"Have you made up your mind?"

Dream sighed, not wanting to have this conversation. It had been three days since she first brought this up with her dad, and so far, he had dedicated every day to trying to convince her to not take up Marc's offer.

He even called Marc to try to get him to withdraw the offer. Marc refused. Then he apparently proceeded to scream at Marc for an hour.

A bold move, considering that Marc was not only his best friend, but also his boss.

And then, there was the fact that Dream already had an answer in her mind. One that she did not dare to tell her dad.

She told Ava her decision, though, and Ava agreed to help convince Dream's dad.

"Well..." Dream hesitated, remembering the plan she made with Ava. "No..."

"So, that's your answer? No?" Dream hadn't seen her dad so happy in the last three days.

"I meant, no, I haven't made up my mind yet," Dream snapped. Why couldn't her dad just be happy for her?

"Oh," his expression soured, "Well make up your mind soon," he said angrily, stomping back to his room.

"So salty," Dream grumbled.

Ava sat down next to Dream, "So, we're going through with the plan?"

"Oh, yeah."

---

"Here is your food, and your ten orders of fries," Sawyer looked like he was about to burst into laughter at any second. "Why do you guys need...ten...orders of fries?"

"It's a dad thing, you'll understand when you have kids," Dream's dad said, immediately grabbing a handful of fries and shoving it in his mouth.

Sawyer took a step back awkwardly. "Oh...kay?"

"Don't mind him, he's emotional eating," Dream explained.

"Oh, I'm emotional, all right," Dream's dad said, gobbling down the last fry. "Where's my fries? I ordered ten extra-large fries."

"You ate all ten."

"Ten more," he grumbled.

Sawyer quickly went back to get more fries.

"So...are either of you going to tell me why we're at the Burger Grill right now? And why you two...aren't...eating?"

"Well, I thought we'd go for a trip around New York this beautiful evening," Dream said, trying to sound inconspicuous. "You know, drive around, visit a couple places..."

"I am going to kill him!" Dream's dad hissed, standing up.

"No, no, no, you can't kill him," Dream panicked, "Marc was just trying to do a good thing, I swear!"

Her dad sat back down, his expression stunned and twisted in confusion. "Marc? Wait--what were you planning to do?"

"Uh..." Dream didn't want to reveal her plan. "Ava, tie him down, regardless of whether he wants to or not, we're still doing it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is happening here?"

Dream sighed. "I made up my decision, Dad, I'm going to do it."

"Do what?"

Dream stared blankly at her dad. "Um, traveling around the nation, establishing schools, franchising Pebblebrook Creek, any of that sound familiar?"

"Oh," he said, unreasonably calm.

"We were going to take you to some places where schools aren't receiving enough fundings and teachers weren't being trained enough. The education there is disastrous, and the students there deserve better."

"Oh."

"You-you're not mad?"

He sighed, "You're my daughter. I've known you since before you were born. I guessed this would be your final decision, probably long before you made up your mind."

"Oh," Dream said slowly. "That's why you were mad?"

"I wasn't mad. I was trying to grasp the reality of what life would be like living without you. I mean, Ava is great, but...life just wouldn't be the same."

"Oh, okay," Dream nodded. "Wait..." she frowned..."What did you think I was going to do?" she asked, suspicious.

"I may or may not have thought - just for a moment! - that you had a secret boyfriend you wanted me to meet."

Dream resisted the urge to burst out laughing. "Yeah, wait until I'm thirty, then that might be a possibility. Otherwise...no. Just no."

"That's one thing all fathers want their daughters to say. Although, I'd change thirty to forty."

"Dad," Dream whined, "Even Ava isn't forty yet! And she's already married!"

Ava laughed.

Dream's dad sighed. "Anyways, if you really, really want to follow through, and this is something you really, really want to do, I'll support you."

---

It was a huge hassle to get the entire friend group - including Francesca and Fatima - in Savannah's room. Partly because Sawyer flat out refused to enter what he called the "Black Hole of Womanhood". To which Savannah had replied, "At least my room isn't a mountain range of dirty laundry."

The Jameson twins' arguments aside, it was difficult to find a time where all seven people were available, and though they agreed to meet up at two in the afternoon, Dream, with her brand new driver's license, got pulled over by the police for driving much too slow. As it was, she was forty-five minutes late to announce her news, and Chloe was just about to leave when she rang the doorbell.

"Oh, you're here," Chloe huffed. "You're so early."

"I'm sorry, I got my first ticket."

"Oh, you are in so much trouble. Knowing your dad, he's probably going to make you spend all your allowance to pay that off," Chloe told her.

"Wow, you're so supportive, I feel so much better."

"Anyways, what's the big news? You're going to be a big sister?"

Dream made a face. "Ew. Gross. No. And no thanks."

"I thought you wanted a sibling?"

"Well...not really...not anymore..."

"Why not?"

"Reasons. You'll understand why. Come on, we need to go to Savannah's room."

"Then you'll tell us the gender of your new sibling?"

"Seriously? No!" Dream rolled her eyes as she went up the stairs of Savannah's house. In truth, she really had always wanted a sibling, feeling lonely because her dad was working all the time. By the way, now that she thought about it, she was still salty that her dad was not actually working, but in reality, spending time with Ava. But now that she was going to take up the project...

"Well?"

"You'll see."

"Does it even affect me?" Chloe complained as she followed Dream back up the stairs.

"No, I went through all this trouble to get all seven of us to meet up so I could announce some big thing that is happening in my life and affects none of you. OF COURSE IT AFFECTS YOU!" Dream snapped.

"Somebody's salty today."

Dream sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm just...stressed..."

"Don't be. It's not like you're going to be the star of some stupid reality show and become the next Kardashian or something..."

"Did Sawyer tell you that? Oh my gosh, I am going to kill him," Dream stormed up the stairs.

"No, Sawyer didn't say anything," Chloe called, confused.

"Huh?" Dream turned around. "Then...how did you know that?"

"Know what?"

"That I've been invited to do a reality tv show with E! Entertainment."

Chloe gaped. "You WHAT?! Dream Ariella Cadison! How could you not tell me about this! OMG OMG OMG," she screamed, running up the stairs and flinging Savannah's bedroom door open. "Dream's been invited to do a reality tv show with E! Entertainment and she's going to be the next Kardashian and this all affects us somehow and AHHH!" she shrieked.

There goes that big announcement I was planning, Dream thought.

---

A/N

You know, sometimes I love Chloe and sometimes she's...Chloe XD. There is no in between for her. But I can't not love her though lol.

Funny story. Someone once asked me (in a game of truth or dare), which one of the characters in this book would I date if I had to. Idk, it feels normal for me to ship my own characters (and anyone I ship will end up together ahahaha) but to ship myself with them? It feels so weird. Probably because I think of them as my children and uhh yeah.

Yup, even Mrs. Woods, oddly enough. She's disowned, though. Can't have a crazy psychopathic serial killer woman in the family.

Anyways I really hope you enjoyed the last two chapters! We're too close to the end omg. 

Next update: Monday (I want to promise that this'll be on time but I know no one is gonna believe me so...)

💙, Stella Rose