*
I refused to eat anything at all that day, and just stayed in my room. I didn’t understand what had happened with Kallan, and I wanted to talk about it with Sierra. It made me more homesick when I thought about how truly alone I was.
That night, I dreamt of Adam. He was holding me in bed. He pressed his lips on mine, I closed my eyes, and the kissed deepened. When I opened my eyes in the dream, Adam was gone and Kallan was there instead. I woke up crying. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it was going to come out of my chest.
I heard the light pitter-patter of footsteps outside my door. Bursting into my room a few seconds later, Lena asked, “Oleander, are you all right?”
I wrung my hands in my lap and then pushed my hair out of my face trying to compose myself. “Yeah, just a bad dream.”
She narrowed her eyes like she was trying to figure out if I was telling the truth. Finally, she asked, “Do you need anything? I can give you something to help you sleep.” Her voice was gentle, and it reminded me of my mother. Just the thought of her made my heart ache. I wondered how she was holding up since I disappeared. I’m sure she and Dad were both a wreck.
“Oleander?”
“No, thanks,” I mumbled and rolled over on the bed. “Not unless you can bring me home.”
She nodded and closed the door softly behind her.
I tried to fall back asleep, but just couldn’t. I kept thinking about the dream and what it meant. Why would I dream about kissing Kallan? I didn’t like him that way. He was such a jerk! Every time I saw him, I wanted to throw something at him. He sure as heck wasn’t Adam.
Now I was positive I had to get out of this place. I felt like I was losing myself.