Chapter Four-The Dream Elixir

It was finally Friday. It had been a long week; full of Mr. Jean harassing her constantly about how much Serrano wanted her, guilt about not telling Ian what Mr. Jean had said, and constant strange dreams that made her feel like she’d gotten no sleep at all. She had to pretend to be okay in front of Ian. He already had so much to deal.
Ashleigh was sitting on her bed with her laptop in her lap when she heard a loud yelp from downstairs. She set her computer aside and grabbed a plastic tennis racket from her closet for protection. She crept down the stairs warily and looked through the house.
“Ian?” she called cautiously. “Where are you?” There wasn’t an answer. She crept into the kitchen, her heart thudding wildly. She could hear the humming of the microwave and pained moaning. Ian was stooped down on the floor, nursing his hand delicately and cursing all ‘human gadgets’ under his breath. She sighed with relief and irritation.
“Don’t scare me like that!” she snapped. “I thought someone had come in the house! What did you do to your hand?” Ian looked up at her as if he’d just noticed she was there. He stood to his feet in a flash and hid his hand behind his back.
“It’s nothing, princess. I am fine. Go finish your home’s assignment,” he assured her. She rolled her eyes and shut the microwave off.
“I’m already done with all of that. Now, let me see your hand,” she insisted. Reluctantly, he extended his hand out for her to see. There was a deep red welt on his palm, and it was already starting to swell up. She clicked her tongue disapprovingly. “You burned yourself. Who burns themselves on microwaves?”
“Do not scold me, how was I suppose to know the surface of this monstrous instrument was hot enough to burn the skin away?” he pouted. She smiled at the way he stuck his bottom lip out. He looked like a little kid.
“All right, stop pitching such a fit,” she said. “I’ll mommy you and make it feel better. Let me go get the first aid kit.” She walked to the little closet in the hall way and dug around for it.
“The very tools of your world are so dangerous when they’re suppose to be helpful,” Ian said when she walked back into the kitchen. “Your little machines will be the death of you all one day.”
“Oh, hush, just because you can’t use them right doesn’t mean we’re complete dolts. Sit down and let me doctor your hand,” she ordered. He sent her a scornful look and did as he was told. Ashleigh kneeled down in front of him and took some Neosporin out of the little white box. Ian watched interestedly while she gently applied it to his burn. The she took out some gauze and bandaged it up securely. For a final perfect touch, she kissed it better and made him blush.
“Now, what were you trying to cook?” she asked, opening the microwave.
“I was warming up the substance like you told me to. The machine started to pop in the back so I tried to see what it was. When I tried to move it, the nasty thing burned my hand,” Ian explained.
“No wonder it was popping, you’re suppose to put the ravioli in a bowl before you cook it. Metal doesn’t go in microwaves.” Ashleigh sighed wearily and took the hot can out with a dish towel. “Go on upstairs and I’ll handle it. Don’t touch my computer; I don’t need you destroying it!”
He narrowed his eyes at her briefly, and then turned to go up to her bedroom. Ashleigh got a bowl from the cabinets and started fixing his pasta for him.
When she went back upstairs, Ian was studying the screen of Ashleigh’s computer intently, his hands folded under his head. Ashleigh remembered what she had been searching and set the bowl down on her dresser to hurry over to him. She turned the computer away from him and exited out of the screen, her face flushed.
“Is there someone other than this Ethan that you are fond of?” he asked, watching her reaction curiously. Ashleigh didn’t say anything as she shut the computer down and slid it under her bed. She’d been looking for an answer to the question that had been repeating itself in her head since this morning: What should she do if she liked two different people? Ian luckily didn’t seem to realize that he was the other person she was ‘fond’ of. She sat down heavily on the corner of her bed and leaned her head against the bed post.
“It’s not like that. I was looking it up for my friend. She, um, likes two different guys and doesn’t know how to choose between them,” she lied indifferently. Ian nodded, believing her like she would never tell a lie to save her life. He got up to get his ravioli from the dresser. He took a bite hesitantly; then he took another, and then another. It wasn’t long before he was cramming the condensed pasta in his mouth like a starving child.
“Slow down before you choke yourself,” Ashleigh warned him. He swallowed a chunk of ravioli hard
“The food in your world is so superb. It is the one positive thing about this place,” he said. He set the empty bowl down and plopped down on her bed horizontally with a tired sigh. Ashleigh felt his pain. With all the weird dreams she’d been having, it felt like days since she’d had a good sleep. She leaned back and laid her head on his chest. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she closed her eyes contently. He was so warm and comfortable; she could fall asleep like this…..
lll
Ian felt the princess’s breathing slow down and knew she was asleep. He sat up slowly and laid her gently down on the bed, careful not to wake her. He looked down on her fragile form with gentle musing. If only she knew things would be so much easier if she trusted him. He felt like she was keeping things from him, and it was stressing her out. With a wistful sigh, he kissed her fore head and went to her bedroom window. He lifted it up and looked out at her small front lawn.
It was blisteringly cold, and it felt good on his hot skin. It was time to scan the yard for infiltrators. He needed more things for the human school and maybe some good advice from his Uncle Turpintino. He shifted into the tabby cat that Ashleigh seemed to love so much and leapt out of the window. He made sure that the warding barrier he placed upon the house was still intact before leaving to search the neighborhood.
The only thing out of the ordinary- for a human world -was a different array of flickering lights coming from the inside of a vacant house two blocks from Ashleigh’s home. He approached the house with cautious suspicion. Ian leapt up onto a windowsill and peeked inside. What he saw made his blood boil with anger.
“Jeanquenche!” he roared as leapt into the house, half-cat half-boy.
Jeanquenche looked up with slight surprise as Ian came at him. He stepped a few paces aside to easily dodge the assault. He regarded Ian with a menacing smile.
“Hello, little cat. I have not seen you in while. How have you been?” he asked pleasantly. Ian swiped at him angrily and missed by a long shot. Jeanquenche grabbed his arm roughly and slammed him against the wall. Ian struggled against him, but the attempt was futile. Jeanquenche laughed maniacally.
“Silly little cat,” he taunted, “ you need to calm down. I am willing to talk with you, but not until you’ve settled yourself.” Ian growled at him viciously, but knew it was worthless to do so. He took calming breaths and stilled himself.
“There, that’s better,” Jeanquenche said. He let go of Ian and stepped to a large bowl that was the cause of the flashing lights.
“What is that?” Ian asked venomously. Jeanquenche smiled at him evilly.
“It is a dream basin. I am tampering with your princess’s dreams. It’s quite fun, actually,” he said casually. Anger roared inside of Ian, and it took everything in him not to charge him again.
“Why would you do this? She is an innocent! What could Serrano want so bad with her that he would have you taint her dreams?” he demanded desperately.
“Oh, so the little princess hasn’t told you?” Jeanquenche speculated. “I wonder why she didn’t! It seemed like an important thing to be passed on…..”
“What are you getting at? What hasn’t she told me?” Ian asked.
“It’s not for me to say. But maybe you’ll figure it out sooner or later. Either way, I’m rather busy, so if you’ll excuse me…” Jeanquenche trailed off. He leaned over the basin and reached into the silver-gold substance inside. He swirled it slowly as Ian watched him with pure hatred.
“Ah, this looks interesting! I’d love to toy with this one!” Jeanquenche exclaimed. He lifted a handful of the substance up to his face. It was gel-like and wavered and flickered softly. Small, incoherent sounds emitted from it.
“I’m afraid I can’t allow her to have nice dreams about the….enemy,” he said, slanting a sly grin towards Ian. He sunk his hand into the substance and began to shape it like clay. “Hm, that’s better. Serrano will be very happy about this one. Ah, there’s nothing like deception within the dreams….” He said fondly. He let the stuff slide off his hand and back into the basin.
“What have you done, Jeanquenche?” Ian asked darkly. Jeanquenche smiled at Ian casually.
“Nothing horrible, my boy. Just a little modification to make her dreams a little sweeter. Now, I believe we have a score to settle, yes? Unless you’re too tired from your last attempt?” he challenged nonchalantly. Ian’s fists were balled together tightly. He glared at Jeanquenche with every kind of anger. Jeanquenche patient smile only made him angrier.
“Cat got your tongue, boy?” he said after a long stare-down between the two of them. Ian snapped and charged at him with everything he had.

l l l


Ashleigh didn’t understand. She went from dancing with a human-sized cat at her junior prom night to standing in a misty, grassy meadow under the pale morning sun. She looked around her, confused and terribly unsure of her surroundings. Everything seemed a tad bit familiar. Had she been here before?
“ Navia!” a distant voice called. “Come here, quickly!” Ashleigh wondered who it was, and whether they knew where this place was. She tried to weave her way through the mist. She saw the silhouette of a small boy crouched down on the ground. She approached him slowly.
“Hey, boy-o, do you know where we are?” she asked softly. The child turned to look at her with a skeptical smile.
“Navia, don’t be silly. Come here and look at this,” he said. He plucked something from the ground and stood from his crouching spot. Ashleigh was surprised that the little child was even taller than she was. She looked herself with bewilderment. She was a little girl. And apparently to this boy, she was Navia.
“Here, do you think this is nice?” the boy asked bashfully, extending the thing he’d plucked from the ground to her. It was a cerulean-blue flower with snowy-white specks on the edges of the petals. She took it from him with a smile.
“It’s really pretty. Is it for me?” she asked nicely. The boy seemed so shy.
“Of course it’s for you. That’s why I gave it to you,” he said with disgruntlement. “If you don’t want it though….”
“No, I love it!” Ashleigh said quickly, then noticed how soft and girlish her little girl voice was. She cleared her throat self-consciously and continued. “Um, yeah, I really like it. I’ll put it in my hair,” she suggested.
“Here, let me do it for you,” he said eagerly. Ashleigh let him take the flower and weave it into a golden strand of her hair behind her ear expertly. She kissed the side of his cheek like she might do a child in her older body.
“Thank you,” she said. His face was very red and he couldn’t quite meet her eye.
“It-it reminded me of the color of your eyes, Navia. Don’t you think?” he asked unsurely. Ashleigh nodded absently, staring off into the distance. It was stormy among the hills a little ways away from them. She felt uneasy about it.
“We should get out of here. It’s going to rain soon,” she told him. He pouted like a pro, and he reminded her of someone she knew who did the exact same thing…
“I don’t want to leave. I don’t care if it storms all night, I’m not going back to the castle. Mother will make me go to that ball. I’d rather throw myself off the edge of a steep bluff. Let’s stay here,” he said persistently.
“Castle? What castle?” Ashleigh asked with confusion. The boy gave her a strange look.
“Are you okay?” he asked with great concern.
“No, I don’t guess I am. I’m actually really sleepy,” se said, stifling a yawn. “I guess none of this makes sense anyway. So much weird stuff has happened here lately, I’m just gonna go with the flow from now on.” The boy sat back down on the grass and reached out for her.
“We can stay until it starts to rain at least,” he decided. Ashleigh sighed and got down beside him on the ground. They both lie there quietly for a very long time. Then, the boys hand suddenly took hers.
“I love you,” he said quietly. Ashleigh felt a surge of pleasant surprise. How sweet! She thought. She gave his hand a squeeze, like a mother would her child.
“Thank you, sweetie. That means a lot. I haven’t heard those words in a while. It’s nice to hear it after so long,” she said quietly. He snorted.
“You sound like my mother,” he said. He propped himself up on his elbow and loomed over her. He was a cute little boy. His hair was paler than hers and his eyes were golden brown. She smiled up at him sleepily.
“Do you love me, Navia?” he asked seriously. Ashleigh looked up at him with surprise. He looked like he was about to cry. “I really do love you. Do you love me?” A tear fell onto Ashleigh’s cheek.
“Awww, come here,” she said comfortingly. She hugged him tightly to her and he cried into her shoulder. He was obviously upset about something. She had to comfort him somehow.
“Of course I do,” she told him. “I’ll always love you.”

lll

“Ashleigh, sweetie, wake up. Why is your window wide open? It’s freezing in here. I’m going to shut it. You need to come down stairs and eat you some dinner, okay, honey?” Her mother’s voice cut through the dream sweetly. Ashleigh yawned and stretched under the warm covers.
“Hey, Mama,” she mumbled. She sat up and looked around the room. Ian wasn’t here. Had he gone when she’d fallen asleep? That was lucky, since her mother just decided to march into her room without knocking. “I haven’t seen you around in a while. It’s like you almost work as much as dad does.” Her mother gave her a wry smile.
“No one works that much. Are you coming down for dinner?” she asked.
“No, I’m a bit tired. I think I’ll just go back to sleep,” Ashleigh yawned. Her mother shrugged and walked out with a mumbled goodnight. As soon as she was gone, Ashleigh locked her door and opened her window wide open again. Then she got back under the covers and drifted back to sleep.

lll

Jeanquenche threw Ian into the wall a few feet away once again with a horrible laugh. Pain spread across Ian’s rib cage and he crumpled onto the ground.
“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” Jeanquenche called tauntingly as he walked towards him. “Come and play with me! You can’t be all tuckered out just yet! We’ve just begun!”
Jeanquenche was definitely stronger than he remembered. For a moment, he wondered if this newfound strength was given to him by Serrano as part of their bargain. Either way, there wasn’t a possibility that he would last against him much longer. He had to get away.
Jeanquenche snatched him back into the house by the tail when he’d made for the window as a sleek panther.
“No, you don’t, little pussycat! It’s time you learned to respect real adults, and I’m about to teach you how myself!” he laughed evilly. He swung Ian up by the tail so high, he almost touched the ceiling. Fortunately, Cats always landed on their feet, Ian thought dumbly. But Jeanquenche didn’t give him the time for a perfect landing. He caught him in one arm, knocking the breath out of him completely.
Jeanquenche let him drop onto the floor carelessly. Ian curled up pathetically, trying to catch his breath.
“This is rather a sorry display of strength, little cat. Aren’t you supposed to be an elite guardian? How very pitiful you are. I’ll tell you what. I’ll let you go after all. You not as much of a threat as I thought you were. I’ll have to relocate, though. You are so bothersome with your persistence in futile assaults; I’ll never get any work done!”
He stepped over Ian to the dream basin and poured its silvery-gold contents into a pear-shaped glass bottle. He put a corkscrew tightly on it and stepped back to Ian.
“You must understand, it’s nothing personal. Just business,” he said apologetically. Ian strained an answer out.
“You don’t have to do this. There are other ways,” he choked. Jeanquenche gave an impatient sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Please, spare me the speech your little princess has already laid upon me. Oh, say hello to her for me, by the way. She does such great art pieces. She’s one of my best students. Oh, how ironic my double-life is!” he mused gallantly. “Well, anyways, I’ll see you another time. Maybe by then, you will be worthy to be called the princess’s protector.” He stepped back over Ian and left out of the house whistling an upbeat tune.
Ian rolled over onto his stomach. His breathing was still rattling and panting. He stood to his feet, stumbling. He had to get back to Ashleigh’s home. For the love of everything precious, he would protect her until the last breath in his body left him. But if things kept going as they did, that wouldn’t be much longer.
lll

Ashleigh was suddenly awakened when a dip of weight on her mattress rolled her over. She squinted up at Ian.
“I am in need of doctoring, princess. If you will, please got fetch your healing kit without your mother noticing.”
His hair was frazzled and he was sweaty. There was a long gash on his cheek. Ashleigh sat up fast to get a better look at him.
“Ian, what happened!” she demanded ferverently. He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep, slow breath.
“I ran into Jeanquenche. We… had a disagreement,” he said sluggishly.
Ashleigh took his face in her hands and stared at him with concern.
“You got into a fight! Why? What did he do?” she asked. She let go when he flinched at her tight hold. “Sorry.”
“He is the enemy. I am obligated to confront him whenever I can. There does not have to be a reason,” Ian said firmly.
“But something did happen. What did he do to you?” she persisted. Mr. Jean was apparently more dangerous than she thought him to be. How dare he do this to Ian! She was really gonna let him have it when she saw him again. She was gonna…Oh, he was dead!
“It does not matter. Please, attend my wounds, or I fear I might bleed to my death,” he said weakly. Ashleigh nodded and rushed down to the closet in the hallway to get the first aid kit. Her mother was in bed. She dug out the kit and rushed back upstairs. Ian was lying on her floor now. She sat down beside him and moved his hair back from his sweaty forehead.
“Why are you on the floor? It’s freezing in here. I’ll close the window-“
“No, I am burning in my skin. The floor is nice and cool to me. I did not want to ruin your sheets anyways. Please, hurry. I am weak,” he said. Ashleigh opened up his tattered school shirt and gasped. His chest and stomach was cut up and bruised to the point where she could hardly believe he could stand it. She quickly took out the peroxide, gauze, sterile pads, and bandage tape and started to patch him up. She treated the cuts on his arms and face. Only hesitating for a second, she took off his pants and fixed up his legs, too. Thankfully, he was wearing boxer underwear.
“There, all done. Can you stand?” He nodded, but continued to lie there. She took to stroking his hair to keep herself busy. She couldn’t believe how scared he’d made her when he’d come in here. Her heart was still pounding.
“Now, tell me what started this fight. Did he provoke you?” she asked. He didn’t answer her. Instead, he changed the subject.
“Jeanquenche told me to tell you hello. He also boasted on how you’re his favorite student in his art class.” A pang of guilt hit Ashleigh hard. She was quiet for a moment. What could she say?
“Ian-” she began, but he cut her off by snatching her arm up and yanking her down beside him so that he was face-to-face with her.
“You withheld information from me that was vital to my mission! And even now, there are things you’ve yet to tell me! You know why Serrano is after you, yet you will not tell me! My failure could mean your life! Do you understand me!?” he demanded with authority. Ashleigh looked down at him with hurt surprise.
“I know, but I didn’t think it was so important because-“
“Because!?”
“He….Serrano wants me because….he’s in love with me. I was never in danger of being hurt, just captured.” Ian was shocked speechless, so she went on quickly. “I didn’t want to tell you because I thought it would upset you-“
“Is there any man in any world that is not fond of you!?” he interrupted with exasperation. He sat up, wincing as he did so. “Every man I have met has some sort of attachment to you! Where does it end!?” He stopped, lost for words, and then looked embarrassed at his outburst. Ashleigh stood with a sigh.
“See, I knew you’d get upset! Ooooh, I hate that Mr. Jean! Why can’t he just back the heck off!?” she seethed. “I can’t stand this!”
“You could have at least told me that he was your instructor for Art!” Ian snapped suddenly, turning the blame back on her. “How could you possibly keep such a thing from me!? What excuse could you have for that?”
“What could he have done to me in a school in front of all the teachers and students!? I don’t really know about your world, but I’m pretty sure it’s not something you can advertise! And besides, you have so much to deal with now, I didn’t want to add to the stress you go through! And for the record, I… I decided not to go to prom,” she finished quietly. “It’s too much to worry with.”
Ian’s look softened a little. “It is not your job to worry. It is mine. This prom is important to you. You must go,” he said firmly.
“Not with you hurt like you are! You won’t be able to do much of anything to protect me. I’m calling Ethan and telling him I can’t come.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I will have healed by then. I will be fine!” he protested stubbornly. “You are going, if I have to drag you to the blasted thing myself!”
“Puh-lease! The prom is in a week and a half! There’s no way you’ll be able to go, much less drag me there!” she shot back smartly. She turned to grab her phone off her bed, but Ian miraculously got it before she could. He was obviously using great effort to keep himself up, but he stared her down angrily.
“I said no!” he said angrily, holding the phone out of her reach as she strained to take it from. “Stop, you’re hurting me,” he told her. She was pushing all her weight against him to reach for the phone on her tippy-toes.
“Well, you shouldn’t be so effing tall!” she whined. “Gimme my phone!”
“ Stop, or we’re both gonna-“ Too late. He lost his balance and they both fell in what seemed like slow motion onto the floor. Ian made a yowling sound that would have made her laugh if his elbow hadn’t gone right into her ribs and knocked the wind from her.
“Dang it, Ian! Why do you have to be so stubborn!?” she coughed. She reached above him and took the phone from his slack hand. He grunted a protest, but didn’t make a move to stop her. She quickly dialed the number and caught her breath while it rang.
“Hello?” Ethan’s voice said at the other end of the receiver.
“Hi, it’s me, Ashleigh. I just called to tell you that…” Ashleigh trailed off as she looked over at Ian. He was sitting up with a contemptuous and hurt expression. She bit her lip, not sure if she should do this anymore.
“Um, I was just wondering if everything was still going as planned for prom,” she said awkwardly, and Ian’s brows shot up.
“Yeah, of course. I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said eagerly.
“Okay, good. Well, I was just calling to make sure. I’ll talk to you later. Bye,” she said sweetly. She hung up the phone before hearing his good bye. She glared at Ian sullenly.
“You think you can always get your way by pouting, but you’re gonna be the one to regret it in the end. You’re going to sore as Hades, especially when you try to dance!” Ian just smirked at her.
“We will see about that. I am a faster healer than anyone I know, even in my world. I will be fine by Monday,” he assured her smugly. Ashleigh rolled her eyes and threw the phone at him. He caught it easily and she scoffed.
“I can see the effects of your super healing already. Which means you can sleep on the floor anyway. I’m mad at you, so I don’t want you around me. Now, I’m going back to sleep, don’t sneak out and get your butt kicked again!” she ordered.
“I got many things kicked, princess, but it certainly wasn’t my rear. Why would anyone even want to kick someone in the backside anyway?” he asked.
“’Cuz, doin’ it is fun,” she said, giving him a good nudge in the bottom with her foot to prove a point. He gave her a small shove, and then she shoved back. Then it suddenly turned into an all-out tickle war, and Ian soon had her on the floor begging for mercy.
“Okay, all right, I can’t breathe! Get off of me, you little fur ball of a boy!” she squealed helplessly.
“Fur ball, eh?” he asked teasingly, give her sides a good tickling squeeze. “I do not think that is a very nice thing for a young princess to say!”
“Get off me, or so help, I’ll-” Her threat ended in giggles until the tickling stopped and Ian was abruptly holing her a little too tight with his face pressed into her collar bone. He gave a long, shuddering sigh of exhaustion.
“It’s what you get for being such a tickle monster. You’re hurting again, aren’t you?” she asked flatly.
“Just give me a moment,” he said breathlessly. He laid there for at least five minutes before propping himself up to look at her. She gave a wry raise of her eyebrows as he studied her like a difficult puzzle.
“You really are angry with me, aren’t you?” he asked a little desperately. She pursed her lips at him, thinking about it.
“You made me real mad by accusing me of lame stuff, even though I was doing it to keep you from stressing out so much, and then you get even more upset when I try to help you by cancelling my date. You can’t be satisfied with anything I do, no matter how hard I try. So, why shouldn’t I be mad at you?” she asked.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to,” he said earnestly. “ I want to do everything I can to protect you, and you won’t let me! And even of you did… it appears I am not able to do so. Jeanquenche is too powerful for me. I do not know where to proceed from here,” he finished hopelessly. He collapsed back onto her and buried his face into her shoulder. His weight was a little heavy now that he didn’t have the strength to hold himself up. Ashleigh sighed and rolled him over off of her.
“Stop being so Emo. How do expect to get anything accomplished by moping around? Come on, up you go,” she said, standing and heaving him up.
“What are you doing?” he asked faintly. She threw his arm over her shoulder and they wobbled over to her bed. She let him fall back onto the bed with a tired sigh.
“Man, you’re heavy!” she exclaimed. “You can sleep here tonight since you’re hurt. I’ll lie on the floor.” She turned to walk to her closet for blankets, but Ian stubbornly caught her around the waist and pulled her down beside him.
“We can lie just like before. It will be better that way,” he said.
“No, it won’t, I might kick you in my sleep or start talking really loud. ‘Cuz, you know, the dreams,” she explained. Her heart was racing.
“It did not bother me before,” he said evenly.
“Yeah, because you left me as soon as I went to sleep!” she said hotly, then was embarrassed. Ian’s arm came around her tightly.
“Well, we will not have that problem this time. I am too weak to do much of anything. So, let us both rest. Tomorrow, I will be stronger, and I will have to go to some places to get things for the school. Now, go to sleep, princess.
“You impossible,” she said unconvincingly. She closed her eyes and listened to Ian’s heart beat as it slowly lulled her into sleep.


lll

“It’s not like it matters,” the boy said impatiently. “No one is going to know. We’re by ourselves here.” Ashleigh wasn’t so sure he was right, but then again, she couldn’t even remember what they’d been talking about.
“Of course it matters,” she said anyways. “And it should matter to you, too. Else wise, why would you want to do it so bad?”
“Okay, fine, if you want to be that way,” he sighed. Ashleigh glared at his pouting look. He always knew how to get his way.
“All right, we’ll do it. But just this once,” she added quickly.
“Of course,” he smiled victoriously. “Come on; let’s go to the meadow to do it.” Ashleigh didn’t remember the trip there, but they were suddenly at the same meadow as before, only they stood by a creek that trickled down hill this time. He stared at the water flowing for a long while. Then he turned to her with an anxious smile and a nervous light in his golden-brown eyes.
“You said you loved me, remember?” he asked, walking towards her slowly.
Ashleigh nodded and took a step back with each step he made forward. Why was he looking at her like that? What had she agreed to? He backed her against a tall, lone tree and looked down on her. He couldn’t be but eleven or twelve years old, but he was so much taller than her. How old was she?
“And I love you, more than anyone, especially my stupid family,” he said a little bitterly. His anger was gone soon, though, and his eager nervousness returned. “So, we should do what people in love do,” he finished, blushing a little.
Weren’t they too young for this? She thought wildly. What did he plan to do?
“Close your eyes,” he told her, “and don’t be so scared. It’s not like it’s gonna hurt. It’s supposed to be nice.” Ashleigh didn’t know if she trusted him as much as she’d thought she had. She hesitantly closed her eyes and cringed back when she felt his breath on her face. He was really close. What was he…?
It was just a little peck. So short and sweet, she barely even felt it. She opened her eyes in surprise to look at him. His face was flushed and he waited for her to say something. The only thing she could voice with relief was, “Oh.”
“I don’t understand what adults get so excited over. That was nothing at all,” he said with some disappointment. Ashleigh smiled understandingly. He really wasn’t anything but a little boy, even if she was herself in her younger person’s body. He didn’t really know anything about kissing or stuff that lovers do.
“Don’t look so crestfallen. You just didn’t do it right,” she assured him.
His face went redder.
“I didn’t? I… am sorry. I see others do it all the time, so I thought that it would be easy. You know how to do it, though. Show how this is done,” he said.
“Maybe when you’re older, boy-o,” she laughed, and he made a superior face at her.
“I am older than you are!” he declared. Now we’re getting somewhere, she thought. She might find out a little bit about how old she was.
“Yeah, by how much?” she shot back.
“Two whole years!” he declared. “In three months, I will be thirteen, and you will still be only a little girl!”
“Yeah, well, this little girl can still kiss better than you!” she teased, and he went so red, he looked like a crayon. He glared at her hurtfully. “Sorry,” she said quickly, “I didn’t-”
The boy laid one on her bluntly and hard. She squealed beneath his assault and tried to push him away.
“Show me how it’s done!” he ordered. “Or I’ll make you!” Ashleigh didn’t like the dark power his voice held. She looked at him with saucer-sized eyes, and then glared evenly at him.
“Then you don’t love at all!” she accused. “If you did, you wouldn’t make me do such a thing!” The boy looked at her with a wounded and guilty expression.
“I do! I’m sorry! I just really want to know!” he said earnestly, on the verge of crying. He was way sensitive, she thought. She sighed and hugged his tall form loosely.
“You will know, one day,” she promised. “But don’t worry about things like that for now. You’ve got a long childhood ahead of you, so be a kid.”
“You’re making no sense at all, but I will wait. I will wait for you as long as you need, Navia, if that is what you want.”


lll

Ashleigh’s eyes flicked open. How weird was that! That was the second dream of the boy that she had had! Who the heck was he? Her thoughts were interrupted by a long snore from Ian beside her. They had both fallen asleep horizontally on the bed with a throw blanket covering them. The wind whistled through the opened window, making the room chilly, even though Ashleigh was perfectly warm next to Ian’s overactive body heat.
Still, she didn’t feel safe while the window was wide open like that. She went to it and shut it. Outside, dawn was barely coming. She felt un-rested once again. It was going to be a long day.