Callie lay in bed again, eyes wide open staring out the window. She couldn't sleep; her foster sister Mariana kept snoring and she couldn't stop thinking about Brandon. She knew that she could dream all she wanted, but she could never be with Brandon. After all that happened with Liam, Callie promised herself that she would never get involved with one of her foster brothers ever again.
She rolled over and checked the clock. It was 2:11 AM. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to force herself to fall asleep. She began to think about the beach that her mother used to take her and her brother Jude to when they were younger. She dreamt about her mother's smile and Jude's laugh as she drifted out of consciousness and eventually drifting off into a deep slumber.
Callie was alone on a beach; she could only see sand and water everywhere she looked, trapped on an island. The sun beat down on her rosy cheeks and the soft breeze swept salty moist air against her face. The ocean was fighting with itself as it ripped wave on top of wave on top of wave, each one worse than the previous one. The tide began to rise rapidly. Callie knew this wasn't good so she ran away from the water towards the middle of the island. Just as she looked back over her shoulder, she saw hurdles of waves crashing against the shore, tumbling across the sand and inching closer to her.
She began to run faster when she crashed into something—or rather someone. She looked up to see Liam staring down at her. He stood over her, blocking the sun from her face. She tried to inch backwards away from him but a tree was in the way.
"Where do you think you're going?" he said as he grabbed her arm, brought her to her feet, and slammed her against the tree. "You can't run away from me. I will always catch up to you." His grip on her arm grew tighter and Callie struggled to get away. She pulled, she shoved, but in the end all she could do was curl up on the ground against the tree to keep him from touching her.
"Let me go" she cried. "The waves are getting stronger; I need to get to higher ground."
"Don't you understand Callie? You're already drowning in the water. I am the ocean and you are merely a grain of sand. You're trapped on my island. I control the waves, I control the water."
Just as he said this a wave came and crashed over her. Liam was gone and Callie was left flipping under the powerful wave, being thrashed around like a toy doll. She tried to fight the water, but the current was too strong. She felt herself being pulled away from the island and into the open water. She struggled to keep her head above the water—to get a few breaths of air but eventually she stopped resisting. As the island grew smaller and smaller in the distance, she let herself fall away to the depths of the ocean as her last breath escaped her lips.
Callie woke up in a panic; sweating and breathing heavily. She checked her phone—it was 4:54 AM. She looked over to Mariana who was sound asleep.
Callie tried, but she couldn't get herself to fall back asleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she would see his face. She would imagine Liam pulling her under the water, unable to escape.
Callie finally pulled herself out of her bed and went to the bathroom. She splashed some cold water on her face and told herself that it was just a dream—Liam didn't know where she was and he couldn't get her here in this house.
After she pulled herself together, she began to walk towards her bedroom but she stopped in the hallway and looked over at Brandon's bedroom door. It was open a crack so she walked over to peek in.
His eyes were closed and Callie could see the glow of the moon light on his face. He was beautiful—dark brown hair, high cheekbones and deep eyes that she could get lost in forever. Brandon stirred at that moment and shifted from his side onto his back. Callie was afraid that he would see her so she stepped back and just as she did, the floor creaked under her feet.
"Callie?" Brandon whispered towards his door.
Callie thought about running back to her bed and hiding under the covers, pretending she was asleep, but she didn't want to. She had a powerful urge to walk right into his bed…
She opened the door and peeked her head in his room. "Sorry Brandon, I just went to the bathroom and thought I heard a noise coming from your room… Just the old house creaking I guess."
"What are you doing up? You should be sleeping. What time is it?"
"I already told you… I went to the bathroom…"
"Come here" he said as he pulled himself to sit up. She hesitantly came into his room and sat down on the end of his bed. "What's going on?"
"Seriously, Brandon, I just had to pee."
"If you just had to pee, you wouldn't have come into my room. You're obviously not sleeping well… Is Mariana snoring again? Do you need a pair of earplugs?"
"No—it's fine. Yes, she's snoring, but that's not why I'm not sleeping. I just had a bad dream," she explained.
"Oh… Care to share?" he asked.
"Oh it's nothing. It's really stupid actually; I just had another dream about dying and drowning… the usual."
"Do you have dreams like this often?" he asked her, concerned.
"I mean, I used to have them all the time at my old foster homes… but this is the first one since I've moved here."
"Can I do anything to help?"
"No, you're doing plenty by listening to me complain. Really, it's nothing. I'm gonna head back to my bed and try to tune out that snoring"
"Why don't you just stay here for the night? My bed is big enough for the both of us…"
"I can't Brandon…. If Lena and Stef find out, I could get kicked out of your house and switched to another foster home… I can't do that to Jude."
"Look, we're not gonna do anything, alright? Here, I'll even sleep on the floor. And I'll set an alarm ten minutes before everyone wakes up so you can go back to your bed, and that way no one will catch you in here. It will be our secret."
"Are you sure? I feel bad making you sleep on the floor."
"Seriously, it's not a problem. That rug is so cushiony and soft. I used to take naps on it all the time when I was little," he said as he smiled and laughed.
"Thanks," Callie said as Brandon slipped off of his bed and onto the floor.
She couldn't believe that just happened. She was sleeping in his bed. He graciously gave up this warm and cushiony bed to let her sleep.
She felt so much better in his bed. His sheets smelled like him and they soothed her. His heat lingered on the blankets and that helped her relax a bit more. She turned on her side to face him. He was on the rug right next to the bed. She watched him as he sucked in a breath and slowly let it out.
"You know, I don't think I'll be able to fall asleep if you keep staring at me," Brandon whispered.
Callie quickly turned around so her back was facing him now. Oops, she thought to herself as the color rushed up to her face from embarrassment.
She closed her eyes and easily drifted off to sleep, only this time she dreamt about her and Brandon.