Dye and Dreams

Julie

Leaving Ray occupied by Rugrats, I walked up the stairs. I entered my parent's room, and shook my mom very gently. I figured it was late enough to wake one up without dying a horrible death. Mom groaned and she muttered something that sounded like "What?"

"I'm going to the daycare center. I'll be back by dark. Love you!"

"Have fun. Love you too." She mumbled, turning over. I laughed, and quietly shut the door behind me.

I went back downstairs. Ray was still eating, fascinated with the television screen. I kissed his forehead.

"I'm going out for now, Ray. I'll be back later tonight."

"When you get back, will you read with me?" He asked in between mouthfuls of food. I nodded. He looked up at me with his big green eyes.

"Promise?"

"I so solemnly swear that if you're up when I get back, I will read with you tonight."

I smiled, ruffling his muddy blonde hair, and then said "Have fun!" and left him to his own devices.

I sat down in the recliner in our living room, pulling on my socks and then my sneakers. I grabbed my board, still in the corner, and started out the door. I waved bye to Ray and shut the door softly. The sun had fully risen, shining in the sky like a bright orange basketball.

My first stop was to go to Steve's house. He was going to dye my hair today. It had been my natural blonde color for too long. Since Rob went over to Steve's last night, I suppose I'd get to see Rob as well. I walked down my driveway and onto the sidewalk. I looked around me, savoring the sound of the birds singing. In the slight distance, of course, I could hear cars, but it was a nice illusion of nature for a while.

I almost passed Adam's house without doing anything, but the mood overtook me and I reached down. I picked up a pebble or two, the same type that I had stepped on earlier. His room was in the front of the house, on the first floor. Taking aim, I threw the first pebble at his shutter. The gray speckled pebble made a nice sounding "thunk" as it hit his window frame. I threw two more, a blue one and another gray one, before I saw his hand come up and flick me off. At least he was awake – he'd be back asleep in five minutes. Everything was alright between him and I.

I dropped my skateboard onto the edge of the road, skating up the slight incline of our housing track. As I reached the main road, I took a right and continued up the incline. This road was slightly busier – the paper guy, John, was finishing his rounds. I waved hello to him as I skated by.

The only reason I knew John as all was because sometimes, he would skate with us. And lately, he'd been bringing his 10-year-old son with him. John was awesome at skateboarding. His son, Monroe, was considerably more skilled than any of us put together. I watched a squirrel skitter across my path. The sidewalk was becoming hard to skate on, and at the next driveway, I switched to the side of the road. Here, I wouldn't have to avoid all the cracks threatening to make me eat concrete.

I looked at my watch. It read 7:10. That was sick. No normal person would ever be awake at 6:30 in the morning, much less 10 after 7. And to actually be up and doing things like I was? Impossible. I doubted even Steve would be up yet. I waited until there were no cars coming, and skated gracefully across the flawless road. The gray asphalt had no potholes in it yet – the town just redid it in the spring. The only reason our town's roads had so many bumps and potholes was because of the winter's ice and snow.

I skated up past the daycare center where we normally hung out. The hill was getting steeper as I went, but my legs didn't ache yet. Having skated this hill for two years or so, it didn’t bother me like it did when I first began. I heard dogs barking in the distance, and I smelled a dead skunk somewhere. Unable to pinpoint where, I turned onto the next road and skated down to Steve's house.

Steve's house was large – larger than mine. His dad was almost never home, but his dad gave him money every week to buy the necessary things that he needed. The house had beautiful, nearly spotless white siding with light blue trim around it. The grass was another story – unkempt and weedy, it was the only part of his house that lagged. Inside – when you could see – because Steve had an obsession with saving energy – was dated, but comfortable.

When I reached Steve's house, I knocked on the door. After an eternity, Steve appeared at the door, opening it a crack.

"Good morning, sunshine." I said cheerily to him as he glared at me through half shut eyes. I grinned and he opened the door wider, allowing me entrance. I looked down at him and sighed as I stood in his doorway. His red silk boxers were the only articles of clothing he had on. His well defined abdomen made my eyes avoid it as I set my skateboard by the oak door and took a look around. Steve's house was almost more comforting to me than my own.

The slight scent of incense was present and it was a dim, comforting darkness within. I saw Rob sprawled out on the couch, awake and looking at me. I

"Hey Rob. How'd you two fare last night?"

Rob yawned. By the time he was ready to answer, Steve had already gone back into the kitchen, searching for something or another.

"I didn't sleep well at all. No clue what I dreamed about, but it freaked me out. I woke up sweating and shaking and everything. Ask Steve – I was mumbling something in my sleep."

"Yeah, he was. It sounded like he was getting shot at or something, or tortured or raped or molested. It was bad – I shook him awake. He doesn’t remember a damn thing, apparently…" Steve called from the kitchen.

"Hey, Steve, when are you going to put some clothes on?" I called to him, laughing. Steve's head crept around the corner and he raised his eyebrows at me. In a perfectly serious tone of voice, he replied to me.

"Never, Julie. I'm going to take my boxers off too, just to make you blush. Quit bothering me – I'm getting your hair dye ready. You don't want me to give you green, do you?"

"You're grumpy in the mornings. I'm sorry I came over so early. I couldn't sleep at all so I got out of my house before the parents got up." I replied, cringing at the thought of my hair turning green. That just sounded disgusting. I heard Steve sigh.

"Eh, it's alright. You know I don't mind when people come over. This is your safe haven. This is the place to come when you have problems. And you're perfectly safe with me." On cue, Steve appeared with a kitchen knife in his hand. He smiled innocently, and laughter was in his eyes as he turned back to whatever he had been doing.

"By the way, Julie, I can put the bleach in now if you'd like. You might want to take off your shirt though. Remember what happened last time we had you leave your shirt on?"

"Yeah. It was fucking ruined. Now is this just because you want me to take off my shirt, or do you really think this might get messy?"

"Get in here and take off your damned shirt before I take it off for you. I know you came with another shirt on anyway. You're not that blonde. And Rob, get your ass off of my couch and make yourself breakfast or something. Get up and moving – it'll help stop you from shaking."

I walked into the kitchen, pulling off my shirt. Steve whistled mockingly, then had me kneel on a chair over the kitchen's stainless steel sink. I felt the warm water wash over my head, and Steve massaged shampoo into my head, and then cleaned it. He offered me a towel and I gladly dried my hair with it, rubbing my head very fast and shaking the water out like a wet dog.

"Turn around, sit so I can brush out your incredibly knotted hair. Remind me why I do this?"

"Because you love me?" I asked, my voice soft and wondering.

"You want purple this time, right?"

"Yeah. You're just going to – oww – put bleach in it now, right?" I flinched as Steve pulled through one of the rat's nests in my hair. He was brutal with a hairbrush.

"Sorry. I'll put the bleach onto your scalp in a moment. I have to finish with," He yanked through another part of my hair, and I yelped,

"Baby." He scoffed. "I have to finish with getting this brush," he yanked once more, "through your damned thick hair. Then I'll worry about bleaching it."

"Again, I repeat what I said earlier this morning. Damn, you're grumpy today."

"Shut up. Turn back around. Again, I repeat what I said earlier this morning. I hold the life of your hair in my hands. You better be courteous, nice and polite to me or I can extract my revenge on your beautiful, thick, clean hair."

I turned back around in the chair and Steve wrapped an old towel around my shoulders. That finished with, he ran the brush through my hair one more time. Satisfied, he put on his rubber gloves and applied the bleaching solution. It sunk into my hair, cool and weird feeling as I tried not to move. Glaring mockingly at me, he said,

"That's right. No moving is allowed. Not even if I came to you right now," He moved closer to me and I fidgeted a little. He was known to be devilish when given the chance. He put his pinky finger on the wife beater, right where my belly button was, and poked gently."Not even if I did that, or tickled you, you still can't move at all. That’s an order!"

"Yes sir!" I shouted, all too enthusiastically. He grinned, and I did too, trying hard not to laugh. That was our way – 'intimidating' each other and then bursting out in fits of laughter. Except I couldn't laugh that time…apparently I wasn't allowed to.

Steve turned and I watched him walk back to the dining room, where his computer was. He sat down, and I looked for something to throw at him. Temporarily distracted, I didn't notice Rob come in with a soft rubber ball. He nailed me right in the chest by the time I had made eye contact with him. It didn't hurt, and he was just getting me back for waking him up. I reached up and grabbed it from where it had fallen into my lap. I pointed at Steve with it, and Rob mocked a horrified face. I grinned, and underhand threw it in that direction.

The blue rubber ball made a graceful leap, landing perfectly with a quiet thud on Steve's lap. Steve turned around, glancing at me, but by that time I had already gone back to the way I was sitting beforehand. He looked at Rob. I saw Rob shrug and point to me out of the corner of my eye. As Steve sighed and shook his head, I flicked Rob off. He wasn't supposed to tell!

Steve threw the ball to Rob, who threw it to me. I landed it perfectly in Steve's lap again. Steve's voice resounded as he tossed it back to me."You should try out for a sport, Julie. You're really accurate. You missed my balls by half an inch on either side, both times. Do you have any idea how lucky you are?"

I couldn't help it; I burst out laughing and looked at him. He looked up at the clock."Yay, we can take out the bleach now. Let me to go grab my rubber gloves and we can put the dye in. Does your head burn at all?"

"Not really. Never does when you do it. Hey Rob, remembering anymore of your dream?"

"Not really. I think it was about the dump though. Except maybe in my dream the dude caught us. I don't know."

"Does Steve know about what happened last night?" I asked him quietly, as Steve had gone into the other room to retrieve the gloves. Rob nodded."Yes. He doesn't recognize the guy that I describe, so I don't know if that guy was even from around here. Steve knows a lot of people."

Steve returned and had me bend over the sink again. His cool, rubber covered fingers provided my scalp with a unique, strangely sensual sensation. It made me nervous, that I could be slightly turned on by rubber gloves massaging my bleached hair and slightly burning scalp.

The scrubbing stopped and he put in the hair dye. The odd sensation provided a welcome relief from the thorough abuse of my scalp just minutes before. When he stopped putting the dye in, I looked at him and asked,

"I don't suppose you could get me a drink? I'm really thirsty."

"Yeah, sure." Steve said. He reached over me and grabbed a glass out of the wooden cupboard above the sink. He filled it with some water and handed it to me. Gratefully, I took a sip, and Steve glanced at Rob.

"Rob, do you want anything to eat, or am I going to have to shove something down your throat?"

"Dude, I'm fine." Rob said, pulling himself up to sit on the counter next to me. His feet dangled, and I resisted my very strong urge to tickle them. His feet were bare. His legs were covered with dark brown hair, and he grinned at Steve, who was still looking at him questionably.

"Yeah right. You want some toast or pancakes or what? I'm feeling hospitable and generous today, so don't you say you don't want to eat. You'll eat if I have to tie you up and force you to eat."

"Kinky." I interjected, grinning at Steve. He shook his head, exasperated at me, then looked at Rob. I could see Rob cringe next to me. He sighed, just as exasperated,

"Well, I guess if you must feed me, mom, I'd like some scrambled eggs."

"Ever call me mom again and I'll punch you in the throat." Steve said stone-faced.

Steve walked over to his refrigerator and yanked it open. Inside, he rummaged until he found two eggs for Rob. He deftly walked over to another cupboard and pulled out a bowl. He cracked the eggs and put them in the bowl, and poured a tiny bit of milk out onto them. He whisked it all together, and let it sit while he turned the dial on the stove to ignite the gas-powered flame. He took out a frying pan and put it on top, spraying it with Pam. After a minute or two, as Rob and I sat in companionable silence watching him, he moved again. He poured the yellow-whitish mixture onto the pan and let it sit there. While waiting for it to begin, he rummaged in the drawer to my left for a spatula.

Finding the spatula was no easy task for him, but he managed it and began poking the mixture around as it hardened. He looked away from the stove for a moment at Rob.

"You want to get yourself a plate? Because if you don't get yourself something to put these on, you'll be eating off of this pan. They’re above your head on the left hand side."

As Rob got off the counter and reached up, Steve reached into the fridge and got out some cheese. He sprinkled it on the scrambled eggs, allowing it to melt for a moment. He then took the pan and lifted it up over the plate that Rob had retrieved and scraped the mess onto the platter. He added a bit of salt and pepper to either side, then put the fork that he had used to stir the original mixture up into the scrambled eggs.

"There you go. Do you want anything on it? Some people like ketchup or hot sauce."

"No, I'm good, thanks for offering. You rock."

"I know. Hey Julie, five more minutes and we can take the dye out if you'd like. The green looks awesome, by the way."

I glared at Steve."You damn well bet-"

"I'm just fucking with you, Julie. It's purple. You saw me put in the dye. My god, relax." He interjected, laughing.

I loosened up a bit, and Steve went back to his computer on the other end of the kitchen. Rob sat there, eating, and I sat there staring at the wall and counting down the minutes until I could put my shirt back on. And I'd have purple hair.

Eventually Steve got back up and pointed to the sink. I leaned over and he washed out the excess dye. He ran the brush through my hair again. It went much smoother this time, with barely any knots in it. Rob finished and put his plate by the sink, and Steve grinned at me.

"Tada!" He said."You're now Julie of the Purple Hair."

"Thanks Steve. You guys wanna go do something?"

"Like what? It's too early to skate. No one but us will be out." Rob argued.

"Yeah, true. Well, I'll go home and shower then, I guess…" I said, shrugging. I stood up, shook my head to clear the fog from it, and grabbed my shirt from the chair it was hanging off of. Rob shrugged. Steve barely looked at me.

"You coming back?" He asked me, mumbling something else about computers under his breath.

"Yeah, I'll be back. I'll probably bring Adam. I want to write a bit too. I'm in that mood – I didn't write down what happened yesterday at all."

"Alright. We'll be here. Or Rob, are you leaving too?"

"Ah, not yet." Rob said as he stood up."I will however, be nice enough to give Julie a hug goodbye, unlike you. I'll talk to you later Julie."

"Yeah, I'll be back, don't worry."

Rob's skinny arms encased my body, and I hugged him back. It was a gentle hug, not anything like usual. He was acting strange, just like Adam did the night before. That over with, feeling slightly embarrassed; I walked to Steve's chair and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Bye, Steve, I'll be back later on."

"Bye Julie. Thanks for coming over, sorry I'm not that much of a hospitable host. I've got this site due tomorrow, so I probably won't come out of my shell at all today or tonight, but you guys are welcome to come and go as you please."

"Yup. See ya."

I put on my shirt and walked through his kitchen to the living room. I retrieved my board from by his front door and walked out, closing it gently behind me. Free at last, I inhaled nice summer air. The dew had left the ground and people were actually beginning to come out of their houses. It was a Saturday morning after all. It was time for people to be out of their beds now.

Adam

I reached into my pocket, looking for my watch. What time was it? Didn't I have to be somewhere now? Where were my friends? I looked across the barren landscape.

I was in…a desert? There was sand all around me, and the sky was gray, dark gray, nearly black. It looked like the horizon was tinged red, crimson red. The color of life's blood spilling out onto pavement was the only description I could come up with. Storm clouds were rolling in from the North. I looked ahead of me, and then all around. I saw nothing but desert. How could I be here! I had to be somewhere in a little while, I knew I did. But where?

I heard…felt? A rumbling in the distance, coming from the north. Must be the storm clouds, I realized. I stared north. North of me, the terrain angled downwards, so I could see more that way. I saw lightning flicker across the northern border of my vision, and behind me I felt movement. Startled, I turned.

There was no one there. But looking south, I realized that the sand had risen. It was a sand mountain now, and the desert was deathly cold. I shivered, looking down at my bare arms. I realized I was naked – and the storm clouds and the sand mountain were sandwiching me in. I was sinking – the sand below me was draining!

What the hell? Where are my friends? My knees were stuck in the sand now, but I didn't care at this point. Wherever I was, I could guarantee that where I was going was better. Maybe Julie and…Rob…and Steve…can't forget Steve. Maybe they were below me, waiting. My hips entered the sand, and the sand began to burn. My hips were on fire – my legs and feet were numb with a dull pain that seemed almost detached. The cool wind coming from the storm clouds approached closer and closer. I shivered still – my chest sinking into the sand.

Suddenly, lightning struck three foot away from me. It must have opened up the sand below me, for I fell through as if it had opened a hole. Right onto my bed.

I woke sweating and shaking. That hadn't been a good dream. And it wasn't often that I got bad dreams – they usually meant something. What could I have been that worried about to have such a…lost and confused dream like that?

I pulled myself out of my bed. Whatever it was, it wasn't worth thinking about right away. My dreams were easier to figure out as I went through the day. I looked at the clock – it read 7am. Cool – I could sleep more. I yawned, turning over in bed. As I was drifting off again, I heard pebbles hit my window. Annoyed – I knew who it was – I stuck my right hand up, flicking them off. Then I turned over. My rough blanket soothed me. Even though it had only been a dream just minutes ago, my hands and upper body were freezing, and my lower body was hot. I shut my eyes and tried to block out the images of the desert in my head. Think happy thoughts…think happy thoughts…

I wasn't in the desert anymore. This time, I was standing on my own bed, looking up at the ceiling. Why though? I lowered my head, looking around. Julie was sitting on the edge of my bed, crying. I got off the bed, and sat on her right. I put my left arm around her. I realized I wasn't naked this time – I had some khaki shorts on. Julie had a torn T-shirt…why? And she had some jeans on. She looked at me, and concern filled my dream-glazed eyes.

"What's wrong Julie?"

"Nothing, Adam, nothing."

"Come on Julie." I hugged her tighter."You know you can tell me anything. You can trust me."

"That's what he said." Julie said. She moved farther back on the bed, bringing her knees up to her chest and beginning to rock. To stop her from this, lest she go insane in my dream, I got up on the bed and put my legs around her waist. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, gently untangling her limbs.

"Who's he?" I said, carefully putting my arms on her shoulders, clasping them above her chest. I felt her relax a bit in my grip.

"I don't know." She said finally, after what seemed an eternity. Tears were still rolling down her face, and she looked at me with her dark emerald eyes. She was scared of something.

"What's wrong Julie?"

She stared at me blankly. Unable to stand the blank, glazed over, dead stare I saw, I pushed her up a bit and began rubbing her shoulders. Her skin, underneath her shirt, was smooth and her muscles were strong.

"One of us is going to get hurt Adam. can't you feel it? He's going to hurt one of us. He doesn't mean any harm, but he's gonna hurt us."

"Who? And who's us?"

"I don't know. Damn it, I don't know!" She said, her voice raising in my dream. She shot off of my bed, aimed directly toward my wall. She slammed her head into it – it sounded very real, very loud. She turned to me. Her eyes were normal. She had a small cut on her forehead. Crimson blood ran down her left temple and she wiped it off, barely noticing. I wasn't frightened. I was slightly…turned on?

I stood in my dream, and became aware of my well worked on abdomen. My body was something to be proud of. I took her by the shoulders and brought her back to the bed. I pushed her down gently and sat next to her, putting my arm back around her shoulder.

"It's gonna be okay Julie."

"No, no it's not Adam. Don't you see?"

"I don't see, Julie, really. No one is going to hurt any of us, whomever we may be. Stop worrying."

Julie turned to me, her mouth slightly open. Her blonde hair was disheveled, hanging down across her chest. Her shirt was torn right at the collar, and since I was taller, I had a clear view of her skin.

"Promise?"

"I will do everything in my power to not let harm come to any of us, Julie. That I can promise."

"Okay." She said. Leaning close to me, I could feel the heat radiate off of her. She closed her eyes and I moved away from her, sensing she wanted something which I wasn't ready to give. She opened them, staring into my ordinary eyes. Her green ones held a wealth of secrets, ones she wasn't willing to tell.

"Adam?" She asked pleadingly. I nodded, waiting for more."Can you kiss me?" She asked finally, embarrassed. Losing all self control, I nodded, and leaned in to her gently. I felt our lips make contact and I lost all sense of the dream world. It faded to white.

I opened my eyes, looking at the clock. It read 9:56. Yawning, I decided that my dreams had taken enough odd turns. Now that I was frustrated, there was no use going back to sleep. Why did I dream about Julie like that? I didn't…I could never…not with Julie. I wouldn't ever…but I did. She may have asked…but I did kiss her, in the dream. That means it could happen here too…but what about the other part! My mind screamed at me. Why does someone want to hurt her? Or what does this mean concerning your life? Either way, one of you feels in danger. Why!

I rolled out of my bed, moving to grab some new clothes. Trying to hide my slight problem, I went into the bathroom. Mom was already up – the television was on and blaring with Saturday morning cartoons.

"You up?" She shouted from the living room.

"Yeah!" I yelled out. My voice was shaky, and dry. My throat hurt from dehydration.

"K!" She called out.

"I'm taking a shower!" I mustered, muffling a cough. If I coughed because it hurt, she would think that I had a cold or something, in the middle of summer. God forbid I actually get sick for once.

I turned into the bathroom and set my clothes on the counter. In a startlingly cruel move to myself, I turned on the cold water in the shower. It was hot enough outside – I might as well get cooled off. I wasn't up to relieving myself. Taking off my boxers, I stepped into the shower stall.

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