Birthday Blues

Chapter 2 : Am I Dreaming ?

"Diane! You have to wake up, you're gonna be late!"
She slowly opens her eyes, taken aback by the fact that someone is waking her up , since she in fact lives alone.
Before her, she sees a blond haired woman looking down at her with a warm smile on her face.
"Who are you?" She asks, her voice sounding hoarse.
"I'm your mom,silly! Have you lost your memory?"
Diane blinks repeatidly in surprise.
As far as she remembers, her parents never cared about her and eventually left her and her older brother behind when she was sixteen. What's happening..? Who's this stranger claiming to be her mother..?
"Are you not going to college today? Quit playing around and get up. Move!" The strange woman yells.
Diane only keeps staring at her.
This must be a dream, she thinks.
A dream where she has a loving family, she's probably gonna wake up soon.
Minutes pass, and nothing changes.
She smells something tasty coming from the kitchen.
"Diane, aren't you coming?" She hears a man call.
"Who's this now? Is this supposed to be my dad?" She murmurs under her breath.
She finally gets up and goes to the kitchen to find her family eating breakfast.
She stands there motionless, everything is unbelievable.
Her older brother who supposedly lives abroad and is married is also there.
She approaches him, "What's happening here, Mark?" She asks while looking around her house that looks so strange as if it was an entirely different place.
"What do you mean what's happening? We're having breakfast!"
"I mean, how are you here and not with your wife and children in Germany..?"
"And who are those people?" She adds.
"Have you lost your mind deedy? I'm not married and those are our parents. It seems like you're still feeling sleepy." Her brother says then laughs at her loudly along with their parents.
"See? I made pancakes, your favorite! So come and eat with us." Her mom annouces in a playful tone.
Diane still believes she's dreaming, so she may as well seize the opportunity and enjoy this dream.
She sits down and starts eating. Everything feels so real, the pancakes are so tasty as if she was really eating them.
"I'm gonna drop you off at college on my way to work today so hurry up" Her dad tells her.
"Alright... Dad" Diane responds as she smiles to herself. She may be enjoying this dream a little more than desired.
It's sad how foreign it feels to speak to her own family.
Soon enough, she's back in her room to get ready for college. She's shocked this dream is still ongoing.
She opens her closet and her jaw drops in surprise, it's full of elegant and fashionable clothes that she never even imagined owning.
Not only that, her drawers are full of makeup, perfume, snacks and there are a lot of cute shoes on the side.
What a dream, she thinks.
After finally getting ready, she leaves with her "dad" in his black fancy car.
"So, how is college going?" Her dad asks curiously.
"Great as always, dad!" She says while smiling sheepshly to herself.
Miserable, perfectly screwed, in reality that's what she would've said. But since this is a dream she might as well go with the flow.
"How are things going with your friends?"
" My friends?" She looks at him then sighs.
Diane never really had any friends. And whenever she got to know someone they turned out to be either narcissistic like her dad or manipulative like her mom.
" Carolyn? Sarah? Amy ? "
" Oh, yeah.. how could I forget my dear friend Carolyn! It must be because I have too many friends." She utters sarcastically.
"That must be why for sure. You invited way too many people on your last birthday party. That's when I knew my daughter was really popular. "
"Extremely popular, dad. I may as well choose a fandom name for myself."
Her dad chuckles at her antics.

Soon enough, Diane finds herself in front of her dream college.
"See you at home. Love you!"
Her father leaves her behind, as she stands there bewildred by the unbelievable sight in front of her.
Her hazel eyes start twinkling as if she saw the stars as she looks around the place in awe, the wind blowing softly through her long brown hair making her look like the heroine of some coming of age movie.
She's in front of the most popular art college in town, and not the gloomy looking one that she actually attends.
What a dream! She repeats yet again.
Out of the blue, she gets surprised by a pink haired girl pulling her arm.
"Here you are! I've been waiting for you to come.. I have some amazing news about your crush!" The pink haired girl annouces excitedly.
"C...Carolyn?"
"Yeah? Why are you looking at me like that? Do I look strange today? You're the one who convinced me to experiment with eye shadow!" She loudly protests.
"Wait wait wait.. Did you just say my crush? "
"I did. I have some hot tea to spill so giddy up."

How long is this dream going to last?
Only surprises await her..