Chapter 3 The Mysterious Dream

My alarm rings at the same time every morning-by six a.m. I wake up rejuvenated, the memories of last night a blurry haze. Excitement gets the better of me, and I quickly rush to get ready. I take a bath, dress in a pink sundress and brown sandals, put on light makeup, and style my hair in a half-up, half-down hairstyle. If I must say so myself, I look good for the first day.

I go to the sitting room when I'm done and see that breakfast has already been served, with Mum already munching on hers. "Thank you, Mum, for this."

"Don't mention it, baby." She made my favorite breakfast: blueberry pancakes and omelettes. As I sit down to eat, she stands up to prepare my tea. I need it to calm my nerves.

"Thank you, Mum." I finish my breakfast and tea in record time before clearing the table. Before long, we get into the car so Mum can drop me off at Haven College.

"Bye, sweetie," my mum calls out as she speeds off after dropping me at school. I linger in the same spot, looking at the countless luxury cars parked, overwhelmed with nerves. Since I'm early and I don't know anyone, I decide to wander around for a while to find my first class. Eventually, I find the class, which is a really huge hall. I sit down at the back and listen to the professor introduce herself. She seems really nice, and I start to feel a little better.

After class, I go to the cafeteria for lunch. I meet a few people in line, and we start talking. I feel a little lost and out of place, but I'm excited to be here. I bond with a pretty girl named Candace in line, and we decide to sit together. She and most of the students here attended Haven High, the high school of Haven College, and she schools me on the hierarchy of things in Haven College. She's also been here since her first year, unlike me.

"Hey, how's your first day been?" she asks me after taking her first bite of food.

"It's been good, normal," I tell her while looking around the cafeteria. I spot some of the people I saw in the diner on the day my mum and I moved and ask Candace about them.

"Who are those guys?" I ask.

She follows the line of my gaze and quickly says, "Don't look at them for too long, they don't like it." I'm confused by her statement but decide not to question it.

"So, who are they?" I ask again.

"In Haven College, there's a hierarchy, and you must be careful not to get noticed by the top dogs. You see those people at that table? Avoid them. They're the most popular and extremely rich people here. Number one on that list is Dominic Powers. The first and only son of a billionaire, he's also extremely handsome, as you can see. Number two is his younger sister, Rosie Powers, and she's spoiled to the core. Number three is Zayn Jackson and Liam Jackson, twin brothers. They're best friends with Dominic and also have extremely rich parents. Finally, Stephanie Gates-she's the only child of her parents. This girl, in particular, has serious issues. As in, she's one hell of a crazy bitch. Like, she belongs in an asylum. It doesn't help that she's obsessed with Dominic, and he treats her like a fly on his favorite dish."

Before she can go on, I stop her and ask, "How do you know all this?"

"Honey, I've lived in this town for so long, I know lots of things, and these things aren't even a secret. Now, as I was saying, try your best to avoid them and you'll be fine. They don't like outsiders."

"Outsiders?" I question.

"Yeah, people who weren't born in this town and aren't part of their social circle. Meaning they don't like most of us in this school, and they usually stick to themselves. This also applies to most students here. Just because they're rich, they treat the rest of us like we don't exist." She sounds so pained, but I don't care. I would even love to be ignored by them. If the bullies in my former town ignored me, I would have been elated.

"Well, as long as we don't bother each other, I don't care. I'm just glad to have this opportunity to attend this school so I have a chance at a good high-paying job." I know I'm lying as I say this. I'm already captivated by these people, and I know I might not be able to stay away. Looking at Dominic again, I can't help but stare at him. He is so handsome. My stomach flutters as I stare at him, and it's only Candace's voice that snaps me out of my Dominic trance.

"I wish I could be as unbothered as you are," she replies.

We continue our lunch in comfortable silence, and afterward, we go our separate ways since we have different classes. I go to my second class. This class is smaller, therefore more intimate. I enjoy this class-History 404-it's one of my majors.

When the final bell rings, I'm so excited I could jump off a cloud.

My mum isn't picking me up, and I'm not taking the bus, so I start the tedious process of walking home since my house isn't too far from school. It doesn't take too long to get home, and I immediately go to bed to sleep off the stress of my first day. Instead of the deep, dreamless sleep I expect, I'm greeted by a dream again.

I'm walking to a pond where a beautiful woman with black hair waits for me. She looks up at me when I get to her feet, grabs my hand, and says, "Be formless. Shapeless. Like water. Now, you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put water into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend."

"Who are you?" I ask.

"I am you, you are me, you are us, we are one, we are water." She turns and walks into the pond.

"Hey! Stop! I'm confused." Instead of responding to my calls, she continues her way into the pond.

This time, when I wake up, I don't go back to sleep. I stay awake, wondering why I've had this dream twice. Ironically, the sound of wolves howling serves as a source of solitude as I contemplate what the dream means. It's not like I know the woman. I don't think I've ever seen her before, so why is this dream becoming a recurring one?

The tossing and turning from the dream made me hot, so I go to open my windows. Standing in front of the window, I notice something on the windowpane. Looking closer, it's a children's storybook. I wonder how this got here. I take it to my bed and get comfortable before opening it to read. Clearing my throat, I read aloud:

"Once upon a time, in the golden palace of the kingdom of Aeternum, preparations for the celebration of the birth of the princess were in order. The king and queen wanted this party to be marked in history as the greatest. All the staff moved in haste to close the chapters of the last-minute preparations. Fortunately, the beautiful princess cooed happily in her nursery, undisturbed by the hustle and bustle. Unfortunately, the princess was kidnapped, and no celebration happened. The king and queen were left hoping to one day find their child."

I vaguely remember this story from my bedtime stories with Mum. But why was it on my window? And why is it in my room? I know I didn't bring it here.