Parker can’t remember a time when she didn’t dream.
Let’s rephrase that, she can’t remember a time before her dreams gave her insight into a parallel universe. It wasn’t until she was 12 that she realized her dreams weren’t normal; that they were too clear. It wasn’t until she was 15 that she even decided to look into the phenomena she was experiencing, and came up empty handed. It’s not like there’s a guidebook on interdimensional cerebral communication in dreams, and if there were, she certainly wouldn’t have believed that’s what was happening to her, at least not back then.
She can’t remember the first time she saw Parker II’s world, but she remembers the first time she saw it after Emmet died. Typically, in her dreams she would be doing normal, everyday things with Emmet and her family. Sometimes they all ate breakfast together, sometimes they all went to the moves, and sometimes they had family game night. But this dream was different.
Parker had not wanted to fall asleep since her brother had died earlier that day, but eventually emotional and physical exhaustion took over. The dream started out nice; Parker and Emmet were walking home from school discussing the merits of being the Hulk over being Captain America. It was reminiscent of conversations and arguments they used to have in real life, so it soothed Parker for a bit. But when they got home, the argument turned heated.
Somewhere along the way it had morphed from a light-hearted conversation about superheroes into a full-fledged argument about the kids at school. Emmet had recently started hanging out with some of the cool kids who did dangerous stuff, things that might end up getting him killed. It seemed to be the same in Parker II’s world as well, but Emmet was not backing down.
“You’re just saying that they’re dangerous because you’re jealous that you don’t have any friends!” Emmet screamed in her face as they walked through the front door.
“You know that’s not true! It’s because James and Jack are dangerous and like to get into trouble that isn’t needed.”
“Whatever, why does it matter what you think?!”
As Emmet stormed away, Parker’s mind began racing as her body slumped down onto the couch. Go after him! He can’t be friends with them! Please! DO SOMETHING! Don’t give up or you’ll never see him again. Parker, GO! Please, please, please, please, please…
Parker isn’t sure how long she sat slumped onto the couch but quietly Emmet tiptoed his way down the stairs and sat next to her. It was silent for a moment before he spoke, “Listen, I didn’t mean what I said earlier, about you being jealous. I know it’s been… hard on you since we moved here, but you’re an awesome person, Parker. You’ll find your place; it’s only been three weeks.”
Parker quickly found herself wrapped up in a hug from her younger brother, but her mind continued to race. He came back. He didn’t leave. He didn’t die. Why can’t this be real?
“Thanks, Emmet. But in all seriousness, those guys are bad news, I heard one of them the other day talking about how they had set someone’s house on fire as a prank. Please, be careful.” Parker drew him in for another hug and squeezes her eyes shut. When she opened them, she was in her own room with a pounding headache and a drained body, not the sunlight front room hugging her brother
It was a dream. It had all felt so real. Parker immediately felt tears run down her face. Instead of Emmet’s twig arms wrapped around her, she felt her own clutching at her sides as she gasped for breath.
After Emmet’s death, her whole family went to therapy for a while. Her mother was too despondent and wouldn’t speak or acknowledge the counselor they talked to. Her father tried his best, but he was never one who had an easy time expressing emotion. But Parker lived with two worlds in her brain; one where Emmet was alive, and one where he wasn’t. Every morning she was forced to face the reality of her situation, she would never get to see Emmet again while she was awake. Her therapist urged her to let go of Emmet, to find a healthy coping mechanism for his passing. How am I supposed to do that when I still see him all the time? They didn’t stay in therapy for long.
When Parker woke up after she learned Salma’s name, she was brought back to her dream about Emmet. Instead the of sadness and terror she felt back then, she was curious and confused, but the base thought stayed the same: I will never forget this.
When her Dad walked by her room as he headed towards the kitchen, he saw her sprawled out on her bed with her hands pressed to her eyes. “Hey kiddo, you think you’re going to school today?”
Parker took stock of her emotions before answering, “Yeah, Dad. It wasn’t him, it was just a weird dream.”
Therapy was good for one thing at least; Parker’s Dad knew that she frequently had dreams about Emmet. They never said Emmet’s name to each other, except for on the anniversary of his death. There were too many emotions that spiked when they thought about him concretely, so they tended to steer clear of the topic. But he understood and respected that she would need more mental health days than most kids her age.
“Alright, if you hurry it up a bit I can drop you off on my way to the Station.” That’s another big difference between her world and the other world. In this world, after Emmet’s death, her father found his purpose in being a police officer and was eventually elected sheriff. In the other world, since Emmet was still alive, her father remained at his old job as a math teacher at the high school.
“Ok, I’ll be ready in a bit.”
Parker was dreading the rest of the day. She had to sit through all her classes knowing what Salma’s lips felt like against her own. Thinking about what Salma’s hair felt like cascading down her back in a neat ponytail. Remembering the broken feeling that permeated her body as she clutched onto the other girl. She had to make it through a day of AP Biology, AP English, AP Psychology, AP Calculus, Economics, and Spanish knowing she won’t be able to pay full attention, if any at all.
She dragged herself out of bed and quickly got ready for the day. The ride to school with her dad was quiet as they enjoyed the moment together before both of their days got too hectic. Parker closed her eyes for a moment to psych herself up for the day but as soon as she did she saw flashed of the dream: lips on lips, hands in hair, arms wrapped around her. Her eyes flew open and a soft blush crept to her cheeks as she sat up straight in her seat.
“You sure you’re okay today, kiddo? You’re looking a little red and flu season is just around the corner. Someone’s gotta be the first one to get sick.”
“Yeah, I’m fine, dad. I’m just tired is all.”
Once Parker finally arrived to school, things seemed to settle down. Although she thought her mind would be preoccupied the whole day with memories of the dream, she found school to actually be distracting her. Midterms were in a couple weeks and her AP classes were really pushing her to pay attention and study more, which today was a blessing.
At lunch, Parker finally got a break from a constant barrage of information and her mind began to wander again. This time, instead of concentrating on the kiss and the physical aspects she had experienced, she tried to reason out what spurred this moment. It wasn’t as if she had been having visions of different things, nothing was out of the ordinary. So, for Parker II to show such raw panic and sadness was something she needed to figure out.
She started with when the dream had turned into a memory. Usually, the transition was very clear cut, but this time it seemed that she phased into the memory as Parker was sitting on the bed. On very rare occasions, Parker could feel Parker II’s emotions bleeding over into her mind but the emotions didn’t help her narrow down the cause.
Obviously, she’s upset about something to do with Salma, which is weird. It wouldn’t be my parents having an issue with it but maybe her parents? Or maybe it was something to do with Dirk since he hasn’t been in my dreams in a couple nights. Maybe it was the kids at school? Or the people from in town? Or maybe-
Her thoughts ran in never ending circles for the rest of lunch, not clearing up any of her confusion. The rest of the day was an easier course load and Parker found her mind drifting back to when Salma had first walked into the room. She had walked in and hadn’t made eye contact until she had fully shut the door. She also was hesitant to move too close until Parker had stepped forward and met her halfway. These points brought about even more cognitive circles to run in.
Why did she avoid my eyes? Were they fighting? Certainly, not while they were kissing. I don’t think I would ever kiss someone to end a fight. But why was she being so hesitant? Why would she kiss me back if she didn’t want to? Why-
By the end of the school day, Parker just wanted to get to sleep, eager to get back to the other world. After she walked home and finished her homework, she decided to take a quick nap. It wasn’t always certain she would dream is she napped, but it did happen sometimes. She wanted get all the chances she could to see into the other world. She texted her dad to let him know if she didn’t respond when he came home it was because she was napping.
She cozied down in her bed and was drifting off, eager to get new information about Salma, maybe even figure out her last name. It took a bit for her to fall asleep and once she did, she was in a normal dream. It was dark and she seemed to be in a forest walking around looking up to catch a glimpse of the sky between the trees. She kept wandering and eventually came upon a thicket where the trees were getting closer and closer together. When she turned around to head a different way, all the trees were slowly but surely moving closer to her. She watched them move in by inch with no escape, until all her vision was blacked out.
She found herself moving and walking in the darkness. Instead of the pressure of trees she thought would be surrounding her, she was met with no physical resistance. She was walking, and then she was jogging, and then she was running; the only sound to accompany her was her own breath. She paused for a moment, spinning around trying to right herself in some sort of direction when she heard a faint noise from behind her. When she turned around there was a smattering of light off in the distance. Parker ran as hard as she could and was eventually close enough to almost touch the light. She blinked for a second and when she opened her eyes, she was in the bathroom staring at her own reflection, at Parker II′s reflection.
She wasn’t able to control the motions in her memories, but it didn’t stop her from trying. For what felt like hours, she observed Parker II’s eyes staring into her reflection which a confused look on her face. Everything seemed to have stopped for her, but Parker could hear the faint rushing of water. Just when Parker thought she might just wake up once she runs out of time, her mouth opened.
“I know you’re in there and we haven’t got much time, but there is something you need to know.”
Who is she talking to. Why is someone else in the bathroom?
“No one else is here, it’s just us.”
Wait, you can hear me?
“Yes but that’s not what’s important right now.”
Uhh, it’s pretty important, dude.
“Can we just move on for a second?”
Yeah, I guess. I mean, I can’t control you, so do whatever.
“You need to be careful Parker; you need to watch out for yourself when you wake up.”
Why?
“I can’t explain much right now since we’re almost out of time, but you need to know that you’re special, but you’re not alone. They’re hunting you, but they only know about you. With Salma and Dirk, you’re stronger. You always work better as a team.”
Work better towards what?
“Towards dreaming.”
With that, the lights in the bathroom flickered out and Parker was thrown into the darkness. When she woke up a couple of second later, she ran over to her desk to write down everything she remembered from the dream while Parker II’s words bounced around in her head.
“They’re hunting you.”