Crossed Dreams

Fall of 2016 Melissa jogged up the stairs to the fourth floor and entered through the door that led into the mod. The room was painted to resemble a forest during the Autumn season. A setting sun was painted on the left wall and a rising moon was painted on the right. The area was carpeted in a rusty-red carpet and the furniture was a light beige pleather. Everything seemed tacky and as if it didn’t belong together. That’s why she had grown to like the room so much. Kyle, the fourth floors’ RA was sitting on the couch with his legs crossed at the ankles. His glasses hung low on his nose as he read the current book that had been assigned for his Women in Literature class. She remembered him telling her that the class would be easy points. There were no actual tests for the class but each month, the students had to read a book that the professore assigned and write a five-page paper on it about the point that the author was trying to convey to the readers. The automatic lock clicked into place as the door closed. The noise drew Kyle’s attention away from his book to her. “Are you going to the concert tonight?” He asked in a dazed, sleep-filled voice. “No. I’m failing chemistry.” Vortex was playing at their campus tonight and boy did she want to go. They were a Korean boy band that had caught her attention the previous year. Their music spoke to her soul and having the handsome yet adorable In-jae dancing around, usually shirtless made her fall in love with them, and him. Her voice tinged with sorrow and the beginnings of regret. “This test on Monday is my last chance before the final. I need to pass so I’ve decided to lock myself in my room to study.” The blonde boy shook his head, blue eyes showing their regard. “I know how much you like them. I’ll take lots of videos for you.” Pages fluttered then turned into a resounding clap as the book was slammed to a close. “Good luck.” He waved before disappearing through the door that she had just entered from a few moments before. Melissa sighed before entering into the hallway that led to her room. She dropped her backpack onto the floor and sat down in front of her computer, readying herself for the long and painful journey of studying. Six painfully long hours passed by. She had spent the entire time studying, not trusting herself to take a short break even to eat. After the fifth yawn, she decided that it was time to go to bed, where she would hopefully not dream about chemical bonds. Melissa found herself surrounded by darkness. She tried to take a step forward but was unable to lift her foot up off the ground. She tried lifting her hands next. A pressure pushed against them weighing them down. It was official, she was dreaming and she was unable to move. It felt like she was a tiny figurine glued in place on a stand. A pinprick of light came into view. It grew into the size of a penny, then a quarter, then a baseball. It grew and kept on growing until she was surrounded by the blinding light. She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing for the light to go away and for the darkness to come back. Her wish came true, sort of. The light dimmed and no longer bled into her eyes. With caution, she slowly opened her eyelids a c***k. Finding the pleasant, dark colors of the night, she opened her eyes all the way. She was standing on the far edge of a paved driveway. An oddly familiar building stood on the other side of it. Houses with electronic padlocked doors were standing on the other side of the road that was to her right. It took a moment for everything to sink in. She was on campus, just outside the theatre building where Vortex was supposed to play that night. As if summoned by thoughts alone, the side doors to the building slammed open with a metal creak. The six members that made up Vortex walked out. Their skin glistened with sweat and half of them were rubbing their shoulders and leg muscles. “Melissa Wolf!” A voice boomed out of thin air, it was low and feminine. The voice sounded familiar to her but she was unable to place it. Finally able to move her head, she looked around her surroundings, only able to see a small portion of what was around her. The only people that she saw were the ones in Vortex and they showed no signs of hearing that loud and ominous voice. As a last resort she looked up to the sky. There was no one up there. The voice continued on as if it were unaware of her actions. “You have given up the chance to be with your current bound soulmate. Because you did not attend the concert, he will now move on with his life, finding a new soulmate just as you will.” Melissa’s eyes widened in disbelief. She must have misheard the voice. There was no way that she had a soulmate, especially one that was in Vortex. Through the shock and utter-disbelief, she found her voice. “Soulmate? Vortex? How?” The broken questions fell out. She was unable to form a coherent sentence with all the questions that were swirling around in her head. She forcefully shook her head. Black tendrils of hair flew in front of her eyesight, whipping her in the face. How could she have a soulmate in Vortex? And what did the voice mean by a new soulmate? How could she find a new soulmate if one of the members was supposed to be it? None of this made any sense in her confused, fog-muddled brain. One of the members, In-jae, better known by his stage name Jay, turned around. His tiger brown eyes glanced into hers. Longing danced in their golden depths, slowly being eaten away by the darker shadows of gloom. A sigh escaped from his pink painted lips. “Jay hyung!” The energetic Tae-joon ran up and wrapped a slender arm around his band mate’s shoulder. “Are you all right?” Waves of confusion then shock rolled through Melissa as she realized that she could understand them. Was it because of the dream? Was it somehow translating everything so that she could understand the conversation that was taking place before her very eyes? In-jae nodded his head. He ruffled Tae-joon’s short, rusty-blonde hair before continuing on his path to where their tour bus waited for them. The other members had not waited for the youngest two to catch up and were now on the bus trying to get comfortable. Before In-jae entered onto the bus, he looked back in Melissa’s direction, seeing right through her. In a tired, worn-out voice, he answered Tae-joon. “Yeah, I’m fine. It just feels like I forgot something.” Although the words were quietly mumbled, she could hear them from where she stood. It was as if they were carried by an invisible wind. A tear escaped from one of Melissa’s eyes without her consent. Why would the universe show her this? Why would it show her probably the biggest mistake that she had ever made? Rapidly shaking her head, she willed her body to move. Her legs felt as if they were filled with pins and needles. Slowly, she lifted one leaded foot after another and she ran. She ran into the darkness that now surrounded her, becoming lost in it.