Page 155 of Dream Girl
For a moment, she was quiet. “That explains why you don’t know much about anything most people do. Are you going to leave then? Once you get your memories back and all that.”
I shook my head. “No. Wes is here. Not to mention, my research back home was pure theory–pure,unproventheory. It could take decades to figure it out. I’d rather stay.”
“This is trippy as fuck. You can’t tell people this.” She put sparkly powder on her face.
“Yep.” I nodded.
Riley put in earrings. “Um, how did youmatein your dreams?” Her eyebrows rose. “You’re actually mate-bonded and feel each other and shit, right?”
“Yeah. It shows up on a test. I’m not actually sure how it happened. Um, well, I remember the actions, but don’t know how it transcended our dreams.” But it had.
“Wow,” she said, again, getting a dress out of her closet. “This is so weird. What’s your world like?”
“Other than no alphas and omegas and packs, it’s not that different. We have a New York City. Rockland is called something else. There are so many little differences. Like here, the drinking age is lower, the driving age higher. Our version of skate smash isn’t on ice skates. Some of your movies and music are close, but nothing is quite the same. Your technology is more advanced, and your healthcare is so much better,” I told her. “Everyone’s more accepting, too.”
She pondered this. “Okay, so you didn’t grow up fundie, you grew up in another fucking world.”
“Well, I did sort of grow up fundie. My mom converted to the religion I was raised in, got super into it, and they were pretty conservative.”
While religion existed here, and some holidays were widely and secularly celebrated, there seemed to be amuchgreater separation between church and state. But then religious freedom didn’t drive the formation of this country or shape its borders.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Riley added. “Don’t get me wrong, the guys are all great, but having you in the house makes it more fun.”
“Thank you. I’m glad I’m here, too.” My phone beeped, and I checked it. “Your brother’s on his way, so I suppose we should get dressed.
She held up a long, black dress. “Will this work?”
“That’s beautiful,” I told her. It was the sort of dress I’d always wanted for a high school dance and never got.
“Evan got it for me. It’s actually for the spring formal tomorrow. But considering how much it cost, I figured I might as well wear it as much as I can,” she told me.
I nodded. “A black dress is very useful.”
“Really?” She appraised it.
“It’s hard to go wrong with a black dress. Do you go to dances in groups or with dates?” I shimmied out of my clothes.
“Both. I’m going with the girls from my floor. But I’m meeting up with Marcos, Kilroy, and Hiro.” She pulled on the dress.
“Hiro?” I hadn’t heard about him yet. But Kilroy was a handful. His mom was an omega and seemed nice.
“He and Marcos have been friends forever. He’s super-smart, like calculus as a freshman, smart,” she told me.
Um, she was in pre-calculus as a freshman, which wasn’t bad at all.
“We’re in the same history and literature class. I’m not sure he likes me,” she admitted.
“What makes you think that?” I asked, since teenage boyswereconfusing.
“He doesn’t talk much and is sort of… standoffish. I don’t know. He just sort of broods, while Marcos is charming and Kilroy makes jokes. Anyhow, the dance will be fun.” She turned. “Zip me?”
I zipped her up. The dress was fancy–with a very high slit and sparkles. “Beautiful.”
She zipped me up. “You can see your scars a little. Are you okay with that or do you want me to try to cover them with foundation?”
“I… I don’t know.” I bit my lower lip. “The silver dress… I wore the wrap because you can see them just a little but I love it so much.”
Riley nodded. “I figured.”
