"Aah!" I shot up, screaming. Tears were streaming down my face and my sheets were drenched in sweat.

I stopped screaming and gasped for air. "It's okay," I told myself, "It's just a dream."

The door burst open. Darin was standing in the hallway shirtless, revealing his muscular, bronzed torso. His hair was tousled and he was wearing pajama bottoms. He had been sleeping before I woke him up with my screaming.

I blushed and looked away. He rushed over to my bedside. "I heard you scream. Are you okay? What happened?" he asked, noting the tears and sweat on my face and pillow.

I nodded. "It's okay. I'm okay. It was just a nightmare." I wiped the tears off my cheeks. "Why aren't Kora and Talia here? I thought they would have heard my screams and come running by now."

"These walls are pretty sound proof," he said, giving one a solid thump.

"Then how did you hear me?" I questioned him.

"My hearing is really sensitive." he looked down a bit. "My room is also attached to yours, so...yeah."

I nodded again."Ok. I see."

Darin sat on the edge of the bed. "So, um... if it's not too much to ask right now, can you tell me what happened in you nightmare?"

I immediately shook my head. "I don't think so. It's too early to relive that right now." I glanced at a clock on the wall. One in the morning! How long had I been sleeping? "Maybe in the morning though."

Now it was his turn to nod. "I understand. You should probably get some more rest anyways."

He stood up and walked to the door. "Goodnight, Audra. Yell if you need anything."

I nodded. "Okay, thanks. Goodnight, Darin."

He smiled and walked through the connecting door and gently closed the door.

I scooted over to the dry side of the bed and lay back down.

I sighed. That dream had really shook me up. I hadn't even thought about basking in the glory of Darin's muscular frame. I mean, jeez! I would have to be dead or blind not to admire the view.

I thought about how I had gotten here. About how I had followed the puppy and ended up falling through that giant hole- whatever it was. Whatever happened to the puppy anyways? I hope he was okay.

"Wakey wakey, sleepy head," Talia's voice sung into my ear.

My eyes popped open. The room was blinding. I squinted to let my eyes adjust.

"What, what? I'm awake," I grumbled.

Talia chuckled. "Well, one you've been sleeping since yesterday afternoon. Two, it's almost lunchtime."

Finally able to see clearly, I sat up. "Already? Why didn't you wake me up?" I said and threw back the sheets. I jumped out of bed.

"Well, Darin said not to wake you up just yet. He told us about your dream," she said.

I shivered in recollection of last night's nightmare," It wasn't real, so it doesn't matter Do you have a brush? I need to get this mess under control," I pointed to bird's nest on top of my head.

Talia nodded. She pointed to a periwinkle colored door beside the bed. "There's a bathroom in there with all the things that you should need. There are towels, and, umm, soap if you know what I mean. No offense intended, of course," she said.

I laughed. "You know, I have to agree with you on that one. I could use a good bath. It's just one thing. I don't have any clothes," I replied.

"Oh, that's no problem; I'll just leave some of my clothes on the bed. We should probably be about the same size," Talia said.

"Ok, then I guess I'll just go take a shower then. See you later," I said, nodding my head. Talia waved and walked out of the room to go get the clothes. I walked in the bathroom. Talia was right; there was everything I needed and more.

There was a two-person vanity to my right and a large jet-stream bathtub. In the wall beside the vanity was a glass door that leads to a shower. The room was gold and cream. This is definitely the best bathroom I've ever seen!

I took off my ratty clothes and stepped into the shower, letting the hot water pound my sore muscles. I sighed. It had been so long since I was able to take a hot shower.

I squirted some of the soap onto my hands and rubbed my body with it. The soap was rich and lathery. This was hands down the most luxurious thing that I had ever felt and put on my body. Probably the only luxurious thing I had ever touched.

I rinsed and started the same process with my hair, choosing a cherry blossom scent.

I stepped out of the shower, choosing a fluffy white towel from an assortment of multi-colored towels hanging on a rack. I toweled myself off and hung the damp towel on a rack.

"Clothes," I said and grabbed a dry black towel, wrapped it around my body and quickly snatched the clothes up from the bed and scurried back into the bathroom. I set the clothes on the sink and rifled through them, seeing what Talia had left for me.

She had set black pair of denim jeans, along with a maroon crop-top that said "Suck it, Dance, and a pair of black ankle socks.

This girl sure has a thing for black. At least the shirt isn't black. I have to admit that she does have style. It sure beats, those rags that I had been wearing for the past few weeks.

I tried them on and found that they actually fit pretty well. The crop-top was a tad too small, so it went a bit above my belly button. Other than that, I gave it a thumbs up.

I looked in the mirror and I pulled on a strand of my hair. "And now the hardest part," I muttered. I rifled through the drawers until I found a wire brush.

I grabbed it and started brushing from the tips up. There was some resistance as usual, but not as much as with my old brush.

"I should get me one of these," I said to myself.

I finish on the last strand and look in the mirror. My brown hair was smooth and wavy instead of its usual frizzy self. I gaped my hair and the brush. "If I can't get one of these, I'm stealing this," I exclaim.

"Well, I certainly hope not. That's my favorite brush," a male voice said.

I spun around. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking? And how did you even get in here? I thought Talia locked the door."

Darin chuckled. "She did. She locked the door to the hallway, but our rooms are connecting, remember?"

"Oh, right. Why did you even want to come in here? To spy on me while I took a shower? "I said and blushed at the last sentence.

He laughed. "No, I just wanted to see if you were okay, after last night."

I set the brush back in its drawer and wrapped a hair tie around my hair. I turned around. "I'm still a little shaken, but I'm fine. It was just a dream."

Darin nodded. "Okay, just making sure." He turned to leave and I followed him out of the bathroom.

"Hey, thanks for helping me out last night. It really helped," I said before we walked out.

Darin turned around. "It's no big deal. You're welcome. Now, let's go," he said with a smile on his face.

I smiled back. "Okay," I replied and walked out the door that Darin had so graciously opened for me.