The dreams come every night. They're filled with strange landscapes, creatures, and cities that you've never seen or heard of before. These dreams are weird compared to other dreams that you've ever had. They feel very real and vivid. It's like a lucid dream, but a much more intense experience. It's almost as if you were actually there. Strong desires boil to the surface during the dreams.. For @Daylan Jackie, the dreams incite a sense of exploration. The yearning of finding someplace new and exciting. For @moonblack @Tjf Ellie and Nicole, the dreams incite a sense of freedom. The yearning of being able to be yourself. For @Auraicide Astrid, the dreams incite a sense of rediscovery...Yet also a sense of impending doom. In the end, the dreams end as all dreams do and these feelings slowly fade. However, it is strange that these dreams have been plaguing each of you for almost two weeks now. They reoccur nightly with no break between. For now, you're all humans with human parents(except Astrid probably who presumably lives on her own), human desires, and most importantly...Human School. It's yet another Monday and by the time you eat breakfast and arrive at the school. The four of you are at least aware of each others' existences. Jackie and Ellie are probably the most familiar with one another considering they both are in similarly athletic circles. Of course, Ellie is one of the most popular girls in school as well. Astrid is more popular than she realizes. A lot of the male students would definitely "enjoy" her company, but her subtle oddities and tendency to hang out in the art room. Unlike the other four, Nicole stands on her own. She doesn't get much attention as she lacks a large number of friends and hides in the shadow of the popularity of her sisters (who go to the same school). Very few people know of her interests and the attention that she gets is usually negative. Bullying...
That dream again... Nicole thought as she took her usual seat in the back of the room and waited for class to start. It's so... real. It almost feels like I could go visit that mysterious world... I wish I really could – it seems beautiful... visiting new places, meeting new people, finding new lovers who don't care how much of a pervert I am... it would be so nice... too bad it's all just a dream... Her thoughts kept going back to the strange, yet enticing, dream as another boring day of school began.
She saw it. Or...she saw something. Astrid tried to recollect it. She didn't understand exactly what she saw, but the imagery was burned into her mind of golden gates and mythical beasts. As she sat down to make her sketches for her art, the influence of them guided the scratch of her pencil as it took shape. Developing them and color them was a process to give them life. She wasn't quite sure of all the things she made, but other art students seemed usually impressed by the vividness of her allegorical and fantastical art. It always filled her with a sense of nostalgia for reasons she wasn't sure why. Growing up, she always loved those books and shows. Like when...as she sat at her desk, she made a face as a thought crossed over her. She tried in her head to actually think of an example from her childhood, but she was drawing a blank. She must be getting too old. "Looks cool. That's a cyclops, right?" Hana looked at the paper to see the scenery that the orange haired girl had put onto paper, of some kind of giant one eyed ogre like being battling with a woman whose half snake. Astrid wasn't even sure what her idea was when she started drawing, but the details looked accurate. Just too bad the assignment was supposed to be modern art influences but, oh well. Astrid glanced at her creation again, more than a little proud. "Yeah. I don't really know what I had in mind. I think the gorgon's probably mad at him for being loyal to Zeus. I'd be mad too since in the stories, I think the greek gods were jerks who made her like that in the first place. So I guess..." She brought her pencil to a small spider, scuttling across the battlefield, completely unnoticed by the much bigger and scarier monsters. "That must be Anasi, the Trickster. He's up to no good and probably going to bit the winner once they're weak." "...that's an African god though, right? Why would he be hanging around greek monsters?" Hana made a similar face. History was one of the few subjects she was actually good at. Astrid only could give a more puzzled look, apparently having managed to confuse even herself with her latest doodle. "I dunno." She really didn't. She couldn't give any adequate explanation to whatever thought popped into her head. Ice Dragons wrestling with air ships or golem warriors exploring the bottom of the ocean for sunken treasures. She never knew why the things she ended up drawing were such bizarre imagery. They just were. Every now and then, she would do creatures that don't otherwise exist. Weird things, with multiple limbs, bodies of glass, or cosmic looking forces, abstract in appearance and design, their forms serving no apparent purpose or function. But whenever criticized for drawing something with impractical proportions or asymmetrical anatomy, Astrid would always insist that's what it was supposed to look like. The scene before her made much more logical sense in comparison to those. As she picked up the first of her light pencils to color it with the precision of surgeon, Hana had to raise an eyebrow again. "Why is the cyclops blue though? Not gray? Or..just kind of human colored?" Astrid didn't look up. She didn't have a complex answer to give, but Hana knew what her answer would be. "Because he's blue." And it felt right. Her artistic imagery contained absolutely no logical or coherent thought. Usually that was enough to impress a lot of other artists and students with the vividness and imagination of them, but it was widely agreed she always needed to be doing her own thing and was held back by her lack of willingness to follow proper instruction. She was only here to do art though. Any math or business classes were just as a minor because Hana made her do it and one could guess whether or not if she'd take it seriously. She continued working on her latest picture for a bit, filling it in with more proper coloration and taking time to emphasis the use of shadow from the surrounding pillars to create a deceptively complex scene to properly animate that proved an expert level of technique in her hands, when she wants to.
Sometimes life can have moments where someone finds themself living out the basis of a cliche. In this case, that was true for Jackie as he ran down the street towards school, his book bag hastily hefted over his right shoulder as he muttered under his breath about how he was not going to make it on time while clenching a toaster waffle between his teeth. While he had never been the most punctual student, it was rare for him to be (literally) running this late. But that dream he had in the morning had just been so incredible that he had slept through his alarm. It had felt so REAL. He swore he could smell the grass of the forest and the wood of the trees he had been leaping between like some kind of ninja. The caress of the breeze felt as if it was still lingering on his skin and he had just had this feeling of absolute freedom. Not needing to worry about anything but running ahead full force as he approached whatever mysteries were in or beyond the woods. "No running in the hall!" ... Which was the exact opposite of the feeling he had currently as he skid to a halt in front of his locker, finished wolfing down the last of his breakfast, and waved at the teacher in question who had given the warning. "Sorry, Ms Berkley!" he shouted as he quickly stored away the books he did not need for his first classes and gave the teacher another apologetic nod before slipping into the (fortunately) near-by classroom. Once Ms Berkley's gaze was no longer on him, he let out a sigh of relief and sat down at the first available desk... which was closer to the back than usual due to his near tardiness. Still, he was nothing if not adaptable as he took a quick look around and smiled at the only other student near him who did not seem preoccupied with another discussion at the moment. "Morning," he greeted @moonblack Nicole with a boyish, friendly smile.
Imagine that, huh? A whole new world to explore, no expectations, no demands, just...an adventure... Ellie sighs, as the waves wash around her thighs. "You're fantasising about one of those dreams again, huh?" April looks over at her friend. "I thought the whole reason we skipped class to come down to the beach was so you could 'take your mind off of things'. Now you drag me down here, and you're moping." She sighs. "What's wrong?" Ellie rolls her eyes at her best friend's words. April is a good person at heart, and the most reliable friend you could ask for, but God if she couldn't be bitchy at times... "I don't know, Ape, I just... I feel like there's something...more that I could be doing with my life, besides being a good student, and good eye candy." April scoffs at Ellie's words. "Oh, you don't want to be eye candy? That's why you're wearing that?" She gestures to Ellie's swimsuit. Inspecting her reflection in the water, Ellie can't exactly deny that she'd chosen a swimsuit likely to get attention. Noting the looks she's getting from various men and even a few women, she can't deny that the attention is far from unpleasant. "No." She admits. "It's not that I don't want the attention, I just don't want it to be all I am." After a few moments, April nods. "So," she changes the subject, "these dreams of yours involve you going into some magical world with monsters and magic? Heh, you sound like the protag in some isekai anime or something. I always knew you were a nerd at heart." The dark haired girl teases. "Still, I have heard rumors about that sort of thing. People having dreams about different worlds, before mysteriously disappearing. Who knows, maybe you'll get a chance to see this dreamland in person?" Ellie shrugs, knowing that April has a pretty huge obsession with 'magic' and different worlds, probably due to her other obsessions: Death metal, and weird Japanese RPGs. "You read too much of that occult stuff. Anyway, pleasant as this has been, we should probably get back to class before the teachers notice we're gone." Sighing, she exits the water with her friend, drying off before two start getting back into their regular outfits. Striding through the halls, the two walk into class. As April does her best to ignore everyone, Ellie decides to say hi to some of the people she knows. @Auraicide She gives Astrid a smile and a nod as she walks past, though since the girl is already deep in conversation, she leaves her alone. @Daylan The pink haired girl approaches Jackie, smirking as she sees how flushed and exhausted he looks. "Hey, Jack." She raises an eyebrow. "Burning the candle at both ends again?" Seeing that Jackie was speaking to someone, Ellie turns to get a look, seeing the seeming wallflower, Nicole. @moonblack "Hey!" Ellie smiles, reaching out a hand in greeting. "Nicole, right? I've seen you around, here and there, but I don't think I ever got a chance to introduce myself. I'm Ellie." (Had a bit of writer's block, and I'm not hugely keen on this post, but whatever.)
“Morning, Jackie,” Nicole returned the greeting with a polite smile, “running a little late? Did you oversleep?” “Oh, hi!” Nicole was a bit surprised when a second person approached her. Two people talking to her was two more than usual. “Yes, I'm Nicole. Nice to meet you, Ellie!” She shook the girl's hand. They had seen each other before, but never spoken beyond a polite greeting.
"Hey Ellie," Jackie replies with another grin, taking a moment to wipe the sweat off his brow and get his hair back into something resembling order. Deciding to answer both of their questions at once, he adds, "Kinda. You guys ever have a dream you just don't wanna wake up from easily? Even though in the back of your head you know you're gonna get some extra sprinting practice in if you don't?"
"Likewise. Feel free to stop by my table at lunch, or something, if you get bored. Always nice to meet someone new." Ellie shakes Nicole's hand firmly with a smile, exuding extrovert energy. "Err, that's kind of a specific question. Why, you dreaming about someone, Jack?" She teases. "I mean, yeah, to be honest. I've been having some dreams like that lately, actually."
“I... yes, actually. I am... familiar with that feeling. In fact, I had such a dream just last night...” Nicole admitted hesitantly, not giving any details. They would probably just laugh at her if she told them how real the other world seemed, anyway. “Uh... thanks, I might...” Nicole was a bit surprised by how energetic Ellie seemed.
"Not really the 'someone' kinda dream..." Jackie replies before giving Ellie a joking wink, "... though those can be kinda fun too." "It's weird, right?" he asks, turning to the other girl, "You just got that feeling you want to be THERE instead of HERE that you can't let go of, right?!" "You should take Ellie up on it. I know some people try to spread rumors that just because she's popular she's some kind of snobby bitch but she's really nice!" Jackie throws in a thumbs up to further emphasize this statement.
Ellie gives a chuckle at Jackie's statement. "I'm sure you have plenty of those dreams. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Jack." Looking at Nicole, she realises that the girl is probably too shy to talk about her dream. No matter, shyness is a problem that Ellie understands conceptually, but has never experienced herself. Maybe the girl will be more comfortable if she goes first. "Well, the dream I've been having lately is pretty weird. I keep imagining myself in this...fantasy land, for want of a better term. Monsters, magic, that kind of thing. But it felt real, as if I were a part of it. I dunno, maybe I'm weird, or a nerd at heart." She chuckles.
“That's... a pretty accurate description, actually...” Nicole admitted with a nod. “I see... well, I wouldn't know about any rumors. In general I don't pay much attention to rumors and gossip because they are rarely reliable. More often than not people just make stuff up...” She shrugged.
“Huh, that's... very similar to my own dream, actually.” Nicole admitted. “If I didn't know it was impossible I would say we were dreaming about the same world...”
Jackie smirked. He had gotten the occasional... intimate dream or two about Ellie that he would not have minded playing out in reality, it was true. Though he had not quite worked out how to let her know that without seeming like TOO much of a horny weirdo. And besides, it was not like she was the only one. There had also been a few about that artist girl ( @Auraicide Astrid was her name?) who looked like she had plenty to... hold onto... but there were stories that she was kind of hard to approach and he had not spotted any obvious opening to attempt that himself, so he had been content for now just to sneak a glance or two her way and let his dreams run wild. And given how cute her shy act was, he was pretty sure he would be having a couple about Nicole in the near future... again, not that he would tell her that flat out. That would be weird. Jackie blinked. "Huh. I kinda had something similar. Like, I didn't see any monsters or anything but the world did kinda feel a bit... fantasy-ish and I was moving way too fast for a person and there was just this sense of... something MORE just over the next horizon."
Miss Triar enters into the classroom. She's tall with quite a large pair of breasts and pink hair. Her Amber-colored eyes have an unusual glint about them. She has an allure about her and the clothes that she wears don't often conform to the school standards. Still, for some odd reason, the rest of the staff don't bother her. She appeared quite suddenly and replaced your last teacher a couple of weeks back with little fanfare. She isn't mean, but in the short amount of time that she has been around having gotten a reputation for being able to quiet problematic students with a stare. Her other "feature" is that she often goes into long-winded lectures that can sometimes go over even the most astute of students heads. "Good Morning Class," Her eyes wander across the talking students until they quiet down. "Today we are going to be talking about dreams and what meanings they may have. There is a lot of discussion about why we have dreams and their meaning." She turns and starts writing on the blackboard as she continues, " when a child is very young they do not have the capability to express themselves very well in words. They carry feelings inside and sometimes do not know what to do with them. So, there are two paths the child can take. Either the child finds and outlet to relieve and deal with what they are feeling inside, or they repress it. If the child is able to find an outlet and start a flow of thoughts and feelings, than that is obviously a lot healthier for the child. It allows them to open themselves and bring what is in the darkness out to light, so to speak. However, if the child is unable to create an outlet for whatever reason, then this creates a build up over time and the child starts to repress their feelings, thoughts, wishes or emotions. Repression throughout early childhood causes a personal trend in the child’s behavior. It allows them to experience repression as a way of dealing with things as opposed to expression, when in fact repression does not deal with anything, it only puts it aside. This is not good for any child and is most likely inadvertently taught by the parents. It is a backwards way of thinking that will hold a child back from growing up. Once the child learns unknowingly how to repress or hold back their “wishes” it can become a habit and seem like the right thing to do. As the child grows older and does not learn to deal with things, it can become a problem. However, most people find some way of expressing themselves and only experience mild repression if any at all. Anyway, these repressed “wishes” are not gone totally from consciousness, only lost somewhere within the subconscious. This is where dreams come into play. Dreams are a person’s subconscious way of trying to deal with those unexpressed, unfulfilled, unachieved ideas, wishes or thoughts. Of course, another aspect of dreaming is the possibility of other realities. It seems silly as there has not been any definitive proof that other universes exist, but it would be hard to argue against the possibility. Perhaps instead of repression, more vivid dreams could be connected to an alternative version of you in a different time or place. Someplace where instead of repressing dreams, they were fulfilled." She stops for a moment and turns to the rest of the class and chuckles. "Of course, that last part is entirely speculation. So class, what I want for you to do for tomorrow is write down a description for a recent dream that you've had. It can be about anything: Travelling, getting superpowers, a....personal encounter with another student. Just make sure to change the names so they don't know who you're referring to. School restrictions on writing about violence or sex won't apply here. This is entirely for educational purposes." Finally the class ends and you all depart. @Tjf As you leave, April sighs in irritation. Of course, she rarely does her homework anyway, but she seems to be more mildly irritated by this assignment than usual, "Great, so now we have to write about our dreams and feelings? I barely remember mine and the ones I do have, I don't really feel like sharing" @Auraicide Hana seems pretty excited about the assignment, but she seems more interested in something else, "So this assignment seems really right down your alley with your creativity, Astrid. what do you think you're going to write about?" @Daylan Unfortunately for Jackie, he seems to have other issues. Ms Berkley is waiting for him. "Jackie, can I talk to you for a moment?" She has a slight frown on her face. "I've spoken with the principal and while you aren't usually late, we also don't want you to get into the habit of being late for school. So to make up for your tardiness, I want you to spend an extra half hour in my classroom before you go home." It's not that Ms Berkley is a mean teacher, but she is a bit overcompensating. She's the youngest teacher at the school and is actually not much older than Astrid. So she has a lot to prove. Typically she's understanding and sympathetic when it comes to homework and post-school activities, but when it comes to discipline...she doesn't pull her punches. @moonblack Nicole follows along with the rest of the group and hears all of this excited (and unexcited) discussion about dreams.
“I dunno yet.” Astrid’s face actually shifted to looking somewhat serious. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure I have mental problems.” Her parents died in a bus crash and she was taken in by Dante’s family. He’s a good friend and almost like a brother, and her godparents never treated her poorly or anything, but she always had to wonder about what would’ve been. Forcing a smile, she pushed the thought out of her head. “Anyway, even I don’t know how my brain works. Weird stuff just happens.”
An alternate world? It would be nice if I could visit the world from my dreams – it's a beautiful place... Nicole thought as she followed behind the other students leaving the classroom. Describing everything I have seen in my dreams will take too long, so I should pick one area to describe. Maybe the large forest that looks like a place inhabited by forest elves... or that impressive city with the magical ships flying above it... or the snow-covered mountains... nah, that last one is too mundane... Maybe I'll just describe whatever I dream about tonight. Nicole eventually decided as she headed toward her next class.
"That was weird," Jackie mutters to himself as he walks out of class. It was a weird subject from a weird (if hot) teacher, and he started to mull over how he might transcribe the kind of dreams he had been having in any sort of coherent manner... ... and thoughts of the assignment came to a dead halt as he heard Ms Berkley's words. "But I--" he reflexively started to protest but then cut off as he remembered that the last student who had openly defied Ms Berkley was STILL serving a stretch of after school detention for their repeated flippancy. "... yes, ma'am," he answers once he has his impulse to object under control, though he cannot completely repress the slump of his shoulders at the thought of his free time being cut down.
"What, not in touch with your sensitive side?" Ellie teases her friend, but she knows when to drop the subject. More interesting is this new teacher and new assignment. Normally, Ellie adopts a 'do the work, go home' policy to school, not really thinking more about any assignment than she needs to to get a good mark. On this occasion, though, a bunch of random people having similar dreams, and then the new, mysteriously hot teacher giving an assignment regarding dreams? Something about it strikes her as weird. In any case, not much she can do but just get the assignment done, so Ellie leaves the classroom, smiling at Nicole and Astrid and giving a smirk to Jackie. "C'mon, April. If you want, I'll write yours for you." Of course, she doesn't mention that she fully intends to fill April's 'dream report' with rainbows, ponies, and basically any other bright, colourful thing that the punk girl would despise.
Ms Berkley's expression softened a little at Jackie's slump. "I get it. it doesn't seem fair, but it's for the best. Bad habits need to be corrected before they become problematic. If it helps, instead of thinking of it as punishment...Think of it as an opportunity to meet new people and get a head start on your homework." _____________________________________________________________________ The remaining schoolday concludes with little else of interest and the last class finishes up. the students are free to migrate off to either go home or attend their extracurricular clubs or sports teams. Most of you are free to do the same...except for, of course, @Daylan Jackie. Once you arrive at Ms Berkley's room, you find most of the desks are pushed aside. There are only two that are available right in the center of the room. and directly in front of Ms Berkley. Ms. Berkley sees you walk in and motions at the seat. "Please, Jackie. Come in." The other seat is occupied by another student. She's another student in your class named Evelyn(or Eve). She has long, dark hair and light eyes that look almost grey. She's wearing a black zip-up hoodie that's open to reveal a rather plain black tank top underneath. It's a little short and you expect that if she pulls her arms up that you could see a fair amount of her belly. You know that she runs around in similar circles as Ellie and April, but is a much more unrestricted troublemaking seemingly to have no concern over whether she gets caught breaking the rules or not...Which often leads to her being punished where the others of her circles of friends don't. Spoiler Once you sit down, Ms Berkley addresses the two of you. "Good afternoon Jackie, Eve. I mentioned to Jackie today, but I don't want either of you thinking that you're here to be punished." Eve snorts audibly at that, but Ms. Berkley continues, "Instead I want you to sit down, relax and reflect on what brought you here. Why are you in detention? How could you avoid the issue in the future which landed you here? What can I do to improve? Think about those questions while you wait. Jackie, you'll be here for half an hour. Eve, you're here for the full hour. I hope you use the time wisely to reflect on your actions and get some of your homework done.” She then regards you for a few minutes before pulling out a book to read. Eve on the other hand seems more interested in something else. It's not long before Jackie notices her curious glances in his direction. She doesn't try to hide it and when she realizes that you notice, she speaks in a hushed voice, "so...What are you in for?" @Auraicide It seems like Hana has talked about nothing but this assignment and once the bell rings, things haven't really changed. "So do you want to maybe come to my place to do our Dream assignment Astrid? Or maybe we can go to yours...I don't think I've ever been to your place before." @Tjf As you leave your final class with April, a familiar face approaches. Spoiler "Ellie, I have a question for you." Nathan is a wealthy student who's pretty well known for his flirty nature and has had his eyes on you for a while. He has dark hair and is well-dressed and it's hard to say that he isn't attractive. Still, rumor has it that he has a list of people he wanted to date and with such a list, a popular girl like Ellie was bound to be on it. April had an unfortunate experience with Nathan a few months back and has been openly hostile with him since. You were never really able to get out the whole story about it and whatever happened seems like something that she just wants to forget about. He barely finished his statement before April confronts him, putting herself between you and him. "Get lost, loser. nobody's interested in your rich pretty boy attitude." Nathan steps past the grumpy punk girl much to her annoyance and ignores her grumping. "I was wondering if you wanted to maybe get some dinner with me tonight. I know of a pretty nice place that's....you know, quite expensive." @moonblack Nicole manages to make her way to her locker after class and opens it only to have it suddenly shut before she could get anything out. The locker itself was held shut by none other than Derrick. Spoiler You've met him before as he's been known to pick on you for your shyness. He's unaware of your closeted lewdness(as is most of the school). He's flanked by a couple of his male friends and his hand on the door of your locker makes him impossible to ignore. "So Nicole, The rumors going around the school is that the reason you don't have a boyfriend is that you're actually a lesbian. So tell me, do you like eating pussy?" His cronies snigger a bit at the crassness of their bully-leader. You've heard that boys who bully girls do it because they secretly like them, but it's hard to see that with his smug face looming over you.
