PS: in case you're feeling lost-

Rikki is trapped inside Cleo's body,

Emma is inside of Rikki's,

and Cleo is inside of Emma's.

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The Dream

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She loved watching the water slowly ripple, up, down, in, out. The waves were what calmed her. True, she'd never been a surfer, but she knew she was meant to be a mermaid.

What sucked is now every time she looked at water, she would not see herself. She would see a different person. She would see the color of hair that wasn't her own. It was much darker, although the curly texture remained the same. She would see the unfamiliar brown eyes as opposed to her icy blues.

Rikki Chadwick was losing all hope of ever being herself again. Yeah, it sucked.

xXx

Running. She kept running. Her bare feet pounded the sand of the coastline, one hand carrying Emma's shoes and the other wiping away tears that just wouldn't stop coming.

She didn't know where she was going. All that mattered to her was it was a place, far, far away. Her mind seemed to be so busy and out of whack that she never considered just jumping in the water and swimming until she couldn't anymore.

xXx

Lewis was watching a documentary on fishing, because he's exciting like that, when he heard the doorbell ring. Quickly he got up to open the door and see a surprising face.

xXx

"Zane Bennett. What on earth could possibly compel you to talk to me? Other than romantic advice." Lewis silently chuckled at his own joke. Even though no one else would have…

"Good to see you too Lewis. Look, there is a reason I came by. I needed to talk to you about something that's concerning me.

Admittedly, Lewis was wondering what on earth could concern Mr. Spoiled Rich Kid. But once he saw the look on Zane's face, he decided not to say anything about it.

"It's about Rikki. Well, actually, not just her."

xXx

Cleo could hardly breathe after running so far, and so long, and so hard. So it was almost expected when she collapsed.

xXx

She looked at her watch. Got to get back to work soon… but for now she just enjoyed her walk.

Well, she was enjoying it. Until she saw what she saw.

xXx

"And what is it about Rikki this time?" Lewis asked skeptically.

"Don't be like that, okay? This is serious. Haven't you noticed anything strange with them lately?" Zane said.

"Them being Cleo, Rikki, and Emma." Lewis said. Well, other than the fact that Cleo kissed me, no, not at all! he thought.

"Yeah. I've been around them a few times and they've just been acting really weird. Are you saying you haven't noticed it?" Zane's brow furrowed a little.

"Now that you mention it, yeah, things have been a little off center. But seriously, there girls, Zane, they are weird by nature." Lewis shrugged it off.

"Lewis, I'm serious. This is-"

But at that moment, Lewis held his finger up because his phone was ringing.

xXx

The woman was frantic. The body of the blonde girl was below her. She wasn't sure how long she had been passed out. She reached into the girl's pocket to see what was bulging, hoping it was a wallet to identify her.

A phone. That was even better. She searched through the speed dials, trying the first few. The first didn't answer, and neither did the second. The third was still ringing.

"Come on, come on…" The woman tried not to look at the unconscious girl that was drenched in sweat.

xXx

"Urggh! Where is my phone?" Lewis was getting aggravated. He had been searching frantically for a few seconds.

"Um, Lewis… it's in your back pocket." Zane pointed out.

"Oh. So it is. Thanks." He pulled it out and sat back down on the sofa.

"I don't recognize this number…." It was almost done ringing.

"Hello?" Lewis said.

xXx

Rikki was on the phone with Emma, surprise, arguing. Rikki wanted to ask for help but Emma said it couldn't be Lewis unless they asked Cleo first. Rikki said it didn't matter, they weren't an item anymore. Emma argued that that was exactly the point.

Rikki scoffed. "Cleo's a big girl, she can handle it."

"Rikki! Can you at least try to consider her feelings?" Emma said.

"Yeah? Well what about mine? Don't those matter anymore? I'm sick of this Emma! I.. I can't… I can't do this anymore!" Rikki was sobbing. Emma stopped yelling, because she knew the rarity of Rikki crying. It only happened at the very worst times of her life. Only certain things could trigger it. "Cleo's parents are crazy! And worse, Zane doesn't even look at me anymore. He looks at you, though! I hate it! I can't do it anymore!"

Emma was silent as she listened to the sobs and sniffles from the other line. She knew what it was like. She missed Ash. And she missed herself.

xXx

"Thank God! Listen, I don't know who you are, but you're on this girl's speed dial. I don't know her name, but she's unconscious and covered in sweat. I don't know how long she's been out."

When the voice on the other line, she assumed it was a boy, asked her where she was, she could tell her answer gave him shock.

xXx

Beautiful. Absolutely stunning, in fact. There were crazy gorgeous things around her. Floating clouds of the purest white. The happiest smiles she'd ever seen. She felt comfort.

But then the clouds went black. Suddenly, the people in her dream- Rikki, Emma and herself, she realized- started disappearing as well.

One by one, scenes of the her and her closest friends flashed all around her. First, it was Rikki. What was she doing? Oh… she was crying. She was crying in a bathroom. What did she have? Was she… breaking a razor?

The horrible feelings she felt would not let go of her.

Next, she saw Emma. That was Emma, wasn't it? But… she was in Cleo's house. Hugging Cleo's parents. Wearing Cleo's clothes. Slowly, Emma morphed into Cleo before her eyes…. Actually, it seemed she spent her whole life morphing, adjusting. A new scene took place. It was a graveyard. It said "R.I.P." but there was no name. No identity. But there were two necklaces, one with a white stone, and one with a blue stone.

Had she had the strength to wake up, she would have screamed.

Next she saw Lewis. He was- whoa. He was crying. She'd never seen him cry. He was writing too. She didn't know he wrote. It seemed like her vision was zooming in on Lewis's notebook. All she saw was her name, etched over and over again. Wait. There was something wrong. Lewis looked older.

It made sense when someone with maroon colored hair came into the room and slipped into the spot on the double bed next to him. Charlotte. Lewis. In how many years?

Lewis quickly shoved the notebook under the bed.

Cleo wanted to wake up now. But she didn't know how to make the images stop.

They kept coming, faster and faster. Ghosts of her future.

She was scared.

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that's it for now!

Maddie