Chapter 19 A Dead Dream

The lunch was an event that kept getting pushed back, a fact that annoyed Celia a little bit. She and Roy managed to get their permission slips turned in without much of a problem, but Ms. Tish never seemed to be ready to fulfill what she had said she wanted to do for one reason or another. One time, she was too swamped with paperwork. One time, she had been selected to supervise the detention room when the usual person was absent. One time, she had family issues to deal with. And…okay, they were all understandable reasons, and Celia particularly empathized with that last one. But still, it took almost three weeks before they were able to attend the lunch. Well, dinner at this point; they were attending in the evening after school as opposed to the afternoon during school.

But, in a way, the fact that it kept getting postponed somehow made the fact that it was happening tonight all the more sweeter to Celia. As she brushed her hair in front of the mirror, she thought about how much fun this was going to be. She and Roy were going to hang out together in a nice restaurant, and the best part was they weren't going to spend a cent. That's right; Ms. Tish was paying for everything. From the drinks to the entree to the dessert….well, Celia didn't know yet if she was even going to get dessert, but the point still stood. A free dinner was the best kind of dinner.

"I hope you have fun tonight."

Celia smiled at her mom through the mirror. "I'm sure I will. Ms. Tish is really nice."

"Yeah. It's very nice that she offered this to you." Ruby came a little closer. "Definitely an improvement over your previous teachers, am I right?"

Celia laughed. "Definitely." Her face fell as a sour flavor filled her mouth. "Especially Iggy." She practically growled out that last word.

Ruby blinked. "You didn't like your classes with Iggy?"

"Oh no, I did like them overall." Celia sighed as she pushed one strand of hair out of her face. "But he's the whole reason I'm in the public school to begin with, remember?"

"Oh," Ruby said, a hesitant look on her face. "Yeah, that is true." She looked at her daughter through the mirror, looking like she was about to play devil's advocate. Which, unfortunately, was exactly what she did. "But you wouldn't be going out to this dinner if that hadn't happened. And you wouldn't have met Ms. Tish either."

Celia snorted. Yeah, those were great reasons to ignore all of the troubles she had while in the Mushroom Kingdom school system. Sure, the things her mother had pointed out to her were ultimately true. But….well, she still remembered that encounter with the human. She still could see the people staring at her in the halls; she was very acutely aware of the people whispering behind her back. Not pleasant feelings. At all.

Ruby seemed to notice Celia's drop in mood, as she shrunk back a little bit. For a little bit, neither one of them said a word. This was…actually more of a bad thing than anything else. Celia's mind kept wandering toward Iggy canceling the classes, as well as the end of year project that she had no idea how to tackle. Why oh why did those two things have to be based on the same theme? Celia didn't have dreams, never had dreams, and will never ever ever have dreams.

What was the point of dreams anyway? What was wrong with just coasting through life? Sure, it might be nice for your life to have direction. But what would happen when life throws you curve balls? What would happen when your plans crumble and slip through your fingers like sand? Could anything get rid of that bitter disappointment? Was there enough time to make up for all the wasted time you spent following a dead dream?

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

Part of Celia didn't want to ask this. She already knew the answer. But for whatever reason, her tongue asked the question anyway. "You wanted to be a doctor, right?"

Ruby smiled. Celia didn't know if this was just a combination of her imagination and current outlook on life, but she thought she saw some sadness mixed in with the expression.

"Yes. I did."

Celia pressed her lips together in a firm line. "I see." She sent the brush through her hair once again. "Must have been real disappointing that dream didn't come true."

Ruby chuckled. "A little, I suppose." She walked up and put her hands on Celia' shoulders. "But that disappointment is nothing next to the joy of being a mother."

Celia didn't know how to respond to that. On the one hand, her heart melted into a puddle. On the other, it also hardened, creating a shell for her to hide away from the horrible reality of her current situation.

"That's…that's good, I suppose." She set the brush back down on the dresser. "Dad more or less said the exact same thing."

Ruby nodded. "Well, being a parent is a very rewarding role to take on." She stroked Celia's shoulder. "We're okay that our old dreams didn't come true. Because right now, our current dream is to help you pursue yours."

Celia's heart cracked in half. "D…Dad said that too."

Ruby chortled, the sound unusually light and innocent for someone who had gone through as much grief as she had in life. "We're both really excited to watch you go on the journey of life. No matter what you intend to do with your life, we have no doubt that you're going to do amazing at it."

Celia hung her head. Even if what I decide to do is nothing? Both her being and body shook. Before she knew it, tears grew in her eyes.

Ruby blinked. "Celia, are you okay?"

The tears grew stronger, culminating into a sob. Celia wiped her eyes, and before she knew it, her tongue was pouring out all the secrets and feelings she wanted so desperately to keep inside.

"You two are wasting your time! I don't…I don't know what I want to do with my life. I don't have any plans or dreams or any of that other nonsense. And…I don't know if I want them! You…you and Dad keep saying you want to support me and my dreams. Iggy even canceled the classes to ensure that I find out what they are! But…but…" she couldn't even say anymore. She buried her face in her hands, wanting to disappear now more than ever.

"Oh, baby." Ruby wrapped her arms around Celia. "It's okay, sweetheart." She stroked her recently brushed hair. "It's…" She very clearly hesitated over what to say next. "If you don't have a dream right now, that's fine. But…" she swallowed a lump. "But that won't stop me and your dad from supporting you."

Celia sniffled. "You're wasting your time, if that's the case."

"No," Ruby said, her voice stern. "Don't you dare say that, young lady. You're our daughter, and we love you. We aren't going to stop doing what we're doing." She held on tighter. "It's not a waste of time, Celia. Trust me, it isn't a waste of time."

Celia stopped crying. This…this felt wrong somehow. She still felt as if she was the biggest disappointment this side of Sarasaland. And the fact that her parents were putting all their time and energy into being there for her…it honestly made her feel worse.

"I…" Celia pulled away from her mom. "I need to get going."

With that, she walked out of the room. She could feel her mom's eyes on her back, but she didn't dare look at her.

"You okay?"

Celia took a deep breath as she and Roy made their way to the restaurant in Roy's Koopa Clown Car. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright, I just…" she let out a hollow chuckle. "Just not the biggest fan of heights."

Roy sent her a confused look. "Strange. You never had problems with that before." He turned around. "Celia, what's going…"

Crash!

Roy squeaked when the Koopa Clown Car collided with a tree. Thankfully, neither of them got hurt, but that didn't stop Roy from becoming frustrated. "Oh, dang it." He backed up and flew around it. "Gotta learn to keep my eyes on the road."

Celia snickered. "Yeah, I'm not entirely in the mood to get severely injured in a crash right now."

Roy smirked. "Me neither."

Fortunately for Celia, that little accident seemed to make Roy forget about the conversation they were having. This allowed her to draw back in her head. No, she wasn't thinking about the whole dream dilemma; she didn't want to burst into tears again. No, she thought about how this evening was going to go. Free food…oh boy oh boy, was there anything better than free food? That was one of the very few things that could always brighten Celia's mood.

Finally, they got to the restaurant. When they made their way in, they were greeted by Ms. Tish standing in the doorway.

"Hello, you two! So glad you could make it!"

Celia nodded, but her attention wasn't entirely on her teacher. Her gaze was more so directed at a human holding her hand. A very familiar human to boot. It took a minute or two before Celia realized that this was the little boy who appeared in the photo on Ms. Tish's desk.

Roy, unaware of Celia's curious recognition, smiled at the young, blonde human boy. "Hello. Who's this handsome fellow?"

The boy smiled as Ms. Tish laughed. Then, she said something that caught both Celia and Roy completely off guard.

"This is my Basil. My son."