In my Dreams by Courtney Barnes (each kindness read aloud .txt) 📖

“Wake up sleepy head,” my dad said smiling down at me. “Did you have a long day?”

I smiled too, his brown hair was a bit messy, and his dark brown eyes, that looked so much like mine, looked tired. The gray suit he was wearing was wrinkled from the long drive, and he smelled of juicy fruit gum, his favorite flavor. I was so happy to see him. He had been gone for a week on a business trip selling his ideas for a new video game for a company here in Brownridge.

“More of a weird day, but I don’t want to talk about it. How was your trip, did they like your ideas?” I asked, sitting up and leaning against my headboard.

Disappointment flashed over his face. Oh no, I thought, until he smiled. “Of course they did. Did you really doubt your old man?”

“Not really, like mom says, you’re an overgrown child who likes to play video games.”

His smiled vanished as he pretended to be hurt. “Ha-ha, come on, mom’s got supper on the table.”

The next day at lunch, my friends and I ate in the cafeteria. It was raining, so eating outside at the picnic tables were out.

While Emma and Derrick saved me a seat, I waited in line for food, deciding what I wanted to eat. Everything looked good, but since the pizza smelled so delicious I couldn't resist. I took a piece off of the hot plate, and waited for the person in front of me to pay, so I could take my turn. I was about to step up to the cashier, when someone stepped in front of me. I saw who it was and wasn’t surprised. “Excuse me, there’s a line!” I said to Logan.

He looked at me, and smiled so sweetly that I guess I was supposed to say: “Oh it’s you; of course you can cut in front of me.” I don’t think so. “I’ll be really quick. You don’t mind, right sweetheart.” He actually winked at me as he leaned over to grab a slice of pizza.

When he lifted it off of the tray, a piece fell on my hand. The cheese was very hot, “Ow,” I snapped. Taking a napkin from the canister, I wiped away the gob of cheese and sauce. It left an orange stain on the back of my hand. “Yes I mind, get back to the end of the line,” I growled. But of course he ignored me and paid for his lunch. The jerk had the nerve to turn around, and smile at me.

After I told my friends what happened, Emma asked, “Why did you let him get away with that?”

“What was I supposed to do? Cause a scene?”

“Yes,” she said. “It would serve him right.”

I glared at her. “And that would have embarrassed me,” I whispered trying not to attract any more attention to myself than I already had. She shrugged her shoulders and continued to nibble on her sandwich.

While I ate my pizza, I was lost in thought. What made people like Logan think they were so special; they could get away with anything. Looks? He wasn’t the only one in the school that was good looking. Actually Derrick was quite a hottie, with his tall, solid frame and sun streaked sandy hair. His eyes were a light blue that really stood out from his face. He had a few girls that would occasionally come over where we sat and talk to him. He was always nice but never dated any of them.

He was so into Emma, it was obvious, to me anyway. I could see why, Emma was the one of the best people I knew. She was also one of the prettiest girls in our school. But the great part about her; was that she didn’t know it. For some reason, she was self conscious about her looks. She was always complaining about her height, which was five foot two, and having red hair was horrifying to her. She complained about it constantly. I loved the color of her hair; it was so vibrant, just like her personality. And her beautiful curls that flowed down to her back were the envy of most girls I knew. It was no wonder why Derrick liked her so much. I wonder why he never did anything about it. Maybe he just needed a little shove in the right direction.

“So guys,” I said, catching them off guard.

Derrick’s mouth was stuffed full of sandwich. He looked like a squirrel saving for the winter. I narrowed my eyes at him wondering why he had shoved so much into his mouth.

Emma swallowed the coke she had just taken a drink of. They both turned their attention to me.

“I’m working Friday night, so I can’t hang out, but why don’t you two come and see a movie? There’s a good thriller coming out this week.”

They both looked a little shy. They had been to movies before, but always with me there.

“Um, actually I was going to hang out with Pete that night. But I could change my plans if you want to Emma?” Derrick said, after he swallowed the large mound of bread. Pete was one of Derrick’s guy friends; he lived next door to him. He and his friend Cory sat with us at lunch sometimes.

Emma’s face was a little red when she answered him. “Sure, sounds fun.”

“Cool, I’ll pick you up at seven.”

Emma’s face turned crimson now. Going to the movies was one thing, picking her up sounded like a date, it was so cute.

“Great, it’s settled then,” I said before either of them could back out.

In our history class, Emma was giving me the evil eye.

“What?” I whispered innocently. Mr. Henderson was giving us a lecture on the civil war, and I didn’t want him to here us. He was pretty strict; often giving out detentions just for talking in class.

“You know what. What was that about? Telling us to go to the movies together, just the two of us, it sounds like a date. He’s even picking me up.” She had her text book sitting up on her desk, and leaning behind it, so the teacher wouldn’t see or hear her.

I looked down at my book and whispered. “Well it’s about time. Someone had to make the first move. I guess it had to be me.”

“Do you think I like Derrick?” she whispered, looking surprised.

“I know you do, and you’re not alone either.”

Her mouth flew open; she sat up in her chair, knocking her book down with a thud. All eyes in the room turned to her. I braced myself for one of Mr. Henderson’s famous punishments, but he just gave Emma an icy glare to silence her. That was close; he didn’t usually let people get away with anything, he must have been in a good mood, a rarity for him.

While I was paying attention to the lesson, I glanced back, to see if Lucas was in class today. I hadn’t noticed him. He was there, in his seat, listening to Mr. Henderson. He looked at me and smiled, just as I was about to turned my head. I whirled around still unsure why he was suddenly acknowledging me.

On the way to my next class, Emma was hounding me with questions.

“Emma, I have to get to Chemistry. I’ll call you after work tonight around nine, okay.”

“Fine but don’t forget. If you don’t call me by nine thirty, I’m calling you.” I heard her yell as I was rushing down the hall.

I made it just in time. I took my seat and looked around for Andy. He was sitting on the other side of the class. I had handed in our work yesterday, so we wouldn’t be pairing up today. I was a little disappointed. I wanted him to explain what he meant about Lucas and Logan. But I guess it would remain a mystery since he was sitting three rows over.

Work was so busy that my feet were killing me. Tuesday nights were cheap nights, and we were always packed.

When I got home, I was so tired, I practically crawled into bed. My feet and legs were aching from standing for hours. The soft mattress and warm blankets felt like I was wrapped inside a warm, soft cocoon. “Ahh,” I sighed as I snuggled into a comfortable position. The fresh smell of laundry soap on my sheets made it even more comforting.

I dialed Emma’s number. “Hello,” she answered.

“Hi, I really can’t talk long, work was busy. I’m so exhausted; I might fall asleep talking to you. What do you want to know?”

“Are you serious, what do you think I want to know? Why do you think he likes me? And why do you think I like him?” Her voice was about two octaves higher than normal.

I was really enjoying this. I should have done something about these two a long time ago. “Are you saying you don’t? What’s that?” I asked. There was a distant pounding coming from her end.

“Just my sister, she wants the phone. Anyway, I’m not saying that, but why do you think so. Am I that obvious?”

She was really stressing over this. “Look, I’m going to be honest here, even though I would love to string you along, because I’m really having fun. I’m tired though, so I’ll tell you that it is obvious only to me, that you like each other. I have noticed it for awhile, but it wasn’t my business.” The pounding got louder, and now was mixed with yelling.

There was a muffled scratching sound, and then nothing. “Hannah, if you don’t stop, I’m telling mom and dad when they get home!” Emma yelled from a distance, I heard footsteps and then the muffled sound again. “Sorry, my annoying sister is driving me nuts. Where were we? Right.” She answered her own question. “So what’s changed, why butt in now?”

It was hard to focus on our conversation with all the interruptions. I had to remember my train of thought. “Because honestly, I think you would be great together and I want you to be happy.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone, from Emma and Hannah, who must have given up. Then I heard her sigh. “Do you really think he likes me that way?”

I smiled; I had her. I could go to