Free The Shadow People: A paranormal short story by Pepper Pace Page B

that kind of stuff.  Maybe you just think you saw it.”  She then reached for the bowl of popcorn.  “When you think you have Dejavu, you can’t remember what’s going to happen anyways.  You only remember it after it’s over.”
    Dani shrugged.  “I remember it, and not just that … I’ve seen other stuff too.”  She was too ashamed to tell them that she’d had a dream about having sex and that it hadn’t just been a dream—it had been more than a dream.  She decided to keep that story to herself.
    Dani didn’t know the guy in the dream. But she remembered the both of them lying on a couch, making out--a very sensual dream considering that she had never even kissed a boy before.  And then she’d touched his penis.  It had been hard and ruddy colored.  He was white, her brown fingers had closed around it and he had begun to move and he gently removed her hand and glided his erect penis into her body.  She could not feel the boy, and she couldn’t see herself because she was looking through her own eyes, but in her sleep her body reacted. It was what had awakened her.  It was the first time she’d ever had such a vivid sex dream and her body throbbed. Dani had quickly written down every detail so that she would not forget.  There were days when she would run the images of that dream through her mind—days when she wondered if any guy would ever notice her, days when she looked into the mirror and saw that the reflection returned the image of a person that was totally unremarkable.  Then she would remember that one day a boy would love her and she would love him.
    It bothered her that there was not much that she could see of him.  Long dark hair had obscured his face, though she could see that he was very attractive, early twenties, and the most amazing thing about him was that his arms were covered in colorful tattoos. 
    After that dream, she always looked for a boy with dark hair and arms covered in tattoos; because that would be the boy that she would love.
    At sixteen that dream had yet to come to life but instinctively Dani knew that it would.  She took in the doubtful looks on her friends’ faces; all except Patricia, who hadn’t made one comment.  She just looked at Dani as if she would say something but couldn’t.  Dani quickly changed the subject and they began talking about music videos and cute singers.
    Later, as they were drifting off to sleep, she saw Patricia staring at the ceiling completely wide-eyed.  The next day, when everyone else had left Dani asked Patricia to stay and help her get everything straightened up.  Patricia was relatively new to their group of friends.  She had only moved into town the year before.  But she instantly fit in with them. 
    It was strange that the two girls had taken so well to each other since Patricia was her very opposite.  Patricia was petite and dainty.  She went to the hairdresser to have her long hair styled, she went to a salon to have her nails painted, she even wore designer clothes.  Her honey brown skin and light colored eyes assured that she would be popular with the boys.  And even though she could have easily hung out with the jocks and the cheerleader types that invariably made Dani cringe—Patricia preferred their geeky little group and didn’t even date, her shyness making her even more appealing to the jocks than even the school sluts.
    “Are you okay?” Dani asked her.  “You got really quiet when I was telling that story.”
    “Oh … ” Patricia gave her a look that seemed almost desperate.  “You didn’t make that up, did you?”
    “No.”  Patricia said adamantly.  “I can see things before they happen!  I promise you I’m not lying!”
    “What else have you seen?” Patricia asked.  “You stopped before saying what else…” Patricia’s brow was furrowed in an uncharacteristic frown. 
    Dani took a deep breath and told her about the boy with the tattooed arms.  
    After listening