In Your Dreams (In Your Dreams #1)

Chapter 7

I try to wrap my head around what Kieran's said. "So, you dream about the future and it happens?"

"Kind of."

"Do you dream SAT scores?" I blurt out. "Please tell me you dream SAT scores. I'd love to know in advance how I'm going to do on that thing."

I wish my bizarre sense of humor wouldn't kick in when I'm nervous, but relief washes over me when Kieran looks up and grins. "Nope. In fact, now that you bring it up, I'm kind of pissed. Seriously-all the things I dream about, and I can't dream about stuff like that? What the hell?"

"But you said you only kind of dream about the future," I point out.

"Yeah. I guess it's different than having a premonition of something, because from what I've read about premonitions, people dream or get visions of entire scenes or incidents and stuff, and that's not what happens to me at all. I just get little flashes. It's like trying to read a book and finding out pages are missing. Like, I had a dream a few months before we moved here and saw part of our house-the front door and the porch area. But I didn't really dream anything else. I didn't dream my parents picking out the house or anything."

"So did you tell your parents when you came here 'Hey-I've seen our house before?'"

"I mentioned the dream after we moved, but even if I'd said something before they started house hunting, it's not like they would've made a decision based on what I told them. I mean, sometimes I dream things that don't happen at all, so I can't exactly predict the future or anything."

My brow wrinkles as I concentrate. "So you still have free will, basically. You don't dream things completely enough to prepare or try to change the future."

"Exactly. I only saw part of the house, so it's not like I could have led us right to it if I'd come here with them when they were looking for places to live. In fact, after we moved, I'd been in the house for about fifteen minutes before it sunk in that I'd seen part of the place before, because all I get are these little blips. So if I did dream about your SAT scores, I'd probably only dream your math scores or something like that."

I look away, out the windshield and across the river at the outline of the swaying trees, trying to collect my thoughts. "So how are you sure you're really dreaming the future before it happens?" I ask. "Like you said, everybody gets a sort of 'Yeah-I think I had a dream about this once' moment sometimes. How do you know all your dreams aren't random instead of just some of them?"

Kieran folds his arms over his chest, making me worry for a second that he might be mad at me for challenging him, but when he starts talking again, I can see his breath and I realize he's probably just cold. "The dreams sort of come in waves with, like, patterns to them," he explains. "I mean, sometimes, I'll just get a flash of something-like the front door to our house-and I'll see it later. Maybe that's totally random. But other times, I'll dream the same thing or the same types of things over and over, and they'll show up in real life."

"Okay," I say, voice flat, and he gives me an example without my needing to ask.

"I'll tell you about how I first noticed it. My dad's always encouraged me to keep a dream journal. So whenever I dream, I try to write down what happened or draw pictures of things as soon as I can. I've got a whole bunch of notebooks at home going all the way back to when I was eight or so. Anyway, in fifth grade, I started having these dreams about Kayla getting a medal for something. Not too long after, she joined a track club and was starting to race about every other month. When I looked back over my journals after her first several meets, I noticed every time Kayla medaled, I'd dreamt about her medaling a few weeks before."