In Your Dreams

Abysmal Oceans

"I wish I wasn't such a loser. Sloan's the one with the confidence. Yeah. Not me... Not me. " Adrian and I are back in my Summerland. I start to bite my fingernails- a habbit my mother constantly scolds me for.

"You're not a loser. I'm a loser. I can't even talk to you in person. You intimidate me. I'm boring in comparison." Adrian says quietly as he twiddles his thumbs. Adrian is sitting next to me in a moonlit cave looking out at the waves. The sound of the waves beating against the rock floor echos throughout the cavern.

My wet blue slip dress clings to my body and pieces of my wet hair stick to my face. Adrian's hair sticks to his forehead. And his eyes are as deep blue as the waters outside the cave. 
The cool breeze in the cave causes small bumps to rise on my arms and legs.

"No. Sloan even says my eyes contain 'flecks of panic' and that I am stuck in my introverted lifestyle." I say thinking about my extroverted gorgeous friend.  "I'm not stuck though. I just was forced to be this way and now it's who I am. This shy clumsy.. Mime." I laugh hysterically and lay back on the cold hard floor of the cave. Adrian stares down at me.

"Why do you say forced, Rhona?" He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. 

"My parents always liked my brother. He was the favorite. He played piano. My father taught him. I wanted to play violin, but i knew I'd never be as good as him. My parents thought so too. " I grin nervously. "They've never really been too nice to me. Well, I guess one day my brother decided he didn't want to be so perfect anymore."

Adrian lays down on his side next to me and props his head up on his arm.

"My parents never really got over that. My brother is rarely home anymore."

"What happened?" Adrian scoots closer to me. "Please tell me. It's killing me. "

"I don't like talking about it. " I say and close my eyes briefly. I hear him sigh. I see him stand.

"Please don't leave." I plead and rise with him. This is a dream. He's not even real. Why am I begging someone that I don't even know to stay with me in a dream?

"I wish you knew." He whispers.

"I wish I was brave like this in person." I say and lean my head against his shoulder.  I look up into his eyes and stand on my tip toes. I want to kiss him more than anything right now. He gasps and starts to fall backwards. He panics and grabs my arm pulling me into the dark waters with him...

I wake up choking and spitting up water.

"Adrian!" I shout. My whole body is soaked and I'm sitting in a pool of water on my bed. I taste salt as I cough and spit up again.

"What is happening?" I cry and attempt to catch my breath.  My bedroom door springs open suddenly.

"What the hell are you doing?!?" My father shouts. I look down at my current state only to find my night gown and bed to be completely dry. The only thing wet are my cheeks from my tears.

I look up at my enraged father.

"I.. I..I think I was having a bad dream and startled awake." My dad rushes towards the bed.

"Didn't you know I was trying to sleep?!? " He rears his hand back and slaps me hard across the face.

I shove my face into my pillow and listen to him stomp from the room. He slams the door shut and my large mirror drops to the floor shattering into a million tiny pieces.

I wheep for Sloan. I reach next to my bed for my phone but feel nothing- just the cold wooden surface of my bedside table. He took my cell phone. I stand slowly and tip toe over to my wardrobe. I reach in and grab my large pink sweater dress.  I slip it over my night gown, stick my feet into my black flats, and rush over to my bay windows.

I unlock the latch just as my father re-enters the room, just as I knew he would. I hear him scream my name as I jump out the window down onto the roof of the patio. He pokes his head out of the window and chucks his half empty bottle of whiskey down at me.  I barely dodge the bottle. It shatters across the shingles of the roof.

"Bitch!" He screeches and bolts back inside. I climb into the branches of the large oak tree. I quickly move down the branches and hop down onto the grass. I hear a door slam from the front on the house.

I sprint across the grass across the three acres until I reach the fence.

"RHONA!!! "

I hop the fence just as my father  comes into the clearing. I'm struggling catch my breath as I dart into the trees.

I know that there is a gas station with a pay phone on the other side of these trees.

After I jog five minutes,  I reach the seven eleven and the pay phone.

"Damn it!" I shout. I don't have my wallet.  I walk into the gas station and see an older man with a large grey beard and glasses.

"We are closed." He says not looking up from his newspaper.

"The door wasn't locked." I say and he looks up at me.

"I forgot." His voice is rugged and scratchy sounding.

"I just need to use a phone. " I glare at him.

"Payphone is outside." He states gruffly.

"Does it look like i have change? " I say angrily. I know I probably look like hell right now from running.

He looks up at me, and studies me.

"What's wrong with your face?" He asks. I scoff.

"Nevermind. I'll figure something else out. " I turn to go, but he stops me.

"Here. Make it fast. " He places a flip phone on the counter and steps into the back office.

I dial the number that I've had memorized since the fourth grade. After three long rings,  I hear a groggy voice on the other line.

"Hello?" Sloan says and stifles a yawn.

"Sloan." I start. After a few moments if silence,  I hear Sloan shuffling around her room on the other end of the line.

"Where are you? I'm coming to get you. "