Dreams Come True:

Prologue:

***

Diary Entry: June 16, 2011

Dear Dad,

Today is the day. My interview for Princeton was the day I had been waiting for since I was a little girl. Mom seems worried, but I think that she doesn't want me to leave home. And Henry seems like he's happy for me. But I know him; he's just putting on a brave face. 

But how am I feeling? Scared. Honestly, I just want to make a life for myself. I'm almost nineteen, and I want to do what you did--

***

"Explore the world. I will soon... I hope. Sincerely, your daughter... Dream."

A girl sat by a tombstone. "Daniel Colter. Loving son, fiancé, and father." 

"I wish I could just talk to you, Dad... But I guess that is just what happens when you die before I could remember you." The girl sighed, closed her book, and looked at the headstone. She sighed, fixing the variety of flowers she had picked and placing them at the bottom of the tombstone. Roses. Her favorite flower. "I would have brought red ones, but Mom's garden only had the white ones since the red ones haven't fully bloomed." The girl sighed when she set her book to the side so that she could wrap her arms around her knees. "I wish you were here. I really need some fatherly advice." She sighed when she rested her chin on the top of her knees.

"Dream!"

She turned to see her mother getting out of the car, standing by the hood, waiting for her. "It's time to go!" Her mother continued, holding up her wrist and motioning to her watch. 

"Well, looks like I got to go. I'll talk to you when I get back." Dream sighed, standing up from the ground and picking up her bag and diary. She kissed her fingers before placing them by the engraved name on the tombstone. "Wish me luck." She mumbled before turning to walk to her mother's car.

"You ready to go?" Regina, Dream's mother, asked her when Dream walked to the other side of the car.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Dream said when Regina nodded, both of them getting into the car before Regina started to drive out of town.

After one long drive, Dream sat impatiently in the hallway while her mother read a parenting magazine. Dream's leg kept bouncing while she kept looking at the door, which a boy had just walked into about fifteen minutes ago.

"Dreamy, if you kept bouncing your leg, it will eventually fly away," Regina said, nose still in the magazine, looking at allergy-free snack recipes for kids around Henry's age. Henry was Dream's little brother. Well, he was her adopted, little brother, but Dream would never call him anything less than her family. 

"I'm just nervous..." Dream said, still looking at the door. "And you know that isn't true. Legs can't fly on their own." Dream said, glancing at her mother, who lowered the magazine, smirking as she raised her brow.

"I just cannot get anything past you, can I?" Regina said sarcastically, making Dream scoff at her.

"I'm just saying... It's not like we live in a fairy tale." Dream said, returning to look at the door when Regina sighed, still looking at her daughter. 

"Yeah..." Regina said softly when she went to look back at the snack recipes.

"Daniella Mills?"

Dream and Regina perked up when they watched the boy walk out over to his father when a woman with a clipboard poked out of the door. 

"Good luck. I'll be here when you get back." Regina smiled as Dream got up and walked towards the door.

She sat in front of the table, where four adults sat: two men, a woman, and a computer monitor with another woman on it. 

"I guess I'll start off the questions. Miss Daniella, it says here that you have a 4.2 GPA; is that correct?" The woman, wearing a navy blue pantsuit, asked, looking into a file of papers. 

"Yes, ma'am. And you can call me Dream; that's what I typically go by." Dream smiled when the adults gave her an odd look. 

"A stage name? Hmm." The man, who wasn't wearing a jacket with his suit and tie outfit, smirked a bit, looking at the other man, who was wearing a jacket with his suit.

"No... My first name is Dream. Paperwork normally puts D. Daniella." Dream said nervously when she just wished that they would go back to ask her questions. 

"Ah." The same man nodded, giving another look to the other man.

"Well, let's get back to the interview." The woman in the pantsuit said, looking at the two men, who seemed to be irritating her. "It says that you went to Storybrooke High. Top of your class?" The woman on the monitor asked her.

"Yes, ma'am." Dream nodded when the man wearing the jacket looked up from his doodling on his clipboard. 

"Where is Storybrooke, Miss... Dream?" He asked, hesitating before saying Dream's name. "That's a rather strange name for a town." The man, without a jacket, chuckled a bit at the other man.

Dream's nerves turned into frustration. She thought an Ivy League school would be a good thing for her, but it seemed like an institute for entitled jerks and trust funders. "It's a small town in Maine. Very quaint and small, but it's home." Dream gave the man a smile before her mother's attitude that she had inherited took over. "You should come to visit. It's lovely. Everyone knows everyone, and it surely has decent people in it. Maybe you could enjoy yourself." Dream said, looking composed while she saw the man's smirk fade.

"Well, it sounds wonderful, Miss Mills. But I fail to see where your extracurriculars are listed." The woman in the pantsuit said, looking at Dream, who turned her attention back to the interview.

"Oh, I didn't really play sports or do any clubs. I just either worked in a local diner or volunteered at the hospital. I would read to sick patients." Dream smiled at her as they all seemed to write notes on their clipboards. 

The interview continued until Dream walked out to see her mother waiting on her. 

"How did it go, honey?" Regina asked, standing up with her purse. 

"Let's just say... I'll be happy to stay in Storybrooke." Dream sighed when Regina moved to rub her arm while they started to walk out of the college campus.

"Well, I know that this is your dream school, but I could always turn you into the next mayor." Regina smiled but noticed that Dream had just acknowledged her comment. "Do I need to talk to anyone in that room?" Regina raised her brow, stopping so that Dream could look at her.

"No... I just realized that I didn't want to turn into an entitled jerk who only cares about finally being able to access their trust fund. I'd rather stay home and work at Granny's." Dream said, looking at Regina, who nodded. 

"I think that sounds perfect, sweetheart. Come on. Let's go home. Henry will be thrilled that you get to stay home." Regina smiled when they continued to walk to the car.

~1186 words~