Stranded

Chapter 8: Wake Up! (The Girls)

Angel’s POV

I opened my eyes and realized that what had happened was only a dream— a long one. My head was literally spinning because of this terrible headache. Wait! Was that really JUST a dream? So One Direction was just another hallucination. I don’t know if I should be happy or sad. I’m an avid fan who can’t afford to be on any of their concerts and I have set in my mind that I would never ever meet them in person.

I’m used to having dreams like that anyway. One Direction? They turn to life all of a sudden and then, after a while, when I am at the point of much happiness, I wake up and realize that they have gone like dreams should. Funny thing is, I don’t recall anything aside from the time Lea told me about her winning the Destiny Cruise tickets.

“Get out, get out, get out of my head…” I heard the song from downstairs. Usually, my little brother, Blake, removes my one and only 1D cd and puts in something else before he turns on the stereo. I wonder why it took him so long to do it now. I went downstairs, changed the CD and put mom’s classical music CD in. I turned around, facing the kitchen, and saw Blake raise his left eyebrow at me.

“Wow.” He said as if what I just did was totally unbelievable. “First time, huh?”

“Shut up.” I shrugged him off.

“Had a One Direction nightmare? Did Zed Marlin die?” He teased me.

“I didn’t.” I replied, flashing him my brightest smile. “And it’s ZAYN MALIK, you twerp.”

He laughed hysterically as I stormed back upstairs to take a quick bath. I changed into jogging clothes and went out. I called Lea as I jogged.

“Angel? What is it?” She asked me as soon as she picked up.

“I had a really eerie nightmare last night, Lea.” I said, exaggerating most of the words. “It was about One Direction.”

“I had one, too.” She exclaimed yet I am not sure if she was happy or just startled. “What’s yours about?”

I told her about the Destiny Cruise, the island, the accident and everything else I remember. She sounded alarmed after the whole enchilada of the things I told her then told me that she had the exact same dream afterwards.

“What?” I asked her. I still can’t believe it. Maybe she’s just kidding, right? “You had EXACTLY the same dream?”

“I’m serious, Angel.”

“That’s weird.” I mumbled. It is. Of all the people who will have the same dream as mine, who would have thought that it would be my bestfriend? Weird. Real weird. Totally weird. Absolutely…

“What?”

“What do you mean what?”

“What did you say a while back?”

“I’m telling you that my dream was weird. You said you had the same dream right. Isn’t that so creepy?” I said, getting my iced latte from the counter. Surprisingly, when I turned around, I saw someone who looks like Zayn Malik of One Direction. But that’s impossible, of course. I’m just hallucinating all over again. I think I should really visit a psychiatrist. Fangirling is got into me real bad. Maybe this is only an effect of One Direction Infection.

I spent the entire day looking for a psychiatrist that could understand me and who would not laugh at my problem. Luckily, Lea and I found one. Laurie, Lea’s cousin, told us about Chad, her friend, who is a psychiatrist. He lives in Exeter, which was very far for us to travel on a short period of time, for we live in Harlow. Fortunately, he was nice enough to let us have our session online via Skype.

“Hi, Chad.” Laurie greeted him. We made her talk to him first because we sensed that it would be awkward if we spoke to him and told him about our silly little problem right away. Lea and I, on the other hand, were seated just a few seats away so that we could hear what they are talking about.

“Laurie!” We heard him say. “Where are my patients?”

That must be us.

Laurie told him that we were only a few seats away and then she called us over. After a short while of introductions, Laurie left us for some privacy, although I’m not sure if there will be any since we were at her café.

I looked at the screen in front of us and instead of seeing a nerd priest-looking man like I had expected, I saw a scruffy guy smiling widely at us. I wanted to ask Laurie if he really is a psychiatrist but she was already busy taking orders from the crowd.

“Are you sure you’re a psychiatrist?” I blurted out. It was supposed to be a snide question to be kept inside my mind but I absentmindedly asked it aloud.

He grinned at me. “It is nice meeting you too, Miss Jensen.” He said, still smiling. “I just graduated, to be honest, but was on the top of the dean’s list back in college.”

“What the…”

Lea nudged me on the ribs and whispered, “As long as he helps us for free, don’t mess with him.”

I settled down as Lea told him about the dream. Also, she told Chad about the constant daydreams and illusions. I watched Chad nod once in a while as he listened carefully to every word. He’s not as bad as I thought, after all. For a person who is willing to help people like us for free, he’s great. He told both Lea and I to take a break away from fangirling and try to do something else. He suggested that we take a vacation away from the metro and learn something, like baking, perhaps. He was great in giving advices, too. We were told find a way to sort reality form fantasy.

But how could I? How could we?

One Direction is my life.Apart from my chaotic life and problem-stricken family, they are all I have. They inspire me to continue living amidst all the complications that I have to face every single day. Without them, will I survive?

(Author's Note: I kinda need help in my story's setting. I'm not from the UK so I am not familiar of the places. Can anyone please help?)