I toss and turn in my bed. Throwing off the suffocating covers, I sit up. My white hair frizzy and uncombed; my red eyes dull with sickness. Piles of tissues litter my room, but I still feel like I'm drowning in my own snot.

"How are you feeling, Naomi?" my father asks, giving me a worried look.

"I'm fine dad," I reassure, a cough drowning out my words.

"You're not going to school today," he decides, giving me the this-is-final tone. I flop back in my bed with an angry sigh. There goes my perfect attendance... "You're just too sick. Missing one day of school isn't gonna kill you." This stupid cold will kill me first. Maybe if I get sick enough I'll go to the hospital... Maybe I'll see him again. A blush reddens my pale skin as I think of him. The boy at the vending machine...Ryan. His sparkling brown eyes almost leaving me speechless. His beautiful tan skin making it seem like summer even though it was winter. His soft brown hair that gently caressed his ears, taking all my will power not to reach out and touch it. Was that creepy? Oh gosh...I'm turning into a stalker.

I sigh, knowing I would never see him again. Despite common sense, he still occupies my thoughts. Does he feel the same way about me? Only if I could tell him... I try to spend the hours of soul crushing boredom reading horror novels, anything to keep him off my mind. Yet thoughts of Ryan keep coming back, making it impossible to concentrate.

"I love him," I finally say. I can't ignore these feelings. I can't ignore Ryan. Which is worse missing school, this cold, or being in love? Specifically falling in love with a random person! I've had pointless crushes on guys before, not love, but a feeling that was more than just friendship. This "crush" is far more intense, much more meaningful than lust, it can only love. Why him? Why Ryan? Why was my first love destined to fade out so tragically?

"This really sucks," I mumble in self pity. Finally, something that offered more than just deadlines and homework. Someone that could relieve me from the endless work. I was forced to be a woman when I was only a girl. Take me back to the moment when we first met. When I wasn't worried about that test tomorrow, but too focused on you to care. I want to feel that same nervous feeling in my chest when I was talking to you. I want smile like I don't have a care in the world. I want it to be just you and me. Suddenly a quote came to mind. A memory from a childhood movie called Peter Pan. Now I understood the words, and I desired it more than ever.

"Come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned," I whisper.

Take me to that place, Ryan. Only you can take me there.