Ch. 48: Dream A Dream

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT:
Jake ~
She wasn’t responding. We had gotten to Melbourne about an hour ago and I was pacing in front of Donna’s. Evan had driven us here and we left his car down at the park.
“Should we just walk by her place?” I asked, revved up.
Nick looked over at me, “I don’t know if that’s the best idea…” he watched me pace some more.
“Well we’ve got to do something, this isn’t helping anyone,” Evan commented.
“Ugh, fine,” Nick resigned, “But!” He put up his hand, “But if you start losing it over there, you’re listening to me and getting the hell out of there.”
“Fine,” I grunted.
I was already walking off towards her place.

Rachel ~
My eyes fluttered open again. Sleep just wasn’t coming. My mom and Meg had left a few minutes ago, she had some friend’s birthday party to go to and they would be gone for a couple hours. I was on the couch looking up at the ceiling again, trying to connect the little glitter specks in our popcorn ceiling (from the 70s) to make shapes.
My phone buzzed again, and I saw it was Evan this time. Jake had messaged about an hour ago saying they were in town, but I felt so gross and defeated. I hadn’t responded, only continued to rest on the couch in my pjs. This whole day was going to waste away just like me at this rate.
I got up to get another refill of water for my glass. The least I could do was stay hydrated. I was hating myself and looking for hidden stashes of chocolate in the kitchen when I heard the doorbell. I looked up and saw the guys - Jake, Evan, Nick - standing there. They were waving from the window. My jaw dropped. What were they doing here?
I darted into the dining room and called out, “What are you guys doing here?”
Through the kitchen window I heard, “We’re here to rescue you,” from Evan.
I automatically ran my fingers through my hair to help me look more presentable.
“I’m not dressed!” I yelled back.
“We’ll wait,” Jake said. No question or option in his tone.
“Do I get to take a shower?” I questioned in a tone full of attitude.
“We’ll wait,” Jake repeated.
I groaned. Ugh. I walked into the bathroom and turned on the water, washing my face in the sink while the water warmed. I undressed, stepped into the shower, and quickly used some body wash. Quick shower. After a couple minutes I got out, dried off, and went back into my room. I grabbed my most comfortable pair of sweatpants and an oversized shirt. I ran a brush through my hair and figured that was good enough. I returned my towel then made my way to the front door.
“She lives!” Nick declared.
The three of them sat at a bench down by the bottom of the stairs that went uphill. I blew air out of my mouth, and they started making their way towards the staircase up to my door. I watched as these three huge guys got closer. Imagining the three of them in our small apartment gave me a glimmer of amusement.
I let them in and they looked around as they followed me into the living room.
“Rescue me?” I asked, hand on my hip. I looked up at these three tall figures.
Jake looked almost as tired as I did, and the realization of that made me falter. His deep eyes pulled me in.
“Are you alright?” I asked him, my hand moving on its own toward his face. I stopped halfway when I realized and dropped it awkwardly at my side. Odd impulse.
I glanced at Evan and Nick standing there both watching our interaction carefully. I looked back at Jake and just felt tired. I wanted to curl up and sleep.
“I could ask you the same?” Jake asked me, an eyebrow raised in question.
His eyes continued to scan my face. All I wanted to do was hide my face, I should’ve used a little make up. I knew my exhaustion must be written clearly on my face.
“I’m fine,” I said, defeated. I walked backwards to the couch and sat down. I was too tired to have this conversation.
“Well,” Evan began, “if you are so against rescue, then we will entertain you right here.” He beamed at me.
“Entertain?” I asked airily, exhausted.
“Yes,” he answered, “we will make comments while we watch…” he examined the column of DVDs available on the rack next to the TV. “Oh, yes! I knew she was a keeper!”
He turned around and held up my old copy of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and he was holding it like it was, in fact, the holy grail.
“Please tell me that’s yours,” Nick asked as he turned to me in excitement.
I nodded and chuckled. “Yeah, yeah it is.”
“Scootch over, Rach,” Evan said as Nick put the DVD in and turned on the TV.
We watched the movie and I felt lighter the more time that went by. Jake and Evan sat on either side of me, and Nick sat on the floor leaning against the armchair. They really had seen this movie a lot. They were quoting right alongside the characters, and making a few exaggerations to make me laugh. By the time ‘Sir Robin’ was rescued, I was downright laughing as Evan and Nick sang along in high pitched voices. Jake seemed to relax and I even caught the serious guy mouthing some lines. It made me smile.
I started to relax and grabbed a pillow to lean on. Before I knew it I was out.

I dreamed about the gray wolf. It was graceful and powerful - agile. It ran through a forest of trees and closer to a figure. It reminded me of earlier dreams that happened the same way. But this time I got further. Close enough to see that the figure was a woman. We got closer and before I knew it we were in front of her. She turned to greet us. She was stunning. Long wispy silver hair, light gleaming eyes, a dust of freckles on her nose. She looked young but also ageless. She spent a minute greeting and petting the gray wolf then turned to me. She could see me. She beckoned me forward.
“Rachel, it’s nice to meet you,” she said. Her melodious voice carried in the wind.
“Who are you?” I asked her.
“I don’t think you’re asking the right question,” she suggested softly.
I looked at her confused, then looked down at the gray wolf again. Its eyes swirled with gold much faster than before. So much so that it made me lose focus on the woman’s weird response.
“Wait,” I broke eye contact and looked back at her, “what does that mean?”
“Well,” she began, “follow me.”
We took a few steps forward towards a pond or lake.
“You want me to swim?” I asked.
She only smiled in return and motioned for me to continue.
I stepped closer to the edge and looked down, and saw - a wolf. I wasn’t me. I was in the body of a wolf. I looked back at the woman and the gray wolf, but they offered no explanation.
“Look closer,” she urged me.
I focused on the image in front of me and noticed that not only was I a gray wolf, a bit darker in tone than the wolf I had followed here, but I had… silver swirling in my eyes. They were bright and it startled me when I realized.
“What-?” I started to ask.
But it all faded away.

My eyes blinked against the light, my neck felt a little stiff. The TV was still on but there was some cartoon playing I didn’t recognize. I was sitting up, head on a pillow but leaning against something. I sat up and registered my surroundings. Nick was laying down on the floor, starfish style. And I looked to my side to see Jake there, head rolled back against the wall, asleep. My pillow was resting on his chest. I had fallen asleep basically on Jake’s shoulder!
I shook my head a bit and heard the bathroom door open and close. Evan came from around the corner.
“Hey! You’re awake,” Evan remarked. Nick looked up at me.
I rolled my neck and shoulders, hearing a crack. Jake stirred next to me.
“Man you guys passed right out,” Evan informed us as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
“And here I thought we were entertaining,” Nick sardonically added from the floor.
Oh sh*t. My eyes flashed to the wall to look for the time.
“Oh sh-,” I started and stood straight up.
Jake mirrored my movement. “What is it?!” he panicked.
“My mom, she’s going to be home like any minute, you guys should go. I didn’t ask if anyone could be over,” I said, picking up the remote, turning off the TV, and starting to tidy up.
“Oh yeah, of course,” Nick said. “Let’s go!”
They headed to the door and I waved, Jake’s eyes lingered for a second before he nodded. “I’ll text you?”
I nodded in agreement.
I heard the door shut and footsteps moving away. I dug around the couch for my phone and found it, opening the screen. I finally read the text from Evan telling me they were headed our way. It made me smile. If I had read it I would have told them to stay away. But because I couldn’t be bothered they had come over, I had gotten dressed, I had talked, I had laughed, I had slept. Oh my god! I had slept!
Other than a ghost of a kink in my neck, I felt better. Still tired, but a little better. That was the most restful nap I had gotten in like a week. Maybe Bella was right, maybe it would be okay.