“Where is my car?” I shouted, to no one in particular.

            The little monster of a boy ran in front of me. “Your car is wherever my speedboat is,” he said, pointing to his head. “In our dreams.”

            “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said, shocked. “I don’t even drive a car?”

            I didn’t think the little snot could muster up an emotion like concern, but he managed to do so. “Are you okay?”

            “I’m fine,” I snapped. “When are we going to get a ride to school?”

            “Mom and Dad never give us rides to school,” the boy replied. “It would make them late for work.”

            “You couldn’t mean…” I said, without being able to finish the sentence.

            “Duh,” the boy said, turning his back to me. “We ride the bus.”

            I could have died. Right then and there, I could have just fallen on the floor and died. How lame could Patty’s life really be? I mean, did she really have to ride the bus?

            The day didn’t get any better. I managed to catch the bus in time-barely. Some of the kids were obnoxious. They called me “Fatty Patty” a couple of times and many of them were talking about what had happened at Homecoming. Of course, no one on this bus had personally gone to the Homecoming Dance. The rumor mill had finally trickled down to them and they were finally catching word about what had happened. It kind of made me proud to hear the kids talking about the Homecoming Dance. After a moment’s thought, I had to remind myself that none of this was real. This entire experience was a figment of my imagination, so there was nothing for me to be proud about.

            The bus pulled up next to the curb in front of our school. I wasn’t seriously going to go through with it. I wasn’t seriously going to walk in there as Patty Coben, was I?

            I figured I didn’t have anything to lose. I mean, as realistic as this dream was, it couldn’t be reality. Because in reality, I was Tabatha Andrews and Patty Coben was Patty Coben. Since it was a dream, I had to let it play out. So I got off of that bus. And I walked into our school with my backpack slung over my shoulder. I didn’t know where Patty’s locker was. I had a general idea of where it was, because I’d seen her at it a couple of times…but I didn’t know which locker number was hers.

            So instead of stopping by her locker, I decided to stop by mine. I was supposed to meet with my fellow cheerleaders, but since this was a dream, I didn’t have to worry about that. Even if I did have to worry about that, I was way too late to meet with them now. And if I did meet with them, it would be in Patty Coben’s body. So I just stopped by my locker. Sure enough, Zander was standing there glancing at his watch every few seconds and craning his neck as he looked for me.

            I couldn’t help but smile. He was such a great boyfriend. I really didn’t show my appreciation for him enough. While he talked about our future together, I usually brushed him off and changed the subject, because I’m too young to be thinking about my future with any boy. But I guess I could see a future with Zander.

            I don’t know what I planned on doing. I definitely couldn’t walk up to him and greet him. He’d think that I was Patty. So I started to turn around, until I heard whistles sounding in the hall. The whistles started near the school entrance. Then they seemed to bounce off of the walls and the floor. My curiosity got the better of me. I’m used to the boys whistling at me. Who could they have been whistling at?

            I turned around, and it seemed that I was turning around in slow motion. Zander lifted his head too, with an expectant smile on his face. He was used to the whistles that I got whenever I walked into a room. He probably thought that the whistles were for me. Boy, would he be wrong.

            At first, I couldn’t see who the girl was. I could only see the shape of her, because the sunlight was at her back. I couldn’t make out her features. Then, as the school entrance doors swung shut, her features became clearer. The long, dark hair was familiar and so was the outfit that she was wearing.

            It was…it was me, but it couldn’t be. Because I was Patty Coben.

            The logical part of me had to ask, If you’re Patty Coben, then who is Patty Coben? Logically, she would be me, right? I mean, it would only make sense.

            The girl was looking directly at me with her mouth tugged up at the corner. She winked at me, then turned her attention to Zander. She whispered something in his ear that made him turn red. What is she telling him? I wondered, wishing I was closer so I could hear what she was saying. I was wishing in vain.

            She linked her arm with Zander’s and they walked together. She hadn’t even bothered with my locker. She probably didn’t know the locker combination.

            I was furious. I was livid. I don’t know why. This was just a dream, right? Eventually, I’d wake up and this would all be a figment of my imagination, my just desserts for eating Cherry Garcia ice cream past eleven o’ clock at night. But there was something tugging at the back of my mind, some higher awareness that seemed to have implanted itself into my brain. And the higher awareness was whispering to me, But this isn’t a dream. This is real.