In The Dreaming: Chapter Thirty Four "The Perfect Cover" (Fantasy Y/A Novel)

-I wrote the following novel nearly two decades ago. In the years between then and now I've honed my craft, and my perception of this world; my thoughts and ideas; have changed dramatically. However, I still enjoy the premise and have decided to do an overhaul of revisions and rewrites, though likely not until sometime next year. (Though I'm sure I'll do a little as I post chapters)

For now I hope you will enjoy a glimpse into my book writing beginnings...

They are the closest of friends though they have never met in waking life.

Prologue-PT1 Prologue-PT2 Chapter 1

Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10

Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13

Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16

Chapter 17
Chapter 18 Chapter 19

Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22

Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25

Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28

Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31

Chapter 32 Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty Four

Once back at the house they took turns taking showers and getting dressed, then decided to walk down to Mike's.

“This is so exciting!” Amy exclaimed.

“I’m getting kind of excited too. I really wish Dave was here, that would make it perfect.”

“I know. Once we get back upstate you’ll get to see him all of the time and it will be me wishing for Mike.”

“Aww, I know, that stinks.”

“But like you said, we won’t have a chance to get sick of each other.”

“Right.”

They walked up his driveway and Amy rang the doorbell.
Mike came out onto the porch with a big smile of greeting.

“Can you walk with us around the block? We want to ask you something,” Amy said with a return smile.

“Sure.”

They waited until they were a few houses away and told him the plan.

“Seriously, party on a boat, that’s awesome!”

“Well, not exactly a party.”

“Alcohol on a boat, no matter how many people, is still a party. Let’s walk over to Chris’s right now and see what he’s doing.”

“So it will be no problem for you to sneak out?”

“Actually I was thinking the old switcheroo would work better.”

“The old “switcheroo” what’s that?”

“'Mom, I’m spending the night at Chris’s', and vice versa.”

“That actually works?”

“Yeah, we’ve done it a bunch of times when we wanted to camp out on the beach. If they ever catch on we’ll just tell a friend to be a standby, that we stayed over there instead or something.”

They walked up Chris’s driveway and rang his doorbell. A very attractive, shirtless boy came out onto the porch.

“Hey Mikey, what’s up? Hey Amy, long time no see,” he grabbed their hands briefly, then turned to Aliyah.

“Who’s this?”

“My friend Aliyah,” Amy said with a grin.

“Nice to meet you,” he said and winked.

“Your mom home?” Mike asked.

“Nah, she’s out for the day, it’s just me. Why, what’s going on?”

They told him about the boat and his eyes lit up.

“Definitely, I’m in. Just the four of us?”

“Yeah, too many people is how you get caught.”

“No doubt,” he was looking at Aliyah in a way that made her feel a bit uncomfortable. This boy seemed older than fourteen, he had the look of experience, it made her a little nervous.

“Are you a shy girl?” he asked her.

“Um, no, not shy exactly.”

“I’ve heard that upstate kids move at a slower pace than we do here, is that right?”

Aliyah blushed.

“Hey man, don’t embarrass her.” Mike frowned.

“Sorry, I’m a bit forward.”

She shrugged, “No problem.”

He turned to Amy, “How does it feel to be back among the quick and cool?"

This time Aliyah was annoyed. She wondered if his comment pertained to relationships or intelligence.

Amy caught her vibe. “While it’s true that city life is a bit more fast paced and I have met a lot of ignorant people upstate, Aliyah does not fall into that category. She’s more intelligent than most sixteen year olds I’ve met, most likely she could run circles around you.”

“Really? I like a girl who knows things.”

Mike put his hand up. “Chris come on, drop the act, you’re not scoring any points here okay? If you really want to come it might work better if she didn’t hate you.”

“I’m sorry, you’re right. Let me start over. Hi, I’m Chris Carey, I’m fifteen, I play hockey, I’m a jock but not always a jerk. I tend to come on a bit strong but inside I’m really a sweetheart, really pleased to meet you Aliyah.” He held out his hand with a smile, this time there was nothing shifty in his eyes so she took it and smiled back.

“Okay, now that we are all introduced we should be getting back, they probably have dinner ready by now.”

“All right, so what’s the plan, what time and where are we meeting you?” Mike asked.

“The adults were up late last night so they’ll probably go to bed a bit earlier tonight, at least I hope. Why don't you wait for us down the street at about 11:30. If we’re not out right away, walk around the block a few times.”

“Sounds good. I’m just gonna hang out here, call my mom and tell her I’m staying, so I’ll see you later okay?” Mike entwined her fingers briefly and smiled, then they took off down the street.

“I don’t know about him Amy.” Aliyah said referring to Chris.

“I’ve known him for years, he can be a little obnoxious granted, but he really is a good guy. Mike wouldn’t be friends with him if he wasn’t. Besides, he’s hot and he’s an awesome hockey player. He’s been playing on a team with kids two and three years older than him since seventh grade. He’ll probably end up a big hockey star and you can say that you once hung out with him on a boat.”

“Well if you like him... do you think we’ll actually get out of the house at 11:30?”

“Yeah, we probably could have made it 11, I just wanted to be safe.”

They reached the house and were surprised to find a note on the table.

Amy picked it up. “They went out for dinner, they’ll be back at nine. They left money on the table if we want to walk up to the café and eat. Sounds good to me, how about you?”

“Definitely.”

They took the money and headed back outside. “Actually, this works out great,” Amy said.

“Why is that?”

“Because they’ll be drinking wine with dinner, that means by the time they get here they’ll be toast, wine always makes mom tired.”

“Who’s driving them?” Aliyah wondered aloud.

Amy laughed. “Uncle Will’s driving I’m sure. Even if he takes it easy on the wine he goes to bed early every night. We are in great shape, wine is like a sleeping pill, they’ll never notice now!”

They arrived at the house giggling, the adults were just pulling in.

“Well girls, did you have a nice time?”

“Yes.” They said in unison.

“Thanks for the money for dinner,” Amy added.

“Yes thank you, I tried seafood for the first time.”

“Oh you did, what did you think?”

“It was excellent.”

“Oh good. Well girls, we are pooped, aren’t we Mary?” Uncle Will had already headed inside.

“Yes we are, I think the beach took it out of me.”

“It does it every time.” Aunt Jane looked back at the girls, “How about you, are you tired or is your youth giving you that extra energy I so long to have back?”

“We’re a little tired. We rented movies to watch.”

“Oh good idea, the boys will be coming home and hogging up the downstairs television so you can just settle into your room. I have snacks in the cupboard if you get hungry.”

“Thank you,” in unison again.

They headed straight for their room and Amy popped in the graduation party movie.

“It’s 9:15, the movie’s an hour and forty minutes long. Hopefully by the time it’s over the adults will be sound asleep. Then I can go downstairs and tell the boys the plan, we can get ready and head out.” Amy whispered.

Aliyah nodded trying not to feel anxious.

The movie turned out to be decent, at least entertaining and before they knew it the credits were rolling. Amy hopped up and opened the door, listening. They had heard the boys come home about 40 minutes earlier and the T.V. downstairs was on. Amy crept out and snuck up the stairs to see if everyone else was sleeping. She came back down and opened the door giving Aliyah the thumbs up, so she got up and came out.

They went downstairs quietly and found Kiefer and Cody with a couple of girls watching a movie.

“Hey you's, still up?” Kiefer smiled. “This is my girlfriend Cassie and that’s Cody’s girl Krissy.”

“Kiki and Coco, Cassie and Krissy, did you plan that?” Amy asked.

The girls laughed and the boys grinned.

“Kiefer can we talk to you and Cody for a minute in the dining room?”

Kiefer’s eyebrows raised. “What about?”

“Please?”

They got up and followed them.

“Okay, basically I want to tell you what we’re doing just in case my mom or Aunt Jane discover that we’re not here. I know they’ll be mad no matter what, but they’ll be less mad if they don’t have to worry.”

“Go on,” Cody said, folding his arms, Kiefer did the same, his eyebrows still raised.

“We’re going to a party on a boat.”

“You’re what? With who?”

“Just some friends of mine, don’t worry I know them really well we won’t get hurt, we might have a few drinks, but otherwise you have nothing to worry about.”

“How are you getting there?”

“Walking.”

“Oh no, two young girls can not walk down to the bay this late at night.”

“We’re not walking alone, Mike and his friends are walking us.”

“Mike from down the street?”

“Yup.”

Kiefer and Cody gave what was obviously exaggerated sighs and Aliyah began to relax.

“So you’re plan is to sneak out, walk to the bay with Mike and his friends, party on a boat, then sneak back?”

“Basically, yeah, that’s the plan.”

“Everyone’s sound asleep?”

“Yup.”

“All right, now this isn’t us giving you permission, and I do have to tell you that I think you shouldn’t go because if I don’t and the parents find out and I tell them you went then ma’ll be pissed at us. So basically we say it’s a bad idea, but we’re not tattle tales, understood?”

“Absolutely.”

“All right now what is your plan if the two of you are hung over in the morning?” Cody asked.

“Umm, I didn’t think of one, I just figured I’d suck it up.”

“No, my mom is way to keen for that. Your plan is that you snuck some beers out of the fridge and drank a little too much, and you’re very, very sorry, you will never ever drink again. Tell me your plan.”

They repeated it back to him and he nodded.

Kiefer took over. “If only one of you is hung over you can get away with “I think I ate something that didn’t agree with me", otherwise it’s Cody’s plan. And one more thing,” Kiefer reached in his pocket and handed Amy his cell phone. “If anything goes wrong go to the contacts list and dial Cody’s phone, he’ll keep it by him. Don’t hesitate to call if you feel any kind of trouble, okay? In fact, I doubt we‘ll have to tell the parents where you are at all, if they notice your gone I‘ll just call you and let you know, then you can pretend that you got drunk off the beer in the cooler and went for a walk.”

Amy hugged both boys. “Thank you, I love you guys.”

“We love you too kiddo, be careful.”

“We will.”

The boys went back to their girlfriends in the living room as Amy and Aliyah headed back upstairs.

“See, I told you that was the way to go. And now it’s not likely we’ll get in much trouble at all, even if we are caught, I love them!”

“You don’t think they’ll be mad at us for sneaking beer?”

“Well my mom will be a little mad, but she’ll get over it probably by the end of the day. Especially if we say how much we Hate alcohol, she’ll probably think it was a good lesson and figure it will keep us from doing it in the future.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.” Aliyah felt enormously relieved at this turn of events.

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