text: The 4 year old Miles is awoken by his mother. Her sweet, gentle smile giving him the confidence he needs for his first day of pre-school. She helps him get ready for the day, gives him breakfast, then takes him to the school. The car stops in the parking lot and Miles looks out excitedly at all the other kids heading inside with their own parents. Miles' mother opens the door and he takes her hand as they walk inside. She signs him in at the front desk and she kisses him goodbye and Miles runs off to the other kids. Miles is greeted by a multitude of children his age all fascinated with the new toys and play things at their disposal. He's immediately drawn to the superheroes. After a while of playtime, the teacher calls them all to her and tells them all to sit in a circle around her and introduce themselves one by one. Miles is eager to meet all of these new children, but none of them are quite as interesting as the girl named Joanne. He just knows they will be best friends. And throughout the day, Miles and Joanne play with each other and even sleep side by side at nap time. He is very fond of his new best friend. Day by day throughout the school year, Miles and Joanne are spending so much time together, that they're inseparable now. At the end of each day, they force each other's parents to stay and wait for the other's parents so they leave at the same time and never have to be alone. Miles looks to Joanne on the last day of school for the year and kisses her cheek. She smiles and kisses his too. The teachers laugh as they know it's just toddler love and means nothing. However... Does it? Miles goes to a new school on his first day of 1st grade and makes friends quite easily. However, he only looks for one person, Joanne. She's nowhere to be found. Maybe she'll come another day. He goes home that night and dreams. He dreams he's on a playdate with Joanne. They do all of the fun stuff they normally do, like draw in the dirt, build pillow forts, and race on their tricycles. Days... Weeks... Months... Years pass. Miles is now 9 years old and still can't find Joanne, but he dreams about her every single night. He meets a set of paternal twins, Jacob and Harley. He has a major crush on Harley. Jacob knows it, too. All 3 of them become best friends. They become almost as inseparable as Miles and Joanne used to be. This doesn't stop him from dreaming about Joanne every night. As Miles grows and ages, so does the Joanne in his dreams. He goes to a new school now. High school. His Freshman year... Jacob and Harley have fallen out of touch since they now go to a different school as well. Miles meets a girl. She's beautiful... She's quiet, smart, funny, but always wears black and keeps to herself. Miles introduces himself and finds out her name is Helen. Not long passes, and they begin dating. Helen is all he can think about, but Joanne is all he can dream about. Helen and Miles grow very close and she convinces him to make some bad choices. Miles realizes his mistakes and tells Helen he can't do it anymore. They break up. Helen does not take this lightly. Helen begins ruining his reputation at school. She's always telling lies and getting Miles in trouble. Nobody believes him. Even the cops have to get involved. Miles is not happy. He goes to sleep that night. He and Joanne are sitting under a tree at the top of a hill in a valley. Miles tells her everything. He tells her how he feels betrayed and hurt and he wishes he had someone to trust. Joanne smiles and says she's always here for him as she kisses his cheek. He smiles and wakes up before he can return the favor. 2 years pass and shortly after his 16th birthday, Miles is hit with devastating news. His parents are divorcing. Mom is taking his 2 siblings and moving across the country. He is legally old enough to choose which parent to live with. That night, Miles dream he and Joanne are on a ship, like a pirate ship, but well kept and clean on gentle waters. Miles tells Joanne of the horrific decision he's been faced with and Joanne does the best she can to comfort him. She says to follow his heart. Miles chooses to live with his father. He watches as his mother and 2 siblings are taken away from him forever. For the next few months, Miles is left alone with nobody but his dog since father was always at work or sleeping. The pain in Miles' heart was growing with each day, and each night, it became harder and harder for Joanne to communicate with Miles. One night, Miles decides this will be his final night. He dreams he's walking in space. He's able to reach out and grab handfuls of stars and throw planets like a basketball and fling galaxies like frisbees. Joanne is nowhere. This is the first night since he left pre-school that Joanne was not there... The one night he needs her the most. He runs through the universe grabbing the brightest star he can see and using it to light his path as he runs through the infinite to find the girl in his dreams. He searches all night for her, and just when he gives up, Joanne taps his shoulder and he turns to her. She tells him she's never gone and he just needs to hold on. Months pass and Miles decides to start dating the new girl in school, Andrea. She hot, she's funny, and everyone knows her now because everyone knows Miles. She treats him like a king. She brings him his favorite candy every week, she gives him massages to ease stress between classes, and she always a packs a second lunch in case he forgets to makes his own. He believes he loves her. Miles and Andrea sleep together multiple times. Miles tells Joanne every night how great Andrea is being to him and Joanne is happy for Miles. Andrea begins to get a little possessive, restricting him from people he's known for years, obsessive, constantly wanting all of his attention and never leaving his side, and angry at every mistake he makes. Miles and Andrea begin fighting once a week... Then every few days... Then every day... Then every time they see each other. Andrea snaps and ruins his reputation just like Helen did, but worse. False accusations and many more lies are told by Andrea and Miles is now at the lowest point he's ever been in his life. This is it... Tonight he finally ends it. Miles decides to walk home from school that night, alone. He stops off at the pet store to get his dog one last treat. At the store, he go to the register and looks up. Could it be? No. He's probably just hallucinating or something. There's no way Joanne is the woman behind the counter. Miles lights up as Joanne runs from behind the counter to hug Miles. After 13 years of dreaming about her, he finally finds Joanne. They talk and find out that all of the dreams Miles had, all of the adventures they had in his dreams, she had as well. She'd been searching for him as well for the last 13 years... They had grown up together in their dreams and were never truly apart. 5 years go by. Miles stands before Joanne in a tuxedo and a golden circle in his hand and says... "I do.