Chapter Thirty-Four

Cierra didn't believe Hans, Lonnie, or Nora would come looking for her, but in case they did, she chose to visit a new world. She had half a mind to simply go back to the insect world, a place she figured people rarely ever chose to go voluntarily, but she didn't like the idea that Hans could be there, disguised as anything. Maybe she was being paranoid, but she hated the idea of secretly being watched or observed when all she wanted was to be alone.

Closing her eyes, she thought of the word 'happiness,' and in her mind she imagined a beach similar to the one Freya's tears had shown her a few days ago. When she opened her eyes, her and Cid stood on a pink sand beach, a green ocean lapping the shore.

Behind them, tall reeds grew, little birds standing on their bent tops. Already Cid was entering hunt position, bring the front of his body to the ground, stretching out his paws, tail twitching behind him. Cierra watched him disappear into the reeds before turning back to the ocean. Which realm was this? If she dived into the water, would she find Poseidon's domain in its depths? Or was this a world built from the words of a story, like how Nora had mentioned? Where these different realms interconnected?

Cierra shook her head, as she learned more, she somehow knew less. Would there come a time when she would stop having questions, or would she just give up and stop asking them? She wasn't sure what she thought about the latter option. Giving up wasn't something she was interested in, at least not yet. There was hard determination starting to solidify in her heart, like she was clutching on to the side of a fast moving car and no matter where it took her, she was going to hang on and see the destination.

She just hoped she didn't have to sacrifice too much along the way.

Closing her eyes once again, she pictured in her mind the exact imagine of the kitchen knife from earlier: the curve of the blade, the slight black knick in the otherwise silver handle, the width and length of the entire tool. From there, she imagined it in her hand, the feel of the cold handle and the way her fingers gripped it. She tried to see herself from the outside, standing on the beach, arms at her side, knife in hand.

Opening her eyes, she looked down to find there was no knife. She tried again, this time summoning the sword. It appeared in her hand in seconds.

Hypothesis, she thought to herself, only dream realm items can be called at will.

She almost laughed; maybe the dream realms would make her better at science and research in the real world. Maybe if she got good enough at experiments, she could study some form of science in college. The thought was quickly vanquished however, when she remembered that most advanced sciences incorporated math in some way.

Sighing, she sat down on the beach, running her hands through the sand. For the first time she noticed the grains were little cubes, as though they had somehow avoided being tossed and rolled into fine dust by the ocean.

Who had first ever imagined this world? Cierra wondered. Where were they now? Did they ever get to see their masterpiece?

She tossed a handful of sand into the water lapping by her feet, watching as the tide tossed the squares and pulled them back.

The next day, Cierra picked Dawn up for class.

"So," Cierra asked as Dawn got in the car, "How much time did you spend patrolling the city square versus studying calculus?"

Dawn playfully wacked Cierra in the arm, "I'll have you know, I kept my nose in the books about fifty-five percent of the time," she said proudly.

"And the other forty-five?," Cierra asked, side eying her friend while she drove.

"I mean," Dawn drew out 'mean,' "I may have begged my dad to drop me off at that new bookstore for a few hours."

"Do you think Jeremiah will make the restraining order out for you or your father then?," Cierra asked playfully.

"Ugh," Dawn sighed dramatically, "Not like it matters, I didn't even see him."

"You get any good books at least?," Cierra asked, knowing Dawn liked to read.

"Actually, yeah. They were selling a whole hardcover trilogy for three bucks," With that Dawn was off, describing the book in detail. By the time they pulled into the school parking lot, it was as if Cierra had read two thirds of the novel herself.

"Isn't that Jeremiah?" Dawn asked, nudging Cierra with her elbow and nodding in front of them.

Up ahead, Jeremiah walked slowly, his usually well managed long hair now just a frizzy mess around his shoulders. Dawn and Cierra exchanged concerned looks.

"Hey Jeremiah," Dawn called out as they caught up to him, "You okay?"

He smiled at them, a half-smile suggesting his heart wasn't in it.

"Dawn, Cierra," He made eye contact with each of them as he said their names, "Hey, what's up?"

There were deep bags under his eyes, as though he hadn't slept in days and his earring, for the first time that Cierra had ever noticed, didn't match. On one ear was the gold dragon clawing down, and on the other half the piercings were silver and the other half gold. Even his black nose ring was wrong, like he had forgotten to change it out for some time, as it didn't match either color scheme.

Cierra and Dawn exchanged looks again and then Dawn took the lead, "We're just heading in for calculus, are you feeling ok? No offense, but you look more like the walking dead than anything else." Dawn looked at him, her mouth a slight pout.

Jeremiah looked away, surprising Cierra. Did he, her brain stuttered at the idea, Did he like her?

"Yeah, I'm fine, you know, English lit won't read itself," Jeremiah said, forcing a laugh.

Dawn eyes got big, and she smiled wide, saddling up next to him as the three of them walked into the building.

"Did you say English lit? I happen to practically live and breath English literature. What book are you on? Maybe we could study together?"

Cierra listened as Dawn made a play and scored. When they exchanged contact information, Dawn's hands shook so hard Cierra had to keep herself from laughing.

"Did you see that?!," Dawn squealed as Jeremiah moved past their classroom to his further down the hall. "I got his number," She grabbed Cierra's arm and shook it, "His number!"

Cierra laughed, happy for her friend.

"Now all you have to do is call him after class and set up a," Cierra lowered her voice seductively, "Study date."

As Dawn changed from pink to red, Cierra took her seat, waiting for class to begin.

"Ok, so," Dawn started as soon as they got into Cierra's car, "I know today is movie day and I would usually hardcore press for horror, buuuut, I was thinking we could try out a romantic comedy?" Dawn asked, eyes wide like a puppy's.

Cierra looked at her in mock disgust, "You just got his number today, you can't have changed this quickly."

"I just don't know what to say, help a girl out." Dawn pleaded, and then as if to add to her defense, "I'm not saying we watch The Notebook and hold each other in tears, I'm just thinking…we can learn how to maybe send a text or two to a crush." She looked up at Cierra, hopeful.

"Fiiiine," Cierra feigned annoyance and then smiled, "If you want, we can just look up a bunch of super corny pick-up lines online and you can just start trying them all out."

"Ew," It was Dawn's turn to look disgusted, "Not a chance."

"Hey Dawn," Cierra asked, mischievously, "Are you Russian? Casue you're Russian my heart."

"No, no, no," Dawn begged, "Stop!"

"I hope you know CPR, 'cause you take my breath away," Cierra went on, "Oh! I know, I bet he'd like 'Are you a dragon, 'cause your breath makes me hot.'" Cierra laughed, and Dawn joined in, unable to stop herself, both of them thinking of Jeremiah's earrings from earlier.

"How about," Dawn thought for a moment, "'Are you a poker chip, 'cause I'd like to take a gamble on you'?"

"Nooooo," Cierra said, "What about…'If you were words on a page, you'd be fine print'? Get it? 'Cause he needs help with literature?"

Dawn laughed, "No, I need real help! We have to watch something like The Proposal or Bridget Jones's Diary."

"I would rather poke my eyes out than watch Bridget Jones's Diary, Dawn," Cierra said, seriously, "Plus if you choose Colin Firth over Ryan Reynolds I will leave you on the side of this road, I swear."

"Fine, fine," Dawn gave in, "You have a deal."