Dreamers

Chapter 5

Niall’s POV

            The next morning, I wake up severely hungover. I shuffle into the bathroom and get myself an aspirin. I take it and then make my way to the kitchen, where I fill up a glass of water and swallow the pill. I quickly consider eating something and then just as quickly decide against it.

            Instead, I make my way back to my room, where I begin the process of “what ridiculous place did I put my phone when I was drunk last night”. I search my bed, throwing pillows and my duvet around before I hear a muffled buzzing sound.

            I freeze, and turn around to find one of my shoes slowly scooting away from the other shoe.

            I grab my phone out and pick it up just in time to see the call go through to voicemail.

            Turns out, I have several missed calls. Two from Megan, and the one I just missed from Krista.

            I ignore Megan’s calls for the moment and immediately call Krista back.

            “Hello,” She says after the second ring.

            I try to say hello back, but as I haven’t said anything yet this morning it comes out more like a grumble. I clear my throat. “Hi.”

            “So we posted a picture of the drawing anonymously on a chat forum last night,” Krista tells me. “It’s been making the rounds on the internet, and we’ve gotten several replies saying either they or someone they know looks like this mystery girl. Unfortunately, these replies seem to be coming in from all around the world.” She pauses for a breath and I jump in.

            “Like where in the world?” I ask.

            “I was about to tell you,” She replies patiently. “We’ve gotten replies from Ireland, Germany, France, the UK, the US, and Australia, just to name a few major ones. It’s only been a few hours since we put it online, so this is just a very early gathering of data. Additionally, there hasn’t been a single location yet that has had a significantly larger amount of comments than another.” She pauses again, and I think I’m supposed to say something this time.

            “Wow,” Is all I can muster. “How long will it take to get enough comments and stuff?” I ask.

            “There’s no set time limit. Best case scenario, one particular area will start sending out a lot of comments saying they know a girl who looks like the picture, and we can go from there.”

            I stay silent; trying to process what Krista is telling me. I was, and still am, trying not to get my hopes up that the girl in my dream is an actual person.

            “Hello?”

            “Oh, yeah, I’m still here,” I say. “Sorry.”