Crossed Dreams

A Shift

Melissa sat in Dr. Henderson's class, scribbling down notes. It was her very last class of the semester. And it was amazing that it was on a Tuesday.

The clock on the wall ticked to four. Dr. Henderson wrapped up the last point in the discussion topic. Class was officially over. She gathered her things and shoved them into her backpack. She was supposed to meet the siblings and Jess, one of Emily's friends, at the dining hall.

Exiting the room beside hers, was Jean Paul. She waved to him. "You done for the day?"

His grin took up most of the lower part of his face. "Thankfully." He locked the door behind him. Jean Paul was the teacher’s aide for Dr. Whittigen. He fell into step beside her. "You?" She nodded. They walked down the hallway, heading to the central staircase. "Hey?" He nudged her in the side.

She adjusted the backpack on her shoulders. "Yeah?"

"I was wondering if you would go on a date with me this Friday?"

She opened her mouth to decline. An image of her dream boy flashed in her mind. Her chest began to tighten.

Why was she so hooked on someone who didn't exist? There was someone who was real standing in front of her, asking her out on a date. And he was a good guy. She never thought of him as anything other than as a friend but maybe that would change?

What harm could come from one date?

She walked out of the large glass doors. A green scenery filled with chattering students sitting on wooden benches greeted her. Tugging her backpack closer, she picked up her pace and headed toward the dining hall where she was supposed to meet-up with everyone.

Melissa found everyone waiting for her in the dining hall. Sitting down next to Emily was a tanned girl wearing a green trench coat, her blonde hair tied into a tight ponytail that sat high on the top of her head. "Hey." She greeted the girl.

The girl nodded at her. "Hey, I'm Jess."

"I figured. I'm Melissa." She sat down on the opposite side of the table.

"Kinda guessed." Her Australian accent came out thick.

"Why do you look so grim today? Don't tell me you're upset that classes are over?" The concern in Connor’s voice was real even if he was teasing her.

"I don't know why when I have a date this Friday." She gave a small smile that her heart wasn't in.

"What!" The siblings exclaimed together.

"Who...?" Emily's tone was dubious. It was understandable since she believed that Melissa was in love with the dream stranger.

When Melissa told them about her dream boy, Connor straight up told her to move on with someone who was real. That it wasn't a good idea to get attached to something or someone that you couldn't have. If only he would listen to his own advice.

On the other hand, Emily had the complete opposite reaction. She held the firm belief that he possibly was her soulmate.

It was strange how their opinions were the opposite of what she would have guessed. Somehow, she saw them as being the reverse of what they were. That Connor would be the supportive one while Emily would be the logical one.

"With Jean Paul." She answered. “We had paleontology with him last year.”

“Did he ask you out?” Emily leaned forward, propping her elbows up onto the table.

“Yeah.”

“I don’t see why you guys are making a big deal out of it.” Jess said with a fork filled with rice poised at her lips.

Connor and Emily shot her a look. The three of them had momentarily forgotten about the outsider in their midst.

That Friday, Melissa found herself at work. She finished cleaning up her station back in pots-and-pans before she walked over to the chef's metal countertop. Laying on top were the plastic shelving units that still had to be placed back onto the shelf.

She grabbed a small stack from top of the pile. As she was turning with them, one of the corners bumped into the speaker that sat beside them. The cylindrical speaker toppled over, falling toward the ground. With quick thinking, she moved her foot to the spot where the speaker would land. It landed right where her toes bent. Worried, she looked around to make sure that no one saw. Standing by the kitchen's entrance was Dani and the owner of the speaker, Liz.

Liz's long, wavy red hair was free of the mandatory bun and her brown eyes wide in disbelief. "You dropped my speaker." She was more stunned than mad.

"I caught it." Melissa proudly indicated her foot where the speaker was balanced precariously.

Dani clapped her hands together and started laughing. "That was awesome." She gave her a thumbs up, the black sleeves of her shirt rolled up, revealing the numerous tattoos on the girl's arms. Melissa's favorite one was the elephant. Dani told her that her mom had wanted to get matching tattoos and settled on the Indian style elephant done in black ink.

Liz came over to where Melissa was and picked her speaker up. "It's actually fine if it falls. I'm pretty sure the guy in grill drops it every week." Melissa made a face. If it had landed on the floor instead of her foot, she would have freaked because it was a nice speaker.

"Are you almost done?"

"Yeah. Just have to put these back on." She indicated the stack that she was still carrying.

While Melissa placed the units back onto the shelf, the two student leaders checked her out, making sure everything was cleaned properly for the end of the semester. "You're good to go."

Liz looked at her in amazement. "I know you're fast, but I think this is a first."

"Yeah girl, what's the hurry? Heading home to your parents after this?"

Melissa shook her head. She did plan on visiting her parents for a few days after she graduated on Saturday. Then she planned on flying to New York on Emily's insistence. No, why she wanted out of there was so she could go home and get ready for her date. She was surprisingly excited for it. "Nope. A date." She played it cool.

Dani gave her a nod of approval. "Finally letting loose. Hurry up and get out of here. Go make yourself look presentable."

Liz sighed in mock exasperation. "Hot, Dani. She wants to look hot, not presentable."

Smiling, she waved goodbye to the two. Running to the small break room that also served as the locker room, she grabbed her coat and purse.

To save herself some time, she walked to the front of the dining hall and out the doors instead of exiting out of the back door. She turned on her headphones and put them in. After turning on the music on her phone she took off in a jog. The bus stop that she needed was located on the otherside of the campus.

She made it there just as the bus pulled up. She flashed the middle-aged driver her student idea. Students were allowed to ride the transit for free instead of having to pay a dollar each time.

The bus crossed over the bridge and before long, pulled up to her apartment. She waited for the others to get off before she climbed out. Looking at the time, she had an hour before her date.

Once in her apartment, she changed out of her grubby bluejeans and into a pair of black skinny jeans. She then threw off her work shirt and found a cute red and black plaid shirt with a black collar.

Melissa sniffed her underarms and decided to add more deodorant and some vanilla perfume. When she was done, she pulled on the blue necklace that always sat on her bedside table since the day she had made it. It was a force of habit, even if it did remind her of her dream guy.

Once she was satisfied, she grabbed her purse and headed outside. If she hurried she could catch the bus before it left to head back to campus.

Melissa took the stairs behind her apartment complex and jogged down them. To her relief, the bus was stopped at a red light. Making sure there was no oncoming traffic, she jogged across the street and waited at the bus stop. The bus rolled to a stop in front of her. She climbed onto the bus and took a seet near the back.

Once it dropped her off at the campus, she walked to Baker and found a seat while she waited. A song from Vortex floated through her headphones and she found herself zoning out. The next thing she knew, twenty minutes had passed.

Melissa rose from her seat and stretched. She took the escalator up to the fourth floor and walked down to the movie theater where she had promised to meet Jean Paul.

He was already there waiti g for her when she arrived. He wore a black and white striped shirt with a black leather jacket. "Hey," he greeted her.

"Hey yourself." They walked across the street the pizza shop. The smell of greasy pizza and beer floated out of the shop. Jean Paul opened the door for her and she interned into the restaurant while thanking him.

Jean Paul picked a wooden table near the front for them to sit at. The place was packed and filled with meaningless drunken chatter. He pulled out a seat for her. "The movie plays at seven. That gives us an hour to eat." His eyes crinkled when he smiled.

The server came and took their order. "Ah, so you are a vegetarian?" Jean Paul asked after she had ordered a small salad and a small veggie pizza.

"Yep. Been one practically my whole life." She believed she became a vegetarian at the age of fifteen. So, not her whole life but nine years was still a long time.

She nervously tapped her fingers against her leg, not sure of what to talk about. The server brought them their drinks and she gratefully took a sip.

"You graduate, yeah?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow. When do you?"

Jean Paul took a sip of the beer that he had ordered. "I graduated this morning. I leave for Haiti next week."

"Oh...Okay..." silence fell between them. It was so awkward that she could have died.

Their food arrived soon after giving them an excuse not to talk. Melissa was surprised with how fast their order was ready with how busy the place was.

They finished an hour later and now stood outside the restaurant. "Looks like we can still catch the movie." She made a half-hearted attempt.

"Melissa." She turned to face him. His tone had her curious and dreading his words at the same time. Jean Paul bounced from one foot to another. "Let's call it a night." He took her hands in his and leaned forward. On impulse, she leaned away from him.

Jean Paul sighed and dropped her hands. "I thought so." He rubbed a hand over his short, cropped hair. "It felt like your heart was not in it tonight."

Melissa let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. "I'm sorry." She truly meant it. "I wanted this and then..." Her voice trailed off, not knowing how to finish. Her excuses sounded lame and not something he deserved.

"It's fine." He assured her. "It made me realize that you are just a friend. A really good friend."

"I hope so. I mean, I hope we're still friends."

"Of course. I wouldn't give up our friendship for the world." He let out a laugh. "I guess now I can help my roommate with his paper now that my date is officially over."

"I really am sorry. And good luck with that paper." They said their goodbyes and parted ways.

What was wrong with her? She may not have wanted this date in the beginning but she had genuinely started looking forward to it. Why was her heart so bent out of shape? She literally thought about her dream boy the entire time and how it felt like she was betraying him.

Suddenly, she couldn't wait for her trip to New York. She desperately needed a vacation, and a distraction.

. . .

Tae-joon woke up that morning in a miserable state. He knew he was feeling depressed over the way his dream girl had literally and emotionally pushed him away. But more than that, he was feeling off. Something felt wrong deep inside him, making his chest feel tight.

Doing the best that he could, he pushed his feelings to the far back of his mind. He needed to focus. He had dance practice with the other members in the afternoon and a private recording session scheduled after that. He could not afford to be distracted.

He failed. Miserably.

During practice, he couldn't quite get the moves right, falling behind on the tempo. It was noticeable to the point that everyone was shooting him concern glances. When it came to the recording session, he couldn't hit any of the high notes.

Jun-hae caught him on his way out of the booth. "Are you feeling alright?"

Tae-joon shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I feel off today." Wow, that even sounded like a lame excuse.

But it didn't matter, Jun-hae accepted it. "Make sure you get some rest." He patted him on the shoulder before leaving.

What the hell is wrong with him? Why did it feel like something bad was about to happen?