Chapter 10

Chapter 9

Part 2: The Girl

The sun caressed Cammie's face and her eyes fluttered open. She had a moment of disorientation, a pattern that seemed to be repeating itself each and every day as each night's sleep was an attempt to erase the day before. But Cammie's memory always came trickling back: she realized where she was, who she was, and what another day meant.

The anxiety, her constant companion since her birthday, returned as promised. Cammie closed her eyes and practiced basic breathing exercises, attempting to calm her rapid heartbeat. The conversation she had had with Jess the night before, the drive, and the girl all spun around in her head like a hive of angry bees. Guilt sweapt through Cammie as she recalled how wreckless she had been the night before. She had allowed her emotions to consume her, to control her. Her momentary lapse in judgement had almost cost her her life and she vowed she would not allow her emotions to control her like that ever again.

The conversation with Jess replayed itself in her mind. The last four weeks of fooling Adam also wandered in. The constant buzzing in her mind was going to drive her mad.

Cammie shot out of bed, deciding to spend the last day of her break doing something for herself. The last four weeks she felt like she had been unable to make a single move that would make her happy and each action was execusted for someone else's benefit. Cammie grabbed a book that she had been dying to read for months and hopped on her bike, heading to her favorite coffee shop.

Cammie peddaled her bike through the busy streets of Los Angeles, taking more care to avoid oncoming traffic and vehicles. The Grind, Cammie's normal study cafe, was full of customers. Cammie cursed under her breathe when she stepped through the door and swept the room, realizing there were not available seats. The baristas noticed Cammie and gave her an apologetic shrug of their shoulders. Cammie was at the cafe studying so often, each barista knew her and knew her exact order of drinks depending on the length of her study session.

"Sorry, Cammie." One barista said, scribbling orders on the side of carboard cups. "You can try a coffee shop a few blocks down. It just opened up down here. I'll write down directions."

Cammie thanked the barista for his suggestion. She really hadn't bothered to make herself a home at any of the other local cafes; she was a creature of habit and a creature of comfort. Once she had discovered The Grind, her mind was made up and she had settled there. The coffee shop had not been this full in a while and today was especially surprising because term had not started, so it wasn't bloated with its usually students. In the event that it was full, she would grab a to-go cup and head back to her school's library to study. Unfortunately, that equation would not work for her today.

Cammie hopped on her bright red fixie—her third one this year. If there was one thing L.A. was good at it was making her bikes mysteriously vanish. A ten minute ride and a few left turns later and she pulled up to the suggested coffee shop. The entire cafe was walled off with glass. She could see inside and found that it, too, was rather busy for a newer shop. But she spotted a few available seats and decided that it would have to do.

Cammie locked her bike securely to the bike rack outside and pushed open the door. She stood in line, studying the menu, but quickly wondered why she even bothered—she knew she was going to get the same thing she always did: an almond milk latte with two pumps of vanilla.

A creature of habit.

She stepped up to the register and ordered the drink. While she waited she glanced around the room, taking in the customers and the decor. She waited by the drop off counter, looking at nothing in particular. There were a few photographs and paintings on the walls advertizing sale from some struggling artists trying to make a living off of an unreasonable career.

Cammie rolled her eyes, thinking of Jess, whom she still believed made a poor choice studying art. Cammie herself had wanted to be a painter, but she knew that the odds of her being a successful painter were just about as good as her growing a second head.

I am happy, she thought to herself. Happiness for her was in security and routine. She would get that with her path in life. Jess most certaintly would not.

"Cammie, I have an almond milk vanilla latte," a barista called out.

Cammie snapped out of her pessimistic thoughts and turned toward the counter. She reached for her latte and looked up to thank the barista.

Her heart stopped.

A freckled face. Long brown hair. Tattoos up and down her arms. Deep brown eyes framed by long lashes.

It was the girl from her Dream. She was here. She was real.

Recognition crossed the brunette's face, but before the barista could utter a word Cammie spun on her heels and bolted from the coffee shop, bumping into a person on the way out. Cammie's only mission now was to get away.

*

Virgo whistled to the tune of the soft music pouring from the speakers above the espresso machine. She reached for the next cup in her evergrowing line. She studied the code on the side and ground the beans for the drink. She bent down, grabbed the correct milk and poured it into the silver cup.

She crafted the drink with professional expertise. Virgo poured the milk into the cup, tilting the drink and moving her wrist to decorate the top of the latte with a small floral design. She carefully placed the cup on the pass-off counter, admiring her work. She called out the drink, breifly admiring the name scrawled across the cardboard. A slender-fingered hand decorated by sky blue nail polish and a silver ring reached across the bar to snatch the drink. Virgo looked at the hand. On the wrist, at the base of the thumb was a silver scar, about an inch long.

As if time slowed down, Virgo's eyes slowly followed the arm up the body, her heart jumping into her throat as it pounded, demanding to be let out. The room began to spin and everything behind this person seemed to vanish, as if the girl was all that she could see.

There was the mole, just above the left side of the girl's collarbone; the waving blonde hair trickling down her shoulders, and the striking blue eyes framed by dark brown eyebrows.

Virgo was paralyzed.

It was her. After all of these years, here she was, right in front of her. The girl stared back at Virgo, unable to move, as if the eye contact made between the two girls kept them both in place. Both of the girls' faces were adorned with expressions of shock, but for much different reasons.

Virgo's face broke out into utter elation, a smile spilling across her face. The girl was finally here!

As Virgo opened her mouth to speak, the girl suddenly turned on her heels and dashed out of the door, bumping into a few irritated patrons on her way.

The scene was so shocking, that Virgo found herself unable to react. She was completely baffled. What had just happened? Virgo was sure the girl had recongized her. Why was she running?

Virgo followed Cammie with her eyes and noticed she was headed for the bike rack. She was leaving! Why?

Virgo pushed behind her co-workers and through the line of customers to make it out of the coffee shop. She did not know what had happened, but her Soulmate had just walked in her coffee shop. Her Soulmate was right here. After three long years or wandering, of longing, of dreaming, this girl was finally here.

But she ran.

Virgo could not understand why the girl had rushed out, but she would be damned if she let the love of her life slip away. Not now, not after all this time.

Cammie's fingers were shaking as she fumbled with the lock. The adrenaline coursing through her body, instructing her to obey the "flight" instinct was completely unhelpful when unlocking a bike from a rack required steady hands.

She cursed loudly when, for the fourth time, she missed the keyhole of the U-lock.

"Hey!"

Cammie glanced over her shoulder and noticed the barista had followed her out. She cursed again, this time successfully pulling her lock apart. She tugged it out, yanked her bike from the rack, and hopped on, pedaling so fast she was sure her legs would quit at any moment.

Virgo was left standing in the wake of Cammie's escape, completely baffled and heartbroken. Dumbfounded, Virgo wandered back into the coffee shop.

What had just happened? Why had she darted away? Could she have confused the girl with her real Soulmate? Was that a mistake? Did that even happen? Were there mistakes?

"You okay?" A concerned coworker asked Virgo when she stepped behind the counter, noting the dazed look in the girl's eye.

"Yeah..."

Virgo glanced at the abandoned drink on the counter, the only proof that Virgo's Soulmate had ever existed. She read the name again.

Cammie.

*

Cammie peddled fast down the streets. Her legs burned, begging her to stop, but she would not allow her body any reprieve. She had spent the last five weeks convincing herself that the Dream was a fluke; that there was no way another woman was her Soulmate. So far, Cammie would have liked to believe that she was on the winning end of her battle with fate. Until today. Today that changed. Today she had seen the woman from her Dream. She was real. And she was here in L.A., working a few miles from where she lived.

She started to hyperventilate.

By meeting her, this girl became a reality and not just some figment of Cammie's imagination that manifest itself in her dreams. The initial panic that Cammie had felt from her Dream was nothing compared to what she felt now. Her heart raced, stomach twisted, and nausea swept through her. There wasn't any denying that this was reality now. She had the Dream and the girl had Dreamed of Cammie; there was no denying the recognition that had crossed both of their faces. The barista had instantly realized who Cammie was. And If she had Dreamed of Cammie, there was no way Adam could Dream of Cammie now, she had already been taken.

Cammie felt as if an invisible hand was slowly crushing her skull. Panic poured through her. It had been so easy to tell herself that all of this wasn't real, that it was a fluke, that there was no way any of this could happen. But she had seen the girl. And the girl had seen her. They both recognized each other instantly, she knew. The girl's face lit up. There was no hiding from this now.

She peddaled her bike faster and faster, escaping from the coffee shop, escaping from the city, escaping from her head.What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?

Once again, she found her body moving of its own accord.

*Cammie climbed up an empty lifeguard tower and stared out into the ocean. The sun was sinking below the horizon, coloring the world beautiful shades of purple and orange. The seagulls squacked and the waves lapped the shore in a rythmic hum.Cammie pulled her knees in close to her body and hugged herself close. She had been able, for the most part, to keep the floodgates of panic closed just enough that only a few leaks here and there had managed to trickle through. The torrent of emotions she held back, though great, had been blocked off. But now,with the knowledge that the girl was completely real, she felt powerless, like her arms were finally too tired from holding the door. The tears came again. She seemed to have as much control over her tears as she had control over her future.How could this happen?She wanted to disappear, to be anywhere but where she was, be anyone else.How could this happen?Maybe an eternity would pass and no one would look for her. No one would worry where she was and she could disappear, be someone else. Forget about everyone and everything and start over.How could she Dream of a woman?Sure, it was easy for Jess to blow everything off, throw a middle finger in the air and walk away from all expectations, all responsiblity. If anyone in this family should have Dreamed of a woman it should have been her! She would have been okay with it. Their parents had long ago stopped caring what Jess did. This would have just been one more nail in the coffin. But for Cammie to Dream of a woman? For Cammie to besmerch the family name? What would her parents think? What would they do?

Jess had advised Cammie to tell Adam the truth, to come clean and break everything off. Cammie fingered the hearts of the necklace that felt like a noose around her neck. She had accepted Adam's promise. How could she back out now? What would she even say to him?

Another wave of unbearable emotions crashed against Cammie like she was a small row boat in the middle of the ocean during a hurricane.

How could she fight this?

Cammie was shocked out of her dark thoughts by a hand grabbing her shoulder. She leapted from fright, her heart hammering even faster than before. Savannah stood before Cammie, her face colored with worry.

Without a word, Savannah swooped in and enveloped her friend in a hug.

"How did you find me?" Cammie croaked.

"You were supposed to be home today and I didn't know where you were. I called you and texted you and you didn't answer, so I looked up your location on your phone. I'm sorry, I was worried about you."

"Oh."

"You've been sitting here for a while," Savannah said. "And it's not exactly nice beach weather."

Cammie didn't reply.

"What's going on?" Savannah gently pulled her friend's face toward her and wiped away the smeared makeup and tears with the sleeve of her sweater.

Cammie was completely unsure of how she even planned to answer such a question. She hadn't figured out a response to that question quite yet. What was she supposed to tell someone? She's gay? Because that's not. She Dreamed of a girl? Sure, but what did that mean?

Cammie's words were caught in her throat, unable to even find the answer to such simple questions. Instead, she shook her head, gasping on breathes, trying to calm this anxiety swirling inside of her, mixing everything up and replacing truth and sense with lies and deciet.

"You know I'm always going to be here for you," Savannah whispered, a small voice of reason, of comfort. It had, however, the opposite effect.

It caused Cammie to crack, to break. All of the tape and jerryrigging she had used to tie herself up and seal the holes, to keep the breaks from completely falling apart, broke with Savannah here. What would Savannah think? Would she be repulsed? Would she not want to be friends anymore? She probably wouldn't want to hang out, be as close. Savannah probably thought Cammie was attracted to her and would try and do god knows what. What if Savannah wanted to move out?

For a while, the two girls sat in silence. Cammie looked everywhere but at her friend. Savannah gazed into the distanced, but kept a close eye on Cammie. She wanted to be ready to listen when Cammie was ready to speak. Cammie knew she would have to say something eventually, but she had no idea how to begin.

"Life sucks sometimes, doesn't it?" Savannah asked, staring out into the ocean.

Cammie hummed an agreement.

"But I think that everything usually works out in the end."

Cammie glanced at her friend.

Savannah grinned. "I know, what a cliche." She shrugged. "But I think it's true. We've got this far, haven't we? I mean, we survived high school and plenty of other things."

Cammie managed to release a small laugh. "I guess that's true."

"So whatever is going on now," Savannah began, looking at her friend and seeing the desparation in her eyes. "We'll figure it out just like we always have."

A moment of thought passsed between them, Cammie contemplating what to say, how to say it. Should she say it? Savannah waiting patiently, gazing at the blue waves washing over the sand. Cammie opened her mouth, stuttered, closed it, and bit her lip. Savannah noted the tears that began to prick the corners of her friend's eyes. Whatever it was that Cammie needed to talk about must have been heavy. Savannah could count the number of times she had seen Cammie cry on one hand.

"Take your time," Savannah gently encouraged.

Cammie began to shake her head as her lip trembled.

"I don't know what to do," she managed before bursting into tears. "I don't know what you'll say. I'm scared."

Savannah wrapped her arms around her friend and embraced her. "You don't have to know what to do all the time."

"Of course I do!" Cammie protested. "Knowing what to do next is—is—is"

"Is not as important as you think it is," Savannah finished for Cammie.

"You don't understand!"

"Cam, it's okay," Savannah cooed. "It's going to be okay. There's nothing that we can't fix together."

"I can't fix this!"

Savannah was at a loss for what to say; she had no idea what was going on, the war that Cammie was waging in her heart.

"I didn't think she was real; I didn't think it was real. But now it is and I don't know what to do!"

"Cam, who's real? Who are you talking about?"

Cammie was in hysterics now, she felt herself losing control again, losing her mind. Her emotions were rising like a tsunami started by a crack deep beneath the surface of the waves. Even with arms outstreched she could not stop the flood that was threatening to expel from her heart, through her mouth. The truth would come out, even though she tried to stop it. Even though she had wrestled with it for weeks, trying desparately to hide her secret, to control her situation and set it right without anyone knowing.

But now one person knew. Soon there would be two.

"My Dream," Cammie whispered.

"What about it?" Savannah asked softly.

"I didn't see Adam."

Savannah nodded, as if she had already known this.

"It's okay, Cam. It happens."

"I didn't see a man."

"What do you mean?"

"I Dreamed of a girl."

Finally, she had said it. She had said it out loud, admitted it, now for the second time.

She dared to look at her friend, to read her reaction. Jess had been shocked, caught open mouthed. How would Savannah react? Her friend seemed puzzled, her eyebrows knitting together in an attempt to comprehend what her friend had just said.

A girl. Cammie's Soulmate was a girl. Relief sweapt through Savannah. She had never seen her friend so distressed and feared she would be unable to help her. But this? This would be easy, a simple fix. This was something Savannah could help her friend with. For so long, Cammie had kept her demons close to her chest, like she was trying to bluff her way through a game of poker with life itself.

Savannah had learend to read her friend better than she knew, but so often that didn't help Savannah with Cammie's endevors. All Savannah found she could do was distract Cammie from her life as much as possible. And that had been Savannah's goal for so long—to bring Cammie back to reality, to pull her from her own head, and bring to the present. To the here and now, not the future and surely not in the minds of others.

"So what's the problem?" Savannah asked.

Cammie blinked at her friend's response. Savannah had asked this question so simply that Cammie truly believed that her Dreaming of another—a woman no less—would still results in a fairytale ending, that it truely was just another Dream, like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"The problem?" Cammie repeated. "The problem is that I'm not gay. The problem is that I can't break up with Adam for a girl. The problem is that I can't bring a girl home to my mom and dad and expect them to be okay with any of this!" Cammie's voice was rising higher and higher with the hysterics. "Can you imagine what people would say? What people would think? I can't be with a girl!"

Savannah sat silent and allowed her friend the space to vent, to scream out all of the things she had been thinking for weeks but had been unable to say. All of these things that she felt, all of the fears, the anger, the sadness, the lonliness. And Cammie cried through her monologue, finally saying everything she had wanted to say since the moment she had opened her eyes on December 15th.

"Imagine what people will think. . . Just imagine what everyone will think. And what they'll say." Cammie finally finished, losing steam, her voice failing from exhaustion.

With sympathetic eyes, Savannah nodded. "Cammie," the girl would not look at her. "Camille." Eye contact. "It is okay. It's okay to be attracted to another girl."

"But I'm not! I'm not gay!"

There it was. The word that had never crossed Cammie's mind until now. Before this moment, the Dream had been muddling up everything and confusing her. It had sent her into a spiral of anxiety. She had never been able to attach words or meaning to her Dream until now, only panic. But now, she realized, she had words.

Gay.

Lesbian.

Homosexual, the dirty word used in church.

The slurs ran across her mind too, when she briefly imagined telling people about her Dream.

Her family would be attacked; her family would probably attack her. People would ask what had made her gay. What event in her life turned her? There would be accusations, fingers pointed, hushed voices as she walked by, pointed glares, and outright stares. Her mother would be digusted. Her father, disappointed. How would Annabelle look at her? How would she explain to them that Adam wasn't her Soulmate. How would she explain to Adam that he wasn't her Soulmate, it was actually a she.

Savannah, unsure of how to proceed from Cammie's denial of herself, allowed the girl to sit in silence. The past whipped through Savannah's mind, from the first time seeing Adam, to Cammie and Adam's first date. Cammie agreeing to date Adam, and finally them being together for four years. The four years played behind Savannah's eyes like a movie, watching them togther—tolerating them together. Savnnah knew that Adam made Cammie happy. Well, Adam made Cammie content, comfortable. The longer the two were together, the more Savannah saw how incompatible they were and the more she hoped that on Cammie's birthday she wouldn't see Adam and would finally be able to move on. None of Savannah's subtle hints or comments over the years had disuaded Cammie from Adam; once Cammie became comfortable it was impossible to get her to accept change. Unfortunately Adam was the biggest change of her life.

"So what do you want to do?" Savannah asked.

Cammie shrugged her shoulders. A feeling of hopelessness had settled on her shoulders with the intent of living there until forcefull evicted.

"What are you going to do when he has his Dream?"

Cammie shrugged again.

"Maybe he'll choose me," Cammie finally whispered. "I read online that some people don't have to follow their Dreams. So if I choose him, maybe he'll choose me too."

To this Savannah had no response. She didn't really think that Cammie could choose Adam and he could choose her. It was the Dream, after all. She had heard about—even studied—those outliars who didn't choose their Soulmates. They decided to take fate into their own hands and be with whomever they wanted. They usually were never that happy, always feeling like something was missing. That was what the research said, anyway.

Savannah didn't feel like this was the right time to say so.

"Cam, I know that you love Adam, but he's just not the right person for you. And that sucks and I'm sorry. But your Dream just confirmed he's not your Soulmate. He'll understand though; the breakup will suck, but you'll get through it."

Cammie revealed the silver necklace and explained to Savannah that Adam had bought this months in advance.

"If he bought this for me before my Dream, then he's sure of me. And I'm sure of him."

This was going to be much more difficult than Savannah thought. She would really have to show Cammie that the two weren't good for each other. Savannah decided to switch tactics.

"It's okay, I know you probably panicked. You've been with him for almost four years now, and he's comfortable. It makes sense that this is hard for you. But we'll get through it, okay?"

"Savannah, you don't understand!" There was urgency in Cammie's voice now, her eyes pleading. "I can't be with a woman. There must have been some sort of mistake. I'm supposed to be with Adam. Or, if not Adam, at least a man. I'm not gay!""Cam, there's nothing wrong with being gay.""I'm not a lesbian though! I don't like women!"Never one for tact or grace, Savannah almost opened her mouth to her explanation of sexuality, especially the bit about letting Cammie know being attracted to women—at least in theory—did not make her a lesbian. In a rare moment, however, she thought she should save that for another time and closed her mouth."Cam, look. I don't know what's going on here, but maybe the Dream is wrong. Maybe you're not gay. I don't know. I don't really know how all of this works." Savannah omitted the bit about how she had never heard that a Dream was wrong—ever. Cammie did not need to hear that at this moment. "All I know is that that girl that you saw might be your Soulmate. And maybe Adam isn't.""Adam is my Soulmate."

"It's not fair to Adam to lie to him like this."

Cammie grew angry. "You're in no position to tell me what I should or should not do."

"Cam, listen. If you're not Adam's Soulmate it's not fair to him to try and keep him from his Soulmate."

"Well he could choose me!"

"Yes," Savannah admitted. "He could."

They stared at one another, Cammie feeling her temper throttling around the breaking point.

"All I'm trying to say is that you should be open to this girl when she comes around. Because you never know what might happen."

"I already saw her and nothing happened—and nothing will happen."

Savannah's eyes buldged at this information. "Wait—what? You met her already?

Cammie nodded.

"Where? How? When? What happened?" The questions tumbled out of Savannah's mouth faster than Cammie could answer.

Cammie told her the story of the morning, the story that had kicked Cammie all the way back to the starting point since her Dream. She ended her story with another plea, almost begging Savannah to agree with her.

"Savannah," Cammie began, the desparation clear in her voice. "I can't be with a woman. I can't." Cammie was begging her to understand; begging her to realize that accepting her Dream—her destiny, as so many had suggested—was simply not possible for her. It could not be done.

Savannah frowned her friend, trying to understand.

"And why can't you?" she asked.

"I've already told you!"

"Tell me again."

"Think about what everyone would say . . . What my mother would say."

Savannah placed a comforting hand over Cammie's.

"Who cares what they think?"

"I do."

"Do you think they would want you to be happy?"

Cammie wanted to immediately answer yes. But she hesistated. She thought about Jess and her endevour to find happiness for herself in art, in Seattle. Her parents had disapproved and continued to tell her so. Cammie had taken every single suggestion her parents had ever given her. And they seemed happy with her.

She thought back to high school, when one day after finishing a painting, she presented it to her mother. Her mother loved the painting and wanted to hang it in the house. With this encouragement, Cammie lightly suggested that she might want to study painting in college. Maybe in New York.

Her mouth smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. Elizabeth had very carefully, but firmly, explained how that would be a complete waste of money and the chances of her being successful enough to make a living was too slim to dedicate time and money to it. She should do something more sensible, like be a lawyer like her father, as they had discussed countless times before. That made much more sense. Cammie was more apt to find a reliable husband and if she attended a nice school that sent their kids there from nice families.

Cammie had left feeling discouraged.

"Yes," Cammie said, replying to Savannah's question without much conviction.

Savannah said nothing. She knew the Drivers. She knew their outrageous expectations for their daughter. And though Cammie had met every single one with flying colors, Savannah, for once, wished Cammie would follow her heart and do what would make her happy, not them, not Adam, not even Savannah herself.

"I'm scared," Cammie admitted in a barely audible whisper.

"We can't help who we fall in love with."

Cammie looked at Savannah. Who said anything about love? She had only seen this girl once—well twice if you counted the Dream. That didn't seem like enough time to love someone. Adam, though, she could love. That was four years of dedication. This was one month. There was no way she would love that girl over Adam, over her family, over her image.

"I love Adam."

"But can Adam ever love you the way that she can?"

The words Savannah spoke were like the shot of a rifle, hitting the target square in the chest—bullseye. Savannah's gentle words rippled through Cammie, knocking her out of her own head. Cammie had had this thought rush through her mind over the weekends. It was a terrible voice, taunting her decision to choose Adam.If she hadn't Dreamed of Adam, was there any hope at all for their relationship? The thought slipped in between the cracks of the walls Cammie had hastily erected to defend herself from the unpredictable Dream. As the silence washed over them, it was as if second that passed was slowly hammering into the wall, splitting it, cracking it, and now this thought was able to slip in.Cammie shook her head, refusing to engange with this possibility and attempted to banished the thought. She had no idea who this woman was—how could she know if the Dream girl would treat her better than Adam, would be a better fit with her than Adam? There were so many factors working against this girl that when calculating the total, Adam still came out on top. The biggest point going for Adam was that he was the appropriate gender.

"Of course he can," Cammie said. "I know he loves me."

"But how do you know how she loves you?" Savannah countered, refusing to back down.

Cammie scowled, wanting to shoot back with some smart remark; yet, the single thought continually echoed in her head: how could Adam love her the way she was meant to be loved if she hadn't Dreamed of him?

Then came the doubts, all the moments in Cammie and Adam's relationship that had made her doubt. She had banked on the Dream to fix everything—but it didn't; it made things much worse.The intial thought, a mere trickle, suddenly exposed her to a floodgate of unwanted thoughts.

Would she love me more than he ever could? And what about me? Could I ever love Adam the way another woman could? If I'm not his Soulmate, is it selfish to hang on to him? What if this Dream was wrong, though? What if Adam is my Soulmate? Should I wait for him to have his Dream and confirm?

"Savannah... I'm not gay. I don't think of women that way. I don't know why I Dreamed of her." Cammie said this slowly, calculating her every word. If she was going to convince herself and Adam that they were bound to one another, that no mere Dream could seperate their hearts and souls, then she would have to convince everyone else too, for starters. How could she expect Adam to believe her if no one else did?

"I don't know why you Dreamed of her either. But as hard as this is, I don't think you should count her out just yet. We can figure this out."

Cammie shook her head. "There's no 'figuring it out.' There's nothing to figure out. I want to be with Adam. It was great to get this thing off of my chest. I didn't tell you or Jess to be cheered on to find the mystery girl. I want to pursue Adam; I don't care what a damn Dream says. All I care about is my stupid happily ever after with Adam."

Savannah listened patiently, taking in her friends words and turning them over in her head, as if she was trying to gleen a certain taste from a particularly bland piece of candy. It was difficult to detect, but she felt she was finally identifying it. A thoughtful moment of silence passed as Savannah pondered over the situtation and Cammie waited expectantly.All of her life, Cammie had been a do-er and a problem solver. She hit any obstacle headon at full speed; there was not a thing she hadn't accomplished so far in her life. And for the first time in that life, she felt lost, no direction, no answers, no idea. She, for the first time, had to look to someone else to help her, to advise her. Her best friend was the best option for her at this moment and her only qualification that she was a few months older. It didn't seem like the appropriate reason to entrust someone with your future, but at the moment, it was all Cammie had.

"Let's take it one day at a time," Savannah finally said, cutting through Cammie's racing mind.

This was not what Cammie wanted to hear.

"Take it one day at a time? What does that even mean?"

Savannah offered a small smile at her friend's impatience. If there was a goal, Cammie would begin to tackle it immediately. Cammie had even started to study for her LSAT the moment she started college, working thorugh a few pages a week, aruging that she probably should have started studying in high school.With another encouraging squeeze, Savannah answered her friend.

"It means that we have absolutely no control over this situtation and we are going to have to react to things day-by-day."

Cammie frowned. She did not like this answer.

"I don't know if you can choose your Soulmate," Savannah began, staring off over the horizon as the sun sank after its final encore for the day. "I don't know if the Dream is wrong. But I do know that if anyone can change their fate, it's you, Cammie. And if you want to be with Adam, then be with Adam. I'm here to support you."

Cammie smiled at her friend's reassurance. If Savannah believed that she could do it, then that was all she needed: a small push to tell her that she wasn't crazy for wanting to stay with Adam, for wanting to deny her Dream. It just wasn't her. A woman? Why in the world would she ever Dream of someone like that.

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