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"A couple of kids aroundI tried to talk to theh branches was this huge, perfect apple It was at least twice the size of any of the others One of the girls was deteret it She clie Her hand closed on it just as the branch snapped and threw her to the ground

"I ran over, thinking that I could help Her ar hard not to screa to be okay, that one of the boys had already gone to get help, but it did no good I wasnʼt really there" Alexʼs thu the scars where the doctor had put pins in to hold the bones in place "I forced my mom to help me look for you the next day I knew that if I looked hard enough, I would find you, even though Mo there were no apple trees anywhere near our house"

"You saw me break my arm?" It was impossible, yet he described it just as it happened

Jase had betapple at the top, and I was detered me to climb down, but I was stubborn After I fell, Jase ran back hoet Dad while Charlie and Talley stayed with me I broke both my radius and ulna and had to wear an itchy cast forof you for ten years," he said "I could never remember what anyone else looked like, or very many details about the location, but your face and voice have always been perfectly clear"

"Thatʼs" crazy? sweet? creepy? "impossible" Alex smiled "Shall I prove it?"

Part ofme out a little What all had he seen? What did it mean that he dreamt of me? I was terrified of the answer, but I had to know

He nodded towards the picture byfro out over the lake and jump into the water You didnʼt want to do it because youʼre scared of heights"

"Falling froirl," I said

"So it You were shaking like a leaf, but you did it anyway" A grin nearly split his face in two I coverednext "You were so proud of yourself when you came up out of the water you didnʼt immediately realize that you had lost the top of your swimsuit"

"Oh My God" Mom had wrapped a towel around hed so hard I thought, or perhaps hoped, he would rupture so He didnʼt stop until Charlie pantsed him to "even the score" "I cannot believe you saw that"

"Are you kidding? That was one of the best nights ofreel ofmoments in your sleep for ten years?"

"Not just the erow into a beautiful, a person" His eyes, full of sincerity, were locked onto mine "By the time I was eleven I kneas in love with you I was always eager to go to sleep Theseen you were beyond disappointing I memorized every detail of you, from the arch of your eyebrows to the way you tilt your head and stare off into space when youʼre really thinking hard I didnʼt know your name or where you lived, but I knew you were real I knew that you wereAlex I had my fair share of surreal experiences, but this one was even ether He lovedexpectation to ine it - packing up andacross the country to find someone you had only met in a dream