Street ran a hand over his mouth to hide a smile that was beginning to creep onto his face. He waved as Sam closed the door to her house, leaving him staring at the wall.

"Dang," he muttered, snapping himself out of his stare and whistled a tune as he headed home. He was still overcoming the shock of getting so lucky when his phone vibrated. He glanced at it and hesitated. Maybe it was Samantha. He had given her his number, hadn't he? How should he answer?

As his brain began trying to think of a way to ensure he didn't sound like a complete idiot, he decided to check and make sure it was her. His heart stilled as he noticed a different notification... one the news sent him almost daily. With a grunt of disapproval, he shoved it back into his pocket. He paused as his eyes glazed over one word... books. Curious, he held his phone where he could see and peered at the notification. Books may be Banned Due to Recent "Death by Fantasy", it read. Street felt a surge of panic that was quickly stifled. They couldn't ban books... they were too important! Textbooks, classics, even fiction stories were a major part of development. He shoved the thought out of his head. They would probably never go through with it. Besides... it would hardly effect him.
————
Samantha felt herself sigh as she closed the door behind herself. She hadn't liked anyone before, but Street was sure making her beat that streak.

"Sam? Is that you?" Samantha's mom yelled from the kitchen.

"Yeah!" She yelled back, kicking her shoes off by the door before entering the dining room. Her step-brother, Adam, glanced up from the college work he had sprawled on the table.

"Who's that guy you were with?" He asked her in a hushed voice, hoping their mother wouldn't overhear. Sam tried to keep her face from flaring up.

"Just a kid from school. His name is Street. He offered to escort me home." She replied with a sideways glance towards the kitchen. Adam chuckled.

"What a gentleman." He scoffed, shooting her a brotherly wink. She stuck her tongue out at him as their mother appeared in the entrance, balancing four plates of spaghetti and salad.

"How was school?" She asked, setting the plates across from each other. Sam found herself shrugging.

"Fine. I passed my math test." She mentioned, grabbing a fork from the center of the table.

"Good." Her mom replied. "Honey! Dinner!" She yelled up to her husband, who begrudgingly came down the stairs a second later. Adam shot Sam a lopsided grin as he shoveled everything onto the floor beside him to clean up later. I'll ask you more about Street later. He mouthed. Sam raised an eyebrow, not fully understanding, but knowing he had mentioned Street.

"How was work?" Sam forced a question to keep the awkward silence at bay.

"Fine." Her mother replied quickly... almost too quickly. "I met several new clients today." Sam nodded knowingly, shooting a glance at Adam. His turn. He sat back and cleared his throat.

"What about you, Dad?" Their Father didn't look up from his meal.

"Mark wouldn't hire me." The answer was short and quick, ending the conversation before it could begin. Sam quickly cleared her plate so she could vanish into her room and maybe scroll through her phone. She had barely made it halfway up the stairs when Adam appeared behind her.

"So Street. He a boyfriend of yours?" He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"A friend that's a boy." Sam corrected. He chuckled.

"I thought so. Hey... did you ever read that new article today? About books?" Sam looked confused.

"No... what was it about?"

"The government wants to get rid of books. And Authors, no doubt." He scoffed.

"What?!" The exclamation came out before she could stop it. He nodded firmly.

"They are getting rid of paper all together, in fact. I mean, besides schools, who uses it?"

"Grocery stories for receipts, flyers, tickets..." Sam began ticking them off on her fingers. He held out a hand to stop her.

"Okay... I get your point. All I'm trying to say is watch out. That stuffs soon going to be illegal." He warned. She nodded, feeling her face pale a little.

"You're sure about this?" His head bobbed as he nodded.

"100%." He confirmed.

"Well... thanks."

"No problem, sis. G'night." He reached up to ruffle her hair before vanishing back into the dining room. Sam scurried to her room and pushed her closet doors open to stare at all the books she had stacked in the corners. They couldn't take all of them away... could they?
————
Nick cringed as he shut the front door louder than he had meant to. If he shut it any harder, his family would have known he was home.

"Nick? Is that you?!" Nick jumped, attempting to contain himself before he responded.

"Yes, sir!"

"Come to the living room." Nick raked his fingers through his hair as he slid his shoes off and stood before his father who sat waiting on the couch.

"Sir?" He swallowed.

"The coach told me you didn't try out for football." Nick felt his body freeze.

"Oh my- I'm so sorry, Dad, honest. I-" His father held up a hand for silence.

"I contacted the coach, and he'll allow you to join the team as long as you prove to be a good asset." Nick felt himself deflate. Half of him was relieved... at least his father wouldn't be angry with him. But the other half argued back. As much as he hated football, his father was a star player back in his day, and he wanted the same for Nick. No ands, ifs, or buts.

"Thank you so much. It won't happen again." Nick promised, shoving his hands in his pockets and steering towards his room. He felt his dad's eyes peer after him as he fled, watching him until he was out of sight. He let out an exhausted sigh, locked his room door, and collapsed on his bed. He snatched the tv remote from off his nightstand and pulled out a book from under his pillow. As he began to read, he turned the tv to a football game, turning up the volume so his father would be able to hear it from downstairs. He zoned out, his eyes skimming across the words with surprising accuracy. His eyes widened at the plot, and he jumped as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He quickly flipped it out, noticing a text message from Beth.

Hey!

He smiled and typed a reply.

Why hello, beautiful.

I found something you might find interesting.

Underneath the text bubble was a screenshot of an article. Nick raised an eyebrow as he read the title.

This is a prank site, isn't it? Lol

He quickly typed.

I'm afraid not. It's actually a legit site. Take a look at the tv.

Nick threw his book to the side and grabbed the remote, squeezing it until his knuckles turned white. He changed the channel to a news station and sat back.

-has discussed getting rid of books entirely! 'Death by Fantasy' everyone is calling it. Couples have been complaining about their loved ones 'zoning out' and slipping into some sort of a day-dream state. When they are awoken from this... trance, they are perfectly fine. When asked about what they experienced, they explain it as being in a movie, except they are the main character. They are so entranced by these dream worlds, and they always want to go back. Studies have shown that 57% of people that read tend to have these occurrences quite often. It has caused numerous wrecks, traffic, and even shopping troubles! More on that later. Now, over to Neurologist Marabeth Swell to explain what the heck is really going on, after this break.

Nick sat back in shock as he switched the tv off. Sure, he had experiences where he was so absorbed in a story, he would wish he were there, but it never killed him. He could separate fantasy from reality with no problem. He quickly looked back at his phone to see Beth had sent a smirk emoji.

What the... Nick stopped himself and hit send.

Awful, huh? I feel bad for all the Authors out there. That was their job, ya know?

Nick couldn't reply as he stared in awe at the blank television. He loved books more than he would dare admit... if he dared even breath a word of it, though, his father would probably have him put up for adoption before he could even blink.

"Nick?" Speak of the devil.

"Yeah, Dad!?" He yelled back.

"Who's winning?" Nick froze.

"Frick."