Chapter 18

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My mom shook me awake before I could say anything else to Grey. "Come on, get to bed. We fell asleep." I was more awake than she'd ever know. The dream was still burning fresh in my mind, and I quickly engraved as much of it as I could into my dream journal after I stumbled up the stairs into my room. Will he even remember? Will he recognize my mom's voice?

Would it even matter if he did? I quickly succumbed to the one person who was trying to play me. He was scheming against me with Sasha and Evan, for all I know. He wanted something more sinister than a mere innocent relationship with me. And besides that, I doubt he'd remember any of this, especially hearing my mom's voice. He didn't seem like he was in a lucid state. And I was definitely in his dream. He wasn't in mine. He probably didn't even have the same ability as me. I, for whatever reason, didn't realize I was in someone else's dream for once—probably because I've gotten so used to being in Grey's. 

I was trying not to like him any more than I already had. And when it came down to it, how far would it go? I wasn't interested in a relationship just for it to be all fun and games until someone went to a different college, and then we ended up in a long-distance relationship and—

Once again, I was getting ahead of myself. Grey and I were, not in a million years, getting together. And that was that.

The haze of sleep slowly overcame me, and I finally drifted off to sleep.

"I'm guilty."

Discomfort spread through my chest, and a familiar parking lot appeared around me. A gun was pressed to my temple, and I saw my father falling in slow motion in front of me. Sickening dread coursed through my veins, and my mind screamed for me to wake up.

"I didn't want to kill him." His voice sounded altered as it echoed throughout the parking lot. Tears flooded my vision.

"I just... I didn't realize what I had done until it was too late."

The man's grip on my shoulders tightened. But, again, I was a small child; his hands made me feel trapped underneath their hold.

"It was a split-second reaction... I just lost my wife. I had two kids to feed if I had just waited one more day—you idiot. You absolute idiot." The man slammed the gun down on the ground, and his ironlike grip released me from its grasp. I yanked myself away and fell over my dad's body, gripping him tightly.

"I'm so sorry..."

It can't be my dad's murderer.

"Honey... you haunt my dreams every night. I need peace. Please."

My cries intensified, and I cradled my father. His head lolled back as I lifted him. My arms shook as I placed my head on his shoulder, avoiding his blood.

"I didn't mean any of it," he whispered. He sounded so guilty. His hand met my shoulder and squeezed it softly. "If you could only forgive me... I beg of you."

I lifted my head as I screamed, "Wake up!"

***

I could hardly function in school on Monday—my dream left me feeling sick to the stomach. No matter how much poking around all my friends did, I remained distant. They wouldn't be able to understand no matter how hard they tried. What could I tell them anyway? Hey, I can travel into people's dreams, and I so happened to travel into the dream of my father's killer, hooray! This dilemma was my problem and my problem alone.

The cherry on top of my bad day was seeing Grey after school. He leaned against my car, staring at me expectantly.

As much as I wanted Grey, I knew he was nothing more than the trouble I'd need to avoid. Sure, dreams with him were fun. And that's all it should be. Dreams.

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