For the rest of the day, I couldn’t avoid all of the talk about him, even if I had wanted to. Everyone was talking about the upcoming game, how much we would win by, how many passes Keegan would complete. It felt like his name was everywhere, echoing through the hallways, amplified by the excitement over the upcoming game. And every time I heard it, I could feel my anxiety building.

  By the end of the day, I was utterly exhausted. I walked with Jess out to the parking lot towards our bus.

  Drew jogged up to us and handed me a note. “From Keegan,” he said. “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know, Drew!” I snapped, then sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I don’t know.”

  “Hey, everything is going to be okay. You know that, right?” he said.

  I shrugged, and Drew caught me up in a tight hug. “It’s going to be okay!”

  I laughed. “Okay! Okay!”

  Drew let me go, gave Jess a quick kiss and jogged away.

  I waited until the bus pulled out of the parking lot to unfold the piece of paper.

  ‘Can we hang out, the four of us. Please. After the game? Let Drew know. – Keegan’ written in his familiar, messy scrawl.

  “What does he want?” Jessica asked.

  “To hang out,” I said.

  “Now?” Jessica asked, indignant. “Now he wants to hang out? What are you going to do?”

  “Hang out, I guess,” I said.

  Jessica wrinkled her nose. “Really? Just like that…”

  “I know. I know, but… it’s Keegan.” I felt tears pricking in my eyes and turned away from her.

  “Are you going to the game tonight?” Mom asked later that afternoon.

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Good. It's about time."

  I shook my head. Usually I loved that she threw herself wholeheartedly into everything local, even if she hadn’t grown up here like my dad, but I was still sleepy and irritated.

  “Are you going to wear that?” she asked, looking at the red sweater I had on.

  “I guess not,” I said. I grabbed my school hoodie as we walked out the door.

  It seemed like half the town was at the game, making as much noise as possible. I could smell popcorn and hotdogs, and I realized how much I had missed all of this the year before.

  The game blurred by in cheers and chilly air, and the final buzzer sounded with our team ahead, twenty-four to twenty-one. Jessica and I moved stiffly out of the stands with the crowd, stretching out sore muscles.

  We found Keegan’s car in the parking lot and waited for the team to come out. A lot of people were still there, waiting with us. Finally the team emerged, and cheers erupted once again. I stood with my hands in my pockets, but smiled when Drew came jogging over to us, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. He didn’t seem to mind the cold air.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  “You were incredible!” Jessica said, beaming at him.

  “I was pretty amazing,” Drew said.

  I rolled my eyes at him, laughing.

  “You ready to go?” asked Jessica

  “Yep. Hey, Keegan! Ready?” Drew called.

  Keegan left a group of people and walked slowly towards us, tugging the sleeves of his long-sleeved t-shirt down around his hands.

  When he got to his car, the four of us stood in an awkward kind of huddle until Drew called shotgun, and we all climbed into the car. I stayed quiet as the other three talked about the game. I kept looking at Keegan in the rear-view mirror, and a couple of times he glanced back at me, holding my eyes for a few seconds each time before looking back to the road.

  When we got to the bowling alley, Keegan turned into the funny, friendly goof-ball he had been a year before, and he still knew me well enough that he could get me laughing.

  When we finally left, hours later, Keegan dropped me off at home first. He left Drew and Jessica in the car and walked with me to the front door. “Thanks, Maria,” he said.

  I nodded. “Keegan, can you tell me what’s going on? Please.”

  He took a deep breath like he was going to say something, but then shook his head. “I should get them home,” he said, pointing at his car.

  “Talk soon?” I asked, feeling a lump growing in my throat.

  Keegan nodded. “I promise.”

  That weekend Keegan found a way to be at my house every day. He always brought Drew and Jessica along, and they never let things get too awkward. Most of the time it felt like the year before hadn’t happened. Sunday night found me exhausted. I didn’t even have time to think about all that we had done before I fell asleep.

  I could feel the sun shining into my eyes. Even though it meant that I had missed half a day of school since the sun didn’t shine into my window until mid-morning, I lay there and soaked it up, enjoying the warmth. I could feel a breeze whisper across my skin. I heard waves splashing.

  My eyes jerked awake. I sat up and looked around, frantically trying to figure out where I was.

  “Oh, a dream,” I said aloud. “At least I’ll have something to write about for Ms. Douglas.”

  I was on a ship, the kind of ship you see in old pirate movies. It was wooden, with huge white sails, a crow’s nest and a flag I didn’t recognize flying high above the deck. I could hear creaking as the ship gently swayed on the waves, making me feel just a little queasy.

  I looked down at myself sitting on the smooth planks of the deck. My skin was a lot darker than it was in real life. I had on a ragged pair of tan pants that were torn off just below the knees and a white shirt. A gust of wind blew my long, silky hair into my face.

  “Hey there, miss,” called a voice, sounding vaguely familiar.

  I looked up and saw someone walking quickly across the deck towards me. He looked like Keegan, but rougher. His hair was ratty and long, he was extremely tan, and dark tattoos covered his upper arms, shoulders, and chest, which I could see because he didn’t have a shirt on. His light pants were dirty and torn, and he moved steadily, completely at ease on the swaying ship.

  “Hey, yourself,” I said, smiling brightly at him.

  “You shouldn’t be up here,” he said, hauling me to my feet.

  I turned slowly around, taking in my surroundings. There was nothing to be seen in any direction except blue water and blue sky. The ship deck was spotless, ropes were neatly coiled, and barrels were nicely stacked. I saw a door at one end of the deck and took a step towards it, only to lose my balance and fall over.

  “Whoa, careful there, miss,” said pirate-Keegan. He reached down, grabbed my arm, and pulled me up, steering me towards an opening in the deck. I still felt unsteady, so I stuck my hand through his arm as we walked along.

  Keegan looked down at me, surprised. He looked away quickly and cleared his throat. Clearly something was bothering him.

  “What?” I demanded.

  “You should be more careful,” he said.

  “Oh,” I whispered, feeling just a shiver of fear. As Keegan led me deeper and deeper into the ship, it started to feel off. It was too dark and too quiet. Finally Keegan lit a lantern.

  We were in some sort of old-fashioned prison. Cells lined the sides, made of rusty metal bars that were embedded in the wood below and above. A rat squeaked, its beady eyes bright in the flickering light, and ran for cover. A strong smell of filth and rot rolled over me, making me nauseous.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, pulling away.

  “Somewhere no one will think to look,” pirate-Keegan said. “Hopefully,” he muttered. He opened a cell door and ushered me inside. “Now listen to me. You need to stay here. Do not come out for anything. Do not make any noise. When you wake up, do not come back here. This is one of the most dangerous places for Dreamers and you…”