Jon peered into the weight room and spotted both the "male Sarah" and ... a jock that he didn't recognize (the guy's head was turned). They were both talking to each other, almost civilly. He wondered what they were talking about.
"Hey, Gibson," a voice suddenly said. Jon cringed, hearing that voice. He slowly turned and saw Randy Goodman, best friend of Steve "The Stud" Farber. And just like Steve, the guy was a total asshole. "Thinking of lifting weights?" He laughed. "I wish I could record this," he said, before shoving Jon aside and entering the room. Regaining his balance, Jon glared at the jock. Why did they all have to be so mean to anyone who wasn't like them? He shook his head, wanting to put this encounter behind him, then turned his attention back to Sarah and that other jock. But they were gone! Where did they go?
"What do you want?" Jay asked, disgustedly, sitting down at one of the weight machines. He had his shirt off, showing off his muscular chest and arms.
"I just came here to ask you one question," Shawn said.
Jay sighed. "What?"
"Did you have a strange dream last night?" he asked him.
Jay was about to start lifting, but then stopped. "How did you know about that?"
"Because I had one too. And so did Kyla, even though she doesn't want to talk about it. In this dream you had, were you a nerd in it?"
"That's two questions."
"Fine, but were you? Were you a nerd?"
"Yeah, okay. So what? It was just a dream. Or actually a nightmare, more like it."
"I don't think it was a dream at all," Shawn said.
"What are you talking about?"
"I think those were memories. Your memories. I think, even though we don't remember it happening, you, me, Kyla, and Buffy were all affected by that cloud thing and were all changed. And through your dream, you were able to access those repressed memories."
"That's insane."
"Is it?" Shawn asked. "Think about it. Put all the pieces together. If you used to be a nerd, then you should be able to put all the pieces together."
"But I wasn't a nerd. It was just a stupid fucking dream. Now get out of here. I can't let one of my friends see us together."
"I'm not leaving until you think about it."
"Shawn, I'm warning ..."
"Think! You still have the mind of a nerd in there somewhere. Use that mind right now. What I told you makes sense. If you were the kind of person I think you were, then you know that it makes sense."
Jay paused for a moment and thought about the dream, which sparked a memory of something that wasn't in the dream. At least, he didn't think it was. He was sitting in the science lab with two other nerds. He remembered smiling as he looked down at some sort of computer circuit board. He had just built it by scratch. He was proud of himself. He was a nerd and he never regretted it. And neither did his friends. He may have been at the bottom of the social totem pole, but he had friends and admirers nonetheless.
"So, do you remember?" Shawn asked, breaking him away from his memory. And it was a memory. But one from a completely different life. Jay had no interest in nerdy activities. He was an athlete. A football player. He was sexy and popular. He wouldn't trade that for anything.
But ... there at the back of his mind. He could feel it, worming around back there. The old version of himself. Jay Duncan the nerd, smartest guy in the high school. He was still there. He was still a part of the new Jay Duncan.
He turned and looked at Shawn. "I ... I think I remember." He shook his head. "But ... I don't want ..."
From across the weight room, they suddenly heard a voice. "Hey, Gibson."
"Let's take this conversation somewhere else," Jay said, grabbing his T-shirt and heading towards the door that lead to the locker rooms. Shawn followed him.
