As I forced my head through the hole, it seemed like somebody turned the light down a little bit. Everything was still bright and hurt my eyes, but it wasn’t as bright or as painful. Maybe I wasn’t going blind after all. But what happened? I pulled myself the rest of the way through the barrier while I kept walking.


I'd fallen a little behind Billy and Nora, and figured they hadn't noticed anything, until Billy turned around and said, "Man, your underwear must be really tight today. Do you need some privacy to adjust them?"
No way am I going to tell him what actually happened, especially since I'm not even sure what it was. "No, I think I got it." I said, trying to sound casual even though my heart was still pounding. Whatever happened, reminded of the dream. It didn't make any sense, but I knew it was tied into what was wrong with my eyes. Whatever was going on, felt more like a dream than my dream did.



I hurried to catch up to Billy and Nora, thinking about the barrier. I was still worried, but didn't know what to worry about.

​

When we got to Elm Street, Nora turned off toward the middle school. "See you tonight. And think about talking to franki," she said.
 

I did—think about it.
 

I’ve known Francesca Costa since she moved in next door when we were four years old. She was my first friend. Little kids don’t know the difference between boys and girls, especially when they both wear jeans and are more interested in climbing trees than anything else. She was my best buddy until the summer before fifth grade. It started when Mr. Costa bought franki a computer for her tenth birthday. It only took a couple of days for it to become more important than me.
 

That summer, we were going to build a tree house in the forest behind our houses. We'd found the perfect tree and had scrounged most of the supplies we needed. Then on her birthday she didn't show up. Billy and I tried to get her to help us, but she wasn't interested anymore. It was no fun trying to build a tree house with Billy because he’s afraid of heights. So no franki and no tree house. We ended up building a clubhouse on the ground, but it wasn't the same.
 

When school started, she tried to be friends again, but I pushed her away. For five years she's been trying, but I don’t—I can’t trust her again. If I don’t talk to her, she can’t ever hurt me again. Billy became my best friend, and her computer became franki's. She still lives next door, but we’ve been moving further and further away from each other ever since then.
 

Then last fall she started to get a little strange—I mean a little more strange. I wasn’t there, but I heard about it along with everybody else in the school.  In social studies, franki got into a shouting match with Luther van Gundy, the JV quarterback, about wasting money on sports. He told her, "As long as we keep our grades up, we get to play and there isn't anything you can do about it."
 

I guess he was wrong because the next day, the entire football team was failing gym class. They never proved anything, but everybody knew franki did it. Nobody else in the school, including Mr. Wright, the computer teacher, knew enough to break into the system and change grades. They kicked franki out of all the computer classes and took away her network access.
 

At George Washington High School, you don't piss off the football royalty. Nobody would talk to franki, and she was alone everywhere she went. I was worried about her, and Billy said he was going to invite her to sit with us at lunch. I wasn't sure I could handle it, but never had to because she started hanging with the Goths. She fit right in because they were outcasts too. A couple of weeks later her brown hair was black. Then her clothes became black. I think the whole look is ridiculous, but I’m not about to say anything. I remember how hard she could hit when she was nine, and no way do I risk that now. Besides, my grades are bad enough without franki hacking into the school computers and trashing them.
 

Then there’s her name, Francesca. When we were little, she was Frannie. When Frannie became a girl, she became Francis. Now she’s franki, and you’d better get it right.

​

Eventually we got to school, and I made it all the way to second period before I started to freak. One more hour until my life was over. Billy gave me his notes, and I was sneaking looks at them, but there wasn't enough time and they probably wouldn’t have helped even if I could have seen them.
 

My head was hurting from the glare, and my stomach was hurting from worrying about the test. No video game was worth what I was going through. We only had three weeks left of school and then I could play games every day. Next summer I’d be sixteen, and I was going to work for Dad on one of his construction sites, but this year the summer was all mine—unless I was in summer school because I didn't study for a stupid science test.

​

Then, just when things couldn’t get any worse, I felt myself being squeezed again, but this time I wasn’t walking, I was sitting at my desk in English Lit. Somehow, I pushed back against it without moving, like a part of my mind was fighting, trying to keep from being crushed. All I could think about was that the last time I broke through, my eyes got better. If I could get through this one, maybe they’d be a little closer to normal. Under my hand, I felt the wall growing softer, until I finally broke through. I pictured myself pushing through the small opening, I felt it stretch around me, felt the opening grow. Without moving, I pictured myself slowly squeezed through the hole.
 

Like the other time, things didn't look as bright. I could even read the board. Things were almost back to normal. I tried not to think about what was going on, concentrating on the thought that things were getting better.

​

Looking around the room, I noticed some movement outside the window and glancing over, saw a guy walking across the quad. He was carrying an armful of wood and looked like a character from a movie. He was wearing a long shirt and baggy pants and no shoes. His clothes were rough and had patches all over them. They definitely weren't from any of the stores at the mall. He was skinny, and I couldn't get a decent look at it, but there was something strange about his face.
 

How did he get out there? The administration doesn't let people wander around the campus unless they’re students or teachers.
 

"What's that guy doing?" I didn't realize I’d said it out loud until everybody turned to look at me and then looked out the window where I was staring.
 

"What guy?" Billy asked. "I don't see anybody."
 

"Jordan, what are you talking about?" Miss Moore asked. Then following my eyes, she looked into the quad. "There isn't anybody out there."
 

"Yeah, he's right there," I said, pointing at the man. He was trudging across the quad and was almost to the gym wall.
 

"That's enough, there isn't anybody out there. Now let's get back to work."
 

"But he's right there," I said. The man kept walking and didn't even slow down as he stepped into the wall and disappeared.
 

"That's enough, Jordan. Now be quiet or you will have to leave. We have a lot of material to cover."
 

Miss Moore was right, there wasn’t anybody there. "Sorry." Where did he go?

She went back into lecture mode, and I thought about the man. He was real. He looked real anyway.

​

​

Suddenly I was in sixth grade again, that's when Aunt Karen was sent away. She always saw things that nobody else did. She thought they were real, and they put her in the state hospital because of it. My cousin Steve lived with us for six months while she was gone. He shared my room, and it was like having a brother except that Steve was miserable because he missed his mom. He couldn't even visit her.

​

Her doctors finally let Aunt Karen out after she convinced them that she didn't see things anymore. After she came home, I missed Steve so Mom took me to see him every weekend. We were over there one time and I heard Aunt Karen and Mom talking. Aunt Karen said she learned her lesson and wouldn't tell people about what she saw anymore. Aunt Karen wasn't talking to me, and it didn't make sense, but I remembered what she said.
 

Miss Moore kept lecturing until the bell, but I don't remember anything she said.
 

By lunchtime the test was over, and it wasn't that awful. Or maybe it didn’t seem important anymore.
 

After I answered everything I could, I spent the rest of the class thinking about going crazy, and how to keep anybody else from finding out. The only thing I knew for sure was that I wasn't going to talk about it.

​

I was standing with Billy in the lunch line, reading the menu trying to decide which of today’s gourmet selections was the least dangerous. With everything going on, I wasn’t hungry, but I had to act normal anyway. I'd just read about the special—something called spaghetti pizza, when I felt the membrane of another barrier pushing against me. This one was the worst yet. I closed my eyes and bent over with my hands on my knees, fighting against the crushing force.
 

Billy saw me bend over and asked, "Hey Jordo, you OK?"
 

"Yeah, just a little dizzy. Give me a minute," I gasped. Then I fought against it. I used what I’d learned in English, pushing back with my mind. I could feel the barrier flex and stretch against the pressure I was applying. I raised my left hand and held it out as I pictured the barrier stretching over it like a balloon with too much air in it. Suddenly the barrier exploded away from me, just like I’d imagined. The first thing I noticed was my vision. I was looking down at my hands, and there wasn’t any glare.
 

I’m cured, everything will be great now. I felt the weight of my worries lifting.
 

"You don’t look too good Jordan, maybe you better sit down," Billy said. "You want me to get the nurse?"
 

"No, I feel great," I said, and for the first time all day it was true.
 

I slowly straightened up, feeling weak from the struggle. Then I turned and looked at Billy just as a deer ran past him.
 

A second later, an enormous wolf burst out of Billy's chest, running straight at me. I jumped backward, hitting something and falling to the ground. I was afraid to look at Billy. I knew he was dead.