Safe and Sound

Fresh Pair of Eyes

I'm standing by the bed packing my last bit of clothes. I just got off the phone with Alison-- I don't know why out of all the girls, I decided to talk to her about what's going on.

"Aria," she said, "you can't go on living like this. You did a brave thing. Listen to Ezra and get out of Rosewood. I know I am. This is all too freaky for me."

"I don't know." I breathed heavily in the phone and closed my eyes. "I want to, but I'm scared that if I run--"

"Just do it!"

"But Dr. Sullivan said--"

"Screw her. You know what you should do? There's this thing one of the girls told me about in group therapy. It's like self therapy. You do it when you're about to go to sleep and it relaxes your mind and helps you sleep better. Geez. We all know that you've been keeping Ezra awake at night. And not to his benefit."

I hung up with Alison thinking she was insane. Whatever she was telling me about sounded dangerous, no doubt. But I do need to get some sleep. I've been so restless lately.

The apartment is unusually quiet and Ezra still isn't back yet. I'm not sure what's taking him so long, but I'm feeling restless again. Letting out a sigh, I walk over to his lap top and google "sleep therapy". About forty-two links pop up on the first page, so I click on the first one-- "lucid dreaming". After reading about this distinctive type of therapy, I click on another link that takes me to a frequently asked questions section on the topic. I scroll down reading other people's experiences with lucid dreaming. I see someone's comment about their experience and click the "contact me" button next to their name. Suddenly, an instant messenger app pops up on the screen.

Hello, the screen read almost instantaneously.

Hi, I type back. I'm Aria. I just have a few questions about lucid dreaming. You wrote that you experienced it?

Yeah. I tried it out a couple of times. It was a cool experience, I guess. My heart starts racing, thinking that I'm so close to finding out more information. What made you want to try it out?

"Hey, babe."

I turn around to see Ezra walking in, kicking the door closed with his brown Sperry's and two bags in each hand. He takes the keys out of his mouth and puts them in the pockets of his jeans and then dusts off his grey Hollis hoodie.

"I brought you lunch," he continues.

I slam the laptop shut and force a grin on my face. "Oh. That sounds great! and then we can take off?"

"Actually, babe," Ezra started as he walked over towards me. "Change in plans."

"What do you mean?"

"We're not going anywhere. We have to stay in Rosewood."