I opened my eyes to see my Star Wars poster hanging on the slanted ceiling of my room, grudgingly rolled out of bed and headed towards the bathroom to pee and brush my teeth.

For a moment I thought about taking a shower when I noticed patches of sweat in the shirt I slept in.

What a weird dream I had... it seemed so real. I wonder what "project" I was working on.

I decided to skip the shower and head straight for the bus. At the stop Greg was waiting for me.

"Good morning sunshine!" he said, letting out a big chuckle. "Today's the big day!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Don't try to bail on me now! We made a deal!"

"I really don't know what you mean," I answered.

"Last night we bet that if you lost the game, you would talk to Stephanie! And of course, thanks to your incredibly lame skill set, you lost."

"Whatever dude," I said, giving him a punch on the shoulder. We both laughed and got on the bus.

We were one of the last stops on the route and the ride to school was always short for us.

In about 5 minutes Greg and I were dismounting from our big yellow chariot.

Stephanie, of course, was only feet away talking to her friends.

"There ya go," Greg said, pointing to Stephanie and her posse. "Now's your shot!"

"Nah man, I can't, not with all the other people around. You know how nervous I get."

Indeed, only 4 years ago, when I was 12 and just starting junior high, I had to give a speech to the class.

I peed myself before I spoke a word.

You better believe I heard about THAT for months.

Like clockwork, as soon as I got the words out, Stephanie's friends all dispersed in different directions, leaving just her standing there. Alone.

I looked at Greg. He looked back at me, giving the head nod to go over.

I took a deep breath and started walking towards the most beautiful girl in the world!

"Hey, you remember Stephanie Carter?" Greg asked.

"Huh?" I said, startled by Greg's words.

Suddenly disoriented, I looked around to see where we were.

We were standing in the lobby of Mr. Carter's office, waiting for his receptionist to tell us we could go back.

"Stephanie Carter. She went to our high school. You were always obsessed with her. Didn't you guys even date?"

"Oh yeah, uh, yeah," I fumbled out. "I remember. You made me talk to her for the first time. You don't remember?"

"Oh yeah! Hmm, maybe I should've talked to her. Then I would've had in with her father!" Greg said and laughed.

The joke didn't sit right with me, though.

I just couldn't decipher why.

I smiled. "Yeah, we dated for a while. I wonder if her dad remembers me..." I trailed off at the end.

Greg turned to me with that Greg look in his eye. "Well, why don't we find out? This is the perfect presentation to do so."

"I don't know man. We haven't done a lot of testing on it yet. I don't want to turn our boss into a vegetable or something."

"We tested it on you, man! And you are perfectly healthy!" He grinned. "We just tell him it's fully tested and then let him try it."

I looked down at my hands, feeling uncomfortable with the idea that I was, in fact, "perfectly healthy."

Things around me had been feeling strange lately.

Was it because of what we built, or was I just delusional?

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Mr. Carter's receptionist. "You guys can head back now," she said.

We both stood up, gave each other a motivational head nod and smile, and walked, in sync, into Mr. Carter's office.

I had to hold back a gasp. The place was huge.

Giant floor-to-ceiling windows behind his desk, towering bookshelves filled with books about who knows what.

But the part that really caught my eye was the Grizzly.

I kid you not, he had, in his office, a giant, stuffed grizzly bear at least 8 feet tall.

Mr. Carter must have seen me eyeing the bear. "You like my bear, Chase?"

"Uhh, y-yes, s-sir," I stammered out.

"Shot it myself," he boasted, standing and putting his hands on his hips.

"Wow, congratulations!" Greg chimed in with as much fake admiration as he could muster.

"So," Mr. Carter said, "what are you two here to present? I am crunched for time, so either get on with it or we can talk about my bear for the next..." he looked at his watch, "10 minutes."

I looked at Greg. He needed to start. I was way too nervous.

Greg started our "pitch" with a question: "Mr. Carter, do you remember?"

"Do I remember what?"

Greg looked at me, so it was my turn.

"Do you remember your childhood?" I asked.

"Well, yes, parts."

Now Greg: "Do you remember your teenage years?"

"Again, yes, but only parts."

Now me: "Do you remember college?"

"Yes, parts. Gentlemen, I get the gist. Please, PLEASE, get on with it," Carter answered, now clearly more than a little annoyed.

"Sorry, sir," Greg said. "Okay, what if we told you we had the ability—no, the POWER—to give you back your most defining memories? The events that truly shaped who you are today?"

He looked back and forth between us.

I felt cold beads of sweat start to form on my forehead.

His gaze was unnerving.

"I am interested," he finally said. "Please go on."

I opened my mouth to start the next part of my speech, something I had practiced a thousand times in front of my mirror, but nothing came out.

Greg looked at me. "You okay, man?" he whispered.

I tried to nod, but the world started spinning faster and faster. I closed my eyes, hoping it would stop…

"Chase, wake up," Stephanie said, pushing on my shoulder. "We are supposed to be studying the constellations for astronomy!"

"Sorry," I said, laughing. "I just had the weirdest dream. I was working for your dad's company!"

She laughed too. "That would be super weird!"

I looked back up to the stars and started to think.

As I did, Stephanie nuzzled in closer.

Was that just a dream? It had felt so real. I touched my forehead and could feel sweat beads just like in the dream. Something out of the ordinary was definitely happening, but I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was.

Stephanie, her head on my chest, looked up at me, and I was drawn into the warm comfort of her gaze. "I swear I could just lay here forever. The stars are so beautiful."

"I agree, but somehow Mr. Martens still makes them sound lame and boring."

"Hey, you wanted to take this class for the easy A, and I just went along with it," she said.

"Steph, you are seriously the most beautiful girl I have ever met, and I am so lucky to be your boyfriend."

She smiled and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, and we just lay there. It felt like the whole world slowed down for us. We were just there, and I had never felt happier. I could stay with her, on the hood of my beat-up '98 Corolla, for the rest of my life.

I turned my head to look down at her, and finally mustered up the courage to say something I had never said to any girl before: "I love you."

She looked up at me with a smile from cheek to cheek and said the best thing I could have ever heard: "I love you too."

Then suddenly, I heard low murmurings, as if there was a large group of people near me, and soft music playing. I sat up and looked around to see where it was coming from, but we were the only people there.

"Is everything okay, Chase?"

"You don't hear that?" The murmurings were starting to get louder. It was like I was in a crowded room. The music was getting louder as well.

"I don't hear anything, babe."

I could tell she was starting to worry, but the noise kept getting louder and louder until I could barely hear myself think. I put my hands over my ears and looked to Stephanie for reassurance. She smiled, her beautiful, calming smile, and mouthed "It's okay." The noise became too much. I cringed and buried my head into my knees, still holding my ears…

To be Continued