"I'm confused," Zac said. "And on so many levels. You can be nice, but you choose not to. Why? Also, you know the guy who kidnapped me and Dream. How? You seem to know him quite well, too. And, he was so much bigger and definitely stronger than you. So how did you fight him? You wrote the note, didn't you? How come you can ask us to not come to detention?"

"Yeah," Dream chimed in. "It's really weird. I went to the classroom and the teacher said my name wasn't on the list for detention today. Neither was Zac's. What gives you the power to waive our detention?"

Francesca sniffed, annoyed. "You guys talk a lot, don't you?"

Dream huffed. "Well?"

"I don't know anything about any stupid note, okay?" Francesca said. "And I owe you guys no explanations. I'm dropping you off at school and you guys better watch your backs. This is the last time I'm doing anything for anyone."

The rest of the car ride was awkward and silent. Francesca pulled up to the school, and motioned for Dream and Zac to get out.

"That was definitely awkward," Zac muttered under his breath.

"You can say that again," Dream said.

"Well," Zac scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "What are you going to do now?"

"Probably go home," Dream said. "It's around six right now, which is usually when my detention ends."

"Good point," Zac said. "I'll come with you."

---

"Good, you're home," Dream's dad said cheerily. "I have some news for you."

"We'd better not be moving again," Dream said, taking a sip of water.

"No, no, no. We're not moving. I'm getting married!"

Dream spit out all the water she just drank. "Say WHAT?!"

"I know this may seem sudden for you, but trust me," he said, "This is something I've thought over for several years now."

Several years? But "several" years ago we were living in Europe!

"What do you mean?" Dream said slowly.

"Dream, your mother died when you were very young. Do you remember her?"

"Well..." Dream admitted. "Not really. She died before my second birthday. We have pictures of her though."

"Yes," her dad said. "And in the past thirteen years since her death, you've grown into a fine young woman. But you've always missed having a mother figure in your life."

"I'm fine," Dream snapped. "I've always been fine. In fact, I've never been more fine in my entire life. Why do you need to do this?"

"I still think it's good for you to have another parental figure in your life," her dad argued, "I recently got engaged to Ava, and she's moving in with us. You'll like her, I promise."

"That's a big promise you're making," Dream glared at him angrily.

"Oh! You must be Dream!" a woman who looked like she was in her mid to late thirties walked in, seeing Dream. She was rather pretty, with long brown hair and big green eyes. She wasn't like those women who piled on makeup like their face was a canvas. But she looked good nonetheless. "I'm Ava, it's so good to meet you," she gushed. "Your father has told me so much about you."

"My father has told me nothing about you," Dream said.

"Really? In the three years we've dated--"

Dream exploded. "What do you mean? Three years? For four years, up until last year, we were living all over Europe, and even Australia for one summer. You guys couldn't have known each other...wait." She stared. "Do you work at the same company as my dad?"

"Of course not," the woman laughed. "My company forces me to relocate to many different places all the time. Your dad was already settled in Germany, it's so good of him to move wherever I do so we can stay together."

Out of the corner of her eye, Dream saw her dad freeze at what the woman just said. For a moment, Dream paused. Then she put two and two together and realized...

Dream narrowed her eyes, feeling her blood begin to boil. "So you mean...we could have stayed in Germany all this time, but no, we were moving around again because of this woman?!" she turned to her father, fire in her eyes.

'Dream, I'm sorry."

"You haven't been working all this time, have you?" Dream said quietly.

"I said, I'm sorry."

"You ruined my life, did you not realize that?" Dream shouted. "Did you not realize that I was depressed until we moved to Miami? Did you not realize every school I went to sent me to therapy? Did you not realize that Chloe was the first ever friend I had? Did you not realize how hard it was for me to say goodbye to her? I thought this was about your job, Dad. No. I was wrong. You're a stupid, selfish, self-centered, jerk!" she cried, tears streaming down her face as she ran to her room.

"Wait! Dream!" her dad ran after her.

Dream slammed the door. "Don't talk to me!"

"Dream," he said, a warning tone in his voice.

"I said, don't talk to me!"

Her dad opened the door nonetheless, walking into her room and sitting down on her bed next to her. "I didn't realize how much this would hurt you," he said quietly.

"You didn't? You must be deaf, then, because I remember complaining about moving ever since I was six or seven. Every time, Dad. Every time we moved, I was upset."

"Why? You didn't have any friends until Chloe."

"A friend isn't someone you hang out with for a month before you leave them forever. It takes time to build friendships."

"Eventually we began staying in places for longer. You still didn't have friends. I didn't--"

"Maybe, maybe, has the thought ever occurred to you, that maybe I stopped trying? Because it was useless? Because I knew that any friendship I made would not last? I really believed we would stay in Miami. I really thought you cared about me enough to let me stay with the only friend I'd ever made. But no. You don't care about me. You only care about yourself. And that woman out there. Please leave my room," Dream said, still crying. "I really don't want to see you right now."

"Dream. Don't you have Savannah now? What about Sawyer, her brother who works at the Burger Grill? And Axel, the boy who plays soccer? Aren't they your friends now? And you still talk to Chloe every day."

"What if there hadn't been a Savannah, Sawyer, and Axel? I would've fallen back into depression. You didn't know if I was going to make any new friends. You took the chance."

And Zac, Dream thought, But my dad doesn't know about Zac. He wouldn't approve of my hanging out with someone like him anyway.

Her dad fell silent.

"Go away, please," Dream said.

This time, he complied.

Dream cried herself to sleep that night, forgetting that she didn't have detention, so she hadn't done her homework for the day yet.

---

A/N

Okay I'm actually scared now. All you people who already hated Dream's dad, please don't kill me now. Yeah no one likes him...

And for those of you who have been asking, that's what happened to Dream's mom. 

But on the bright side, this chapter is a lot longer than usual? *hopes to appease people who will be mad about this chapter*

Thanks everyone who's been reading, voting, or dropping comments! Those mean so much to me. And is it an illusion or did we actually reach 1k reads and 500 votes? *gasps*

Anyways, next chapter is going to be uploaded on Monday, so stay tuned for that!! Love you all!

💙, Stella Rose