Dreaming in Digital

I had two dreams in my nap.

In the first dream, I went back to the store I worked, and I found Honeycrisp. He wrapped me in his arms, and I hugged him back. I couldn't let go -- I didn't want to.

The second dream was like a movie. I was a student as a young adult. It was a sunny day and I've gone to live in a studio with others. I had a crush on a Caucasian, blond guy, but he liked my brunette friend who was popular with the guys. He had a friend who was shorter, had dark hair and a tan. His friend would spend a lot of time with me. We lived in a multiplex with a large courtyard that had a projection unit and a white sheet to play movies on at night. We lived by the beach.

I heard from my friend, as well as my crush, that his dark haired friend had a crush on someone. They believed it was me. I was excited to hear that, because it sucked having a crush on a boy who likes your friend, and it sucks when you like both of the people involved. I was ready to forget my feelings for the blond and move on.

One morning, we were all at the beach. I was in a little shack built as shade with my crush. We laid on our stomachs, watching my friend under a giant, yellow umbrella in the sand. She was selling something she made. His dark-haired friend strutted towards her, and asked her something that was out of an earshot to us. He had a bouquet of flowers, wrapped in coloured paper and cellophane in hand. She pointed in the direction of two girls who approach them. Dark-haired got down on a knee and presented the flowers to her, saying something that excited the two girls. I felt my heart sink.

My crush gave me a sympathetic hug. "I'm sorry," he said. "I thought he liked you for sure."

I applied and got hired back at my old grocery retail job, but instead of a store, we were all inside an old house in the suburbs, and we were more students than clerks and cashiers.

There was a man in the garage. After introductions with him, I asked, "who runs the store now?" Knowing I meant, 'what's the hierarchy of power like?', he told me Shortbread and two others were (managers were just there for show). As I was talking to him, I felt someone's tall shadow creep up on me. Turning around, I was happy to see Honeycrisp. I squashed him in a long hug. Instead of his regular Swiss Army backpack, he had a messenger bag in black; it reminded me of a (fictional) day I rewrote his notes to a legible state. 

After the hug, I took his hand and we went into the house, and to a cramped bathroom. I sat on the toilet seat cover and he laid his head on my lap. I folded my torso over and sandwiched him in a hug. We stayed like that for a little while, enjoying each other's... aura? Presence? I missed being around him. 

Whether or not this was a school or a store, I kept my eye on my watch until it was time to get started. He got up and left, and I left a couple of minutes after to a classroom we both were required to attend. 

Everyone in the class didn't care about rules, or what everyone else was doing. They just needed to show up. The professor put a movie on a screen hung on the wall, but no one paid attention. This was normal and expected. I walked in, past Honeycrisp, pretending I didn't know him. I sat alone in a corner. The prof asked, "what are you going to do, (name)?" in an accusatory tone. I shakily replied I was going to learn today.