Piper Belle (Complete)

[Sophie ♥]

New story by Sophie & Pudding!   This one is a little weird, but I think it's a fun read.  Similar to our older stuff.  Also, the chapters are pretty short so I'll try to keep a good posting schedule.

The complete story is up on our Patreon in PDF and ePUB formats.  Please consider supporting us!

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Piper Belle
By: Sophie & Pudding

1.)

"So... you're having a dream about a girl named Piper." Arry had been Isaac's best friend all through college, and even now as they were facing down the end of their degrees, the two were still as close as two guys could be. To be fair, they'd had drifting interests over the years, Arry (who's real name was Harrison but treated that fact as a closely guarded secret) was definitely the more social of the pair. Isaac preferring the company of a glass of wine and a good book - he fancied himself a writer and put that above just about everything else in his life, even social engagements. And he was always knee-deep in reading two books and constantly trying to find that one good idea - the spark, he called it - for his own magnum opus. Until then, he was a sometimes-tipsy, quiet and keep to himself kind of guy. Clean, neat and unassuming - the sort you'd imagine people to describe in ten years as an unexpected serial killer. Arry smiled at Isaac like maybe there was a joke to be had, but Isaac stayed stony-eyed. "So tell me about her - about Piper Belle. Is she cute?"

"I don't know, man... I guess." I played with the corner of the book in my lap, but I was having trouble concentrating. I'd read the same paragraph four times already. "She's our age - maybe a little younger, actually. She lives on her own." I kind of admired that. Arry and I lived together, but only based on necessity - rent wasn't cheap. "She has friends, kind of distant..." It wouldn't have been a big deal, even with how vivid the dreams were, if they didn't keep happening...

"Yeah, well, sounds like a rich girl name so that's not surprising." Not that Arry really expected dreams to make all that much sense, but it was nice when they obeyed basic logic nonetheless. "You know a lot about her from a dream, Isaac." He meant it as an off-handed comment with a little grin, but Isaac looked down at the paper with a flash of guilt in his eyes. "Oh, you've had more than one dream about her, huh? Well shit man. Maybe you just need to get out of here, all these books are messing you up..."

"Maybe..." But that wasn't it. I didn't think so, anyway. Maybe I should see a therapist, but I couldn't be sure that would even help. They were just dreams anyway - what did it matter why I was having them? "You're right, you're right. I'm just in my head too much. How about we go out tonight, you and me."

"That's the spirit! Rest up, alright? You look exhausted and I wanna have a good night - I'll bring pills and we'll go find you some juicy little pinger to drag you out of your head and into her bed." Arry grinned, piling a few things into his bag. "I gotta head out for a bit - Rita wants to talk about our relationship." The boy rolled his eyes - he and Rita had been on break for like four months now and he was done with her, but she had trouble letting go. "Get some rest."

I didn't even finish the chapter of my book - that was a little unheard of. But what was I supposed to do? I couldn't concentrate. I pulled some pajama pants on in place of my jeans and let my head hit the pillow. Maybe it would be better this time - maybe the dreams were just dreams...

"Piper! Pipeeeeeeeerrrr." Lucky had tried shaking the girl’s shoulders, tried calling her name and now had needed to resort to pulling the entire comforter off her body, leaving the petite little waif of a girl in her yellow pajamas to curl up and make a very disapproving noise. "It's eight fifteen! The mall opens in less than an hour, gosh, we only get two days of weekend a week and you want to just waste yours laying around in my bed all day!" Her words were playful and childish, the way they tended to be when it was just the two of them.  Piper and Lucky (whose birth certificate actually read Lucy but whom didn't understand why Lucy and Lucky were pronounced differently and spent the first six years of her life introducing herself as Lucky) had been born in the same day, in the same hospital, and in-fact had been taken home by one-another’s families for a whole month before the mix-up was sorted out! To say they were best friends was a little bit of an understatement, and this wonderful sunny morning saw Piper staying the previous night at Lucky's in preparation for the weekend.

I sat up in bed with a frown, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Lucky watched me with a smile and I felt my cheeks turn red. She'd been giving me weird looks like that all week, since Saturday. I had a secret, a secret I didn't tell anyone about, but Lucky was very good at finding out secrets and fifteen years had been a damn good streak of secret-keeping. She hadn't mentioned anything about it, not yet, but that look... "I hate waking up early..."

"Maybe, but I bet you hate missing out on getting that babydoll dress you've been looking at all week because some other Courtney Love fan got there first." Lucky smiled playfully as she bundled her comforter up in her arms and tossed it back on the full size bed, making sure to throw it past the girl. Much to her mother’s chagrin, Piper idolized that look - the super-short babydoll dress in a solid color with black tights and a pair of Martens on her feet. She lacked the grunge credentials of her idol, but she still looked super-cute, owing mostly to her diminutive stature.

"I.. I don't have the money anyway..." I bit my lip and looked at the ground. I was always most flustered when I first woke up - I hated that. Especially in a place that wasn't my own, somewhere unfamiliar, even as unfamiliar as even Lucky's place was. I climbed out of bed and stretched, my feet aching on the carpet. I hated getting out of bed... "Since I'm up, I guess we can go…” But the mall didn't open for another 45 minutes.

"You want to go like that?" Lucky rolled her eyes with a smile - even for Piper, the childish yellow pajamas were not out-of-the-house wear. A little pastel night-gown, maybe, but that was in style. This wasn't. "Go shower, get changed, do your hair, and then we can go." Which all seemed logical, but lately it seemed as though Piper was struggling with the simple stuff.

Showering was boring. I thought about the weird dreams, things I hadn't thought about in a couple days, and decided not to concern myself with things so trivial. It's not like they mean anything. My hair was dry before the rest of me - thank you blow dryers - and then I put myself in yesterday's clothes. I had forgotten to pack an overnight bag.

"You said some boy’s name in your sleep last night.” Lucky didn't want to broach the topic too quickly, but it had come up a few times during the night and it wasn't the first time she'd heard Piper mumbling in her sleep. "Some boy named Harry, maybe? If you're crushing on a boy you know the rules, you have to tell me!" They were on the way to the mall as they spoke and Lucky was walking backwards as they talked - it was sort of her thing at the moment. Lucky had a lot of things.

"Oh, no... not a boy..." Well, Arry was a boy, wasn't he? But I looked down at my feet. My eyes hurt - I'd stayed up too late playing Super Nintendo. "It's just that guy I keep dreaming about, Isaac or whatever. Arry is his friend, I think. Roommate. Something. I don't know. It's not important."

"Arry is a dumb name. It's like he's got a cockney accent or something. Allo, my name is Arry, ave you eard about the orrid news?" With fifteen years of practice, Lucky deftly avoided tripping on the uneven part of the pavement as she walked backwards over it. "You know if you keep having dreams about a boy, people are going to start talking!"

”No one knows about my dreams except you!” I said assertively and the girl smirked. "And you aren't going to be a blabbermouth anyway!" My bossing Lucky around was a little cosmetic - it had very little purpose since she never listened anyway. But it was fun nonetheless.

"I might! I could go up to Kassie Serene and I'd be like ‘Hi Kassie!’ and she'd be like ‘Hiya Lucky!’ and then I'd be like ‘Guess what I heard…’ and then she'd do the rest." Lucky would never actually do that, but the blush that crept across Piper's face was reward enough. The mall was predictably busy - the bike-racks were full, though the emptiness of the parking lot made it clear that it was mostly going to be girls around the age of Lucky and Piper who were loitering for a nice find. "See? Look at all the bikes, that's what happens when you oversleep!"

"I don't have money anyway!" I said aggressively and Lucky stuck out her tongue. Since my mom didn't like how I dressed, I had significantly less allowance. She'd take some of it as "a fee for the movies last week" or "you didn't do all your chores". But we both knew what it really was.

"Well it's someone's fifteenth next week and someone's best friend might want to get something cute for a certain someone." Lucky didn't have a lot of money herself, but she did have a part time job (very part time, really, she only worked one night a week at a cafe) and that meant she had some money of her own that she could do with as she pleased.

"Oh don't waste that kind of money on me... that designer stuff is so overpriced." Though there really wasn't much else you could do in the way of buying clothes in that style. It was either overpriced or nothing...

"Yeah but what price can you put on lookin' as cute as you do, Piper?" Lucky liked to drop semi-flirtatious comments like that and she winked as they walked through the doors to the mall. Lucky turned around to walk forward. "I saw this one dress that you're going to, like, totally freaking adore, but you gotta try it on first." Lookin' as good as Piper did have a price though - about 26 hours of work Lucky’s meager wage! - but this was important to her.

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Thanks for reading!  Like & Comment!  

[Wannatripbaby]

Interesting... Not sure if I'm gonna follow along with this one since I've got a lot on my plate right now. We'll just have to see how I feel when chapter 2 comes out.

1 hour ago, Sophie ♥ said:

Clean, neat and unassuming - the sort you'd imagine people to describe in ten years as an unexpected serial killer.

O_O Now there's a description!

1 hour ago, Sophie ♥ said:

even for Piper, the childish yellow pajamas were not out-of-the-house wear.

Unless you're going to Walmart then anything is acceptable apparently. ?

[Guilend]

I wasn't really in the mood to read a new story. I came on to see if there were any updates to the other stories and almost skipped this one till I saw who posted it. Then I just had to read it and I am glad I did. It's to early to say much, but I am certain in a chapter or two I will have several entire stories in my head that never happened in this story, but a guy can imagine can't he?

[Sophie ♥]

16 hours ago, Hopsalot said:

This new story has got me intrigued. I guess you could say pipers the girl of his dreams ? hilarious right. Haha ha... 

I literally make this joke all the time.

14 hours ago, Guilend said:

I came on to see if there were any updates to the other stories and almost skipped this one till I saw who posted it. Then I just had to read it and I am glad I did. 

Awww!   You're so sweet!

New chapter today guys.  

[Sophie ♥]

2.)

We walked through the mall together, through some of the department stores before finally getting to the expensive side of the strip. It was unfamiliar territory to us both, and we only ever shopped here when we were broke to avoid spending too much cash.

"Here, this store here." Lucky led the way into the store - stores like this one followed the trends and it was dressed up appropriately for the fashion. To the left was the counter with two girls who would have looked at home in any girl grunge band, replete with pastel colored hair.  To the right there were mannequins dressed up in outfits and behind them were the racks of dresses. "Okay here's the rules, you're not allowed to look at the price tag! Okay? I'm going to pick it out and we're going to go try it on and if it fits, I'm buying it for you. But if you look at the price I'll cry!" Lucky would, too - she was very good at crying on demand.
"Okay, okay, but-" But Lucky had taken my hand already and dragged me into the store. She could be exhausting sometimes. She was a morning person and I clearly wasn't. I watched as she rifled through the racks and looked around for price markers, but there were none other than the ones on the outfits. Great.

Piper wanted to bleach her hair just like Courtney's for a long time, but she wasn’t allowed.  She often pouted about her dark red hair because it meant it never quite looked as nice with the navy blue dresses her idol preferred.  But that was why the dress Lucky picked out was so wonderful. It had a similar style, a large white collar and buttons down the front, but it was in a deep and rich shade of dark red, which captured the same aesthetics.  With the white highlights and the girl’s red hair, it would make her porcelain white skin pop like a china doll.

I looked away from the dress with a little smile and shrugged my shoulders. "It's pretty." "Try it on." And then I was pushed into the changing room. I knew I could have looked at the tag without her knowing, but it would only make letting her buy it that much harder. So I didn't. I pulled my own top over my head and slipped the new one in place. I had jeans on, but the dress fit beautifully, coming only halfway down my thighs. Mom would hate it. I turned to the door and bit my lip. It was locked... so I slipped my thumb in my mouth and touched the mirror with my free hand.

“How is it? Do you like it? Put your hair the way you like it and then I want to see!" It was always a process when Piper tried on new clothes - it took her at least twice as long as it took anybody else Lucky knew, but that was something that had been the case for as long as she'd been trying on clothes without her Mom around.

I wrapped my hair in my fingers and put it in pigtails, but I didn't have any hair ties anyway. It wasn't like me to wear something like this - though it was my favorite kind of style, I had nothing in this look. The one outfit I had conveniently "disappeared" in the wash. "Leggings aren't pants" my mom says. So maybe this one would be just for me, private, for my room...

"Come on, let me in!" Lucky pouted and finally the door opened, with Piper holding her hair into two little bunches on either side of her hair. There was a grin on Lucky's face and she slipped two of the multitude of hair-bands off her wrist and handed them to the girl in the pretty burgundy red dress. "You look like Courtney, it's so freaking hot."

"Hey!” Lucky tugged my hair and tied it up into two high pigtails, which made me look more like a child than it did Courtney Love. I reached for the hair ties but Lucky slapped my hand in a way I was all-too familiar with. "Come on - it looks stupid like that..."

"It looks adorable like that. Stop being dramatic!" Lucky finished with the pigtails, standing back to admire her work and making sure to block the mirror. "Do you have any idea how hot you look right now? I'm definitely getting it for you, no doubt about it." She was giddy.  The whole outing seemed to numb the thought of how much she was about to spend and how many weeks of saving it had taken.

"W-wait, I have to change!" But Lucky tugged me out of the dressing room. She wasn't serious. She took me to the register and made me spin around while they scanned the tag on my neck. I felt so stupid with my hair up the way it was. It wasn't like this weird Courtney Love style was something that people wore to look like children, but it certainly did the trick, didn't it?

"Okay, go wait out front." Lucky deftly removed the tag with a quick tug.  The green-haired girl behind the counter looked at Piper expectantly until she finally shuffled shyly to the front of the store so Lucky could pay for the overly expensive dress.

I waited outside the store and watched my feet. I didn't really look the part in my jeans and pigtails, but I knew how childish I'd seem with the dress on. I was glad I was fifteen and not twenty-five, or this would look really messed up. Then again, running into any of my friends... but it was fashionable, right? I was fine...

"You have to change when you get back to my house and you don't get it until your birthday." Lucky was broke now - maybe she had enough for a happy meal or some fries, but that dress had amounted to the total of her savings and she wouldn't even have enough left to wrap the dress. Still, it was worth it. "Hey Lucky, hey Piper." The voice belonged to Richelle - a girl from uptown who was moderately popular but still made time to try to be friendly to everyone. "Wow girl, you look good!" "It's her birthday present." "Man, somebody luuurves you!"

"Yeah..." I fiddled with the hair ties and Lucky pushed my shoulder, making my fingers drop to my sides. It wasn't like me to behave this way - I knew that, and I'm sure Lucky did too. Richelle was a little dense, but in a good way. "Lucky got it for me.. so..." Come on, Piper, what's wrong with you?! "She's kind of awesome."

"Yeah I am." She was acting so timid and shy - not at all the way that Lucky expected for her to, given the new dress. Maybe she was just afraid of it getting hurt, though. "It's really nice, very kinder!" The abbreviation was better to use around parents, because the later half of the style's name didn't go down so well. "What're you two up to? I'm going to see Jim at work." Jim being Richelle's boyfriend of almost a year now - he was well-liked in much the same way she was.

"I.. I think we're just gonna go eat or something, and maybe, uh... go to Claire's..." Despite the intended age range for no older than ten, everyone went to Claire's. My mom shopped at Claire's! And she gives me crap about dressing like a kid... though I supposed that wasn't really her worry - it was the not-kid look she was worried about.

"Oh that's cool, maybe we'll hang out later?" "We'd love to!" They wouldn't. Well, they would probably love to, but they wouldn't end up hanging out with Richelle - half the population of the school would be here today, and Piper Belle didn't like crowds. The two girls parted ways from Richelle and began to head toward Claire's. "It's starting to get busy, huh?"
"Yeah, a little..." I sat down on the edge of a bench, the beautiful color of my dress even more in view than before. I played nervously with the pigtails but I didn't dare take them out. Lucky wasn't one to give up so easily and I wasn't sure I had the stamina to keep up with it right now.
 

[diapersnpaws]

This has a fun discomfort to it... playful almost. Like it.

[Sophie ♥]

Thanks for all the kind words guys.  New chapter in a minute.

[Sophie ♥]

3.)

"I have like $8... that's enough to see a movie if you'd want.  You know they made one out of that Nintendo game that all the boys play, with the plumbers? I guess there's not much else on..." Seeing movies wasn't an uncommon thing for Lucky and Piper, though it would clear Lucky out entirely for the two $4 tickets and she was wondering if it was worthwhile spending the last little bit of what she had. Of course, then she looked at Piper Belle with a smile and decided that it was. "Are you okay...? You look a little woozy..."

"I'm fine, I am!" I frowned and pushed myself up from the bench. None of this mattered anyway - it was just a dress, just a hairstyle. I let out a little sigh and smiled at Lucky. She watched curiously. "Come on - we should go home before it gets crowded anyway."

"You're right. Is your Mom going to be home?" If she was, it would mean that Lucky and Piper would have to go to Lucky's first - which was further from the mall than Piper's, and then double back to Piper’s after leaving the dress there. If she wasn't home, though, they could straight to Piper's and she could get changed there. "So you like it? The dress?"

"I like it a lot. It's really nice, just what I wanted, too." Mom probably wasn't home, at least, she should be this early in the morning. It wasn't like her to waste a second of the day - she was a lot like Lucky in that way. I went out into the warm summer heat with my best friend, walking our way down the road together.

“Is your Mom is still letting you spend the night at my house after you go out with them for dinner?" That was the plan, anyway - and then the two of them would be sneaking out and going to another friend’s house where a party was being held - it was kind of genius.

I rolled over and covered my ears with the pillow. The sound of knocking was annoying, but even more so was Arry's voice in the air. "Come on, man, wake up." I sat up in the now-dark room and rubbed my eyes. How late was it...?
"Come on man, you were supposed to rest up for a bit, not sleep until I got back - you gotta get up and get ready if you want to get with some fine honey tonight." Arry had taken the liberty of getting ready when he'd gotten home, which was kind of a dick move given that had wasted a good hour that Isaac could have been using to get ready himself - but maybe that was because he'd tried to wake his best friend up to no avail earlier. "Oh, you were dreaming of your dream-honey, huh? Come on man, real girls are better than that."

"Yeah... clearly..." I pulled myself out of bed and threw a polo on over my bare chest. My head was still dizzy in the moonlight and I couldn't stop thinking of the girl - Piper, I remembered very distinctly...

"Don't you think it's weird that you keep dreaming of this girl?" Arry was standing in the bathroom doorway while Isaac wearily eyed two bottles of cologne like he was completely and utterly lost - to be fair, he looked exhausted as hell. "Maybe it means something. What's she like?"

"I don't know, just... a girl. What does it matter? It's a stupid dream..." I splashed some water on my face and rubbed it dry on the towel by the bathroom door. Arry stayed where he was and I looked in the mirror. I looked fucking exhausted. I felt exhausted...

"Yeah, but she's not just a girl because you keep dreaming of her, so it's not like random happenstance. Something's got you fixated on her, something about her, otherwise you wouldn't keep dreaming over and over, would you?" Arry was no expert on the matter, but it did give him pause for thought. "Maybe she's it, maybe she's the spark. Like maybe your brain has finally had enough of this sitting around shit and is giving you something to write about."

"Some dumb dream girl? Isn't that a little cliché? Anyway, she doesn't feel like a spark - I don't wanna write about her or whatever. I don't even really wanna think about her..." Or her dresses, her friends, her thoughts... I followed Arry out of the bathroom and slipped my shoes on by the door. "Let's not think about her tonight."

"Hey I got no problem doing that, but what if you're putting your moves on some chick and all you're thinking about is this one from your dreams? I mean she's gotta be pretty hot if you're so obsessed with her." Obsessed was a word that Isaac didn't like - he was passionate about things, in his words, but never obsessed. That word was overwhelmingly negative to him.

I frowned at Arry and he rolled his eyes. I wasn't obsessed with this girl - I wasn't anything. She was just a dream? Goddamnit, why did Arry even give half a damn about it, anyway? As I walked out the door, Arry gave me a strange look. "It's like forty degrees out, dude.." "...right." Right. I grabbed my coat off the hook by the door.
 

[Sophie ♥]

Holidays are killer. >_< 

New chapter today!  Promise!

[Sophie ♥]

4.)

The girl at the bar was cute - her hair was blonde and just below her chin and her lips sparkled like the eyeliner that framed her pretty green eyes.  She had a metal ring on her finger with a flat top, etched with a fancy design.  Isaac had slid up next to her and ordered her a drink, but he seemed to stall after that, like he'd forgotten his game, and maybe she felt a little sympathy for him, so she threw him a bone. "I'm Isabelle. What's your name?"

"Isaac," I said slowly, smiling at the girl a little too late. I wasn't as tired as I felt, I knew that, but it didn't help matters. I sat beside the girl - Isabelle - and sipped my own drink. "Tell me about yourself, Isabelle."

"I'm a Virgo, I like walks on the beach, I'm in pre-med and I have a thing for awkward guys who come across smooth in the first thirty-seconds and then get lost in their heads. Come on, let's hit the garden out back and get some air, alright?" Isabelle put her hand in the boy’s and picked up her cocktail with the other, leading him downstairs to the less-noisy and crowded first floor, and then out into the beer garden in the back - there were tables with people talking in large groups, and smaller groups, and congregations of people smoking - and a free table in the back corner by the fence that Isabelle led the way to. At least here they wouldn't have to compete with the music.

I liked her. I sat and talked to Isabelle about school for a long time, and then a little about writing, though I neglected to mention anything I'd ever written. I wasn't pretentious or loud about my wants in life - I had nothing to show yet, and it didn't make sense to brag.

"You got a cigarette?" Isabelle had finished her drink towards the end of the conversation and the boy shook his head, so she stood up and approached one of the bigger groups of congregated smokers.  Being the attractive thing she was, she didn't have too much problem claiming her prize. "Sorry, it's tradition." She sat back down at the table across from the boy with the lit up cigarette and took a drag, thoughtfully. "I thought you were really smooth when you came up to me - I'm glad you're not. I like awkward guys."

"Well you're in luck," I said with a laugh only someone with alcohol in their system can manage. She smiled. I played with the edge of my cup and closed my eyes. She was really hot. What's my next move...?

"You wanna get out of here? I live off-campus, two blocks down the street. It's a tiny little craphole, but it's my tiny little craphole." There were guys in this club who would have taken that comment and ran a mile with it, about being allowed inside her tiny little craphole and all of that. Isaac wasn't one of those guys. Isabelle appreciated that - if she were a guy, she would be one of those guys.

So I followed Isabelle down the street, bundled up in the early winter air. Isabelle lived off campus, I figured out, as we walked out of the gate and down one of the side-streets.  This subdivision had the dimmest streetlights… "You live so far," I slurred slightly, doing my best not to complain.  I could see my breath.

"I like walking, it reminds me when I was younger - I used to walk everywhere with my best friend, I grew up in a small town so there was something wholesome about it all." In the moonlight, Isabelle’s green eyes sparkled in a way that outshone the sparkling of her lipstick or the sparkling of her eyeliner or the sparkling of her nails - it was almost transcendental and ethereal.

Her place really wasn't very nice. I did my best not to judge, but the whole thing was pretty much what you got on a one-person rent. At least I knew where she lived now. She probably liked me a lot. I guess she was pretty cool too. "I guess. I don't know - I had a bike when I was a kid, so..."

"Bikes are so anti-social - it just seems like you're cheating your way out of all the fun you can have with conversation." Isabelle clearly had something other than conversation in mind though, because she started to pick her things off her bed.  Clothes and makeup and school books and all the things she kept close to her even when she slept.  She began to put them on her overcrowded vanity.

I stayed in the doorway. The inside was nicer than the outside. At least she knew what to do to make a pile of crap look better. But it didn't make her less of a slob. I didn't mind, though - living with Arry desensitized me to all that.
 

[Sophie ♥]

5.)

"It's alright... I mean, I guess it happens to the best of us, you know?" Well, to be fair, it hadn't happened to Isabelle, or to any of the guys she'd ever brought home.  It made her self-critical, too, like maybe she wasn't appealing enough. Whatever the reason, though, Isaac had fallen asleep in the middle of what they'd managed to get up to, and that left Isabelle very confused and a little bit pouty.  Isaac was very embarrassed and red faced when he realized it. He laid next to her in the bed, trying not to look like he wanted to die and she laid there playing with her hands and wondering if it was her fault.

"I just haven't been sleeping well. I'm such a fuck up... ugh." I put my arms over my eyes and tried to hide the blush on my cheeks. How had I fallen asleep? I wasn't even that tired... but the second I felt her bed, the softness... it was just really inviting. I hated that it happened, especially then...

"You wanna talk about it?" She put her head on his chest, maybe to let him know that he wasn't too badly emasculated, and made herself comfortable. "You don't have to, but clearly you're stressed out, right? You choked with me twice tonight."

I didn't want to seem crazy, but she was being sweet, and the bed was warm, and the air conditioning was off. So I let out a little sigh. "I just keep having weird dreams, always about the same girl... not anyone I know, just like, some random girl..."

"Yeah? What's her name? You should tell me about her. Dreams are just stories and maybe you just need to tell someone so you can close that book and get on with your life." It sucked that her libido had gone to waste, but the green-eyed girl didn't mind it so much now - she had a little complex for the broken birds of the world and she felt herself fulfilling a need, a purpose to make her smile.

"Uh... Piper, I think. But her friend's name is Lucky so Piper might be some stupid nickname..." I was looking up at Isabelle's ceiling, wondering how crazy I sounded. It was about to get so much worse, though... "She's younger, still in high school. Fifteen or something, I think. But they aren't dirty dreams - she just, like, goes to the mall and hangs out with her friends and shit..."

"Those sound like some wicked boring dreams, you'd think they'd be helping you get more sleep, if anything..." Isabelle’s tone wasn’t mocking, just observant as she listened to the boy’s heart race at the confession and then start to slow again. "Maybe it means you're pining for something in your life, something you're missing that she has. Tell me about her family?"

"I don't know a whole lot. Her mom is a busybody, I guess, and her dad and her don't get along. Uh, she's an only child..." And that was it. I really didn't know anything about Piper's family... "Usually when I see her she's just hanging out with Lucky. It's weird. And you're right - very boring."

"Lucky is a pretty weird name, too. I don't think I could imagine anybody naming their child that. But then that's weird too because why would you dream that? I guess your brain works in pretty crazy ways sometimes. Do you feel any attachment to Piper? Like, do you see her as a sister, who are you in the dream?"

"Oh..." I didn't really think about that, about it that way... who was I? "I... I don't know... I mean, I guess, I kind of... see everything the way Piper does. So maybe I'm her? But she doesn't feel like family or anything - just a stranger..."

"Ah, so you're not dreaming about a fifteen year old girl, you're dreaming that you are a fifteen year old girl..." Maybe that was something the boy hadn't considered, because he seemed perturbed enough to try and sit up, but Isabelle pushed him back down and played her hand across his stomach coyly - a sort of obey-and-be-rewarded deal. "Do you know about her life before you started dreaming about her? I mean... she has memories, right?"

"I... I guess..." I couldn't believe she was playing along with all this, what did any of it matter, anyway? It was just a stupid dream. She wasn't real. "I don't really know what you're talking about, though. She's just a dream, Isabelle."

"I know that, and you know that, but whatever part of your brain that's coming up with her doesn't. I mean, what if you had some sort of head trauma and she's some sort of repressed alter manifesting as a dream?" Pre-med dictated a certain degree of advancement, but that bundle of buzzwords made up the majority of what Isabelle had learned. "Or not. I just mean stuff happens in our heads for a reason, we just can't usually seem to work them all out..."

"I didn't have any head trauma." I frowned and looked at Isabelle seriously, her smile still on her lips and my arms crossed passively across my chest, refusing to let her to get comfortable. I didn't like her weird medical babble... "Can we just forget it? It doesn't matter."

"It cost you the best fuck you've had all year - I'd say that's a pretty big deal." He looked away from her, his cheeks red, and she smiled up at him trying to figure out what was really happening here. "Maybe next time you're her you should try to find some clues. Like where she lives, or what day it is, or something centering. Clues could help figure out why you keep dreaming of her."

I bit my cheek and looked up at the ceiling. She was right. It had been a week already, and it wasn't going away. It was most every time I slept and on those days, I was barely rested. I curled up beside Isabelle and closed my eyes again. Clues, huh? I could do that... right?

"You can sleep in here, I'll take the sofa." Isabelle stood up and got off her bed with a little smile, her black bra and panties accented in green inlays, and padded softly over to her closet to get her spare blanket - she wondered if the boy was watching her, maybe building an appetite for her body enough to not fall asleep, but by the time she turned around his eyes were closed.
 

[Sophie ♥]

6.)

I curled up in the back seat of the car, holding my head between my legs. We weren't moving or anything, but I always loved the weird smell of my mom's car. I never sat in the front, even now that I was old enough. I hated my birthday, sometimes...

"Fifteen today, my little Piper Belle — how exciting is that?" Piper's Mom looked in the rear-view mirror and smiled at her daughter in the back-seat - they were heading to a restaurant to meet with Lucky and her family for a dinner together, both families having been eminently close for as long as they'd known each other, owning to the circumstances. "You're almost an adult now, too, and maybe it's time to leave some of your more childish habits behind, don't you think?"

I winced and tucked my knees in closer to me. This had been a long time coming, and I just... "Come on, Piper, don't get like that. You're fifteen now." "Lucky has a teddy.." "Lucy doesn't sleep with hers every night." The door opened and my dad climbed into the passenger seat. She wouldn't talk about it in front of him.

Piper's Mom didn’t talk about it anymore on the drive to Olive Garden, but they would open gifts there as was both families traditions and at the dinner table Piper Belle would receive a dress that was both very tasteful, but very age appropriate and maybe a less-than-subtle reminder that her mother was hopeful her daughter would grow up.

Lucky sat next to me at the table, but I wasn't very talkative. I never liked my birthday. Lucky never really understood it - she loved hers - but she wasn't stupid enough not to notice either. It had become pretty normal now.

”Come bathroom." Lucky led the way away from the table and through the half-crowded restaurant to the bathrooms at the other end - their parents weren't likely to miss them, they had plenty to talk about with one-another anyway. "What's eating you, chicadee? I brought your gift." The decision to give her the dress at the dinner had been one they'd both come to - if it was seen as a gift, it might cause problems for Lucky, but it would mean Piper's parents couldn't get rid of it in good conscious: not with witnesses.

"Mom's just... being a jerk today. And I don't know, I'm probably fine." I washed my hands in the sink and looked at the girl in the mirror. I was fifteen today. I would always get older, too. I had to close my eyes. "Come on, we should get back before they worry."

"Why do birthdays make you so sad, Piper? You can tell me now or I can pester your pretty butt about it next year. But I bet there'll be a dozen times between now and then when you wish you'd told me, so you might as well!" It was something of a unique topic, because to Lucky's perception, at least, Piper told her everything.

"I just don't. Mom's always on my case and dad never really cares. I don't know. I just think it's stupid. I don't know why I have to celebrate or whatever - I stayed alive, congrats, right?" I dried my hands on the towel rack and stepped out into the restaurant. Lucky followed quickly.

"You don't like growing older, do you? Is it because Courtney is so tiny, and you want to stay looking like her? You know your parents are pretty skinny, I don't think you'll get much bigger." The words were supposed to be a comfort, but Piper just looked at Lucky with a glare that seemed as though she might start to cry, and then pulled her back into the bathroom.

"It has nothing to do with Courtney Love, okay? I don't even really like her, I just think she's pretty!" I crossed my arms over my chest, but my cheeks were red and my head was pounding.  Stupid Courtney Love and her stupid prettiness. I bet she doesn't give a damn what her parents think...

"I'm just worried! Don't bite my head off, sheesh..." Lucky frowned and crossed her arms defensively, but the posture lasted about as long as it took to form it.  She dropped her arms to her sides and then wrapped her best friend up in a cuddle and held her close.

I let out a little sigh and put my head on Lucky's shoulder. I was already so exhausted... why did it have to go like this, every year? And to think, when I got home, I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. I hated not sleeping. That boy's life was so much more interesting than mine... "Come on - my parents are waiting..."
 

[Sophie ♥]

7.)

"I'm glad you called..." Isabelle smiled as she nursed the small cup of tea across the table - Isaac looked exhausted and had deep bags under his eyes, had he even slept this past week?  Still, he was here at the teahouse, worse for wear. "How have things been?"

"I think I need to switch my sleeping schedule or something..." The consistencies were unnerving. We'd discussed how different the times were - about twelve hours between us, Piper and me - which meant I saw a lot of her in the day time and very little at night. "I always sleep better when she takes naps and stuff..."

"Have you learned anything more about her? We talked a little about finding what it is about her that your psyche is craving, and you said you were going to try to learn." Isabelle, as it turned out, had become something of a stand-in therapist for the boy in his absence of anything better.

"She likes Courtney Love - who the fuck is Courtney Love..." Actually, she didn't really like her, but that seemed a moot point at this point in time. I sipped at the tea, which did fucking nothing for waking me up. Ugh..

"Courtney Love? She killed Kurt Cobain." Isabelle sipped her tea and put the small cup down, playing with the ring on her finger. "That was the opinion for a while anyway - she was his girl. You know, the kid from Nirvana? She's been out of the picture for at least ten years, though, what's a fifteen year old girl doing liking her? Seems like a shitty role model..."

"It's summer there, too..." My complete lack of musical knowledge left me at a loss, but I guess the point was she was a little dated. Still, I didn't really care for any of that information the way Isabelle seemed to. "Maybe she's in Australia or something."

"No, I don't think that's it - you wouldn't be able to dream about it accurately if she was because you haven't been there." Isabelle looked at the small piece of carrot cake and took a small fork of it with a thoughtful glance. "I have a friend on campus who's a hypnotist, maybe we could get some answers better that way."

"You want to let some wacko hypnotize me? Isn't that a little..." "Archaic?" "I was gonna go with ‘fucking stupid’.” I took another sip of tea and closed my eyes. I should just go home and get back to bed... I wasn't even sure why I still met up with Isabelle about stupid stuff like this. She was hot. Why didn't I just ask her on a date or something?

"It's up to you, dude. If you want to keep having dreams about a fifteen year old chick, that's your prerogative. I'm giving you a way to maybe get some answers." Isabelle had lost her appetite and she looked across the table at the boy with a small frown - what was she going to do with him?

I knew it was a mistake to mention to Isabelle that Piper was fifteen. Fifteen today, actually. I looked at the calendar and played with my phone. Her birthday was in July... "So I just go lay on a couch or whatever while she dangles some string in my face?" I didn't like the idea, but I needed a solution...

"Something like that." Nothing like that. But it was easier to agree than to try and correct the boy’s wildly broken ideas on what hypnosis was or what it was capable of - in reality, it would just be a way to figure out what was going out without Isaac’s ego and sense of self in the way.

I walked behind Isabelle with a little frown, my fingertips aching as I flexed them in the early winter air. I was so damn tired. "Who is this guy anyway...?" We were already in the Westminster halls - that was grad school territory. I had never even been on this edge of campus before... shit, was Isabelle a grad student?

"He's a little… unusual.” That was a good way to describe Elyx, a person who differed in preferred pronouns based on the day of the week and the state of his dress. From here, Isabelle could see that Elyx was dressed in a really cute dress and stockings, but even that didn't dictate he or she - only stated preference would. "That's him, sitting down over there."

"Him?" But Isabelle had already propped me down on one of the chairs outside a door and went inside, talking to the... uh... I guess boy at the desk. He really wasn't a boy, though - no part about him said boy. I watched curiously, but I couldn't hear them talking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[diaperpt]

So you've got me wondering what the connection is between Isaac and Piper and whether she is real. By now I know far better than to start guessing, but the more I read, the more I'm hooked.

Now we've got a gender fluid grad student hypnotist coming into play. What the heck is going on in those weird, warped and wonderfully weird minds of yours! 

[Sophie ♥]

Thanks for the comment, PT.   I'm a little sad that this story isn't getting as much love.  But the chapters are pretty short so I kind of understand...

[Sophie ♥]

8.)

"Hi~" Elyx spoke with a sort of melody to his voice - a voice that lacked the lower-end punch of anybody claiming a male pronoun, and he extended his hand to shake it with about as much machismo as a six year old girl. He smiled with glossy lips and stepped back, motioning to the office. Elyx had a position this year, so he was entitled a desk, though he spent much of his time studying peoples behaviors in classes.  Undergrads were a particular fascination, especially around finals time. Still, even so, he didn't look much older than Isabelle or Isaac. "I'm Elyx. You're Isaac, right? Isabelle tells me you've been having some confusing dreams - well, I'm definitely the right guy to come to. Won't you come in? Maybe Iz could get us some sandwiches from across campus?" Which would be a forty minute walk there and back.

Isabelle left a few minutes later and I crossed my arms. I was positioned down on the couch and the, uh, boy took my pulse. I really didn't know what my pulse had to do with dreaming... "You look tired." "I am..." "You don't sleep well?" "Not when she's awake, I guess."

"Why don't you tell me who she is?" Vital's were important - this sort of hypnosis didn't work particularly effectively when the person fell asleep and with this level of exhaustion, that was a real possibility. "ELI5. Do you know what that means? It means Explain Like I'm Five. As simple and as few words as possible."

"Uh... her name is Piper. She's... uh... fifteen, now. She just kind of lives her own life and stuff in my dreams. They're in order, but not timed right, more like... she lives her life when I'm awake too." Was that too many words? The boy in the dress dimmed the light switch and I crossed my arms. I was so damn tired...

"I'm going to talk to you, and I need for you to listen to my words. That's really all, just the words I'm saying, and it's really easy to do that because nobody else is talking." Elyx drew the blinds and the only light in the room came in at an angle that lit up his far-too-pretty face and nothing else, in a sort of beautiful, ethereal manner. "Just lay back and listen to what I'm going to tell you, it's a sort of story that I'll tell, but you'll write..."

I put my head back against the chair and looked at the boy sleepily. This was really dumb, but it was like Isabelle said - if I wanted it gone, I had to be willing to try new things. I looked into his eyes as he talked about something, but it wasn't so easy to pay attention. I was focusing on staying awake.

"You're blinking, but I want you only to blink when I do. Can you do that, Isaac?" The boy nodded softly and Elyx smiled in return - blink syncing was an important way to regulate the pacing of what was happening and to stop the boy slipping past trance and into sleep instead. "Listen to my voice, watch my eyes, and blink only when I do. I want you to picture yourself in a bedroom, Piper’s bedroom. Close your eyes and tell me what you see?"

The blinking was strange, but the invitation to close my eyes wasn't too far off. I slipped closed and the darkness took over. I was sure I'd fall asleep there, but the sound of his voice rang in my ears crystal clear. "I... I don't know... blue walls, pink sheets, white furniture..."

"It's a very familiar room, isn't it? You spend a lot of time here, Isaac, ever since you were a little girl. It's your room, Piper, you're in it so you must be Piper and therefore it's your room, doesn't that sound like the truth?" Isaac’s face tensed for a moment, but then relaxed a second after in acceptance of the logic presented. "What's your favorite thing about your room, Piper?"

"I..." My memory blanked. Everything blanked. I couldn't even figure out the room anymore. I shook my head and tried opening my eyes, but that didn't happen. Maybe I was too tired. Maybe I'd fallen asleep... "I... I don't know..."

"Piper, why don't you tell me your favorite article of clothing. Do you like to wear pretty dresses? Or do you prefer pants? Maybe a pretty pair of capris? It's easy to find the answers, just listen to my voice and let the colors find you in the darkness. The blue of your walls, the pink of your sheets and the white of your furniture." Elyx had a smooth voice, a voice that had spoken people through complex situations before - though this seemed a more extreme case.

The words weren't right anymore - they were the sleepy underwater kind, heavy and drowning. I didn't remember going up to my room - I thought we were watching TV or something - but it seemed urgent. I sat on the edge of my bed and looked around. It was just after Lucky had left and the sun was already down. It looked weird. Different, somehow...

"Tell me something about your room, Piper. Tell me something you love about it." Elyx knew Isaac wasn't asleep yet, but he'd started to become unresponsive to stimuli.  Though his face flickered with recollection at Elyx’s voice, thus far he'd been unable to manage a reply.

I stood up and walked around my room a little, my fingers touching the surfaces. There was just a small layer of dust on the dresser where I never moved things and all my makeup was in shambles from that morning. What was different? Something was different, right…?

"Piper. Listen to my voice, follow my words, it's important not to chase the rabbit, you have to stay with me. Listen to my words, remember my eyes, find your voice and speak to me." Elyx couldn't help but notice the shift in facial composure in Isaac - he seemed curious, but serene. Softer, maybe.

Then it clicked. Suzie was missing. I went over to my bed and grabbed my blankets, throwing them around until I was confident she wasn't there. I checked the shelves, but she wasn't there either. Where did- ...no. No! I shook my head and stormed out of the room, slamming the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[diaperpt]

Well, that was interesting! ...if short. I'd gotten into the story by catching up, as I usually do. This was the first chapter I had to wait for. Sure, I'd rather read more in one shot, but you've brought to a point where we'll be hanging until you post more. I find it strange that people might bail on the story because of short chapters. A good story is still good even when in little pieces.

1 hour ago, Sophie ♥ said:

"I'm Elyx. You're Isaac, right? Isabelle tells me you've been having some confusing dreams - well, I'm definitely the right guy to come to. Won't you come in? Maybe Iz could get us some sandwiches from across campus?"

Hmm... I'm putting more meaning into his being 'the right guy to come to' than 'I'm good at what I do.' Elyx seems to understand more about Isaac and this dream situation than someone else might just from what Isabelle could have said. It's interesting that Elyx jumps quickly to addressing Piper instead of Isaac. I don't want to read in more than might be there, but because of my own identity I can't help but wonder if Elyx, being gender fluid, has extra insight into a guy (Isaac) having such vivid and personal dreams of a girl (Piper). 

Not asking for any hints and I'm so often far off from the story as it will develop, I'll just try to be patient (and have my patience tried ) as I sit and wait for more.

[CDfm]

I just read this and as I was doing so , I couldn’t help but think to myself how do they come up with this stuff? What are you just sitting there having a cup of coffee and an idea pops into your head that these two people who are different genders and really have very little in common are going to share a dream and possibly a life. Then all of a sudden you have another amazing story. I really wish I had that king of imagination. Well I don’t, so I am even more grateful for you guys and all the fantastic stories you come up with. I was happy to give this a like and I really want to read more soon. 

[Sophie ♥]

1 hour ago, CDfm said:

I just read this and as I was doing so , I couldn’t help but think to myself how do they come up with this stuff? 

Pudding: "A story where a guy falls asleep and dreams he's a teenage girl."

Sophie: "Sounds boring."

Pudding: "She's also from the 90s."

Sophie: "...what?  Why?  She is just inexplicably from the 90s?  Is she a real person?  Is this a time travel thing?  Does he have time travel dreams?  How could you prove it?  Does he visit her?  Does he google her?  Oh gosh, there are so many questions..."

Pudding: "So we're writing it?"

Sophie: "Like I have a choice now!!"

[Sophie ♥]

9.)

There was anguish on the boys face as Elyx watched - something was amiss, something was a stressor, something was a problem. It was frustrating to feel as though he were losing the boy, to know that in short order he might slip into sleep and this could be all be for nothing.  So he did something he wouldn't usually; he reached out and took Isaac’s hand in both of his. "Piper. Can you hear me? It's Elyx."

I pushed myself down the stairs and into the kitchen. Dad was in the study - probably doing work - but my mom was working on some of the dishes. I marched up to her, only a few inches shorter, and stopped a foot away. "Did you take Suzie?!"

Elyx smiled at the words - a soft voice that didn't sound remotely like Isaac, quiet but beyond a whisper.  He listened closely; something about his attempts to communicate weren't getting through, but if it could work the other way that was a start. // "Oh, your cousin Sammie was over while you were out and she just fell in love with Suzie. And you're fifteen now, Piper Belle, I figured you wouldn't miss her."

"Get her back!" I was fuming. I knew I shouldn't be this upset about a stupid teddy bear, but it was Suzie... "Get her back right now!" "Piper Belle." "No! Don't Piper Belle me, just... get Suzie back right now!" "You're fifteen years old." "Fine, then I'll get her myself!" I stormed out of the house and into the dark. Of course, Sammie lived two cities over...

Suzie. Get her back. I'll get her myself. Suzie wasn't a person, then? Elyx pulled out a pad of paper and began to take notes, a rich tapestry forming from the words. // "Piper Belle, you come back inside right this moment, little miss." Her mother stood at the door and the title made the the girl freeze, like it was taking the air out of her lungs. "We let you keep that ridiculous dress that Lucy bought for you, but if you keep carrying on like this, that can easily change."

I felt tears on my cheeks that I quickly wiped away. This wasn't fair... that was my Suzie... I pushed past my mom on my way back into the house and kicked off my shoes. "I'm not talking to you until I have Suzie back," I said under my breath, and stormed up the stairs.

Suzie is an object, Piper is talking to an authority figure. A parent. Her reactions and word choices conjured a girl somewhat younger than fifteen, but maybe not a child. Fascinatingly, Elyx couldn't influence the sub-personality at all and the life seemed to continue to exist in a dream-state independent of Isaac being asleep or not. Well, Elyx didn't know that without proper testing, but he could infer it. // "She took Suzie? Oh that is not cool!I" Like most houses, there was a phone in the bedroom hallway and Piper had pulled the long corded handset into her bedroom and closed the door, fuming about her mother as she spoke to her best friend.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do, Lucky... I can't sleep without Suzie..." I had my head between my legs while I spoke, my eyes heavy with sleepiness. I hadn't slept well the night before either. Birthdays were always something to dread. "I know it's childish and stupid, but it's important... I don't even know if Sammie really has her or if she was just thrown away..."

Suzie was a teddy bear that Piper seemed dependent on, something her parents had confiscated for reasons that weren't clear. Next session, Elyx would be certain to have a dictaphone set up to record the session. For now, pen and paper would do, though in a few minutes more he'd be waking the boy up. // "Piper Belle. You are grounded started immediately, off the phone right this instant." The voice came from the hall and a minute later she clicked the lever on the wall mount, hanging up the call.

I slammed the phone down, but I didn't say a word to my mom as she took it from me. I crawled into bed and laid there, facing away, until she finally gave up talking to me and went back into the hallway. I rolled over onto my back and looked at the ceiling. It was the first night in eight years without Suzie...

"Wake." With three clicks of his fingers, Elyx watched as the boys eyes flickered open, and then he looked around in a start, maybe trying to figure out where he was. "Oh, hey now, it's cool Isaac. You're in my office, you're safe and you're awake." The boy continued to look around, his eyes wide as though he were lost and he frowned, rubbing his eyes.

"Shit, I fell asleep... I'm really sorry..." I sat up quickly and kept rubbing my eyes. I couldn't believe I did that, with all the help he was trying to give me, even if he was a bit weird. "I haven't been sleeping well, so... I don't know, I'm sorry..."

"I heard a little bit from Piper, Isaac. She's worried about Suzie - that's her teddy-bear, isn't it? Is her Mom keeping it from her?" That was about as much as the boy in the dress had gleaned, but that was enough to evidence that he wasn't making things up.

"What...?" Elyx looked at me with a smile and I shook my head, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. My vision was blurry, though I'd only been out for a couple of minutes. I didn't understand that... "Suzie is her teddy bear, yeah... she sleeps with it, I think. Why is her mom... wait, how did you..."

"You seemed to be having an episode of somniloquy, maybe because I had you in trance-space and you fell through and went to sleep. But you were saying what she was saying, and I took some notes. Would you like to see?" He held out the pad of paper with his painted nails and smiled helpfully.

I read over the words - all Piper's words by the looks of it. I tried to walk through it with the boy as well as I could, but I was blanking. Clearly, though, Piper's mom took Suzie - probably because she was fifteen now, I mentioned to Elyx. "I don't remember any of this, though..."

"That's interesting - maybe you can observe her, or you can channel her, but not both." There was a bigger issue though - people didn't just dream up entirely distinct and independent lives. Not heathy people. "Isaac, sweetie, I want to talk to you about this. About what you're missing, what you're craving."

"Sleep?" I asked simply and the boy's smile was as false as mine was sincere. He put his hands on mine and I looked up at him. He was pretty. I would be okay dating a guy if it was someone like him, I bet. Still, they were sleepy thoughts. "I don't really know what you mean…”

"For your head to come up with this... in so much detail, so much that it's like a video playing in the background of your mind... there's usually something missing in your life that you need and can't have. What does Piper have that you don't?" It was probably too broad a question, to be fair, but it had to start somewhere.

"I'm not making her up." Elyx looked at me sternly and I did my best to make the same expression back. "Hey, man, listen! I've been dreaming about her for like three weeks now, alright? And I thought at first it was nothing, but it was your friend who got me thinking otherwise. And now I'm here, but she's like... she's like something else. She's like a video, like you said, but I'm not making it up.  She's just there. Okay?"

Elyx looked at the boy with a concerning look and smiled the sort of bright smile that really typified the sort of bubbly person he was - the sort of smile that could light up a room. "Okay. Okay. Okay. How does she influence you? Your behavior, your every day self. How does she affect you? And have you impacted her in any meaningful way?"

"No, not really... she just makes it hard to sleep sometimes, that's all." I rubbed my eyes and let out a little sigh. I was even more tired than I was when I'd laid down in this chair... "I just watch her life, and she just exists in hers. She dreams about me, too, I think. She talks to Lucky about it... but it's not nearly as vivid, from what I gather. Or my life is less interesting..."

"She dreams of you? Wait. Wait now. She dreams of you?" Alter personas weren't an uncommon thing in the world that Elyx existed in, but to have a sub-persona so completely removed from the primary to the point where they existed in one-another’s dreams... it was fascinating. "Tell me more about her world."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[diaperpt]

Lots of interesting ideas in this chapter! Isaac is now speaking as Piper, but then doesn't remember. And then that Piper supposedly dreams of Isaac! The time difference - the 90's thing that Hopsalot just mentioned - makes it all the more confusing, at least for now, that she dreams of him. It will be interesting to find out what the real connection is between the two of them. And it seems that, as interesting as Elyx is as a character, they will find it interesting to discover the connection as much as we will.

[Sophie ♥]

10.)

"It's July there - that's when her birthday is. And I think it's in the past or something, because Lucky and Piper talk about, uh... some... Love girl. Fuck, what's her name..." "Courtney Love," Isabelle said, tossing me a sandwich. I barely caught it. "Right. I don't know who that is, but Isabelle says she's older..."

"Yeah, early nineties. Unless she talks about Hole, and then it could be late nineties." Isabelle sat down on the edge of the table and played with her ring, while Elyx and Isaac unwrapped their sandwiches. "So Piper is an early-nineties girl, fixated with Courtney Love who still sleeps with her teddy bear." "She sounds a little bit like a kid..."

"She's fifteen," I said simply, though it took both looks from the two in the room to recognize my tone of voice. Defensive, maybe? I felt my cheeks turn a little pink and I looked away from Isabelle. Oh damnit... "Anyway... what does any of this matter?"

"I'm just trying to define who Piper is." "Were you able to talk to her? To Piper?" "I couldn't. She couldn't seem to hear me, but I could hear all of her words through Isaac." "Maybe this isn't a dream...maybe it's a broadcast or something..." "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Iz. It's usually the simplest answer."

"It's just some stupid dream, guys... why is everyone so up in arms? I sleep, she's there. Like, people have reoccurring dreams all the time." "Reoccurring means the same thing happens." "Well, I don't know. Maybe it's like a TV show or something. This is stupid - I have to get home and sleep while she's down for the night."

"You can only sleep while she's asleep?" "He can only sleep while she's asleep." "That can't just be a dream..." "It sounds like she's a persistent entity, Elyx." "I've never heard of this before, even in the worst cases of DID the alters don't report a feeling like the others continue to live lives when they're not in control...." "Then what could it be?"

"Ugh!" I climbed up from the seat and walked out of the room. Isabelle looked on after me and gave Elyx a faint smile. I didn't really care about them, though - I was tired and they were only exhausting me further. I started my walk back across campus in the cold.

"Please may I sit in on you while you sleep...?" Elyx was wrapping a scarf around his neck as he click-clacked down the hard floor of the post-grade wing hall. "You don't even know I'm there, I just want to observe." It really was an opportunity for someone in the boy’s field to observe something truly unique.

"I'm not crazy," I said simply, and Elyx nodded his head. "I never said you were." "I don't have whatever you think or anything.” "Okay." "I probably can't sleep with you sitting there." "If that's the case, I’ll get a coffee." I let out a little sigh and tucked my hands in my coat pockets. "Whatever, then..."

Elyx walking alongside the boy, talking in regular conversation though his eyes - which were now framed by black-rimmed glasses - were watching Isaac with keen interest. "Tell me about yourself, Isaac. I know a bit about Piper now, but I'd love to know more about you." That he was so fascinated must have seemed odd given he was ostensibly a boy in a dress (though his facial features didn't at all depict a boy, and nor did his voice.

"I don't know. I'm just me. I live with my best friend. I read a lot... I want to write things one day." Of course, that was assuming I could ever fucking sleep again. I wasn't sure I'd ever been this tired before... I walked home through the snowless sidewalks though the grass was littered with the stuff. Elyx followed all the way into my apartment.

"I'm only intending to take notes. I'll observe a little while you get ready for bed, and once you're ready to sleep I'll slip out for a coffee and come back to watch you sleep all night. I won't sleep in your bed with you, I know you'd probably find that weird." Elyx was a little bit of a self-professed cuddleslut, however, and really only discounted the possibility so as not to endanger his chances of observing the boy tonight.

"Uh... sure... I guess..." I dressed myself into some pajamas while the boy waited in the hall. It was just noon now, which was the worst possible time to go to sleep, but the semester hadn't started back up yet and no one in undergrad had classes.

When Elyx came back into the room, he stripped down out of his scarf and one of his layers of clothing for comfort, and there was definitely the lines of breasts beneath his top, even if not very large ones. His collarbones were very very well defined and he definitely has this sort of androgynous beauty that was hard to find in anybody else - and it was clear that Isaac noticed it, because it seemed as though he couldn't keep his eyes off Elyx.

"I don't think there will be very much to record... you're wasting your time." "We'll see." "It's the middle of the night over there - she'll be asleep." "She mentioned she doesn't sleep well without her teddy." ...well, he wasn't wrong. I always saw Piper go to bed with that bear... "It's just a stupid bear, though. She'll be asleep - you'll see."

"I'm not as certain." Elyx had a coy smile on his face as he sat up on the edge of the desk and watched the boy slide into bed. "Is your roommate going to be home today? What should I tell him-or-her if he asks why I'm here?" The boy kicked his feet with a sort of coy whimsy, lost in thought.

"I don't know... Arry won't be a problem, I don't think." I curled up in bed and looked at the boy. He watched with a smile and I let out a little sigh. This was fucking weird. "Goodnight, I guess..." But I was so tired, it didn't take long for sleep to overwhelm me.

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[diaperpt]

This is getting all the more interesting. Elyx is confident of learning more as Isaac sleeps and I'm looking forward to it also.

Elyz is a fascinating character by himself - NB gender identity and presentation. I'm fascinated with his name. I won't ask its significance but wonder if the selection of thay name was more than random - though not about vodka. Not sure how or if all this ties into the story thread but even if its random, it's so nice to see the inclusion alone.

I'm sorry there isn't much reaction here. Is a lot of your readership on Patreon now? If so, I'm happy for you. Still, the interaction here has always been fun.

[Sophie ♥]

1 hour ago, diaperpt said:

This is getting all the more interesting. Elyx is confident of learning more as Isaac sleeps and I'm looking forward to it also.

Elyz is a fascinating character by himself - NB gender identity and presentation. I'm fascinated with his name. I won't ask its significance but wonder if the selection of thay name was more than random - though not about vodka. Not sure how or if all this ties into the story thread but even if its random, it's so nice to see the inclusion alone.

I'm sorry there isn't much reaction here. Is a lot of your readership on Patreon now? If so, I'm happy for you. Still, the interaction here has always been fun.

Pudding named Elyx!  I don't know her origin of the name, but she has a history of coming up with ridiculous character names. XD

I know some of our patrons read this story on Patreon, but they don't leave comments. ;_;  I do admit, I miss hearing all the crazy ideas and theories and stuff.  Especially because Piper Belle is such an interesting read!

Hopefully more people pick it up in the future and leave comments for me.  

[Sophie ♥]

11.)

"Our Moms will kill us if they catch us out here." It was a warm July evening and a little past one in the morning. Piper looked distraught, her head on Lucky's shoulder as the two of them sat on the bench down the street where the school bus picked Piper up. The clear starry night above them made it seem almost like the day time. Sneaking out wasn't for them, but it had been the only way to get Piper to stop crying.

"I'm so tired," I said dizzily, my head on her shoulder. It was too warm out to sleep comfortably - even in the summer, the nights shouldn't feel like this. I had my eyes closed, the darkness overwhelming, but sleep just wouldn't come...

"We'll try to track down Suzie tomorrow, I promise, Piper." To promise was to try and that was about all that could be promised, especially without knowing where Suzie was. "Until then, maybe you could cuddle with me? We could lay together and I could play with your hair..."

"Won't help... gotta get home, too, 'cause mom is gonna kill me already..." But I was so tired and my feet felt like lead. I stood up and gave Lucky a hug goodbye. Her parents were always so much cooler than mine - maybe because she wasn't an only child. "See you in the morning," I promised, and started my way home.

There was no consequences for the little excursion - Piper's Mom had stayed asleep and that meant the girl snuck out with very little problem. She didn't sleep, though, she tossed and turned and struggled and fretted and around five in the morning her Mom opened her door. "Piper Belle... you sound restless..."

I turned away from my mom and covered myself with my blanket. I still wouldn't talk to her. I had no intention of doing so, no intention of letting her win this battle. Suzie was mine, and she gave her away, and I wouldn't forgive her no matter what.

"I don't get it, Piper Belle - you're an adult, you don't need things like that, do you? You're an adult now. I'm just trying to help you grow up and act your age. Don't you want that? To leave your childish toys behind?”

I curled up tighter against my chest and continued to ignore my mom's voice. I heard her sigh and I wasn't sure if the dizziness was getting the best of me or if she was genuinely sorry. She didn't say it, though. She always had a reason... but I wouldn't talk. Not ever again if that's what it took! She can't just take my stuff like that.

"I found something in your closet a month ago, Piper..." The girl stiffened up a stayed facing away and her Mom thought about how to broach the topic. "I didn't speak to your father about it, but I'm having trouble trying to figure out what to make of all this."

I curled my legs tighter against my chest and pulled my head into my lap. She found something? What did I hide in there? I hid most of my stuff in there... but all in different places. Different hiding spots. Smart ideas at the time, but now... what did she find... "I'm tired," I mumbled. Why did I talk...? Fuck...

"We used to talk all the time, Piper. And then you turned thirteen and you got into all this music stuff and it's like I'm the bad guy now. But I found a little tin full of pacifiers in your closet.  I didn't talk to your dad, and I didn't tell anybody else.  I'm not your enemy... She sounded so little like the bad guy, and instead like the image-focused real mother of Piper.

"Probably Sammie's or whatever..." I mumbled, rolling over in my bed so I could face my mom. I knew my heart was racing - I knew I was losing my composure. But it didn't matter - I could play off anything she found as Sammie's. "I know it's just a bear, but it was mine, and you took it, and... I just don't want to see you right now."

"Suzie is in the closet down the hall, behind your winter coat I got you last year." Which the girl had summarily not worn any time since then, which was just one of many nails in their relationship. "I keep telling you that you're an adult now, and then I take away your choices. Go get Suzie, and get some sleep."

I waited until my mom left the room before getting out of bed and fetching my bear from the hallway closet. It was the worst night I’d ever had, but at least it was over. With Suzie in my arm, six hours later than I wanted to, I finally managed to drift off to sleep.

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