Dahlia's whole life is flipped upside down when her eccentric aunt enrolls her in a prestigious university in England. She is forced to make friends with a rather eclectic group of people and adapt to her new lifestyle all while trying to find the a...
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I fell out of a dream I couldn't quite remember- one beyond the grasp of my memory, almost memorable, but not enough, so that it was just out of reach and slipped away into the morning fog- and I woke up to an annoying mechanical beeping sound and utter confusion. Blinking a few times, I looked up at the sky, at the streaks of orange and crimson and pink that turned the atmosphere a misty grey in the lighter spots, but some charcoal remained in the areas not yet touched by the sun.
I was looking at the sky, not the plaster ceiling I was accustomed to seeing upon waking up. More awareness seeped into my mind, and I realized that I wasn't laying completely flat, but I was angled upward in the way that a recliner tilted- enough that I could say I was laying down with some degree of comfort, but I wasn't technically laying down, not in a bed, and I wasn't sitting either. The surface I was leaning against was stiff, and with agonizing clarity, it stuck me that I would have some back and neck pain because of it. Great.
The loud beeping hadn't ceased, so I followed the sound to realize it was coming from a spot beneath my left thigh, specifically from my phone that was pressed between my skin and tan leather. I lifted it, reading the time- 6:31- and pressed the orange snooze button on the screen.
My heavy eyelids began to block out my vision, and I almost let sleep take me again, but my eyes flicked down to look at the length of my legs directly in front of me. My boots were accompanied by larger shoes- black, leather loafers- that bracketed them on either side and attached to legs clothed in black.
Realization washed over me with a chill that crept up the base of my neck and a tugging feeling in my gut- I fell asleep. I fell asleep on Harry in his car parked in a random gravel patch on the side of the road- I fell asleep on Harry in his car parked in a random gravel patch on the side of the road, and that was my alarm to wake up to get ready for my exam. My exam. Fuck.
I sat up as quickly as humanly possible, wiping my hand over the corners of my mouth to ensure that I hadn't drooled in my sleep. I turned around to see a sleeping Harry, his head tilted to the right to rest on the back cushion of the seat, his curls coiled tighter by his temples, ears, and jaw due to the morning mist. I jostled his shoulder, which, in retrospect, wasn't the most polite way to wake him, but I was desperate as stress took over all rational parts of my brain.
"Harry. Get up." Harsh, but it did the trick.
With a sharp intake of breath, he opened his eyes, and it was cool to watch his pupils shrink as they adjusted to the light, then dilate a bit when he noticed my sitting in front of him, and finally, I saw confusion etch itself into his features. It probably wasn't very common for him to wake up in his car, wearing a suit, with someone sitting between his legs, and I could only imagine how crazed I looked. He glanced around briefly, noting the sunrise on the horizon over grassy fields. He squinted, and I could see him remember why we were there.
Despite our odd location, he smiled sleepily, his cheeks a little rosy and puffy. "Good morning."
"We've got to go. We fell asleep. Well, first you fell asleep, and I made the mistake of getting too comfortable, and then I fell asleep. And, my alarm just woke me up for my exam, and now everything is messed up." I spoke quickly, rattling off events at a pace far too fast for such an early hour.
