In Your Dreams

Chapter 6: Dusk

Hot. It's way too hot. I'm lying on the ground, rocks jabbing into my back. It's pitch black outside but boiling. I roll onto my side, recognizing the tall building only feet away. I crawl up the steps to Zeus, grateful for the still-cool concrete as the sun dries up any relief a breeze might offer.

"Jessie."

I sit up. I can just make out the outline of his lean frame in the distance. As he comes closer, the darkness around us blurs and shimmers into a large expanse of university buildings and towering trees. The yellowed grass pushes out of the earth, revealing a blanket of lush, bright green blades in its wake.

"Hey." I pat the spot next to me and he lowers onto the step, looking distracted. "What's wrong?"

He lifts his gaze slowly, as though it weighs as much as a barbell. "It happened again."

"WHAT!"

"It gets worse."

"Worse?" What could be worse than almost losing him?

"I thought of something today. What if..." He clears his throat. "What if they find out and won't let me swim?"

I feel my blood freeze. Give up our favourite hobby?

I can't imagine doing that, not to mention he'd have no chance at the scholarship.

"They can't stop you if they don't know this is happening." I put an arm around him, feeling his muscles relax. "It's our secret. And you know your secrets are safe with me."

He nods. "I know. It's just another thing to think about." He half smiles.

It feels like my stomach is tied in knots, and I immediately know why—because we haven't actually solved anything. This isn't just going to magically go away; life isn't like that. We have to do something, before it's too late.

But what?

The leaves on a nearby maple tree shiver delightedly as the breeze graces us again. Soon the green leaves that decorate the campus will fade to dazzling yellows, reds, and oranges. Soon everything will change.

He pushes to his feet. "Want to go for a walk?"

I almost joke that he's trying to distract me—I know he hates making me worry, and he knows I can't figure this one out right away, as much as I want to—but a distraction is probably the best thing I can offer him right now.

"Okay."

The grass starts to shrivel as he jogs down the steps. The trees move through the seasons as if on fast forward until bare branches are all that is left, and I find myself standing on the steps to nowhere.

I hop down to grass level. "Hey. Are you honestly okay?"

He smiles but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Always am."