Fool With Dreams

“To whom were you talking to?” Dani sat down next to her, thinking that she had noticed her standing not far away.

“Brandon,” Ash turned to look at her friend, a smile playing on her lips.

“That ex-boyfriend of yours from back home?” she asked, remembering that they had talked about him a few times before.

“Yeah. He’s my best friend,” Ash smiled fondly. “No, actually you’re my best friend. But he’s special to me, he’s like the only family I have left, like a brother,” she corrected, seeing her friends smile drop on that first sentence. “And I have kept some secrets from you. I’m sorry.”

“You know, you don’t have to tell me your secrets if you don’t feel like it. I’ll still be your best friend and love you,” Dani said, her thoughtful gaze scanning the ocean.

“No, I think it’s time to let you in. I want you to know that side of me too. Since now, only Brandon knows everything about me but I feel like I could let you that close to me too. I trust you,” Ash sat up, looking at the dark waves in front of them. “Although, it would mean that you have to keep my secret from others. It’s not something you can go and tell others. Would you agree to do that for me?”

“Oh, trust me, I’m good at keeping secrets,” Dani snorted. She actually had one of her own she had guarded since her childhood.

“Well, we’d better go home then cause I need lots of coffee,” Ash stood up, holding her hand out to Dani.

“Do we have to? I don’t wanna walk, my feet hurt,” she whined but stood up none the less.

“I told you these shoes will kill you. Come on, we’ll get a cab,” Ash promised, stumbling at her own feet.

*****

Once they reached home, Hemi ran to greet them, wagging his tale happily. Hemi was a sixteen months old, a brindle colored mix between Boxer and AmStaff. Ash had adopted him two months ago from a family that was forced to give him up because their youngest son had developed a severe allergy to dogs dander.

“I’m gonna take him to pee,” Ash said while attaching his leash to his collar. Dani nodded and headed to the kitchen, muttering something about finding some food.

Back inside, Ash saw that Dani had found some frozen pizza from the freezer and was currently taking it out of the oven. She also had made a huge can of coffee. They brought it all to the living room and settled down. Ash could see that Dani was anxious, altho’ she tried hard to hide it and act normal.

“I have to warn you. What I’m about to tell you sounds totally crazy at first and I know your first reaction is thinking that I’m lying. But just let me finish before you scream and run out. I assure you that I mean absolutely no harm to you or to anybody else,” Ash said, holding her finger up when Dani wanted to protest somewhere in the middle of her speech.

“Okay, I promise that I wont scream and run. I may scream or run but I promise not to do them at the same time,” Dani joked with a serious face, trying to lighten up the mood. She wanted to show Ash that she wasn’t gonna make any assumptions before she had the chance to tell her everything.

“We’ll see about that,” Ash smirked. “It’ll depend on whether you believe me or not.”

“Try me,” Dani encouraged her. She knew Ash had a good heart and she just didn’t believe it could be something so awful that would make her run.

“Okay, here it goes,” Ash took a deep breath before continuing. “First of all, I’m a witch. Second, that guy I fell in love with and can’t seem to get over is Brian Haner Junior and third, I saved Jimmy Sullivan’s life by changing the past,” she let it all out with one breath.

Inhaling some needed air, she watched different emotions reflecting on Dani’s face. Like she had guessed, at first she didn’t believe her, she almost laughed. Then she frowned, probably thinking that why the hell would anybody come up with a lie like that. And then her frown smoothed out, replaced by determination. She grabbed a slice of pizza from the table.

“I know you’re not crazy and I don’t think you would lie to me about some shit like that. So, I need more details missy,” Dani settled back into the pillows, munching her unhealthy night snack. “Start with when did you found out you’re a witch.”

“Um, about two years before my grams died. I was sixteen then. I accidentally threw a tomato at Brandon without using my hands. Brandon had his back to me so he didn’t saw it. But Kyle did. I freaked out and ran to my grams. That’s when she told me and Kyle about the powers that most of the women in our family line possess.”

“You knew Brandon already then? I thought you said you were nineteen when you two were together,” Dani wondered, trying to remember their conversations.

“Brandon and Kyle were friends. And me and Brandon actually didn’t get along at all until after Kyle’s death. Brandon was the one to help me move on,” Ash smiled lightly to the memories of the three of them.

“And when did you tell Brandon about your … powers,” Dani asked, hesitating slightly before saying the word powers.

“Well, I told him about a year after Kyle’s death. He was pretty terrified of me for a while, but he never admitted it,” she smiled, drinking her coffee. "Luckily I can now tell him everything cause talking to him keeps me sane."

“How can anybody be scared by you? What awful powers do you have then?” Dani frowned, taking another slice from the pizza.

“I can do telekinesis at some level, I can channel my energy as I want, from making you feel better to blasting a force wave away from me, I can set things on fire and I have some knowledge about herbs and potions. I actually don’t even know all I may be able to do. The latest ability I found out was going back in time. I am trying to avoid using my powers,” she explained, waiting for Dani to stand up and leave at any moment.

“Why?” Dani asked, totally calm, like they would be having a talk about going to the beach the next day.

“Because everything has a price. Witches who use their powers carelessly often go insane and lose it all. And while I don’t care about losing my powers, I do not wanna lose my mind,” Ash said, pouring herself another cup of coffee. She was starting to get sleepy.

“Okay. But what about Jimmy? What did you mean by you saving his life?” Dani couldn’t hide the interest from her face any longer. This conversation was most exciting thing she’d had in a long time. It outdid even moving to California.

“About a year ago, at the end of December, he accidentally consumed too much alcohol with his medication and his heart gave up. But he refused to leave this world, so his spirit stuck around. When we went to Avenged concert in May, I met his ghost. And since I was the first person able to see him outside his friends, he was stoked. He talked me over so I went to LA with them. I stayed here for a month before deciding to permanently move down here. I got pretty close to Jimmy and Val and fell for Brian. Then Summer Solstice came and I had a visit from my grams. That’s when I found out that I may have the ability to change the past, like my great grandmother had. And that was it. I just had to do it for Jimmy. When I succeeded, I found myself back at the concert again, but this time Jimmy was playing the drums, happy as he could be,” Ash told her story, amazed at how Dani was taking it.

“Wait for a moment here. Why aren’t you talking to them now?” she frowned again, trying to take everything in.

“Because they won’t remember me. I met them because of Jimmy’s ghost. And when I saved his life, I changed everything. To them all this didn’t ever happened,” Ash felt the sadness engulfing her again. She kept telling herself that she made the right choice. And she would do it all over again if it meant that Jimmy would be alive and happy. She just wished her stupid heart would stop missing them.

“Damn. You gave up Brian to save Jimmy,” Dani muttered, shaking her head. “I mean, I understand why you did it and I would have done it too but you gave up Synyster Fucking Gates!” she almost yelled, making a big deal out of it.

“Yeah, I know,” Ash turned her gaze down, sadness too evident in her eyes.

“No wonder you can’t get over him. He’s a mother fucking god,” Dani looked sympathizingly at her friend who was sulking in the armchair.

“Actually he was a mother fucking asshole most of the time,” Ash snorted, remembering their endless fights.

“Huh?” Dani stopped chewing her last bite, stunned about what she’d heard.

“Apparently he liked me so much it scared the shit out of him, so he had to go and act like a real prick towards me. He confessed it on the last day I had with them.” Although it did hurt Ash, it felt good to talk to someone about them.

“Was he good?” Dani wiggled her eyebrows, not leaving any doubt of what she was asking.

“Yeah, he was really good,” Ash smiled, shaking her head a bit. Of all the things she had told Dani in the last hour, she had to ask things like that.

“I knew it,” she beamed, slumping back on the pillows. “God, I’m so full.”