cimorene

oookay, i dreamed that next year i got sent back to seventh grade to take greek because i had not taken p.e. that year (seventh grade, that is). also, this one boy from my senior ib [advanced academic diploma set up on international standards] class was there (the one who didn't get his [ib] diploma because he didn't do the community service--named justin, fascinatingly enough). i was in some kind of trance, but then i suddenly--woke up and realized i was supposed to be at college.

there was a substitute teacher. i walked up to justin and said "what are we doing here?" he explained that everyone who had been allowed out of some of the graduation requirements at the state level due to ib had had his/her diploma revoked and was being sent back to finish them. i said, "what the fuck. do you have your car? because if you don't i do, and we're getting out of here." he did. i didn't know where mine was parked; his was a minivan. we stopped our homeroom teacher next door to explain--"both of us were valedictorians last year. i had a 4.21 gpa, which is, believe me, higher than anyone's in the local school board or the administration of the school. we're going to see our teachers." and we left.

to the dilapidated falling-apart school (westlawn, for those of you who know) where both miss fowler (our ib coordinator) and mr truhett (current coordinator and my favorite teacher of all time) were now teaching. we just walked in. it was an 8th grade school. we found miss fowler fast enough. "what the fuck is going on?" i said, and she started to stammer an answer when mr truhett appeared around the corner. i ran to him and threw myself in his arms and started crying while justin, (apparently my sidekick) stood around smiling slightly with his hands in his pockets.

mr truhett was going to take me outside the back door to explain, but when we had walked halfway across the yard we realized it was completely full of dead deer, which we'd been stepping on/over--mostly baby ones. i picked one up who was covered in blood and mostly alive. we turned around, justin following, and went back inside. "what happened?" said mr t. "maybe something was eating them?" justin suggested. i dropped the deer inside the door, leaving a bright smear of blood on the floor, just as a hyena (???) ran by inside at the other end of the hall.

suddenly the security guard was making patrols and i darted into a bathroom stall (yes, there were three out there just sitting there) to hide while mr truhett vanished into a supply closet. well, anyway, she found me and was going to make me register for 8th grade classes in addition to 7th because even though i kept saying what had happened, and she did speak english, it was like she had NO idea. i grabbed justin on the way past.

she left us at the secretary's desk which was really a security station full of walkie-talkies and such, but luckily, that day there was a replacement secretary. i asked how to use the the phone, which she took as an impertinence, and answered very shortly before stalking away. i looked at justin significantly, called my dad, left a message on his work answering machine to explain (still not sure how to go about explaining the brainwashing, though. why had i not noticed before?). luckily, Guard Lady was gone, so i reached out, caught mr truhett, dragged him into the darkened doorway alcove and demanded he explain whatever he'd been going to.

our former (EEEVIL) non-elected racist (no, i'm not kidding, we really have one) school board had effected a hostile takeover of the district, set up armed posts at all the schools etc, and was busily enforcing their moronic mentality (everyone will take PE and a BILLION HOURS of science! but we won't pay anything for books or curricula and will use uneducated teachers! YAY!). he was considering quitting. i thanked him with my head reeling. "where's miss fowler?" said justing.

"well, i don't know, but--" began mr t.

"just imagine if we'd had to wait for her to explain. she'd be so wishy-washy--"

"you'd still be waiting for her to start," he said with a warm smile and i hugged him again.

then i looked at justin. "let's go," i said. but when we got out, they were making lunch on a huge table there and the security guards were out in force. "stop!" they demanded, but i smeared my hand with onion (god knows where i found) and grabbed justin's hand so they couldn't take him either (sort of like garlic and vampires???). then i dragged him out, past the security station. at the front door we stopped and yelled basically the entire story, along with a sort of embarrasing speech about how we were smarter than them. then we left. we ended up having to walk through lots of abandoned lots and climb up a cliff and over a barbed-wire fence (???) to get back to his car, but we did it. then our route, driving back to my house, was even more circuitous--we seemed to have been transplanted to a mountain.

"i hope you don't mind me grabbing your hand back there," i said to him.

"actually i'm allergic to onions," he said. "my hand should be breaking out in hives at any minute. but it was really necessary. i mean, we had to get out, so..."

uh. i directed him to my house. when we got there, my little sister was home. i took justin inside (he'd never been there, after all the years of ib). kissed him randomly. adventure leads to romance, folks.

can i just say: WEIIIIIRD?