Life Saver.

Seventeenth Chapter - Wait, am I in your dream or are you in mine?

Simon's POV

I look above me, and standing right there, is Salem.

"Simon?" She asks.
"Salem?" I respond.
"I can't tell if this is real or not..."
"I'm just having another dream."
"What? No. I'm having a dream." She tells me.

We say nothing, we just look at each other.

"Oh." We both say at the same time.
"Wait, so am I in your dream or are you in mine?" I ask.
"Who knows." She reply's.

"I... I do miss you, Salem. I really, really do. I've just been overthinking a bunch of stuff. I mean, I know that everything happens for a reason, but I can't tell what the reason for this is."

"I know that it ends with us, Simon." She says, and her voice calms my nerves.
We both lay down beside each other, not moving a muscle. I really don't want to lose her. Not now, not ever.

A long period of silence fills up the space we're in.

"Hey, Simon?"
"Yeah?"
"How... How long have we known each other for, now?" she asks.
"Um, let me see..."
I count up the days.
"2 months and 18 days exactly."
"Want to know something?"
She asks.
"What?"
"In those 2 months and 18 days, I've been falling in love with you."

I stay silent. She knows that I feel the same way. Wait - Does she??

"Hm? Simon?"
"Ah- Uh, yeah. Sorry. I was just thinking."
"Hey, I have a plan." She says.
"Hm?"
"I met this boy named Finn."

Ach- Jealousy strikes again. Fuck, Simon. Just let her be free, you can't control her you dumbass.

"Mhm?"
"We... We want to escape. We want to escape with you and Taylor. Wren, too. If she can come that is." She says.
"Hm? Really? You know... You know where I am, right?"

Salem looks over to me. I look over to her.
I think it's the first time we've actually held eye contact for more than 10 seconds.

"Yeah." She finally says.
I breathe in deeply, and have an idea.
"Hey, Salem?"
"What's up?"
"You want to go swim?"
I ask, pointing to the water.

A big smile comes on her face, almost as if it's trying to not show.
"Obviously, you dork."
She says, and we both get up at the same time.
"Race you there," I say.
"You'll surely lose."

We both start running toward the water, laughing. But, before I make it to the water, I wake up.
Damn.

Wren's POV

I got a new message from Taylor. Eh, I don't want to answer right now. I mean, sure, she's nice, but really, I just don't feel like she's the type of person I'd like to hang out with on my own. Simon basically says the exact same thing. He says that Taylor is a bit too energetic for him. I understand that.

I had a friend like Taylor once. Her name was Elise. She was nice, but I just didn't want to be around her 24/7. I wonder how Salem is doing. I know I just met her a couple of weeks ago, but I can tell already that we think the same and act the same.

Today, I'm supposed to go meet up with Victoria and Willow, and go get icecream. From the store, that is. It's super close to Christmas, now. Oh, damn. I didn't even realize that Christmas was literally right there. It's November 13th today, so that would be how many days...? Let me count-

"Wren! We're here now. Get in!" Victoria yells.
"Oh, hey guys." I say, and I hop in the car.
Willow is in the back instead of the front, because there is a huge bucket in the front full of god knows what. She's on her phone, and she's laughing silently.

"Willow is so obviously messaging her boyfriend" Victoria said in a mocking tone.
"Am not." Willow responded.
"Are too you little runt."
Willow just rolled her eyes and got back to her phone.

Man, it's been a long time since I've gone to a store with someone else other than my older sister. My parents aren't around ever due to work, so my sister and I go get groceries. My sister, Fay, is around the age of 17. She dropped out of school just a few years back, and I'm surprised that my parents haven't found out yet. My parents are super strict on us about school, and have always told us that we should take it for granted.

Fay has messaged me 19 times today, because she's freaking out over our parents getting a day off of work to stay at home.

'Just go out with your friends somewhere.' I tell her.
'It's not that easy, you absolute idiot!'
Really, who's the idiot here if you're panicking over school when you dropped out of it.
'Well what would you like me to do about it?! I'm going to school like I'm supposed to.'
'JUST HELP ME!'
'Fay! You're 17!'
'And?!'

I don't respond to that. She keeps spamming me, but I just turn my phone right off. I'm genuinely scared for her. I mean, yeah, she's basically an adult, but still, she's my sister. My only sister I'll ever have. A shit one, at most, but still a sister.

"Hey, Wren?" Willow whispers to me.
"Hm?"
"How's Simon doing?"
"He's in juvie. I don't know."
"Oh..."
"Nothing bad, that is. I should have been in his place. But, I'm not."
Willow nods her head, and messages one last thing, then she proceeds to turn off her phone.

"Hey, it's not your fault, y'know? You've had a lot happen to you recently, and I've been wondering if you're okay."
"I'm fine, yeah. Why?"
"Just a human reaction."
"Good enough." I respond, and look to my left.

The sun is just starting to set, and I know that Simon and Salem are doing okay. I just have a feeling that they're going to escape easily.

Hopefully.