Reality

Just A Dream

Chapter 1:

"Seriously..."

Oliver rolled over in bed, a pounding migraine making him squint as he glanced at his clock. The glowing screen silently ticks 3:02 am as he sighs, fucking insomnia. He closes his eyes again, absently scratching at a few new scars from yesterday's panic attack.

He had been getting better, or so his therapist had told him, but that's his fault anyway. He should have joined the theater club if his acting was this good.

But now it's his sophomore year in college, and he's back to his old ways. Thanks to his idiot mother he'd missed the first week of classes and orientation, thus losing his chance to make friends. At least that's the excuse he told himself.

Oliver sighed; he knew it wasn't his mom's fault. It was his for forgetting to email her the schedule, and it wasn't her fault they couldn't afford another car for him to drive. But it didn't matter regardless, he'd isolated himself his entire first year, and now he's paying the price.College was supposed to be fun, "the best four years of your life!" According to social media. His old high school friends seemed to agree, as their snapchat stories were filled with parties and selfies with their new friends.

He tried to keep in contact, really he did, but it had become difficult as they moved on to new people. Plans fell through more and more often until finally, they stopped contacting him, and he stopped trying.

4:15 am glowed against his eyes as he surfaced from his thoughts.

Well I'm not going to get any sleep anyway, might as well take a shower. He knew he needed one; it had been a week since he'd cleaned himself, the depression dragging him back to bed whenever he thought to do something productive.

Oliver's dorm was a single private apartment, a stroke of luck as his old roommate had transferred out mid-year, meaning he didn't have to worry about anyone seeing him naked when he showered, a considerable concern when he started at the college. Oliver had always been a bit self conscious but his depression and scars amplified it immensely. He glanced in the mirror briefly as he undressed, eyes drifting over the gaunt body covered in red lines. Oliver had always been skinny, but this was beyond that now. He looked away in disgust as he started the shower, turning the water on as hot as he could stand it.

It was refreshing, the hot water pounding on his back as he tilted his head back in momentary peace, letting the heat disrupt his sour thoughts. He closed his eyes for a moment, slightly shifting his weight, his hand reaching to steady himself against the wall.

His eyes flew open as his hand slipped off the wet wall, his shifted weight causing his body to surge forward as he desperately grasped for something to stop his descent.Oliver braced himself for impact...only to crash into a wall of water. His mind spun as he sank, muscle memory kicking in as he tried to right himself, kicking and moving his arms desperately in an attempt to swim back to the surface. He followed the light of what he assumed was bathroom, his brain trying to normalize the situation.

He gasped out a breath as his face broke through the water to clean air, coughing violently to force out the water he'd inhaled. His eyes flash wildly around as he tries to make sense of his surroundings before squinting against bright sunlight.

What the hell! Where am I!?

He sputtered, breath picking up as his mind reeled in confusion. He'd slipped in his shower! How the hell had he ended up in such a large body of water?

Trying to stave off the oncoming panic attack he took in his surroundings, finding himself in what appeared to be a medium-sized lake surrounded by trees and lined with some large boulders to one side. He started swimming to the right, where the shore seemed to be grassy and less dangerous than the rock formations on the other side.