My hand was laced tightly with hers; her thumb was tracing soft circles over my skin. She laughed - syrupy, thick - at something I hadn't heard myself say. Autumnal colors seemed to haze around her where the sun shone from behind. She might as well have had a halo. Her warm, rich brown eyes were tracing over my face, bringing a blush forward.
Her blonde hair fell messily, beautifully down over her shoulders, and when she leaned in, everything went black. Nora.
I woke up, blinking myself awake, semi-startled by the clarity of the dream and how disgustingly it contrasted with my current reality. Alone, in the dark, in bed. I groaned and melted down into my mattress.
Meeting the girl from my dreams clearly hadn't gotten her out of my dreams. As oddly pleasant as it was to be totally lost in that dreamland with her, I knew I had to kick the habit. It could only get awkward, right? I mean, it was already awkward. For me, anyway. Nora was lucky that she had no idea how in love with her I was. Well, how in love I was with Dream Nora.
Ugh. How do you stop dreaming about something?
Dad dashed out before I even had chance to consider confiding in him about all of this weirdness. I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell him, really. We didn't talk about who I was dating or who I liked or anything - Dad was never the best with getting feelingsy and deep. It wasn't that he reduced it to something kinda sexist like Girl Talk. He just always said he, personally, didn't feel qualified to give relationship advice.
He said it was ironic, really. We both liked girls, which should have made it easier to talk about in general, right? But Dad barely had more experience than me. His favorite pick up line had always been do you have a map? Because I'm getting lost in your eyes, which I honestly think says everything you need to know about the kind of man my father has always been.
I practically inhaled my bowl of cereal at the breakfast bar and set the water boiling to make a coffee for my travel mug. Darting upstairs as it heated up, I grabbed my big denim jacket and yanked it on over my sunflower print dress. Backpack slung over my shoulder, I pulled the sides of my hair back off my face with two little grips as I came back down the stairs, just in time for the water to have boiled.
Coffee ready to go, I locked the door behind me and set off. Travel mug, backpack, denim jacket, ready to face the world and--
"Hey!"
Maybe not.
I was pretty sure I was going to come out in a cold sweat. It almost felt like I was walking out of one dream and right into another.
I tried not to visibly flinch or grimace and turned to raise a hand in a quick wave at my new, annoyingly attractive, actual professional model neighbor.
"How's it going? All moved in now?" I asked, my voice somewhat stilted. I wandered closer to her even though I needed to be heading in the opposite direction. It was as if she had a magnet somewhere in the middle of her that was drawing me in.
"Mm, we're getting there. Mom's just deliriously happy your friend got the coffee machine working. I'm about eighty-seven percent sure she cares more about coffee than anything else right now," Nora said, nodding solemnly, as if that were a totally sincere statement.
I raised my travel mug, the coffee sloshing inside, its pastel stripes clashing with my outfit.
"Preach."
Nora laughed, and it was the same laugh. That syrupy, honeyed, sickly-sweet sound - how did my subconscious get Dream Nora so right? I almost shivered.
Her smile was too much, and I cast my eyes down at the ground for fear of falling in love with the real thing. It was all too soon. That'd really be the icing on the cupcake, wouldn't it? To wind up head over heels for someone I'd never met and someone I'd just met. I was such an idiot.
Where was Summer when I needed her? She was always good at talking me around, and I could feel myself starting to freak out. I mean, Nora was right there, being way too pretty and laughing at my shitty jokes. Talk about a nightmare situation.
"So, you're walking to class, yeah? I'm tagging along," Nora said, not giving me a choice. "I need the company. I have some major first day at school nerves happening. Don't let the other kids steal my lunch money, okay?" She pouted childishly, pretending she was seriously concerned.
I grinned, eyes picking up off the ground. Somehow, messing around with her was getting easier. Less weird. "You have nothing to worry about," I said, as I started walking back towards my house, back in the right direction. "I'll have already swiped your lunch money long before the other kids can even get in the picture," I teased, smiling and then positively beaming at the sound of Nora's laugh ringing out again.
How could that sound be so good?