"You said that you were going to spend the night at Audrey's and when you weren't there, I was scared. I expect this from Olivia, but not you, Emma." Maggie spoke to Emma as Olivia sat at the table, drinking coffee.

"Love you, too, mom." Olivia sighed.

"I'm sorry, I was just having fun." Emma said to her mother as she rummaged through the cabinets.

"I know that kids lie to their parents about stuff, but you don't do that. That's not you. You've always been honest with me." Maggie handed Emma a cup. Olivia rolled her eyes as she drank her coffee.

"Yeah, we'll everything's a little bit different now." Emma snapped at her mother.

"Look, last night was your first night home after three months, and I was happy to let you hang out with your friends." Maggie explained to her daughter. "And this morning I wanted to do something nice for your first day back at school, and when I couldn't find you, it kinda felt let you were running away from me."

"I guess I was a little." Emma nodded. Olivia was just sitting back and watching the drama of her family unfold in front of her eyes. It was, honestly, better than the movies.

"I want to change that." Maggie told Emma.

"I hope we can, mom, but I don't know, okay?" Emma asked her before looking back at Olivia. "We have to go to school." Olivia nodded before standing up and grabbing her bag.

*

When the two arrived at school, Emma immediately walked up to her group of friends, with Olivia following behind slowly. "Hey!" Emma smiled at them. Olivia made her way to the other side of the group, to stand next to Brooke, as everyone spit out compliments to Emma, awkwardly. Emma chuckled. "Enough of the eggshells, let's go."

The five made their way into the high school. Olivia sighed as she saw the staircase, and remembered Emma's meltdown. They all started walking up the staircase, and Emma seemed on edge. "Hey, you okay?" Audrey asked her.

Audrey took Emma's hands in hers and smiled. "Yeah." Emma nodded. "I'm fine." The two continued to walk up the stairs, leaving Brooke alone with Noah and Olivia.

"Well, this isn't awkward." Brooke stated, sarcastically.

"So, uh, Olivia, how are- um- you and- uh- Jake?" Noah stuttered out.

"So, now you're talking to me?" Olivia snapped at him.

"In my defense," Noah started, "you weren't talking to me, either."

Olivia's eyes narrowed at him. "I wasn't the one who said that they never wanted to talked to the other one ever again." Olivia growled.

"Well, I just changed that." Noah chuckled awkwardly. "Taadaa."

Olivia smiled softly. "See, that's it." Brooke smiled widely as she wrapped her arms around both of them.

*

Olivia sat in psych class next to Brooke and Emma. "He just left, and before we got to, ya know. Wink wink." Olivia stated. "And now, he's not even at school." She motioned to the seat where Jake usually sat. It was empty.

"Alright, subject change." Brooke sighed before looking at Emma. "How was last night with Kieran?"

"I haven't seen him all day." Emma told the two girls sitting next to her. "So, does that answer your question." Emma sighed as she looked down at her hands. "I don't know. We feel asleep together, and I woke up to find him curled up on the couch."

"Kinda adorable." Brooke stated, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Kinda sad." Olivia rolled her eyes at her best friend.

"Yeah, more sad." Emma nodded. "And I texted him to apologize, but all he did was respond with, 'haha'. Then nothing." Emma sighed. "I guess I thought I could hit the reset button and then start all over."

"Well, boys are not iPhones." Brooke chuckled.

"I wish they were." Olivia shook her head. "Then, when I told Jake to stay, he would have listened instead of going off to do whatever the hell he did."

A dark-skinned girl sat in her normal seat for psych class. She examined the room before her eyes landed on Emma. A smile appeared on her face. "Hey, Em." She stated. "Welcome back."

"Thanks, Zoe." Emma nodded in response, returning the smile.

"Hey Sigmund and Sigmunda Frauds." Ms. Lang, the psych teacher smiled as she entered the classroom. "Anyway, did everyone enjoy their reading assignments?" Noah's hand shot up.

"Noah's got a little crush." Brooke told Emma.

"Really? You liked it?" Ms. Lang asked Noah, who nodded. "I didn't. I thought it was dull. I mean, mesocortical dopaminergic pathways are fine and good, but how does psychology relate to our living lives." Ms. Lang started pacing through the classroom. "That's what turns me on, and that's what I want to turn you guys on, too."

Olivia scoffed. "It's definitely not going to be what turns me on." She mumbled. Brooke, overhearing her, chuckled.

"Let's think outside the textbook." Ms. Lang finally noticed Emma. "Emma, good to have you back. What part of psychology would be helpful to you in your life?"

"Uh- dream analysis." Emma answered.

"Excellent." Ms. Lang nodded. "Why do we dream?" She asked the class. "Why do dreams matter? Why would that psycho skill evolve with us?"

"Phantasmata and dreams are what help us process out leftover fear and anxiety." Zoe, the girl from before, had answered. "It's like the garbage disposal of the psyche."

"Nice Zoe." Ms. Lang nodded. "Dreams are personal, right? So let's make it personal. How about what this town has been through? Is it giving any of us nightmares? Scary, but necessary. We are churning through what holds us back."

"Just like Nightmare on Elm Street." Olivia and Noah stated simultaneously.

The two chuckled before looking down at their desks.

"Seriously, guys?" Brooke scoffed. "A movie about a knife-fingered psycho slashing kids in their dreams? Is it necessary?"

"The only way for Nancy to face Freddy and learn the truth is through her nightmares." Noah explained to Brooke.

"Scary, but necessary." Olivia nodded before sharing a smirk with Noah.

"But, do we actually need horror movies like we need our dreams?" Ms. Lang asked the two slasher-geeks in her class.

"They work the same way." Olivia stated.

"Maybe that's why the dream motif is so constant." Noah continued.

"And here they go." Brooke rolled her eyes. Olivia scoffed.

"Movies like Dreamscape and Elm Street are just like bad dreams." Noah said to the whole class.

"They take subconscious fears and externalizing them." Olivia continued on from Noah. "It's what horror is all about. You're at the movies with your friends, the movie ends, the credits roll, the lights go up, and everyone leaves feeling better."

"Or, the ho home to the horror of their actual lives." A boy sitting in the back spoke up.

"Now, this is the kind of dialogue I wanted to be having." Ms. Lang smiled.

"He's new." Brooke whispered to Emma. "The sheriff's son."

"He's super creepy." Olivia sighed.

"Let's continue on this." Ms. Lang stated. "I want you all to start keeping a dream journal. Keep them by your bed." She placed a sticky note on Emma's desk. "In case you want to talk through some stuff." She whispered to Olivia's sister. "So, when we're talking about dreams, and we're referring to the id, who, or super ego, does anyone know which of the three the dream analysis will follow? Anybody?"

*

"Room cleaning." Brooke groaned as she looked through Emma's room. Emma wanted Brooke and Olivia to help her clean out some old stuff. "Yay."

Olivia sighed, sitting on Emma's bed, staring down at her phone. "You know, I'm kinda pissed that he made me actually care for him again." Olivia looked and saw no recent messages from him. "He's been MIA all day."

"He actually made you care for him again?" Emma smiled.

Olivia nodded. "He changed, Em." Brooke smiled, rubbing Olivia's back.

"He actually stepped up to the plate." Olivia explained to her sister. "You were gone, Noah was being an asshat, and mom was being... Mom." Olivia tossed her phone to the other side of the bed. "Jake was what kept me grounded. He helped me calm down when I would get panic attacks, and he would help me not to blow up at people. He was, I guess, kinda my rock."

"It's hard to imagine Jake being anyone's rock." Emma scoffed.

"Things changed when you were gone. Life went limping on." Brooke sighed, rolling her eyes. "You know, you should be glad that you have Kieran."

"Yeah." Olivia nodded, smiling a bit. "He really missed you. Like a lot."

"Yeah." Emma chuckled, moving some things into boxes. "I think my freak out really freaked him out. He's been dodging me all day." Emma sighed, looking up at her two best friends. "Last night, it was like he thought I was gonna break or something. I don't know." Emma shook her head. "Maybe he just sees me as the broken girl, and he's not up for it."

"I think that we're all breakable, Emma." Brooke stated, placing her hand on Emma's knee. "At least you had therapy. The rest of us just partied the crazy away." Brooke chuckled as she looked at Olivia. "Especially this one over here." She pointed to her, and Olivia let out a snort. "You know, you're probably the strongest one of us all."

"No." Emma shook her head. "Not Kieran. He's granite."

"Trust me," Brooke nodded, "he's breakable."

"I got pretty close to him while you were gone, and he doesn't even go into his dad's room." Olivia explained to her sister. "He's pretty breakable."

"Yeah, he just hides all of that stuff." Emma looked up at Brooke as she spoke. "You both do. And you're both a mess." Brooke stood up and started walking over towards this huge pile of stuffed animals. "Now, grab me a trash bag. You get one teddy bear." Brooke smiled as Emma's eyes widened. "One." She lifted her finger.

"Yeah." Olivia nodded, grabbing some of them and throwing them at her sister. "This is absurd, so take your pick."

"Okay, I got the point." Emma laughed at the two girls, still throwing stuffed animals at her.