Page 92 of We'll Meet Again

Billie shook her head. “It was new. And yet…I dunno, it felt more like memory. Which can’t be because I’ve never been to Aldbourne.”

Tessa blinked. “It was in Aldbourne?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Not until just now. Before, you only said ‘a meadow some where.’”

“Did I?”

Billie struggled to remember. It seemed obvious to her that it was Aldbourne now, though why was a mystery. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Ugh, what the bloody hell does any of it matter?” she said. “It can’t possibly mean anything. They’re just dreams.”

Tessa took so long to answer, Billie opened her eyes to make sure her flatmate was still there with her. Thankfully, she was, but her gaze was fixed on her cup, her fingers drumming along the side of it.

“Dreams are often more powerful than we think,” Tessa said. “And I don’t mean that in a Freudian psychology way. It comes from somewhere deeper.”

“Such as?” Billie asked.

“The soul, the heart, however you choose to define it,” Tessa answered with a shrug.

Billie raised a skeptical brow. “This isn’t going in an Irish folklore direction is it?”

Tessa rolled her eyes. “You’re just jealous that our folklore is better than yours.”

“It is not!”

“Is too, and I know that because you English have colonized every culture more interesting than your own.”

“You spoke to your mother today, didn’t you?” Billie joked.

“I did, but that isn’t the point here,” Tessa said. “Though she still isn’t too fond of you.”

“I can’t help that I’m English.”

“Aye, so you can’t,” Tessa sighed. She took another sip of tea. “The point is, perhaps you’re going through a transformation of sorts.”

“But what does that have to do with -”

“I can’t tell you what exactly the dreams mean, I’m no interpreter. But Billie…they must meansomething. Don’t you agree?”

Billie mulled that over in her mind for several moments. Tessa had a point. Dreams this often, which seemed to center the same story, people, and theme, could no longer be swept under the rug as coincidences. Especially since they had seeped into the waking world as well.

“But…could it really be Ethan that’s caused all this?”

“It’s all been different since he got here, hasn’t it?” Tessa replied. “And I’ve seen a change in you even in daily things. You smile more, you learn people’s names - and just the other day when you stubbed your toe on one of my boxes again, instead of swearing you said ‘good golly, Miss Molly!’”

Billie sputtered into her tea. “I did no such thing!”

“You did, I swear it,” Tessa said. “I actually checked your room for drugs after that.”

Billie chuckled. “I can’t say I blame you.”

“Anyway, the general thesis of the night is - Ethan’s changed you. And your subconscious or your soul or whatever it is, must be manifesting itself in these dreams.”

Billie straightened up. “That’s it!” She gazed at her flatmate in wonder. “That’s exactly it. Ethan’s just made an…impact on my life, and I’m still adjusting to it. It’s only been a few months after all. So maybe, after some time, it’ll sort itself out and stop.”

“Seems possible,” Tessa said.

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