Chapter Thirteen
I didn’t have a dream that night. I didn’t really know if it was possible to experience an inception of dreams within dreams, but I could clearly remember learning about it in school. Mr. Davis was who my health teacher liked to call himself. His last name was actually Jones, but he felt that it would put him and his class at a distance if we were to refer to him as such. He was most certainly a cool teacher. More importantly, he was one of the only people who accepted me at the new school. He was aware of the fact that my progression with friends was at a minimum, so he allowed me to eat lunch in his classroom. However, he normally had either meetings or errands to run, so I usually ate in the cafeteria.
There was a table off to the far corner that I would sit at. D-Shot would seldom come and bother me there, for he and his friends normally ditched school around that time. It was rumored that they would go off to the nearest fast-food restaurant, where they would “accidentally” come across the stacks of ketchup packets and “accidentally” step on them while “accidentally” aiming at the customers. Whether or not that was true, I had no way of telling. But it definitely sounded like something they would do.
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Ellie had folded up the clothes I had worn the day before and put them at the foot of my bed, the Egyptian hat placed on top. I could hear the shower running in the bathroom, and I knew that she was already awake. There was no smell of breakfast lurking in the air, so I took the liberty of getting up and groggily walking into the kitchen.
Judging from a wooden clock (something that I would also find in my Uncle’s cabin, for he was an avid collector of antiques) it was only nine in the morning, and it was already blistering hot.
I fanned myself with my hand and entered my grandmother’s old kitchen. Everything was where it should, so I had no problem finding what I needed. The cereal, an imitation of Cap’n Crunch, most likely made from the bakers who gathered the grain from wheat fields, was in a cupboard next to the fridge, which was where I found the gallon of milk. The bowls were where I knew they were along with the utensils, and after sitting at the table, I enjoyed a quick breakfast. The food tasted just like I remembered them . . . only different. It was hard to place. The flavor was of a stronger taste, with a heightened concentration of sugar-coating. It was undoubtedly heavenly, but a bit disappointing, for I knew that the next time I would have a bowl of Cap’n Crunch when I was awake, I would only be reminded on how much more delectable it could be.
By the time I had finished eating, Ellie was already out of the shower. A towel was wrapped around her black hair, and a white robe covered her body. At first, she was a bit surprised at my presence. However, she seemed to remember why I was there, and sat in a chair across from mine. “Hey.”
I looked up from my bowl. “Hi.”
Things began to get awkward around the time I started slurping up the milk. Once I was finished, I could feel Ellie’s cold stare that seemed unbreakable. “Is something wrong?” I said with a hint of annoyance.
Ellie didn’t seem to notice my exasperation, for she said without hesitancy, “I was planning on taking you to a bakery for breakfast, but you seem to have already fed yourself.”
I looked at my empty bowl with guilt. “Well,” I tried to remedy the situation, “cereal isn’t really that filling. In fact, I was gonna get something else to eat from the kitchen . . . so I’m pretty up to having lunch.”
Ellie’s face lightened up a little. “You don’t have to, you know. It was just a thought.”
My heart filled with joy when I noticed the hint of the real Ellie’s personality. The Ellie I really liked. Not this subconscious copy that my mind unwillingly created.
