Four months later...

"What do you think of this?" Dream held up a pink dress. It had a light bodice that melted into a darker shade of pink near the bottom of the dress.

Her dad's wedding was in two weeks and everything was set. That is, except for her maid-of-honor dress.

The last four months had been rather uneventful. Mrs. Woods was sentenced to more than four hundred years in prison for her collective crimes, and Sinclair was given a life sentence.

"Ooh," Ava said. "That looks nice, hold on to that. I was thinking more along the lines of this, though," she held up a floor-length lilac dress with a laced bodice.

"Oh," Dream dropped the pink dress immediately. "That one looks so much better!"

"Or this," Ava said, picking up a light blue dress with off-the-shoulder sleeves.

"I love that too," Dream said dreamily. "Hey," she walked over to another rack of dresses. "This is pretty too," she held up a teal dress.

"The color is beautiful," Ava examined it, "But the long sleeves are slightly impractical. The wedding day is going to be very warm."

"Oh, that's true," Dream said, putting the dress back, "Let me see if there's anything else of the same color."

"Oh! Found one," Ava said. "Do you like this?" It was exactly the same color as the previous one, but sleeveless and very simple and understated.

Dream made a face. "Not really." She continued to search the racks for a dress, flipping through dress after dress.

"Savannah would enjoy this," she commented, "But as it is, she already owns more dresses than in this store."

Ava laughed, "That's true."

Dream suddenly gasped. "Ava. I think I found the one."

Ava walked over to see Dream's discovery. "Oh. My gosh. That is...breathtaking."

Dream held up a dress with a pink lace halter bodice, with a long satin rose gold skirt. "I've never been into dresses, but this..."

"Put it on," Ava demanded, marching Dream to the dressing room.

Dream rolled her eyes, but complied.

"So? How do I look?" she said,

Ava breathed. "Like the most gorgeous maid-of-honor ever to be at a wedding."

"So?" Dream grinned. "Is this it?"

"This is it."

---

"Trent, do you take Ava to be your wedded wife, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, and forsaking all others, be faithful only to her, for as long as you both shall live?" the wedding officiant said. Dream couldn't remember the guy's name to save her life.

"I do," Dream's dad said.

"Ava, do you take Trent to be your wedded husband to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health and forsaking all others, be faithful only to him so long as you both shall live?" Did his name start with a letter in the first half of the alphabet? Like 'g' or something, right? Was it Greg? No, no, it wasn't a 'g'. H, maybe? Dream groaned inwardly in frustration.

"I do," Ava spoke confidently.

"Then I pronounce the two of you husband and wife."

There was a smatter of applause from the guests as music played.

Dream smiled to herself. It wasn't like anything was going to change. Ava had been living with them in the past few months since she got engaged to Dream's dad. Dream guessed the one thing that changed was titles. Ava was now her stepmother, and not just her dad's fiance.

"Come on, Dream!" Chloe shrieked behind her.

"Ah!" Dream jumped. "What the heck?"

As it was, Dream's friends were all invited to the wedding. Including Francesca and Fatima, although they both decided not to show up.

"Let's get something to drink!" Chloe jumped up excitedly.

"You're sixteen, you're not allowed to drink."

"Fudge the rules," Chloe scowled, "I want to have a good time."

"Yeah, not here, at my dad's wedding, okay?"

"Hey, tell your dad and Ava congratulations," Savannah came up to them.

"Yep," Dream grinned.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go party!" Savannah said, dragging Dream to the reception hall.

"Yay," Dream muttered sarcastically. She had woken up at four that morning to help Ava get ready, as well as get ready herself. But nevertheless, she followed Savannah and Chloe.

"Now, drink this, little girl," a random stranger told her, shoving a cup in front of her face.

"Uh, no thanks," Dream politely declined.

This was going to be one mess of a party. She looked around to realize that Savannah and Chloe were nowhere to be seen.

She was alone. In a wedding party with over two hundred guests, one hundred and ninety of whom she did not recognize.

She spun around frantically, trying to locate anyone she knew, when she locked eyes with a certain man.

"Marc!" she called after him. "You came!"

"Dream!" he said excitedly. "I did, how could I miss the wedding of my best friend? Besides, I had to see my little pumpkin."

Dream crossed her arms, "That's a step too far."

"What, you don't like being called a pumpkin?"

"No one does," Dream stated in a matter-of-factly way.

"Fair enough," Marc nodded. "Hey, guess what? I have really good news for you."

"Something better than my psychopathic teacher going to jail and being replaced by my stepmom?"

After Mrs. Woods was jailed, Ava was hired to take over all of the classes Mrs. Woods had been teaching. She was like an angel compared to Mrs. Woods, and all of the students absolutely adored her.

"Something related to that," Marc said. "Hey, Parkings!"

Mr. Parkings, the principal of Pebblebrook Creek High School walked over.

"We have a proposition for you. And your friends," Marc began.

"Yes," Mr. Parkings said. "We're truly impressed with the work you and your group has done."

"You could have fired Mrs. Woods," Dream pointed out, "But you didn't, and let all these students be kidnapped."

Mr. Parkings shook his head. "I couldn't fire her."

"Why not?"

"Well..." Mr. Parkings scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "She's kind of my...er... cousin."

"What?" Dream stared at him with pointed eyes.

"My parents and aunt guilted me into keeping her. Something about blood being thicker than water, and how I had to help out family."

"You 'helping out your family' led to the deaths of hundreds of students," Marc snapped.

"Yes, I realize what I did was wrong," Mr. Parkings said, "Which is why I have a proposition for you. A lot of this was actually Ava's idea, if you wish to know."

"Really?" Dream said, curious.

"We're planning to establish schools all around the nation. Franchise Pebblebrook Creek, if you wish to call it that. They will be normal schools, paid for by the government, like any other public school. But all teachers hired have a degree requirement, and will be properly trained and vetted. And, it won't be just high school anymore. It'll be for all grades, ranging from kindergarten to twelfth grade. Our goal is to give as many children a good quality education, at no cost."

Dream's jaw dropped open. "What? Really?"

"Yes, and your kind godfather here has agreed to fund it."

Dream took a moment to understand everything that was going on. "That's...great! But wait, what does this have to do with me?"

"That's the proposition," Marc stepped in. "We want you to travel the nation establishing these schools."

Dream took a step back, her world spinning. "Wait--"

Marc sighed. "I know you don't like to move around, which is why I hesitated. But this really is a great opportunity for you."

"Marc...I...I don't know what to say," Dream said. "I mean...I really, really, want to, and this is something that's close to my heart because of the Mrs. Woods drama. But...I have a life here, and I don't know if I can leave that."

"Tell you what," Marc said, "Your friends can come along too."

Dream gasped. "Really?"

Marc shrugged. "Yeah, invite them to come along. A few of them might want to join you."

Dream couldn't stop smiling. "That's--great! Thanks so much, Marc."

"That's not all," Marc said. "Meet Mr. Ted Harbert," he gestured to a middle-aged man who was wearing a suit tailored to perfection.

Obviously, this man was no commoner.

Dream's jaw dropped open, and she felt her eyeballs popping out of their sockets. "M-Mr. Ted Harbert?" she stammered, "The CEO of E! Entertainment?"

"Dream Cadison," he said, extending his hand in a handshake. "It's nice to meet you. Mr. LaFontaine here has told me much about you."

"Uh...uh...hi," Dream stammered.

He chuckled. "He has informed me of a possible new...project, if you would like to take part."

"What-what project? With E! Entertainment?"

"Yes. You see, I am very...intrigued...with this project Mr. LaFontaine is proposing you do. Should you decide to take up this project, I am offering you a deal."

"What deal?" Dream frowned, feeling a bit thirsty. She quickly grabbed a cup of water from the table right next to her and drank some.

"Dream Cadison, how would you like to star in a brand new reality television show on E! Entertainment?"

Dream choked, turning to the side and spitting out all the water she just drank.

"Rip me," she heard a familiar voice say.

Dream raised her eyebrows, realizing that she had inadvertently spit at Sawyer.

Again.

"Kill me now," Sawyer muttered.

Dream reddened. "Sorry?"

"Ahem," someone cleared his throat. Dream turned her attention back to Mr. Harbert.

"Oh, I am so sorry," she said, embarrassed.

"That's no problem," he said.

"I-I'd really love to," she told him sincerely. "But I need some time to talk to my dad and my stepmom, and also my friends about this. I promise I'll get back to you?"

"No problem. How about we meet again in two weeks?"

Dream took a deep breath. "Yeah, that sounds great. Two weeks."

"I'll meet up with you in fourteen days, on Saturday, how about that?"

"Yeah, that's okay."

"Great. I'll be on my way. It was nice to meet you, Dream Cadison. Good talk," he extended his hand again in a handshake.

Dream drew in a shaky breath, shaking his hand. He nodded at her, smiling before walking off.

"Wow," she said to Marc, "That-that was...unexpected. A reality tv show, though. Really."

"You could be the next Kardashian," Marc joked.

Dream made a face. "Ehhhhh..."

"Oh no, I'm just teasing you," Marc said, "Although isn't one of the Kardashians also named Dream?"

"I would hope not," Dream snapped.

Marc laughed. "Anyways, much of this show that Mr. Harbert is proposing, is going to focus on you and your friends traveling the nation establishing schools. This would include finding locations, training teachers, recruiting students..."

"Sounds...boring?"

Marc chuckled. "At the end of the day, you're in control of whether the show is interesting or not. Trust me, Mr. Harbert is very experienced. And, these are just proposals. You can always accept or reject them."

Dream smiled. "Yeah, I'll think about it. Thanks so much, Marc."

"No problem," her godfather gave her a genuine smile before walking off to enjoy the wedding reception.

---

A/N

Reading this back, I realize this is extremely cringe, so I apologize if you guys feel the same way, but here we are! Super near the end, I know, but not quite :)

Anyways, thanks so much for reading! It terrifies me how close we are to the end, really. But I hope you guys still enjoy!

Oh and before anyone says I updated late, it's 11:30p.m. where I live lol. So not exactly hehe.

Next update: Friday

💙, Stella Rose