Rain's POV

The first night I had the dreams was one of the scariest.

I was at a sleepover with the others—except Sarah—and we were having a great time. The last thing I remember before falling asleep was texting with Eli; we were talking about our shared fear of thunderstorms, because it had started storming over where he lived. I told him to stay under his blankets and think about nice things, like cats.

I ended up falling asleep mid texting…I really wish I hadn’t.

I woke up to being fitted into a frilly dress by women I didn’t recognize. At first, I thought it was one of my recurring nightmares, but…

When I looked in the mirror, I wasn’t myself.

Well…almost? I didn’t look like me, but I looked similar. Blonde hair, but it was up in a fancy style. My blue eyes, but…they were like how they were before. When I lived with them. Dull. 

There was a woman who approached me; she had blonde hair as well, and she had one of those smiles that makes my skin crawl. It means “Good thing you’re behaving.”

“Look at my little girl,” She bared her teeth—I mean, she grinned. “Perfect.”

That word makes my soul leave my body.

I felt like I wasn’t fully there, but I started to feel sick at the moment; my thoughts must have aligned with whoever I was, because it felt a little too real.

She took her hands off my shoulders and circled me.

“You have to do your best at the ball tonight, alright? No slip ups. Be the perfect lady for me.”

With that, she left the room.

I could feel whoever I was trying not to cry; although, considering what happened later, I think I actually was crying, in real life.

But then…a boy who looked a lot like my brother showed up. He was wearing a fancy suit and his blonde hair was swept to the side; he didn’t seem to happy, either. His eyes did the same thing as mine…

The maids had left with the older lady—I guess she was “my” mom—so he came over and sat on the pedestal they had me standing on.

“The dress is ugly.” He said. “It doesn’t fit you well, either.”

After a moment, I let out a laugh.

“Your hair looks terrible,” I responded. “Why do they keep doing it like that?”

“No idea,” He shook his head.

I sat down next to him and leaned my head on his shoulder.

For a second, I felt at peace.

And then I woke up, my brother’s face inches from mine.

“Hey,” He whispered; I realized he was probably trying not to wake up Mitch, who was muttering to himself between snores. “You okay?”

I sat up and wiped my eyes; there were tear stains running down my face. I gave him a nod, but he didn’t look convinced.

“I’ll be back.” He stood up and walked out of the room; he always gets me snacks when I’m upset. Eating always calms me down.

I looked down and realized my phone was still in my other hand; I was clutching it for dear life, so I loosened my hold and opened it up.

I accidentally left Eli on read; like I said, I fell asleep mid conversation.

It was 2am, but…he doesn’t have the best sleep schedule to begin with…

RinRinRin: Eli-Moon? You still awake?

To my happiness, he started typing almost immediately.

Tigerxx1: you know i am lmao

Tigerxx1: you okay?

I can’t help but smile when we talk. He makes me so happy.

RinRinRin: Just a bad dream, that’s all. 

Tigerxx1: i’ll come fight them for you

Tigerxx1: and then we can huddle together and hide from the rain

RinRinRin: I’d like that 🙂

RinRinRin: And Alex can get us snacks

Tigerxx1: He’s welcome to join if he wants

RinRinRin: Okiiiieeee 😆

I told myself I just had to remember that things were good now. I wasn’t perfect, but I was happy, and that’s all that mattered.

I wish I had been right.