Chapter 1: Ancient Dreams

“Finished it in the nick of time, Mr. Franklin! Read it and weep, sir!” An excited student pulled a stack of papers out of her book bag and placed them on her teacher’s desk.

“Well done, Elise. I’m still concerned, you took longer than usual to finish this. Are you doing okay? I imagine the stress of living on your own has been considerable.”

Elise waved his concerns away. “Not at all, it’s been great.”

“You look tired.” Her teacher’s voice was filled with concern.

“Just some bad dreams. I swear, I’m fine,” she assured him. “I live with Chloe, too. If something happens, her room is right next to mine.”

Mr. Franklin offered a gentle smile. “I understand. Teachers get bad dreams, too. Especially around test season,” he joked. “Just give me a heads up if you need more time for your assignments.”

“Thanks! I’ll be fine, though,” she repeated. “My parents would kill me if I slack off when they’re not around, anyway.”

Mr. Franklin laughed and waved as she left his classroom.

Elise tied her long brown hair into a ponytail and discreetly pulled a few bills out of her pocket as she encountered another student. “It had better be legit, Mr. C.”

“It always is, Ms. E,” he replied with a smirk. He took her money and handed her a thin, book-shaped object hidden in a paper bag. They casually walked past one another and blended in with the crowd of students changing classes.

“That was so lame, Jane Bond.” Another girl called out to her.

“Shh!” Elise hissed. She pushed the girl around a corner. “Quiet, he’s breaking the street date for me, Chloe.”

Chloe laughed. “So? It’s not like you’re smuggling stolen jewels or something. It’s a video game.”

“Yeah, a video game they delayed three times, and I finally have it a month early. I just had to pay extra to the game shop clerk.” She opened the paper bag and saw it. “Killer’s Oath: Kinship. It’s finally mine.” Her blue eyes dazzled as a smile of pure joy spread across her face. “I can finally find out what happens to Francesco when he leaves for Milan.”

“Right…” Chloe seemed less than interested. “How are you going to play that, anyway? Wouldn’t it show on your account when you play it and earn trophies? That would give the whole spy game away.”

Elise put her new game away in her book bag. “I just need to disconnect the console from the internet and sign out of my account. I won’t earn trophies, and I can just start a new file on the release date.”

Chloe shook her head. “Ah, of course. How could I ever doubt your brilliant, clever mind?” She planted a kiss on Elise’s cheek. “I’m this way. I’ll see you later, hun.”

“Your advanced placement class again? You have an irregular schedule.”

Chloe shrugged. “They like to keep us geniuses on our toes.”

Elise giggled and tousled her short blonde hair. “Just be careful you don’t get a big head.”

“I’ll have you know that I am the most humble girl around,” Chloe called behind her as she walked down the hallway.

Elise met with Chloe after school ended so they could walk to their car together. She yawned and almost missed a step, concerning her girlfriend.

“Hey, are you alright? You looked tired all day, and it wasn’t because of a gaming marathon.”

Elise smiled in reply. “I’m fine, just a bit tired.”

Chloe was unconvinced. “After a solid night’s sleep? Out with it.”

Elise sighed in defeat. “I’ve been having these weird dreams.” She turned to face Chloe. “They feel like memories. Could I run it by you? We’ve known each other our entire lives, so you’d have to know if it’s real.”

“Sure, hun, just tell me what you saw.”

She took a deep breath. “We were little girls. I was sitting on the ground, and I saw you running away from these guys. They grabbed you, and I jumped on one of them to help you. Then you broke free and ran off. Then the man I jumped on stabbed my left eye. After that, your dad showed up with his friends to arrest the kidnappers, healed my eye, and welcomed me into his home.”

Chloe’s mouth hung open as she made sense of Elise’s rambling. “Elise, none of that ever happened. No one tried to kidnap me, no one stabbed you in the eye, and my dad doesn’t have magic powers.” She noticed how distressed her girlfriend was and stood in front of her to offer comfort. “I promise, it was just a bad dream.” She brushed her hand over Elise’s left eye. “Maybe it’s stress or some bad takeout, but my magic powers will make it all vanish.” She peppered Elise’s face with kisses, making her laugh.

Chloe stepped back and sent a text to someone. “Let’s spend the night in. You can bunk with me just in case these bad dreams come back.”

“Don’t you have an advanced placement cram session later?”

“I just called it off. There’s nothing I want more than to eat pizza and watch some trashy rom-coms with my cute girlfriend.”

Elise smiled and blushed. “I see you already got a head start on rom-com lines.”

Chloe gave her a quick kiss. “Yeah, because they work.”

Elise rolled her eyes and got in the car. Chloe kept just under the speed limit as she drove them home.

Their apartment wasn’t the biggest, nor did they have the friendliest neighbors, but the area was safe, and the rest was within their price range. The local pizza place more than made up for the headaches.

Chloe brought Elise her pizza and soda while they chose a good movie to watch. “Bed of Lilies? I haven’t seen that one in a while.”

“Better than Nicky Green Eyes. That whole thing was a farce,” Elise commented as she took a bite of pizza.

‘Nicky was cute, though.”

Elise settled in next to Chloe to watch the movie. “Agreed, but she wasn’t cute enough to save that movie.”

“By the way, I got you a gift,” Chloe said as she pulled something out of her pocket. “You may now get super excited without spilling soda on our couch.”

Elise took the two tickets and excitedly read them over. “You actually got tickets to the museum’s Ancient Egyptian exhibit V.I.P. tour?! Professor Zahar himself is going to give the tour!”

Chloe laughed. “I knew you’d like it. Oof!” Elise’s abrupt hug surprised her. “The premiere is in a couple of days. I know you’ve been looking forward to it, but if you’re too tired, I’ll fight some ticket office for a refund.”

Elise smiled. “I’ll be fine. Thank you.” She set the tickets aside and wrapped her arms around Chloe’s neck to give her a brief, tender kiss.

Chloe held onto Elise’s waist and smirked, her green eyes reflecting mischief. “Sorry, I don’t think that’ll be enough to make up for my really thoughtful gift.”

Elise pretended to think for a moment, then leaned forward and gave her girlfriend another kiss. She poured all of her love and affection into it and was rewarded in kind. Elise still remembered their first kiss. They practically grew up together, from kindergarten and beyond. Chloe was Elise’s first crush, but she didn’t have the nerve to approach her for fear of ruining their friendship. Chloe had no such reservations. She just spoke her heart and kissed Elise. Then, and now, she still melted into Chloe’s warmth.

She tried to focus on all of that, but something kept nagging at her mind, something just out of reach. Chloe could sense it and pulled away. “Are you okay, babe?”

Elise sighed. “It’s weird, but I feel like I’m cheating on someone.”

Chloe gave her a bewildered look. “Well, we’re dating, and you suck at lying, so I know you’re not two-timing me, and there’s no one else on this couch, so….”

Elise grit her teeth. “You’re right. Whatever’s going on with me, I’ll be damned if I let it mess with my love life. C’mere.” She took off her shirt, exposing her white bra, and sat on Chloe’s lap.

“Yeah, damned,” Chloe muttered. She loved it whenever Elise showed her aggressive side. Elise held her tight and gave her the fiercest kiss she could recall. She unintentionally moaned as her hands roamed her girlfriend’s back. Chloe went for Elise’s bra clip when something odd stopped her.

“My love…” Elise spoke in another language.

“Huh?”

“Hmm?”

“You said something I didn’t catch.”

“Did I?” Elise thought for a moment.

“Whatever, be weird, I’m getting rid of this,” Chloe reached for Elise’s bra clip again, only to be interrupted by her cellphone.