"I had a very dirty dream about Barney that I really can't explain-" Merilla sighed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Wait, what?” Keomi gasps, “I literally had the same dream!" Keomi exclaimed with disbelief.
"You're shitting me." Mer protested.
"No shit, I won't give away much, but Ted, Barney and I were locked in a room, and there was onlyonebed," Keomi explained, and Fabian covered his ears.
"Ew, there wasnoreason that I had to know that...like at all." Fabian cringed, “You’re like my sister.”
“Your what?” Keomi scoffs in offence,
“Okay, let’s calm down.” Mer laughs,
"I never really have sexy dreams—except that one time I was in a very compromising situation on the Titanic with a young Leonardo DiCaprio who wanted to paint me like one of his French girls," I confessed, plopping down on my bed.
"Young Leo could crash into my titanic any day." Mer snickered and gave me an approving high five.
"Alright, I've got to get ready for classes tomorrow morning. I'll see you guys then," Merilla announced, fixing her hair in the mirror before heading for the door.
"Yeah, me too. I'll see you tomorrow— don't looktoosad about me leaving, new girl." He said with a playful smile.
“I won’t.” I laughed, shaking my head.
The next thing I knew, Merilla and Fabian were gone, and Keomi was in the shower. I took this time to work on my drawing. I begun with a light sketch of the bookstore window, just like it'd appeared in my dreams, old and plastered with pages from novels. I looked around for a book— any old book I could use for quotes to add a real-life element. I took notice of a book on Keomi's bedside table. I reach for it and read the title. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I opened it and flipped through the pages. Just then, a tiny photograph slipped out from its hiding spot between the pages.
This was when I made my second bad decision.
I picked it up, and I smiled, recognizing the three friends I'd met today having a picnic by The Eiffel Tower, along with three other people I'd never met before nor seen around campus today. A girl with luscious locks of strawberry blonde hair that spun towards her elbows and fierce green eyes. A boy with short messy blonde hair and a face full of freckles, he had in one hand a paintbrush that'd clearly left a blue stain on his trousers.
His other arm was around a much taller boy, with wispy curls of dark hair and fair olive skin. He wore a plain black T-shirt paired with plain black jeans, his sense of style might've been rather plain but there wasnothingsimple about him. There was yet another splash of blue paint on his cheek that matched his eyes.
His eyes, you couldn't possibly miss them. They were the most beautiful and alluring shade of blue I'd ever seen. They were so blue that they almost appeared completely clear. It was mesmerizing. I turned to look at my drawing, those eyes I'd seen past midnight at the bookstore, and that snuck into my dreams to watch me as I slept. Those eyes, they resembled his eyes— whoeverhewas.
I flipped the picture around to check the dates, and it read:
Keomi, Mer, Fabian, Geneviève, River and Jace.
La Tour Eiffel 2009
I'd never met the other three people in the photograph, and something made me feel like I wasn't supposed to have found this picture. Just then, I felt someone's eyes on me and I froze, looking up.
"What're you doing?" Keomi asked in her soft, patient voice.
"N-nothing, I was just looking for a quote from your book when this picture fell out," I explained, but hell, even I wouldn't believe me.
I sounded even guiltier than I actually was. She reached her hand out, and I took both the book and the photo into her hands. She looked at it, and I could tell that for a brief moment, she went back in time to that very day. Her expression went from nostalgic to pained. She placed the photo back inside the novel and shut it.
"Are those your friends? How come I haven't seen them around today?" I asked, digging deeper.
"Yes, they are, and you'll meet Geneviève tomorrow as her flight lands later tonight. As for River, you never know with him these days," Keomi told me, and I could tell that it hurt her to talk about it, so I refrained from asking about the other boy. The golden blonde with wandering eyes and blue paint.
"Listen, Armani, I promise everything will begin to make sense in due time, but as for now, it's better to leave it alone, okay?" She assured me by placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Right." I sighed, remembering that Fabian told me something similar earlier today.
"Promise me you won't go digging where you're not supposed to." She asked me, her eyes serious.
"I promise," I assured her.
