Dreamer Part 5 // Friendships, Theories, and the Difference Between Watching and Stalking

Oh my goodness so there are these two big projects that we finished right before break and NEITHER TEACHER has put in the grades and it’s THE WORST. I don’t want to wait!

Heya! ‘Tis Naomi, and I’m bringing you the next installment of “The Dreamer”. Which, if you didn’t know, is this story series about girls and dreams and… welp, maybe you should just read the previous chapters (or, if you’re like me and don’t have amazing long-term memory but don’t wanna reread the entire series, you can read the previously on…). Seems easier, yeah?

Previously on The Dreamer: Kurota feels this weird connection with her classmate Nova and isn’t sure why. Being a logical weirdo, she usually wouldn’t act on such a feeling, but this one is really strong and so she’s been watching Nova for the past few months. Nova, oblivious to Kurota’s creepy watching, is trying to deal with losing her sister to a fire.

These two get paired for an English assignment. And well, Nova hasn’t really been paying attention to school… and… you’ll see what Kurota thinks about that in this part! Yay!

Get Caught Up: Prologue (The Dream) | Part One (Soulmates, Dreams, and Homework) | Part Two (Sisters, Grandparents, and Other Lost Things) | Part Three (Observations, Awkwardness, and an English Assignment) | Part Four (Group Projects, Annoying Partners, and Zoning Out)

“… and she didn’t even know what the project was. Like she zoned out for the entirety of the speech. And I’m going to sound like a total nerd, but how is she not even a little bit excited to do a project on a way we’re hurting our environment that could get us to a national contest where we could literally win $500?” Kurota groans. She’s sprawled across Orenda’s floor as she complains about her group project. 
“See, you’re my best friend and as such I love you. But first off, since when was being a nerd a bad thing? And second off, how can you not take this as a good thing? You’ve been trying to talk to her and figure out what’s going on here since the beginning of school.” Of course Orenda thinks of it that way.

Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/adults-bed-blur-casual-206293/

“I think you’re getting it twisted because you’re the one who wants to talk to Nova. Not me.”
“Mhm. You’re still the one who wants to know everything about her, and talking to her is a way better way of doing that than creepily stalking her all the time.”
“It’s not stalking if I’m not following her.” Kurota protests.
“Well, creepily watching her then. Better?”
“Yes.” 
“Well when you and Nova have some special bond, I am always going to remind you that I was right when I said you should just talk to her, you crazy introvert.”
“Well when I totally fail this project because of my partner and then never talk to her again, I am always going to remind you that I was right when I said I should stick to watching, you crazy extrovert.”
“Wait, does this mean you’re going to give up on watching her?” Orenda jumps up from where she was lying. 
“Yeah, probably. What’s the point? Not sure why I stuck to this so long anyways since there’s no reason whatsoever that she’s important to me.” 

Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/adult-book-boring-face-267684/

“What if she’s your soulmate and you just decide that she isn’t important to you? Then you’ll never have a soulmate!”
“We are not going to your crazy theories again. I’ve heard them all enough times.”
“Alright, whatever. I know you don’t believe in magic and all that, but seriously? You should consider something that’s a little out of your comfort zone. Just saying.”
“Can we change the subject now?”
“Fine.”

And that’s that! Hope you enjoyed…

Dreamer Part 4 // Group Projects, Annoying Partners, and Zoning Out

We have a test. On the second week of school. Like just WHY? We also had to do math on the first day… seriously, people?!

Heya! So yeah, I have been sorta temporarily missing, but I’m sure it’s fine since I’ve been off and on for the past like 2 months and nobody’s gotten super mad at me yet. So that. I mean, in my defense SCHOOL EXISTS and literally just started so I might be scarce for a little longer. But anywho. Speaking of school…

Previously on The Dreamer (because if I wasn’t writing this I’d forget parts of this story over the long periods of time I’m making you wait between sections): Kurota feels this weird connection to one of her classmates, Nova, and she’s not sure why. So far, she continues to be an annoying non-magic-believer and tells her best friend Orenda that all Orenda’s theories (including but not limited to dream visits and soulmates) are wrong. Meanwhile, Nova’s dealing with losing her sister and grandparents to a fire.

Kurota’s been observing Nova from a distance for the past few months and then, in a stroke of fate (or just pure luck), Kurota and Nova are partnered for an English project.

Get Caught Up: Prologue (The Dream) | Part One (Soulmates, Dreams, and Homework) | Part Two (Sisters, Grandparents, and Other Lost Things) | Part Three (Observations, Awkwardness, and an English Assignment)

Nova used to love group projects
She also used to love talking to people.
Used to be popular.
Used to always know exactly what to say.
Used to be loud.
Used to be confident.
Used to be someone who got As and the occasional B.
She used to be a lot of things. But that was before Eli died. Before everyone decided that she was to be handled with care, and before she decided that she hated people for what they’d done to her sister. To her world. 
And so now she hates group projects. Especially the kind where she didn’t get to pick a partner who cares about the project just as little as she does. Especially this one, because Kurota Nadir is not the partner she would’ve picked. At all. Kurota had probably gotten honor roll her entire life.
Well, actually, correction, she’d probably gotten distinguished honor roll for her entire life. And she was not going to let Nova do nothing for this assignment. Which was unfortunate, because that was exactly what Nova planned on doing. 
As all this races through Nova’s mind, their English teacher is explaining the assignment, and Kurota (who’s now sitting at the desk next to her) is, of course, listening intently. Because it’s Kurota.
Nova, being the opposite of her partner, zones out for almost all of it, and the only part she catches is “So you can complain about your pairings and slack off on this project all you want, but it will still count as a grade for two classes and get two of your peers to a national contest. So start working.” 
And, well, the entire class is still silent. Awkward.
“It’s a little hard to do partner work silently, so unless you all want this to be very, very difficult, you better start talking now.” Their teacher’s voice sounds like it could snap at any moment, and Nova wonders what would happen if the entire class went on strike and didn’t talk. Maybe they’d get out of this stupid assignment with these stupid assigned partners. Like the one who had just started talking to Nova.
“Um, what do you think we should choose? Would it be better to do something more well-known like climate change, or something less well-known like water pollution?” Oh gosh. Nova had no clue what Kurota was talking about.
“Well, before we talk about that could you maybe explain exactly what we’re supposed to be doing?” Kurota rolled her eyes at that (or tried to at least – Kurota was not good at rolling her eyes and it just looked like she was glancing at the ceiling) and Nova could tell that this project was going to be a nightmare.

And that’s all for this part! We’re only like halfway through the actual story, but I’m very much looking forward to doing some extra Dreamer posts, so… what would you like to see? How I actually wrote it (like, you know, behind the scenes), deleted things/weird ramblings (the majority of which makes absolutely no sense), the things I based this off of (because it’s, ya know, cli-fi so I need to have some sort of a factual base… right?), a book trailer, or character aesthetics and a tad more about them? Or, like, something else that I can’t think of and you can would be cool too.

Anywho, bye for now!

Dreamer Part 3 // Observations, Awkwardness, and an English Assignment // Oh, and an Update Too

The more I write of Kurota, the more I think that I may have written a character who’s basically me except she doesn’t believe in magic. Which, whoops. But it’s fine. Definitely.

Heya humans (and non-humans, you too)! ‘Tis obviously Naomi, and I’m sortaaaaa excited to share Part 3 of The Dreamer with you? Definitely not the best part, but it’s necessary. Because we MUST BUILD THE PLOT OK? I have to make things move forward. And I’m not amazing at it. But we deal. Sooo… enjoy!

Get Caught Up: Prologue (The Dream) | Part One (Soulmates, Dreams, and Homework) | Part Two (Sisters, Grandparents, and Other Lost Things)

Four months ago, Kurota had decided that the best way to figure out what weird thing was going on with Nova Dodge was to observe her from a distance. Maybe Kurota would remember something that made this whole thing make sense. Maybe the weirdness that she seemed to be getting from Nova would seem less weird. And it was, in theory, a great idea.
The problem is that most theoretically great ideas have issues when they’re put into practice, and the biggest issue with this one was that the more Kurota observed Nova, the weirder Nova seemed. She wore the “cool” clothes and on the rare occasion that she talked, she used the right words and seemed confident enough. But the thing was, she wasn’t… social.
She sat alone at lunch (despite the fact that Orenda, who disapproved of Kurota’s plan of observing from a distance, had invited Nova to sit with the friends on several occasions), always worked alone when she could, and never raised her hand in class.
And the other issue was that, other than learning that Nova was even weirder than Kurota had thought, she had… well… not gotten any new information – there was no reason for Kurota and Nova to be connected, and that was the weirdest part. Because Kurota still had that feeling.
Orenda had, on several occasions, told Kurota to just go up and talk to Nova, but what was there to say? “Um hi, I feel like we have this weird connection and I wonder if you feel it too.” Or maybe, “I’ve been watching you for the past four months and you seem really weird. Are you good?”
Add the fact that, even when she wasn’t trying to explain to weird classmates why she’d been watching them for the past four months, Kurota was horrible at talking, and the answer to Orenda’s idea was always a firm “Yeah… no.”
So up until this point, Kurota and Nova had not said a word to each other. But, well, the thing is that when you’re in multiple classes with someone, it’s only a matter of time before you’re forced to interact. And that forced interaction finally happened on December 11th when partners for their newest English project were announced.
And when Kurota checked the list of partners, she had to read it again.
Because, well, Kurota’s partner for her new English assignment was Nova Dodge.
And later, when this was all in the past and Orenda had taken to repeatedly telling Kurota “I told you so”, she would usually add this part in and say that it had been meant to be. That this was just the universe’s way of telling Kurota that Orenda was right on many accounts – about how Kurota needed to talk to Nova, and about many other things too.
Kurota didn’t agree and always argued that she was bound to get partnered with Nova eventually. That it was just a matter of time, and that there was nothing magical about it. That however magical the connection between Nova and Kurota was, their meeting had not been magical at all.
But whoever was right, this assignment would change the lives of both Kurota and Nova. Whether it would be for the better or the worse was up to the two of them.

And yes, right, there was a quick little update for me to share – I felt like changing my home page, and so I did – if you’re interested, go check it out! Ohkay, yep, that was it.

Soo… that. See Encounter you on Monday!

Dreamer Part 2 // Sisters, Grandparents, and Other Lost Things

So school starts in a month, right? And do you know what the school has done about it? NOTHING. AT. ALL. I mean like, they’ve PROBABLY been preparing in ways that don’t involve sending us our schedules because that’s PROBABLY not the only thing that they do, but THEY SHOULD STILL SEND THE SCHEDULES RIGHT THIS INSTANT. And I should probably write this post right this instant too… I guess.

Guess what? I’m not dead! I’ve been working on a bunch of posts (and I ACTUALLY WATCHED Kiss The Ground, which I’ve been saying I’ll watch for like the last billion years, and so you all should be proud of me) and re-writing this chapter a million billion times. And well, I’m just going to publish it because like if I don’t, I’m not sure that I’ll ever get it done…

So, well, enjoy!

Get Caught Up: Prologue (The Dream) | Part One (Soulmates, Dreams, and Homework)

Joyce Acheson
Herbert Alderman
Teresa Ammons
Rafaela Andrade
Carol Arrington
Julian Binstock
David Bradburd
Cheryl Brown
Larry Brown
Richard Clayton Brown
Andrew Burt
Joanne Caddy
Barbara Carlson
Vincent Mario Carota
Denis Clark
Evelyn Cline
John Arthur Digby
Gordon Dise 
Eliane Dodge
Nova doesn’t keep reading. She can’t. After her sister’s name would be her grandmother’s, her grandfather’s. But maybe if she doesn’t read further, she won’t have to acknowledge… what happened. That her sister’s not coming back from her trip, that she’ll never eat her grandmother’s cookies or hear her grandfather’s stories again. 
Maybe if she doesn’t keep reading, she won’t have to acknowledge that their names are on a list titled “Deaths in Butte County’s Camp Fire”. Maybe if she doesn’t keep reading, the truth won’t settle in. Maybe if she doesn’t keep reading, she can keep living in denial. 
That’s not what Eli would want, says that tiny voice in the back of her head that’s been bothering her about the fire for the past 8 months. She pushes the thought out, out, out. But, in the way that bothersome thoughts often do, it keeps coming back. 
Looking at this list had been a bad idea in the first place. Her mom had suggested it, said that when Nova was ready, maybe learning more would help her to heal. 
Unless helping Nova heal meant making her feel like the world was falling apart, she was pretty sure that reading that list was not doing what her mom had said it might. So she closes the tab. What she should do right now is pick up her homework and do it. Because she has to be a normal kid. The world didn’t stop moving when Eli died. She doesn’t know if anyone really noticed her sister’s death, apart from a few friends and, of course, Nova’s family. 
It sure doesn’t seem like anyone does. In sixth grade, her teachers had been gentle with her because of the loss, taking her aside and asking how she was doing, if they could do anything. But now, in seventh grade, her teachers don’t know. Or at least they don’t know yet. 
So she has no reason not to get her homework done. She’s pretty sure that telling her teachers that she was reading through a list of names that included her dead sister instead of doing homework would probably not be the best way to start the school year. 
So she forces herself to stand up, walk over to her backpack, unzip it, and get out her homework. Forces her mind to focus on those actions, and those actions only. 
Because if she let her mind wander, she would start thinking of Eli, of her grandmother, of her grandfather. And she couldn’t let that happen. 
So she does her homework, and doesn’t think of a fire. 
Of a sister.
Of grandparents.
Of everything she lost.

And that’s that! I’m not sure if it’s the best version of the chapter, but it’s FIIINE.

Anywho, encounter you next time (I want to say “see you next time” but because I never actually see you, it doesn’t really work…)!

Also, update: WordPress is being very mean and won’t let me upload the correct featured image so uh… I guess we’ll deal with it?
Update #2: Correct featured image is up! Yay?

The Dreamer Part 1 // Soulmates, Dreams, and Homework

I am currently dying because I have a lot to do and I can’t read my book. Because you know, I should just be able to read and that should just take up my entire existence. Please?

Heya earthlings (and non-earthlings, hi to you too)! ‘Tis yours truly, and yep, I’m not dead. And also, yep, I didn’t find anything cool like Narnia or Hogwarts. I DID find a lot of really amazing books, but that’s irrelevant. This is not a book blog (although I’ve really been wanting to start a book blog cause like BOOKS ARE LIFE).

So you want to know why I didn’t post for like the entire month (yeah, I know that’s an exaggeration, but it’s fine)? Well, ya see, there’s not really a good explanation for that. Or, actually, the explanation is a long story involving fingers and cars (they’re not compatible), boredom (yes, boredom means being less productive. Don’t ask why.), and beaches. So you can just be glad I’m back (or not glad, but if you’re not glad, then I’m not sure why you’re reading this post so there.).

The OTHER thing that’s probably important to tell you is that I’m gonna be away for 10 days. I’m working on scheduling a few posts, but I won’t be reading your posts or responding to your comments ’till I return. Sorry.

*sits there awkwardly for a few minutes*

Oh, right, the actual post! I’ve just written a 5-paragraph-long intro and I haven’t said one word about The Dreamer. Whoops. Well, the 5 paragraphs were important, ok? Or at least 3 of them were. ANYWHO, today I’m bringing you the first “chapter” of The Dreamer, and if you’re not sure what that is, go check out this post (especially since that post also contains the prologue, which is important. So.).

I present to you…

Kurota’s 7th-grade future wasn’t looking super good. She couldn’t even get the easy first-day-of-school homework done because she couldn’t stop thinking that she knew the blonde girl sitting in the corner of homeroom. Nova, that was her name. Kurota was sure she’d never had a class with this girl, but there was something achingly familiar about her. 
And this was distracting Kurota from finishing her “My Life in Numbers” homework from Math 7. The easiest homework she’d get all year. If she couldn’t finish this, how could she be expected to get the hard stuff done? 
She exchanged her homework for her phone and made a mental note to try it again in an hour. Maybe her brain would be less foggy once she’d texted with her best friend.
Kurota: This might sound weird, but I feel like I know Nova somehow.
Kurota’s phone said that Orenda replied a minute after her text, but the phone must have been wrong because Kurota waited for an eternity.
Orenda: Why is that weird? She moved here last year. You probably saw her around.
Kurota: Well, maybe. But Orenda. I feel like we were close and I can’t remember how.
Orenda: Oooooooh! Maybe she’s your soulmate!
Kurota: Stop being your weird magic-obsessed self. You know I don’t believe in that stuff.
Orenda: Just ‘cause you don’t believe doesn’t mean it’s not real. People didn’t believe that the earth was round. Doesn’t change the fact that it is.
Kurota: And people believed the earth was flat. Doesn’t change the fact that it isn’t.
Orenda: Point taken. But Kurota, how else am I SUPPOSED to explain it? Oh, new idea! Maybe she visited you in a dream!
Kurota: Orenda, I love you like a sister, but a DREAM? You think she visited me in a DREAM?
Orenda: Hey, it’s possible. You have a better idea?
Kurota: Hmph.
Orenda: Well hmph back to you. 
Kurota doesn’t know how to reply, so she turns off her phone and gets her homework out. It hasn’t been an hour and her brain’s not any less foggy, but she doesn’t know what else to do, so it’s easy homework and racing thoughts.
Thoughts of a girl she just met.
Thoughts of a girl she feels like she knew. 

And there you have it! This chapter isn’t as good as the prologue because I’m much better at climax-writing than normal-life writing, but it’s fine. The story must go on!

Anywho. I’m going to go read now. Because like. That’s important.