The Girl in My Dreams

by Logan Byrne

  It was nice seeing her going out and having a fun time, since I didn’t think she’d really done much of anything since the separation. She’d been more of a robot since then, abandoning her own sanity and happiness while my father was likely having the time of his life. We got into spats sometimes, but I still wanted only the best for her. She deserved it.

  “Mom, I have to get going in a few! Belle is about ready!” I yelled up the stairs as I saw some kids come up the front sidewalk.

  “Be down in a second!” she yelled back.

  “Trick or treat!” the kids said, as their parents waited at the end of our front sidewalk.

  “Wow, you all look so great,” I said, handing out some candy.

  “Are you a piece of toast?” one kid asked in the most inquisitive tone I’d ever heard.

  “Yes, yes, I am,” I replied unequivocally.

  “Cool,” he replied with a smile.

  The kids got their candy and ran down the sidewalk to hit Belle’s house, just as I saw her walking through the grass.

  “Mom, she’s coming!” I yelled.

  “Just a minute!” she yelled back.

  “My mom is almost down,” I said as Belle came up the front steps.

  “Excited for the party?” she asked.

  “I’m excited to be with you,” I replied.

  “I know this isn’t your thing. Thank you for coming with me. It really does mean a ton to me that you’re doing this,” she said, wrapping her arms around me and hugging me tightly.

  “Aw, look, it’s peanut butter and jelly smushed together,” my mother said, coming down the stairs.

  “Aren’t we adorable?” Belle asked.

  “Let me get a picture of you two,” my mom said.

  “We don’t have enough together,” Belle replied as we put our arms around each other.

  My mom snapped the picture with her phone, the two of us smiling large, and she sent it to us. I felt a sense of warmness inside as Belle pulled out her phone and opened the message, and I saw the two us together there. It was a funny memory to save, and I was glad we now had it.

  “Well, we better get going,” Belle said.

  “You two be safe, and if you need anything, please call,” my mom said.

  “We will, Mom,” I said before we opened the door and saw more trick-or-treaters running up the sidewalk.

  We got into Belle’s car and she carefully pulled out of her driveway while parents held their kids back so that they wouldn’t get run over. It’s hard to pay attention when you’re so pumped up with sugar. I should know, I used to do it every Halloween.

  When we pulled up to Karissa’s house, cars were parked in the driveway and all along the curb. There must’ve been thirty cars, and I was sure that there were at least three to four people to each one. As we slowly drove by, I looked out the window and saw tons of people inside the house dancing and having the time of their lives. I started to feel a bit nervous from just the sheer amount of people and the pressure that was likely to come with being in there.

  “Are you okay?” Belle asked as we parked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied, my stomach doing flip-flops.

  “It’s only for a little bit. I promise,” she said.

  Trusting her, I got out of the car, and we walked up the lawn. Some people I knew from school were outside. The spillage from too many people must’ve taken its effect. One guy was puking in the bushes, which made me a little suspicious, and a couple was sitting on the railing making out, definitely not afraid to display any public affection. Still, I trudged on, and holding Belle’s hand, walked inside.

  The music was so loud I was sure it was scrambling my brain. I could hear people talking right next to me, but I couldn’t even make out what they were saying as they yelled to one another in an attempt to communicate. Belle noticed some friends who were motioning for us to come over, and they hugged her tightly when we did.

  “I’m so happy you came,” I’m pretty sure one of them said.

  I tried reading Belle’s lips, and I was pretty sure she said she was happy to be here, but I couldn’t make out much. I scanned the room for Martin, since none of them were talking to me, thankfully, but I didn’t see him anywhere. I pulled out my phone, saw no text from him, and wondered if he even bothered to show up. Maybe his mom made him watch Tanya at the last minute or something. It would make sense.

  “Do you want something to drink?” I asked Belle.

  “Yeah, I’ll take some punch!” she said, nodding.

  I slid through the crowd to get to the kitchen and noticed Martin standing behind the table, though out of sight from where I was before.

  “Martin,” I yelled, catching his attention.

  He perked up, coming straight to me, and I saw a look of anguish on his face.

  “Dude, you’ve got to help me,” he said.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “They put me on drink duty or something and won’t let me leave. I just want to dance and party, not play server,” he said.

  “What are they going to do if you walk away?” I asked.

  “They said they’d kick me out and never let me back to another party. I don’t know what to do,” he said, grabbing my arm.

  “Okay, calm down, I’m sure there’s something you can do. Did they say how long you have to do this for?” I asked.

  “They said for the party, which I guess means the entire party. I can’t do this, Theo. I just can’t,” he said.

  I could hear the desperation in his voice, though I didn’t know what he wanted me to do about it. The only reason they likely didn’t try to pluck me for the job was because of Belle, and while it wasn’t fair to Martin, I couldn’t do anything about that. Looking around at this party, I didn’t even think it was worth being at to begin with, let alone if you had to put forth some manual labor.

  “Just walk away or something. This place and these people aren’t worth all this stress and trouble,” I said.

  “But what about the party?” he asked.

  “Screw the party! It’s not like you’re having a good time anyway. Just leave, go dance around, and if they kick you out, then they kick you out. No big deal,” I said.

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he said a few seconds later. “I’m just going to give it all I’ve got, and if I’m kicked out, then so be it!”

  Martin ran off and began to dance, and I shook my head and grabbed some punch from the bowl. I went to take a sip, but before I did, I smelled something weird inside.

  “What is this?” I whispered to myself.

  As I did, a shirtless guy making woo-hoo noises came up and put more punch in another bowl before dumping most of a bottle of rum inside. Were they spiking the punch? Was that why people were puking and acting ridiculous? I wasn’t about to drink this stuff, and I wasn’t going to let Belle do it either.

  “Where’s the punch?” she asked as I walked over.

  “It’s full of alcohol,” I said.

  “Well, of course it is,” her friend said as the group laughed a little.

  “You know that’s illegal, right?” I asked.

  “Jeez, Belle, I didn’t know your boyfriend was such a prude,” she said in a snotty voice.

  “Don’t call him that, Maggie. He’s not a prude,” Belle said.

  “Don’t get defensive, Belle. Not my fault you’re dating a loser,” she said.

  “You know what, Maggie, I’m sick of your attitude. All you ever do is cut people down and act like you’re better than everybody else. You’re not, you know that? The only thing you are is wet,” Belle said.

  “What?” Maggie asked, confused.

  Just then, Belle pushed Maggie’s cup so it spilled all over her.

  “How dare you!” Maggie screamed as her face turned as red as her punch-stained costume.

  “We’re out of here. Come on, Theo,” Belle said, grabbing my hand as I smiled at Maggie before turning around.

  “Hey,” I said as we
walked to the car. Belle seemed a bit upset still.

  “I’m sorry about that. I just lost my temper. I should’ve acted better,” she said.

  “Hey, you don’t have to apologize to me,” I said with a chuckle.

  “I don’t want to be that person, but when somebody says mean things about the people I care about the most, I get mad. I hope that doesn’t scare you off,” she said.

  “Hey, I’ve known all about you since we were babies. There aren’t enough Hulk-rage moments in the world to make me stop loving you,” I said.

  My eyes opened wide as my heart went from beating normally to exploding out of my chest. Did I just say the L word? Now sweating profusely, I ran a thousand scenarios through my head as I tried to figure out how she was taking it. She hadn’t said anything yet, and we were still walking with my arm around her.

  She kept quiet, not saying a word.

  “Do you mean that?” she asked, finally speaking up as we got near her car.

  “Mean what?” I asked, playing stupid.

  “You know what. Do you mean it?” she asked as she stopped and turned toward me.

  Looking into her eyes, I knew that I meant it more than anything in the world. I’d always loved her, even when we were too young to speak. Love didn’t always make sense to me, but she did, and I knew that I felt something for her that I’d never feel for another human ever again.

  “Yes, I mean it,” I said, looking deep into her eyes.

  She looked down at the sidewalk, her foot swiveling on the concrete, then took my hand between hers and looked back up at me with her bottom lip slightly bitten.

  “I love you too, Theo,” she said, sending shockwaves through my body.

  I smiled, she smiled, and before I knew it, her lips were pressed against mine, tasting like cherry lip balm. I savored every second of this moment, knowing that it would be etched so deeply into my memory that I’d never forget it.

  I was in love, and I didn’t care who knew it.

  Chapter Eleven

  Over a month had passed since that stupid Halloween party where Belle and I told each other we loved each other. Things had gone amazingly during that time, with our only fight being about what colors we should wear to the formal. She wanted to match our outfits, though I didn’t see the big deal in it. She said everybody did it, and we’d look stupid if we were the only ones who didn’t, so I told her it didn’t matter what anybody else thought. As long as we were together, that was all that mattered. Sadly for me, though, I was dating a girl who was into fashion, and she got her way on the subject. Still, for our first fight, if you could call it that, it was pretty tame.

  I was now down to once every few weeks with therapy, and I was pretty sure after formal I’d be going once every blue moon. Dr. Grier had been fantastic, and she said that I improved more than she ever thought I would in such a short amount of time. I thought that showed that I didn’t really need it all that much in the first place.

  The formal was only days away, and the weather report said that it was going to snow both that night and the night before, but I didn’t think it would be all that bad. It was always snowing at this time of year, and actually it was starting a bit later than usual. The only bad thing about it was going to be Belle and all the other girls wearing those crazy open shoes. I didn’t want her to have to get a toe amputated from frostbite or something.

  “Did you pick up your tux yet?” Belle asked as we stood in front of her locker.

  “Not yet. Martin and I are going to the store after school. We want to make sure they fit properly. I heard some other guys saying they weren’t getting theirs until the day of. Pity if they don’t get the right size,” I said.

  “Good, I’m glad you’re going. I want to see it after you get back,” she said.

  “Colors?” I asked.

  “Yup. I have to make sure they’re perfect. I want this night to be perfect,” she said.

  “The colors won’t make this thing perfect, Belle. We aren’t going to be looking back on this years from now obsessing over the colors. It’ll be perfect as long as we’re there together, dancing, like we should be,” I said.

  “I know, but—”

  “Hey,” I said, looking at her with a smile. “Trust me.”

  She kissed me on the cheek, saying she had to get to class, but still letting me know that she planned on seeing the tux after I got back. I rolled my eyes, said okay, and gave her a hug before she ran off to her chemistry class. I looked up at the clock, seeing I had two minutes left, and casually walked toward my own class—Spanish—and got there just before the bell rang.

  I’d noticed that I had become a little more calm and laidback since this whole dating and “I love you” stuff started. Before, I was like a chicken with its head cut off as I scrambled to get to class on time. I’d get a five-second delay behind someone and be sure I’d be late, even though it would only end up taking me a minute to get to class. I suppose I was so scared of the unknown that I’d try to do everything I could not to be late. Since dating Belle, though, I’d realized that the unknowns in life could be the best parts. There was an unknown in talking to her that one day, and look how that turned out. I’m not saying being late to class is a good thing, not by a long shot, but it’s not the end of the world either, and I’d come to realize that.

  Spanish had never been one of my strong suits, with the whole learning another language thing being foreign to me, pun intended. I was horrible at verb tenses, and my body almost locked up when we had to talk primarily in Spanish to the teacher or the rest of the class. I always made a fool out of myself, but then again so did half of the class, so it wasn’t as embarrassing as it could have been. Sometimes I wondered why they made being a teenager so difficult.

  •••

  “Man, I’m going to look so slick,” Martin said as we walked into the mall.

  “Yeah, you get to wear all-black everything. I get pastels,” I said, laughing.

  “And you’re lucky to be wearing them for Belle,” he said.

  Martin had ended up getting a date, Kara Remington, to go with him to the dance. She was a quiet girl, the artsy type, and I didn’t know her that well. Martin didn’t even really know her. I think they both just wanted to go with someone, so they teamed up to go together. I wasn’t even positive they liked each other in that way. I supposed it was better to go with a friend than not at all, though.

  “Hello, gentlemen. May I help you?” the man behind the counter asked.

  “Hi, we’re here to pick up our tuxes for the winter formal this weekend,” I said.

  “Ah yes, I expected as much when you walked in. May I have your names, please?” the man asked.

  “Theodore Quinn,” I said.

  “Martin Jones,” Martin said.

  “Right. I’ll be right back, gentlemen,” the clerk said.

  “So, how are you guys getting there?” Martin asked.

  “I don’t think we’ve talked about that,” I said.

  “You should ride with Kara and me. It will ease the tension for me,” he said.

  “I’m down. I’ll just talk to Belle and let you know later. She’s making me show her the tux anyway,” I said.

  “Making sure it matches?” he asked.

  “You know it,” I said.

  “Okay, gentlemen, here you are. Please look them over and make sure they’re correct,” the man said as he brought them out and hooked them on a metal rod.

  We unzipped and inspected ours. Martin’s looked incredibly classy, and mine looked, well, coral.

  “Boy, that sure is bright. That’s like highlighter bright,” Martin said.

  “You don’t need to point it out,” I said.

  “I’m just saying, you’re really going to be seen, maybe even from space!” he said, teasing me.

  “Is it not to your satisfaction?” the man asked.

  “No, it’s fine, my girlfriend picked it out. I just didn’t know what she was picking out,” I said.
>
  “I’m sure she’ll love it, then. After all, happy wife, happy life, or something like that,” he said.

  “Yeah, you better get used to that saying,” Martin said, patting me on the back.

  We paid the man and were told we needed to bring the tuxes back before the end of the day Sunday. He zipped them back up, we signed a waiver, and before we knew it, we were walking out the door with our very own rented tuxes for winter formal. It was starting to feel real. Before I knew it, Saturday would be here.

  “Feel like getting a bite to eat? My mom gave me some money,” Martin said.

  “You’re buying?” I asked.

  “I suppose I could treat you. You are my best friend, after all,” he said.

  “Sounds like a plan,” I said.

  We took our tuxes out to his car and laid them out carefully in the trunk so that they’d be safe and out of view from anybody passing by. We weren’t in the mood to have them stolen and lose our deposits, let alone how much it could also cost to replace them. We didn’t have the money, and our moms wouldn’t be too thrilled with us.

  We walked back inside the mall and down toward the food court, which was relatively empty this time of day. We got sandwiches and fries and picked a table. They’d renovated the mall a few years back, with the food court becoming all modern and futuristic with its furniture and televisions hanging on almost every pillar. They showed music videos on the screens, the regular speakers on the ceiling putting out the sound, though it wasn’t terribly loud. A few new vendors had also moved into the food court, including some Mediterranean and Indian places, but I always just went for something that I knew, and that was this sandwich shop.

  “Man, Alberto really hooked me up on sauce,” Martin said as his sandwich dripped profusely in his hands.

  “I guess he just knew how saucy of a guy you are,” I said.

  I looked back up to see Martin giving me an unamused stare as I took my first bite, smiling. We loved going back and forth with each other, giving little zings and trying to embarrass the other. It usually worked better for me than him, much to his chagrin.