Free Dreamology by Lucy Keating

us and see that a few members of the crew team have already begun to arrive for afternoon practice.
    â€œThat means I’m already late for soccer.” Max winces, hopping up. “I better go.”
    â€œWait,” I say. “Can we meet back here afterward? I was thinking you could come with me to CDD.”
    â€œBut I thought you already went?” Max looks confused as he loops his backpack over his shoulder.
    â€œI did, and I’m going back,” I say, standing up and swatting some dried leaves off my butt. “Tonight.”
    â€œI thought you said Petermann wouldn’t see you?” Max asks, his tone a warning.
    â€œI did say that . . .” I hesitate, studying a leaf as I break it into tiny pieces. “He doesn’t exactly know I’m going to be there.”
    Max tilts his head to one side. “What did you do, Alice?”
    â€œWhy do you assume I did something?” I ask.
    He shakes his head. “You are terrible at taking no for an answer. How exactly do you plan to get in?”
    â€œI may have stolen a key card?” I raise my hands on either side of my shoulders like, whoops .
    Max just sighs.
    â€œCome on,” I plead. “Don’t make me go alone. All of this affects you, too.”
    Max turns and starts walking away toward practice. “I’ll think about it,” he calls back.
    â€œFine,” I call after him. “But just remember, if you don’t come with me, who else is going to keep me out of trouble?”
    Max turns and walks backward on his heels. “Maybe you should consider not getting into trouble in the first place.” He smiles. He looks like a heartthrob in an eighties high school movie.
    â€œWhy would I consider that?” I yell after him. But he’s already gone, around the side of the boathouse, and I am left grinning, awake and happy for the first time in weeks.

9
We’re Looking for Us
    â€œMY LIFE IS basically lying in a pile in the corner with a pair of dirty socks on top,” Sophie says when she answers the phone.
    â€œDo you ever just say hello?” I ask.
    â€œRarely,” she replies. “Anyway, I failed my Spanish test and Zeke Davis is apparently dating Marla Martinelli. I see no other option but to move to Iceland. Or Greenland. Wait—which one is actually green? And why are you whispering?”
    â€œBecause,” I hiss, holding my phone between my chin and shoulder as I clip my bike lock on. “I am sneaking into CDD tonight, potentially by myself, so if I get arrested or murdered, you will need to tell my dad what happened.”
    â€œYou are really hard-up for friends, huh?”
    â€œThere’s nobody I’ve quite reached the breaking-and-entering level with,” I say. Well, I bet Oliver would be up for it, but we’re really starting to become friends now. No need to ruin it by convincing him I’m insane.
    â€œAlice, I have been your best friend for a very long time, so I know the chances of you listening to me right now are basically a negative percentage, but are you sure you want to do this?”
    â€œI have to, Soph. Petermann is hiding something, and I’ve got to figure out what. Especially now that I know Max remembers, too.” I can just make out the CDD building squatting in the distance, all dark except for blinking red alarm lights along its circular perimeter. It looks like an alien spacecraft, if the aliens had been turn-of-the-century architects. Or a giant statue of R2D2, the robot from Star Wars . I zip up my hoodie a little tighter.
    â€œI still can’t believe he’s not coming with you,” Sophie says. “Also that he’s . . . you know. Real . Still pretty weirded out by that fact, if that’s okay.”
    â€œHe didn’t say he wasn’t coming,” I reply defensively. “He just didn’t say he was . Anyway, he’s not totally like the guy in my dreams. Although lately