I jolt awake and lay still, trying to figure out what has awaken me.
As usual, I'm half-asleep and can't figure out what planet I'm on.
I rub the sleep out of my eyes and pull my waist-length blonde hair back.
Then I creep out of my room and slip over to the room where my step sisters Rylee and Mica sleep.
All is quiet.
"Rylee? Mica?" I whisper.
There is no reply so I slip back into my room. I fall asleep as soon as my head touches the pillow.

                        ***

It has to be a dream!
In the distance, I can see a tall broad-shouldered boy sprinting towards me. He's wearing a royal blue tee shirt with a scuffed black leather jacket. His denim jeans are slightly dirty and his longer black hair is wavy.
It flops down into his startlingly Arctic blue eyes.

He runs up to me, and grabs my hands. I can hear the pounding of my heart in my ears.
    I can see his mouth moving, but can't hear any sound. His eyes widen in desperation, and he clutch's my hands tighter.
   He pulls on my hands and we break into a dead run. We stop at the edge of a cliff.

     He's pointing to something in the distance that is shrouded in mist.
         I lean toward the object, and try to make sense of what I am seeing. I can distantly see a boy leaning over Rylee. I take one more step and my foot slips off the cliff.
     I can feel myself falling down, down.
I want to scream, but I can't make a sound.

        Suddenly, I feel a strong hand close around my wrist. It is the boy! He is pulling me towards him and safety. He finally pulls me up the last two feet to the safety of the cliff top.
    I can feel sobs tearing through me and my whole body is shaking. The boy pulls me to him in a giant hug.
I can finally hear what he was whispering.
"Hey, it's ok. You're ok. You're safe now."
When I wake up, I open my eyes to find that they are full of tears.

                       ***

I want to tell someone about my dream, but I don't know if Rylee or Mica will listen though.
I have tried to reach out to them, but so far they aren't comfortable with me.
I snort.
That doesn't begin to describe Tacoma's reaction to me.
I thought that he was going to kill me the first time he saw me. Since then, I hear whispered remarks about "stuck up white kid."

I don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what Tacoma thinks of me.
Maybe that's why the dream had made me cry. The boy seemed to me to be the older brother that I never had.
Not before mom married.
Not with Tacoma either.

I sigh as I slip out of bed. Maybe today will be better.
High school. Whoop whoop.
I bump into Tacoma in the hall.
He glares at me and mutters something under his breath.
"Morning Tacoma!"
He roles his eyes and walks past me.

I can feel my eyes and nose smarting. I take a shivery breath and bite my lip.
Even if he doesn't like me, he doesn't have the right to act like that to me! I remind myself that it has only been two months and maybe it will get better.

Yeah right.
   When I pull my voluminous blonde hair back into a ponytail, I look in the mirror.
     I can see my sleepy looking reflection staring back into my face blearily. My hazel eyes look tired, and I hope that I can stay awake during classes.
      Reminding myself that I'll be late if I don't hurry up. I throw on a tee shirt bearing the Nike brand on the front, a plain denim skirt, and my white Converses.

This done, I slide down the stairs to find that Tacoma and Dad are the only ones at the table.
I sigh and quickly sit down next to where I know my mom will sit.
To my great misfortune, I find that I am seated right across the table from Tacoma. He glares at me.

I, who isn't in the sweetest mood by now, glare right back. Rylee and Mica choose that minute to walk in and rescue me by asking if I slept good.
"Well, something woke me up, but then it turned out it was nothing. I had an odd dream though."
The twins sit, and I feel a pang of jealousy as I watch Tacoma wrap his arms around them.

After breakfast, I run up stairs to grab my backpack. By the time I get back down, Tacoma and the girls have already left in his Ford Ranger. Feeling left behind (literally), I say goodbye to my mom and walk to the bus stop.

(So this Chapter was written by Joy. That's why it's kinda hard to follow... *snicker snicker* jk)