After awakening, I thought back to the dream and what the voice had said to me. More importantly, I wondered if it was her. Her, as in, the-most-beautiful-girl-I-had-ever-seen, her.

After thinking about it for a while longer, I casted it off as just something I was hoping for. It could've been any girl's voice. The one part that did sketch me out was that I did have a pool of drool on my chin. I ignored it. Our subconscious works in mysterious ways.

The next day (the day after I woke up from the dream), Rachel and I left early in the morning to go to the beach. We only packed the essentials: sun screen, towels, a change of clothes, dinner, and my mom's chocolate chip cookies for the road.

On the way there, we talked about basically everything.

"And that, my dear Percy, is why pizza comes in a square box."

"It still doesn't make sense."

"You don't make any sense."

"Nice comeback."

"I know."

A little later…

"I still don't get it, Rachel. Why would Sally sell seashells by the seashore if people could just pick them up from the seashore for free?"

"Scarcity and opportunity cost, duh."

"I was trying to forget about Sophomore economics class."

"And maybe that's why you'd live in a cardboard box without your mom and I watching out for you."

And a little after that… (These are too fun :) )

"When the French swear, do you think they say 'pardon my English?'"

"I don't know. That's like asking why the Easter bunny brings eggs when bunnies aren't platypuses."

"I wonder if it's platypi?"

"I don't know. We have a lot of weird things in our world."

"Touche."

Before we knew it, we were at Montauk beach. My mom and I occasionally vacationed at a small cabin here, so I rented it out for the day. As we entered the cabin, the smell of must and damp furniture filled the air. Although it was a very weird smell, it brought back a lot of nostalgia to some of the other times I came here. My mom told me that before I was born, her and my dad met at this very spot.

Soon after, we were out on the beach, just laying belly-side-down on our towels. I looked out towards the Atlantic Ocean, amazed at the seemingly infinite distance it stretched. The ocean was the coolest thing to me. Something so beautiful and mysterious at the same time.

We sat there in silence, until I felt something oddly familiar. The breeze picked up, and I smelled the ocean. It felt like energy was coursing through my veins.

"Dad?" I asked, before even realizing what I said out loud. Why did I say dad? Mom told me we never met, and yet somehow, I felt like we had met each other here years ago, even if just for a moment.

"What was that?" asked Rachel.

"Nothing", I quickly replied. I tried to forget that ever happened...

Rachel shrugged and played with a shell she found.

"Maybe Sally found all the best shells at the beach, and that's how she sold them," Rachel inquired.

"Oh really, I thought it was," I pulled out my Rachel impersonation, "'scarcity and opportunity cost, duh'."

She elbowed my side. "That too."

After a little while, I decided to have some fun.

"Do you think the water is cold," I asked Rachel.

"It probably is." She looked at me suspiciously.

I quickly got up and grabbed her. It was almost bridal style, but way more clumsy. She kicked and yelled, but I wasn't letting go. Before I knew it, we dove straight into the salty sea.

"Was that necessary?" she asked, bobbing up for air.

I smirked. "I was bored, and yes, completely necessary."

We swam in the ocean until sunset. Sometimes I would splash her and she would try to catch me. She swam pretty fast for someone who painted all day (not that she ever caught me).

After our hands were prunier than raisins, I grabbed some lumber sitting by our cabin and made a fire. We roasted some hot dogs and watched the sun retreat to the horizon. She grabbed my hand and we talked about everything on our mind. After a bit of time, it was silent. Us just sitting under the moon. She turned to me.

"Percy, I'm really glad I've gotten to meet you this summer. You've been such a great friend," she said.

I replied, "I've enjoyed it too, Rachel. Hanging out with you is awesome,"

Before I knew it, we were getting closer and closer, both pursing our lips.

RING RING RING.

"Oh, Hades," said Rachel. She grabbed her phone, and judging by her annoyed face, I knew it was her dad. I couldn't believe I was that close to kissing her. My lips felt like they were deprived of oxygen. And just one stupid phone call away…

She hung up, looking sad. "Percy, I'm sorry, but could we leave? My dad said I have to be home by 11, and it's already 7:15 (It's 3.5 hours from Montauk to Manhattan). He said something about being ready for one of his stupid real estate banquets tomorrow, where they talk about all the forests they bought to chop down trees for lumber." The last part she said with absolute disgust. Whenever she talked to Grover and Juniper, it was like adding gasoline to a fire (which didn't release CO2 into the atmosphere, of course). I had never seen people get so angry talking about deforestation and the extinction of the yellow-crested robin.

Although I was sad I never got the kiss, I acquiesced, fully knowing it was out of her control. Just like how her dad made her go to an all-girls academy.

We packed up all our belongings into our vehicle and headed home.

At around 10:15, I turned to see Rachel passed out in the passenger seat. Up to this point, the ride home was pretty quiet. We were both exhausted from a long day.

I kept yawning, trying hard to stay awake. Sometimes I could feel myself dozing off, but I got over it. It seemed like after leaving the ocean, all my willpower and strength was gone. I kept awake.

Most of the time.

My eyelids were shutting, and nothing in power was going to open them.

Sleeping Percy POV DUHN DUHN DAHHHH

"Percy, wake up! Percy! Now!" I opened my eyes to someone shouting at me. As I gained my vision, I saw her, in all of her beauty. She wore a white dress, a chiton, I thought Mr. Chiron had taught me. Her hair was flowing over her shoulders in some unique design that looked awesome.

She looked really cute when she was nervous, I thought to myself. Wow. She even knew my name. Cool. I laughed giddily.

"Percy, wake up, hurry!" Her face was one of urgency.

Then I realized what was going on. Oh crap, I was sleeping and still on the highway.

I woke up to half of my vehicle passed the center line. A semi blared it horns at me. I quickly turned back into my lane. Any second long and we would've been dead. Holy cow, was I scared. I looked over to see Rachel still sleeping soundly. I wasn't planning on mentioning this to anyone.

The sudden influx of adrenaline kept me awake for the rest of the ride home. After getting passed the "we could've died" phase, my brain started thinking about something else- my savior. The girl in my dream, she woke me up. She even knew my name. How do you make it up to a girl in your dreams who saved your life?

Up until I brought Rachel home, the girl in my dream was all I could think about. After taking her up to her apartment, I got back to my place, making sure to be quiet to not wake up mom.

I laid in bed and silently thanked the girl in my dream. "You saved my life. How could I ever repay you?" After an inordinate amount of time staring at the ceiling, I finally fell asleep.

Thanks for reading! I'll try to get in one more story before Monday. I have a heart procedure that day (it's nothing serious), so I may not be able to post for a few days after that. Have a Goode day!