“Sure,” he says, his voice relieved. “I, uh, figure we have some things to talk about. Are the ’rents home?”

“My mother’s probably passed out in her bedroom. That’s it, just me and her.”

“Cool,” he says, but he gives her an understanding look.

They go inside. There is no sign of Janie’s mother, except for an empty fifth of vodka on the kitchen counter and a sink full of dishes. Janie throws the bottle in the trash. “Sorry about the mess,” she says in a low voice. She is embarrassed. The house was spotless when she left it yesterday morning.

“Forget about it. We can clean it up later, if you want.”

Janie waves her hand at the living room. “Well. This is it,” she says.

“You sleep out here, huh?” He isn’t teasing.

“No, I have a bedroom. Come.” She shows him. It’s sparse and neat.

“Nice,” he says. He glances at the bed, and then abruptly turns around and they walk back to the living room.

“Hungry?”

“My stomach’s growling,” he says.

“Let me see if we have anything.” Janie searches the kitchen cupboards and refrigerator and comes up empty-handed. “Good grief,” she says finally. “I’m sorry.” She turns around. “We got nothin’.”

He’s been watching her, she realizes.

“Maybe we could get a pizza.”

“Sounds good.”

“You want to go out?”

Janie sighs and scratches her head. “Not really.”

“Good. Let’s order delivery.”

Janie finds the number for Fred’s Pizza and Grinders and orders. “Thirty minutes.”

Cabel tosses a twenty-dollar bill on the coffee table and sits down.

“Cabe.”

“Yes.”

“What is that?”

“It’s twenty dollars, Hannagan.”

Janie sighs. “Let’s be truthful with each other here, mmmkay?”

“Of course. Our whole relationship is based on it. Right?” He’s smiling sardonically, and looks down. She cringes as the words hang ominously in the room. “Look, I’m sorry,” she begins. “I have a lot of explaining to do. But I know you don’t have any more money to spare than I do. So how about I pay for this?”

“No. Next question.”

Janie sits down next to him. Shakes her head. “Fine,” she says, giving up. She draws her legs up under her and turns to face him.

“Okay,” she continues. “How did you get in the dream twice?”

He looks away, and then back to Janie.

“Well, let’s just jump right into it, then.”

“I guess.”

“All right…uh…I guess the answer is, I have No. Fucking. Clue. Oh, and just let me know when it’s my turn to ask a few questions. Because I’d like to know how the hell you. Got into. My dream. Hello.”

Janie blushes. “Some of your dreams are kind of great.”

“Oh, really.” Cabel leans forward and catches her chin. Catches her by surprise. He pulls her toward him and traces her cheekbone with his thumb. And then, he puts his lips on hers. Janie falls into the kiss. She closes her eyes and slips her hand to his shoulder. They explore the kiss for a moment, sweetly. Cabel digs his fingers into her hair and he pulls her closer. But before it grows any stronger, Janie pulls away. She feels like her limbs are rubber.

“Shit,” she sputters. “You…you…”

He smiles lazily, his lips still wet. “Yes?”

“You kiss better than I imagined. Even in—”

He blinks. “No,” he says. “No, no, no. Don’t even tell me you’ve been there.”

She bites her lip. “Well, maybe if you stopped sleeping during study hall, I wouldn’t have a clue.”

“Good God!” he says. “Is nothing sacred? Sheesh.” He turns away, embarrassed. “Maybe you should start from the beginning.”

Janie sighs and leans back against the couch. It was like reliving the dreams. Again.

“The short version? I get sucked into people’s dreams. I can’t help it. I can’t stop it. It’s driving me crazy.”

He gives her a long look. “Okay, um, how? That’s just bizarre.”

“I don’t know.”

“Is this a recent thing?”

“No. The first one I remember, I was eight.”

“So, in that dream, my dream, where I’m standing behind you, watching myself…in…” He holds his head.

“Okay, so that’s how you see the dreams, right? Like I saw mine. While I was dreaming it. Ughh.” He rubs his temples.

“That was weird, huh,” Janie says softly. “I know this is all really weird. I’m sorry.”

There’s a knock at the door. Janie jumps up, relieved. She grabs the twenty and goes to answer it. She sets the pizza and a two-liter of Pepsi on the coffee table and goes to the kitchen for a beer, glasses, napkins, and paper plates. She pours the Pepsi for Cabel and clips open the beer. She takes a sip as Cabel grabs some pizza.

“Now. Tell me what else you’ve seen in my dreams, before I get really paranoid.”

“Okay,” she says, suddenly feeling a bit shy. She takes another sip and begins. “We’re behind that shed or barn of some sort. Is that your backyard?”