Jenna Ortega imagines

Forever- Tara Carpenter

It was a night like any other, you and Tara sitting on her bed doing homework as the TV played in the background and the city outside raged on. This had been the routine for the past few months, ever since you met Tara in your calculus class, talked to her because you had a stupid crush, and became best friends soon after. 

Of course, you knew about her past from Woodsboro and what had happened just a few months prior to your meeting in your very own city, but you couldn't care less. She was one of the sweetest people you had ever met, and her past wasn't a reason to avoid her.

You were just thankful to be studying with her again. A few weeks back, you had both gotten a little too drunk at one of the college parties and ended up making out. Your drunk self had stupidly confessed, and her equally drunk self had confessed right back. The next day, you sort of avoided each other like the plague, but then everything went back to normal, and you hadn't spoken about it since.

"Hey, Tar, do you get number four? You asked softly, peering over at her notebook to see if she had written anything down that you could copy. But instead, you found the second problem half completed, her pencil hanging loosely in her hand, her soft breaths signifying that she was fast asleep.

Now this... this was new. Tara had absolutely never fallen asleep in front of you. She had refused to stay over every time you asked and had never offered for you to spend the night either. Whenever she was exhausted in class or while hanging out, she would always completely leave instead of just taking a quick power nap.

A soft smile appeared on your lips as the realization hit you, and you couldn't help but feel a warmth spread on your cheeks. You softly took the pencil and notebook out of her hands and set them aside, her head still leaning on your shoulder.

"Sleep well, silly." You whispered with a soft chuckle as you adjusted to hold her more comfortably against your side. You then simply turned your attention back to the torturous calculus homework and prayed that she would actually get some good sleep for once.

But... As the minutes went by and as she fell into a deeper and deeper sleep, it became clear that something wasn't right. Her eyebrows were furrowed in the middle, and a pout seemed to form on her lips. Her shoulders would twitch every so often in what seemed like an attempt to get away, barely audible whimpers leaving her throat.

At first, you didn't notice, too focused on the numbers in front of you and the sound that the TV was emitting. But as the noises of distress got louder and more legible, and as the small twitches became aggravated jerks, it was too much not to see.

"Hey... Hey Tara..." You whispered softly, setting your notebook on your lap and turning your head just enough to face her sleeping form. "Tara, you okay?" Of course, you got no worded response from her, but the crease between her eyebrows seemed to deepen, and she let out something between a huff and a whine.

You gently reached out to shake her shoulder, unaware that this would set everything into motion.

She seemed to wake up with a gasp, but it was clear that she was confused and scared, an almost screaming cry leaving her throat as the tears instantly streamed down her face, and her shoulders shook.

"H-hey, woah, woah, Tara, what is it?" You asked quickly, simply trying to get her to focus on you, to not be afraid anymore. You reached for her shoulder to steady her, but were immediately met with another shriek from her as she seemed to block herself from an attack.

"N-no no! Please! P-please!" She screamed, shielding herself from this invisible evil, her tears falling so fast that they had already dampened the hoodie beneath her.

That's when it hit you. A nightmare. She was having a nightmare. Something so simple, yet so cruel, was plaguing her mind and keeping her from getting any sleep. Your heart ached in your chest at the thought of this girl that you had fallen for being so tormented by her past that it was affecting everything in her present life.