Sugar Motta tossed and turned in her bed. Her eyes shot open, and she quickly sat up. Sugar's heart was racing, and she was sweating. She had just had another nightmare. Nightmares weren't rare for Sugar. In fact, she had one every night! Every night, the dream was the same. It involved Sugar, and evil preteen girls. Middle school was a real life nightmare for Sugar. Girls were always teasing and tormenting her. She never really knew why. They just didn't like her. Sugar never had any friends. If people were teasing her, they were intimidated by her because of how rich she was. You would think Sugar would be popular, but she wasn't.
Sugar reached for the cup of water on her night table, and chugged it down. She sighed in relief when it was all gone. Sugar kept a glass by her bed every night. After every nightmare, Sugar was always dying of thirst. She set the glass back on her night stand, and looked at the clock. It was one in the morning. There was no way she was going back to sleep. If she did, she would have another nightmare. Just thinking about that made Sugar's breathing uneasy, and soon she started gasping for air. She just knew she was on the verge of another panic attack. Sugar had missed the last week of school before Christmas break because she had a meltdown, and her dad took her to a specialist.
Rory woke up when he heard Sugar gasping for air. Rory and Sugar had been dating for a while now and sometimes slept over at her house. Her parents were out of town for the week, so he was staying with Sugar. They didn't have sex or anything, both of them deciding to wait until marriage. They usually just talked or watched Sugar's large collection of Disney movies. Their relationship was sweet and innocent, and they both cared a lot for each other.
He sat up next to Sugar, who was starting to calm down.
"Bad dream?" Rory asked.
"Yes." Sugar nodded. Rory took her hand and smiled sweetly at her.
"I'm here. You're safe." He said.
Rory lay down, and Sugar did the same. She rested her head on his chest, and immediately started feeling better. Rory had that effect on her. He was so caring and soothing, and always helped Sugar through her troubles.
"What was the dream about?" Rory asked, holding her tightly.
"These girls were after me. I was running through the school. Then all of a sudden, the school was on the edge of the earth. I was surrounded by the girls, and I had nowhere to run. Then one of them pushed me, and I just kept falling and falling and falling into nothing." Sugar said. She could always remember every aspect of her nightmares, even if she didn't want to.
"How long have you been having these dreams?" He asked.
"Since the seventh grade. A couple of girls cornered me in the bathroom. They hit and threw me around. The called me a freak. While they were hitting me, they yelled "Not Asperger's" and laughed. Since then, I've had dreams. At first they weren't bad. But as time went on, they got worse. Sometimes I have dreams about being killed by the girls that tortured me in seventh grade." Sugar said. She had never told anyone that before.
"Have you ever told anyone about these dreams, Sugar?"
"No. I don't trust many people. I've trusted people before, and they always did something for me to lose their trust. You're the only one I trust." She said, looking up at him.
"I want you to get help, Sugar. Go to a therapist or something. If you keep having these dreams, they're going to take over your life."
"I'm scared." Sugar whispered.
"I'll go with you." Rory said.
"Really?"
"Really. I love you." Rory smiled. They had never said that to each other, but Sugar liked the way it sounded.
"I love you, too." Sugar smiled.
"Now go back to sleep. We have school in the morning." Rory said.
"Could you get me a glass of water? Just in case." Sugar asked. Rory nodded and got out of bed. He left the room and went downstairs to the kitchen. Sugar put her head on her pillow, and closed her eyes.
For once, she wasn't afraid.