Wisconsin was an unusual name. It was for a state, not a girl. She stood out. Like a sore thumb. The shortest girl in the grade. And she was popular in a way. For her name.
Everyone knew her as "the short girl" or they'd say "look it's that state g...
"Wisconsin wake up, you better not be dead. I've legit been standing here for two minutes now." Drew says as he tries to poke me awake. I shoo his annoying finger away from me. "God, Im up"
He gives me a smile and walks out of me room. "You have a visitor." I groan. Why is Tessa here this early. She normally will pick me up or River will. I pull my hair up into a messy bun, "Hey Peaches."
My eyes go wide and I look up at him. His smirk very prominent. "Don't look at me! I look like trash when I wake up."
River is in my room. My dad is in New York. My mom is at work. Adam is living with Bianca in the house they just bought. Drew and I are alone with River.
"What are you doing here?" I ask him when he plops down onto my bed. He leans up on his elbow and shows off his perfect smile.
"What? You want to go to school?" he looks at me with a playful smile. He gets up and opens my curtains, "Are you fucking Dracula, cause it's so dark in here?"
I pretend to laugh then I chuck a pillow at him. Drew waltz's in the room and I look at him with a strange look. This boy, I swear. "Don't get mad at me..."
"What did you do?" I ask Drew with now a serious look. He shifts from foot to foot and it worries me.
"Well, I took your phone and texted River that you weren't feeling well today so he could watch you when I went to work." he rambles and I sigh. That's it? Like that's not even bad.
I look at River who gives me a wink.
••
"So babe, what shall we do today?" River asks me. I groan and cover my head with my blanket. "I'm tired, I want to sleep"
I peek out from under the covers and watch River take off his shoes, then his hoodie and joggers. He picks up my comforter and slides underneath it. "What are you doing?" I ask him, moving farther to the other side of the bed.
"Sleeping with you, duh." he replies as if it's obvious. I turn away from him and move around to get comfortable. "Fine, just stay on your side of the bed."
"We've slept together before, you couldn't keep your hands to yourself, good luck with that Peaches." River chuckles.
••
I wake up and look at my clock, 10:30, I slept for four hours. I roll over and notice River is gone. Did he leave me once Drew left? I wouldn't be surprised if he did to be honest.
I pick up my phone and notice a text from Drew.
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That little shit. Of course he'd send me this. I don't even know if he likes River or what's he thinks about him. I turn back over so I'm not facing the sun. I throw my blanket back over my head.
Do you ever have one of those days where all you want to do is sleep because you're feeling like absolute shit? Because that's me at the moment. I don't want to get up to see if River's still here, I don't want to get up to go get food or water.
I yawn and close my eyes, wanting sleep to engulf me.
••
Fear. Pain. Anxiety. Drowning. Death.
My eyes snap open and shoot up from my bed. Screams come from a girl, they fill my ears. I feel blind as I search around for something, anything.
My door flies open and I realize the scream belongs to me. I feel my body violently shaking and my tears sting my cheeks as they continue to flow.
River's arms scoop me up and he cradles me to his chest. "Shhh you're okay, Im here. I got you." I cry into his chest, his hand stroking my hair, calming me down.
After a couple minutes of me sobbing, and making a total fool out of myself, I calm down. I continue to sit on River's lap, his strong arms protectively wrapped around my small body. My hand rests on his chest, his defined body underneath my touch.
"You okay, babe?" River softly whispers, his thumb stroking my tears off my cheeks. I sniffle and nod slowly, not even sure myself. I breathe in deeply, the exhale loudly.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asks lightly. This time I shake my head. The dream terrifying me more and more. Not understanding what it means. Being completely clueless.
The hand splashed violently in the water, going under, deeper, not coming up again.
