Lapis's Pov

I let out a breath and watched it float through the cold air. I was bored. I didn't see the point in giving us three weeks off, but if less school was one of the pitfalls of private school, I wasn't going to complain.

"We're not at school, so why are you complaining?" Jasper asked, pulling her football sweatshirt tighter around her.

"You're gonna get sick without a jacket," I said, ignoring what she'd said. she sighed.

"Lay off me, mom." I rolled my eyes.

"You're the whole reason we're out here, you know," I complained. "We could be inside drinking coffee right now." Jasper lightly punched my arm.

"Yeah right! You're the one who opened her big mouth!" I shook my head.

We were out on a walk with Malachite in her stroller. I'd mentioned something about looking at Christmas lights with Dad when I was little and Jasper made fun of me, so as a punishment Mom made us take Malachite around the block to look at the lights.

Mom didn't celebrate Christmas until she married my dad. Being raised Sunni, her family had no reason to celebrate a Christian holiday. But she admitted that the holiday had grown on her.

"Lazuli!" I snapped out of it. Jasper was about two houses ahead of me. I shook my head and quickly pushed Malachite up to meet Jasper.

"Christ Jaz, I'm sorry. I didn't realize we were on a schedule." Jasper sighed.

"We are. It's called 'my arms are freezing'."

"So that's my fault for telling you to wear a sweatshirt in December?" Jasper sighed again.

"We're going home now. Come on." We hauled ass to get back to our house and almost immediately collapsed inside.

"Don't you dare track snow on those clean floors!" Mom called, reminding us to take off our shoes in the entryway. I placed my boots next to the vent and picked Malachite up out of the stroller.

"Hey, when's the last time she was changed?" I called. I didn't get an answer for a moment.

"You might want to check." I shook my head and stuck my tongue out at Malachite. I carried her to her room and changed her diaper.

"Aww, you're so cute!" I cooed. She grabbed at my hair as I smiled at her.

"Lappy!" She called out with glee. She'd started saying it a few months before and refused to say anything else.

"Aww!" I picked her up and bounced her in my arms, walking around the house.

"What are you-"

"Shh!" I shushed Jasper, as Malachite was almost asleep. Jasper shrugged, finished pouring her cereal, and flopped on the couch. I brought Malachite back into her room and laid her into the crib.

Finally, I went to my room and flopped down on the bed, exhausted. I decided to text Red.

Hey

He didn't respond right away, so I tossed my phone onto my bed and stared at the ceiling.

I must have fallen asleep because suddenly I was somewhere dark and surrounded by glowing green water.

I noticed that chains made out of the water were attached to my wrists and ankles. I kept trying to stand above the water, but something kept pulling me back. Suddenly, I was plunged straight down into the water.

I tried to escape, but I found that the further down I sank, the weaker the pull was. I sank down until the water was completely black. I heard sounds from behind me and turned around to see Mangano had her head buried in her hands and she was crying.

"Mangano!" I called, reaching out to her. She lifted her face from her hands and I saw that she had become me.

The pseudo-me dropped her arms to her sides and shifted her body to be parallel to mine. There was more water pouring from her eyes and mouth. I screamed, but no sound came out.

I woke up on the floor.

More specifically, my head and neck were on the floor, meanwhile the rest of me was slumped against the side of my bed.

I heard a sound and turned to see Jasper eating her cereal while standing in my doorway.

"Can I help you?"

"Nah, you just look funny." She left and I sighed. I maneuvered myself off of the ground and closed the door. I took off my bra and laid back down on my bed. Red had texted back.

What's up babe?

I noticed the time and realized I'd been asleep for about an hour. And that Jasper may have had more cereal than any human should consume in one day.

Not much. I miss you.

I got up and stretched out my neck, which now really hurt. I went into my Mom's office across the hall to see if she had the heating pad, but the lights were off and she wasn't in there. I wet out int the living room and saw that Jasper was still seated on the couch eating cereal and watching ice hockey.

"Where's Mom?" I asked, standing in the middle of the room. Jasper shrugged.

"She and Dad left like... ten minutes after you zonked out. Said something about dinner." I nodded.

"They'll probably be out late." I turned to leave then hesitated. I went to the kitchen and poured myself a bowl of cereal too. I checked on Malachite-still asleep- then sat back down on my bed.

We can hang out tomorrow. Or I could come over now?

I'll see you tomorrow. My parents aren't home.

Exactly. I rolled my eyes.

See you tomorrow. Love you.

I placed my phone on my nightstand. It vibrated and I assumed it was Red saying he loved me back. I turned on my TV. Jasper may have gotten the big screen for hockey, but I was content scanning whatever the hell was on TV at nine o'clock on a Tuesday in my room.

As it turned out, there wasn't much on at nine o'clock o a Tuesday. I settled for the news and half listened to the heartwarming stories about local children who were doing stuff for charity.

I tried to forget about the dream. In the end, it confused me more than scaring me. What did it mean? Why was Mangano there? And most importantly, what was dragging me down?

(A/N) Some Lappy/Jazzy interaction because I feel like they need more sister bonding moments. Also, I did not steal the dream from the show I mean whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Listen to Chicago.