5. Only A Dream of Reality

"I wake up one day to look over to my side, thinking that she would be there staring back at me."

"Those pretty, bright blue eyes were only mine, and once did I believe they were mine forever. I believed she was mine forever."

     The next morning, she had me wrapped up in her arms. The warmth that the blanket and her body gave to me was very calming. My slight movement made those pretty blue eyes flutter open, revealing the only eyes that currently give me butterflies.

     I smile at her and whisper, "Good morning, darling." and she does the same. I sit up to stretch and she asks, "What would you like for breakfast?" I shrug and she says, "How should I know what to make you if you have the slightest clue?" I giggle as she gets up. "I'll just make you some waffles with hot chocolate then." I nod and shoot up off of the bed once she mentions waffles.

I try my best not to stumble down the stairs behind her as we make our way down and walk towards the kitchen. I sit down at the table as she gets the waffle mix out of the cabinet. I get up and walk over to the cupboard, but she says, "Don't worry, I can get it." I nod and sit back down.

As the waffle bakes, she gets my plate from the cupboard and places it in front of me. She then takes out a hot chocolate cup and places it into the machine. She looks over at me and smiles once she sees I'm looking at her.

"Would you like any marshmallows with that?" She asks and I immediately nod. "Okay." She replies, "How many?" "Four is alright." I say and she nods. The machine beeps for the waffles and soon after, the hot chocolate is done.

She places the hot chocolate in front of me and places my four marshmallows in it. "You want some?" I ask and she scrunches her nose in disgust. I laugh and take a sip. Nice, hot, creamy chocolate fills my mouth and as I swallow, she sits down my waffle along with some syrup. "Thank you, darling." I say and she smiles. "You're welcome, baby."

     After we eat, her mom walks in to ask, "Would you two like to do anything at all today?" I look over to her and slightly shrug as I say, "I'm good with anything." She nods and looks over to her daughter. "That'll be alright." She says. Her mom smiles and grabs her keys. "I know exactly what place both of you would like." She says and we follow her to the front door.

I shut the door behind me and we head to the car. She holds the door open for me and I smile. "Thank you." I say and she says, "You're welcome." A few miles away is a Barnes and Noble that has a little coffee shop. Her mom pulls into the parking lot and once we halt to a stop, Alaina unbuckles, gets up and walks over to my side and opens the door once more. "Thank you, again." I laugh and she nods as she says, "You are welcome."

The Barnes and Noble's inside is huge. It has books stacked neatly on every shelf, as well as two escalators leading to the second floor, guiding each costumer upwards and downwards. Her mother heads to the coffee shop and Alaina looks over to me. "So, what section would you like to look at first?" I shrug but reply, "As you may assume, I like reading teen fiction. So I might head there."

She nods and leads me to the escalator. She smiles, takes my hand and we cautiously step on. I move up just so I can be right behind her. I wrap my arms around her body as the escalator accelerates. Once we reach the floor, I let go and once more, she takes my hand. I smile as she spots the sign that reads "Teen Fiction."

"Which one would you like to read first?" She asks curiously and I look around. Many of book covers catch my eye, but one of them with a bright colors screams my name. The rainbow covers the book perfectly and I pick it up to read the title, "Aesthetically Pleased - A Book About Being Your Authentic Self." She smiles at me, "Okay, we can read that one."

I open the book only to be rewarded with many more rainbows. The first page reads, "To Conor. At first I wasn't acceptive of you, but now I love you even more." I turn the page. Chapter One describes that the main character and Conor are close friends and that Conor came out to them as non-binary.

The book continues and goes into the details of the main character, Jasmine's, life. It starts to describe how she was raised differently than Conor and that she was raised in a highly religious family. The family believed that men and women should stay the same sex assigned at birth. But soon enough, Jasmine starts to realize that is not at all true by the help of her other friend, Joseph.

Joseph came out as gay the second time Jasmine spoke to him. He explained to Jasmine that men and women can not change how they are and feel towards each other. Jasmine understood Joseph's words, and soon enough, started to accept Conor.

At the end of the story, Jasmine starts to gain a strong bond with Conor. She also starts gaining a liking for her new friend, Ashley, who is openly lesbian.

"Okay. All I have to say is, I wish my parents could read this book." I tell her as we put the book back. She nods and scans the bookshelf for more books.

Soon, her mother finds us in the teen section reading books and asks, "Would you two like anything to drink?" I nod and reply, "Yes ma'am. May I get a Grande White Chocolate Mocha?" She nods and looks at her daughter who replies, "I'll get my Vanilla Bean Frappuccino." Her mom nods and I look at her. "That's a good one."

When we're finished, we look at other sections until her mom comes back with our drinks. "Thank you." I say, politely and carefully taking the cup from her hands. "You're welcome." She replies as I take a sip. We start walking downstairs with her and walk around a little bit more until we decide it's time to leave.

We decide to hang out at the public park that's near Barnes and Noble to finish our drinks. We admire the nature as we relax on the park bench together. She then looks over at me. "Are you having fun?" She asks and I nod. She puts her arm over my shoulder and I smile as I take another sip of my drink.

A bird lands in front of me, chewing on a French fry it must have picked up from some place with in the park. I look at it and she whispers, "If you were a bird, that would definitely be you." I chuckle slightly, trying my best not to scare it off as I take another sip.

Hours pass and we're cuddling on the couch in the hotel watching a television show called "The Office." "Honestly, this is stupid." I tell her and she laughs. "I mean, I've watched worse but... seriously." I say as she wraps her arms around me. "Yeah, they do say the most dumbest shit. But that makes the show hilarious." She replies and I smile. "I agree."

Her mom then walks over and calls us for dinner. I sit up and she does the same. We walk into the dining room to see some pizza slices. "Thank you." I say as I take a seat. "You're most certainly welcome." She says and I take a piece. As I take a bite of the nice, warm pizza, the cheese melts in my mouth. The crust makes a CRUNCH sound as I bite down on it.

I take a sip of coke as they carry on with a conversation. I make sure I look like I'm paying attention, but I'm actually lost in thought. "Who would've known it would be like this?" CRUNCH. "Who would know that I'd be in a hotel with her?" SIP. "Let alone, sleeping with her." CRUNCH.

"Lary, are you listening?" She asks and I jerk my head up. "Ma'am?" I ask as I shake my head. She chuckles and says, "We'll be staying here for a few more days, then we're going to be heading back home. Would you like to stay at my house for a week or go home?" That's such a silly question. "I would like to stay at your house, please." She nods and looks back at her mother.

After lunch, we head back to watch "The Office." After the episode is off, we turn the channel. "What would you like to watch?" She asks, flipping through each channel. I shrug. "I'm not sure, what do you want to watch?" I ask, laughing. She copies me and we do this two more times until I say, "Okay, okay. Since you want me to answer I might as well pick. Cartoons?" I laugh once more, but this time she joins.

Her mother heads upstairs and we watch cartoons and kid shows for a couple of hours until her brothers come down for a snack. "Would you like anything?" She'd ask me and I nod. "Do you have any chips?" She nods and gets up to look for the bag of LAYS chips. I smile as she comes back, opens the bag, and we share them.

When an episode of Sponge bob comes on, her brothers come over to sit down. "Hey, I've got something we should watch." Her oldest brother says. Her youngest brother nods in agreement and she looks over to me. "What is it?" I ask. "How about a movie? Like... Jumanji." Her oldest brother says and she turns it to Jumanji.

Once it ends, her brothers leave. "I guess it's just you and me now." She says and I nod. "How about we watch.... IT." She whispers and I shiver. "O... okay." I slightly stutter as she changes it. I snuggle up against her as we watch IT.

But we end up making out on the couch once the fourth scene comes on, so I miss most of the details. The only thing I had on my mind was her. Even though I heard the screams from the movie, I wasn't scared. I felt safe.

Then, the lights turn off. Startled, I shiver as I snuggle up against her. I then hear footsteps followed by her mother's voice, "It seems like we have a power outage due to the storm outside."

I sigh and she pulls me closer to her, knowing that I hate storms. "It's okay baby, I'm still right here." She whispers calmly. Her mother walks over placing a candle down onto the coffee table. I stare at it, it's flickering light and her brushing my hair starts to calm my nerves.

After a few hours, the power flicks back on. I sigh in relief and she chuckles at me. "Good, now I can see my baby." She whispers, making me smile. I start kissing her again, passionately. She returns the same kiss, but I can taste the hint of lust as she pulls me closer. Her fingers travel everywhere, leaving no spot untouched, making me shiver once more.

We back away for a minute to catch our breath, but her brother catches my eye.

To Be Continued...

Sorry... For real, this time.