Chapter 1

I lay alone in darkness. I buried my head in my pillow, sobbing uncontrollably. I couldn't let them hear me. If they did, they'd try to make me feel better, but that would only make me feel worse. I couldn't be seen at this point of weakness. But that was the problem. I was weak. I was nothing. Nothing without her.

'They couldn't do this to me. They can't take her away,' I thought. I turned onto my back, deepening my breathing and trying to calm myself. 'She's the reason I wake up in the morning with a smile on my face. I love her too much to let her go.'

I eventually fell asleep and into a dream. A nightmare. I was in an airport. I was alone at first, standing in silence. It was an eerie silence. Eerie because most airports are busy with travellers trying to get from place to place. Not here, everything was still. Dead. Silent. Then there was a crackle in the air followed by a voice over a PA system.

"Flight 203 for London, England is now boarding," it said. I was near that flight. It was right next to where I was standing. But it wasn't my flight. I didn't have a ticket. Then, all of a sudden, the silence was broken. The airport had filled with bustling travellers. There were people boarding the flight. Then I saw her. It looked as if she was being forced onto the plane. Being dragged by two men. Then she saw me.

"Maya!" she called to me.

"Riley!" I ran over to try and help her. I could see tears running down her cheeks as she struggled to free herself from the grasp of the two men. I tried to help, but before I could act, two security guards grabbed my arms, pulling me back.

"Let me go!" I shouted at them. Then the two men holding Riley turned toward me. But they were no longer the two men. They'd changed into Riley's parents, dragging her towards the gate to board the plane.

"She's coming with us!" Topanga sneered, with a sinister grin. Then the security guards holding me dragged me away, further from Riley, despite my struggles.

"No!" I shouted, trying to resist. As I was pulled back, I watched Cory and Topanga dragging Riley through the gate, her cries echoing. All of a sudden, the room caught fire. I could see memories of myself and Riley throughout our friendship, burning before me. I screamed, tears pouring down my face. "RILEY!"

I woke up shaking and sweating, in a panic. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down and lower my heart rate, which had to be well over 100 beats per minute. I looked at the clock on my phone. It was nearly 4:00 am. I tried to get back to sleep but I couldn't. I stayed awake for almost an hour. But when I finally got back to sleep, I had another dream, very different than the one I had before.

"Hey, Riles," I said, climbing in through Riley's window.

"Hi, Peaches," she replied, with a bright-eyed grin. I sat beside her, she was on her laptop, looking at something. I had a sketchbook and started to work on a drawing. Riley and I were talking for a while, but I don't remember anything we said. I feel like she mentioned Lucas and her Uncle Josh. We sort of just stopped talking for a while, she was just on her computer and I was sketching, sitting in silence. The next thing I remember, Riley put down the computer and took my sketchbook from me. At first, I was confused, but before I knew what was happening, Riley was kissing me. I didn't resist, I kissed her back. The dream faded from there, into the blackness of a deeper sleep. I'm not sure why it happened, or if our conversation had anything to do with the kiss or the silence the preceded it, but it was the first thing on my mind when I woke up, and I was more confused than I'd ever been.