Dream Sequence: Flynn’s Crush

That night, as I slept in my tent, I dreamt of my past, before my ****, back when I lived in Earth. I was from a small town in the southern United States. There wasn’t much to do there, but luckily I was born in the Internet age, so all my entertainment was only a few clicks away. Outside of school, I spent most of my time at home, playing video games and watching anime. I never spent much time with friends, preferring to be alone. What few friends I did have didn’t really share my interests, so we never hung out outside of school.

That all changed one day, when I met Rachel. It was September of my senior year of high school. I was sitting in English class, my least favorite, and one I still contend shouldn’t be required all four years. That was when I first saw her. The transfer student. No, not from another school, my life isn’t that cliché. She was in a different English class but had to switch after her teacher got fired for **** use and no one could replace them.

I had seen her around school, a loner like myself, but I never spoke to her. When the teacher had her introduce herself, something about her made me instantly infatuated. Unfortunately for me, she was seated at the opposite end of the classroom. It took another month for me to interact with her.

In October, the teacher assigned us a research paper to do in pairs. She let us pick the topic and our groups, and Rachel and I ended up as the only two without a partner, so the teacher stuck us together. We were both pretty awkward, so it took us a bit to try and decide on a topic. She suggested we do a topic we were both interested in, and I went out on a limb and suggested anime. She actually agreed, as she was also a big anime fan.

Over the next three weeks, we spent class time together, both working on the essay, as well as just talking about our favorite anime. We decided to meet up at the town’s cafe in order to finish our essay with easy access to coffee. We sat at a booth in the corner, the only one with a power outlet to keep my laptop charged. Over the next few hours, we tossed ideas back and forth, slowly writing the paper. After a bit, Rachel decided to sit right next to me, so she could “see what I was typing”. When the waitress came around with refills, she commented on how cute of a “couple” we were.

Too shy and embarrassed to correct her, we simply took the compliment before laughing about it after she left. As time went on, I could feel her gradually shifting closer to me, until I could feel her sitting shoulder to shoulder with me. I looked up, seeing her staring at me. I decided to take a chance.

“Can I kiss you?” I asked, so nervous I thought the coffee was gonna come out the other end. She nodded, and I pressed my lips against hers, the kind of crappy, inexperienced kiss done by two people who didn’t know any better. By the time we finished the paper, we decided to meet here again, just to hang out and watch some anime. A real nice first date, I know, but it was nice. We got perfect score on the paper, and were surprised to find out that our teacher was also an anime fan.

Over the next few weeks, Rachel and I continued going on dates. We’d hang out at the cafe, each other’s houses, occasionally see a new movie. In November, we decided to go to a big anime convention down in Texas together. I had recently gotten a car from my parents, along with their blessing. We worked together to put some decent cosplays. I went as Kasubito, while Rachel went as pre timeskip Naomi from Two Thing.

We had the time of our lives at the con. Eventually, it was time to drive back home. We drove back during nighttime. On the way, however, we got lost, our phones having died, with no way to charge them. Deciding not to drive around aimlessly in the dark, we pulled off to the side of the road, deciding to wait it out until morning.

It was cold. Really cold. Luckily, my dad had be bring a blanket in my car’s trunk everywhere I went, so we huddled together in the backseat for warmth. That night, she suggested we do something else to keep warm. That night, we made love.

When we woke up, it was once more bright out. We got to driving again, stopping at the next rest station to recharge our phones before finally heading home. A few weeks later, we found out she was pregnant. We were excited about the news, as we were in love. We both picked up a part time job and started saving. We were pretty close to buying an apartment when it happened.

*HOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNKKKKK*

And suddenly, she was gone forever...