My eyes opened wide. I let out a staggered gasp. I shifted the blanket toward me and covered myself with it. The blanket gave off warmth to my quivering body. I was already sweating beforehand. My head felt rushed. I felt hot. I quickly stood up from my bed but that was a bad idea. I became light-headed and immediately sat back down on the edge. I recollected myself and took time to breathe. I let out a heavy breath after inhaling. I repeated this process carefully. I was so dizzy. Waking up from white curtains doesn't help either. The sunbeams shone their way through them.

I finally got up again and aimed for the bathroom. The towels were all in there, so I just took off my clothes and headed into the shower. I turned on the hot water and let it fall on me. I wiped my face and slid my hair back as the steaming water fell on me. I let it run for a good minute or two before getting the soap. I turned around and let the hard droplets hit against my aching back. It felt better after several seconds had passed by.

Ten minutes later and I had gotten out of the shower. I wrapped myself up with a purple towel and wrung my wet hair dry with another. I hung it on the silver bar and looked at the steaming mirror. I wiped off the excess steam and faced myself. I was a hot mess. I need a break. I washed off my face with cold water this time and brushed my teeth. I went back into my room and picked clothes to wear for today. However, I stopped myself and saw all the notifications I got from my phone.

A few people had messaged me. First, my mom wanted to know how I was doing. I reassured her that I was doing fine. No need to check in on me. Another was Javier checking up on me if I had slept well. I told him the truth about my dream. It was a very long paragraph or two not leaving any detail behind. Then, there he was. All of my other messages and calls were from him. He wanted to know if I was available today. Today was the seventeenth of July. He planned for me to meet his family today. Too soon for my taste, but I respected his decision as well. All of these calls I wondered if it had something to do with the same messages. I told him that I just woke up only a short while ago and that I will see him soon.

"What time," he replied.

I clarified with, "around lunchtime, be there maybe twelve-thirty."

I shut off my phone realizing I had nearly almost an hour left to get ready. I chose the first set of clothing I saw within my eyesight. I grabbed my black jeans and paired them with my navy green tank-top-like blouse. I reached for my gold slip-on sandals and put them on as quickly as I could. Five minutes had passed and I received a message from him saying he'll be there in about forty minutes. This sucker probably wanted to get there early for something else, so I don't let it bother me. I scanned for my purple hairdryer and put myself in front of the white electric fan. I had both on in hopes to dry my hair fast enough. My eyes are still watery so the cold air from the fan dried them off.

I turned them off and looked for simple accessories. I put on my backup glasses with the blue-tinted transitional feature from blocking the sun. I grabbed the precious pink marbled bracelet I got from my mother and sprayed perfume I got from my aunt. I never cared for makeup, so I just grabbed the first thing I saw and put away any lipstick or lipgloss I could find and into my purse.

I didn't have time to find all my money, so I took whatever I could. I grabbed my wallet and phone, and then headed out with the spare key and locked the door. I headed out to the bus stop just five minutes away from the right outside of the gates. I waited ten minutes and the bus came by in time. I looked through my purse and by the time I put on my pale red lipstick, I received a message from Javier.

"I'm here," he comforted me. "Wish I could give you a hug."

I replied with 'same' after I had finished applying the lipstick. I stared out the window and carefully looked at the streets and signs. As I did so, Javi responded with, "do you want anything?" I texted him that I just wanted to calm down when I came back home. I don't plan to stay for longer than I would want to after meeting his family. I then got off the bus at Washington and Highway 1-11. I transferred myself to another bus on my way over to the mall. I knew my way around there so I didn't have to pay attention for the next twenty minutes.

I fumbled around with my phone. I couldn't stand what I had dreamt this morning. I woke up in terror reliving that over again. I felt weak. I still haven't spoken to either Brian or Evan about it. Maurice already knew, I never told him the whole story. He just knew it didn't work out and understood me. Macy and I still weren't friends after that horrifying day for me. My heartbeat palpitated but I calmed myself down a bit when I started to play music through my earphones. Nothing beats music if I'm not under hot steaming water falling against my skin. I wish to forget about it once more after today.

I let myself relax for a bit. I set an alarm for when the bus arrived at an estimated time. I closed my eyes and just thought about anything but that dream. Nature came to my mind first. Beautiful flowers blossom, although that's not until spring. I love roses, they are my favorite. I told Javier that once. I wonder if he still remembered that. Then I thought about what movies I watched in the past. I never saw much myself. It was usually with family or my friend Estelle back before graduation.

I heard the bus stop to a halt. I stopped my music and looked at my phone screen. My stop isn't for another five minutes, but I don't second guess it. I stopped what I was doing and carefully looked outside. It's near enough. I waited for the bus to turn right and then I reached for the string and pulled it down for my stop. I got down with a few others and went to the mall. I saw him within ten minutes of a walk and hugged him. I messaged him that I had a bad dream, so technically he hugged me first. I saw him with worried eyes. It wasn't like I was there back in the past for reals. Even when it did feel real at the time, I just wanted to forget it. His warm hug comforted me though.

"Are you okay?" He slowly whispered.

"Yeah, for now."

"Because I'm here?" He asked.

"No, because I've calmed down a bit."

"Oh, okay." He rubbed my back for comfort.

"But yes, now that I'm here too." I lied. "Thanks, though."

"That's good." He looked around then back to me. "Where to first?"

"If it's okay, can we just go eat and then get it over with?"

"Sure," we started walking around. "What do you want to eat?"

"What do you think?"

"Panda Express," he chuckled. "I'm sorry that you had to have that dream."

"Uh, it's not your fault."

We walked over to the food area of the mall. We had to go upstairs for that. For the next couple of minutes, I told him that the best way to comfort me was to talk about anything else and not ask about the dream I had. He understood and immediately changed the subject. As much as he is irritating sometimes, he does know how to comfort me and make me feel loved without it having to be always romantic. I guess he was alright after all.