Christina began walking home after a long day at school. ‘No fourteen-year-old should have to endure that kind of torture,’ she thought to herself. She had had a really bad day. It was her first day at this new school, and no one liked her. They said she was too energetic and jovial all the time. The fact was, she wasn’t. At least not all the time, she wasn’t. She grumbled about her classmates…they were way too critical.
She dragged her briefcase behind her on the sidewalk. People passed on either side. Typical day, same faces, normal weather, everything the same. Another girl, about her age, bumped into her. She looked distracted, then saw Christina who she had pushed against the concrete barrier. Her briefcase had hit the barrier and fallen open.
"Oh, I’m sorry." They both looked down and saw the contents of Christina’s briefcase on the ground. "Let me help you with that."
The two bent down and began shuffling papers around and into her case. "I was just on my way from school too," the girl said. "What’s your name? I’m Lisa."
"I’m Christina."
"Bad day?" Lisa could tell by her tone.
"Yeah, I’m new at the school down the street. Fujiwara Jr. High. It’s a private school."
"I can’t say ‘I can relate’. I hafta go, my sister’s home by herself. I’ll see you later, ok?"
Christina nodded, and they each continued on their way. She got home and crashed on the couch.
All of a sudden, Christina was in a beautiful palace. The air was warm and the weather was good. Lisa was there, as well as another girl that she didn’t know. They were all dressed beautifully, like goddesses.
They were at a ball. All around were people dancing and having a great time. Three boys approached Lisa, Christina, and the other girl. Christina went off to dance with a particularly handsome one. He told her jokes and made her laugh. That was just the kind of guy she liked.
The dark-haired girl wasn’t dancing, but Lisa was.
Suddenly, there was a great commotion, and the palace doors opened. A very handsome, tall prince stood there. Lisa and Christina stopped dancing and found themselves in a crowd of eager young princesses. One of them, she noticed, was dressed even more magnificently than any other. She was standing with who must have been her boyfriend, looking on. The blond beauty began to turn to Christina. She opened her mouth to speak.
Christina snapped awake. She put a hand on her head. "What was that? That dream… It seems somehow familiar. I’ve been studying too hard. But that girl…that one princess-"
"Hey, Chrissy, want some waffles? I made them earlier, but you were asleep." Christina’s mother was leaning into the room.
"No thanks, maybe later."
"How was school?"
"I’ll tell you later."
Her mom, wondering why Christina was acting so different, watched her as she went up to her room. When she got there, she dropped her briefcase onto her desk and looked around. She fell backward onto her bed and sighed. ‘If my life could just stop being to dull…If it were like that dream…it would be perfect.’
The next day, to her surprise, Christina saw the dark-haired girl from her dream at school. She was walking with her lunch tray to the table at the far corner of the mess hall. Christina got her food, stepper out of line, and nervously approached the table.
"Excuse me, um, what’s your name?"
The girl, a little confused by the confrontation, replied hesitantly, "Jessica."
"I’m Christina and…I really don’t know what I’m doing, just excuse me-" She began to walk away.
"Wait. You look familiar to me. We’re not in any classes together, are we?"
Christina shook her head and turned briefly back to the table. "My name is Christina."
"No, I guess we aren’t, I don’t know anyone by that name. I’m Jessica."
Jessica and Christina bonded right after that. It turns out that Jessica was an outcast because of her silent genius. She was a ‘brain’, and at that school, brains weren’t liked. They got to be great friends, however, Christina decided to keep her dream to herself. She didn’t know what it meant, and it may’ve not been the best idea to tell her new friend.