fought to pull back, but I couldn't get a foothold! The blood beneath my feet made me slip and slide down to the floor, as he dragged me closer to the center! Then he pulled me up to a standing position right next to him, holding me tight! I couldn't get away! I couldn't move! And his pale, bloodless, face moved closer to me. I shut my eyes tight as he kissed me deeply on the lips. It was dead and cold, his icy tongue forcing my lips open as the warm blood showered us in the center of the classroom. I couldn't even bring myself to scream. His tongue was so long, soooo cold. It lewdly licked its way past my gag reflex and touched the back of my throat, and just as I thought I was about to be sick from it....I heard the sound of a bell ringing in the background!

It was soft at first, but it quickly got louder until it finally penetrated its way through my daydream and pulled me back into reality. The jolt was so startling that my entire body was almost sore from the sudden transition. I gasped outloud, and had to fiercly grip the sides of my school desk to keep from being thrown to the floor by my own disorientation. I was breathing so hard, beads of sweat dribbling down my cheeks, my eyes open wide as I tried to regain a grip on my own sanity. I looked around the room to see the other students staring at me as though I was some kinda raving lunatic. I heard a few giggles here and there, but most of them just took me as being some freak with a bad acid trip going on.

"Everyone turn in your papers before you leave. It's the only way you're going to get credit for being here today." The teacher said, and I took another opportunity to look around me and examine it for any of the horrific images I had just been exposed to in the last few minutes. I even reached out to touch the wall to make sure that it was stable. Everything was back to normal. Perfect. Just like it was before.

I stood up on shakey legs, afraid to step forward for fear that I would walk right back into that nightmare. It felt so real. I could still sense the lingering taste of his sickening tongue in my mouth. I could still feel the warmth of the blood on my arms and shoulders. It was difficult to put one foot in front of the other after such an ordeal. But...the strangest part came from when I looked down at my test paper. It wasn't blank. Not anymore. On the front and back of each page...I had written out the same sentence. Over, and over, and over again....

'Donnie Loves Caleb. Donnie Loves Caleb. Donnie Loves Caleb.'

There were hearts drawn all over it, and smiley faces. It literally filled every inch of the paper, and I don't remember doing ANY of it!

I was quick to crumble the test up and shove it into my backpack, making my way out of the classroom before my teacher realized that I hadn't turned it in. I dashed out into the hall, and just began walking really fast towards my next period class. I looked up at all of the smiling faces around me, all of the lockers, all of the 'normal' things that I could recognize and be a part of again. But in the back of my mind, I couldn't tell if any of it was 'real' or not. I didn't know if one of the kids in the hall was going to suddenly burst into flames, or if the ceiling was going to disappear, or if the floor was going to change from white to purple with just a thought. I was stuck between what I knew to be real, and what I believed to be a fantasy. I never had the line between the two get so thin before. Becoming so blurred that I couldn't tell the difference.

I shouldn't be seeing these things. It's not real. It's not real. Calm down, Donnie. You're losing your balance here. Just...breathe. Breathe....and remember.....

You're making it all up in your head.

Right???