Chapter 8

Brooke's POV :

I lay in a bed of petals. Everything here is peaceful. I gracefully prance towards the cool, beautiful water. Dipping my toes in it, the temperature isn't as cold I thought it would be. It's actually perfect. So my clothes and all, I leap into the water. Nothing but my skin is wet, though. And I can breathe. I swim around looking for any signs of life or plants, finding nothing. But I feel like if I swim just a little more, something great will happen.

But I was wrong.

I feel seaweed creep behind me before it wraps it's slimy skin around my legs, arms, torso, and mouth. I try screaming, but I don't even hear a sound come out of my mouth. Then I see someone swim out in front of me. I notice its Brandon. I wave around my arms and legs, the seaweed getting tighter and pulling me more towards the ocean floor.

He can see me, I know it. Instead of helping me, he floats there and smirks, watching me struggle. I'm so tightly pressed against the sand I feel like my arms and legs are losing circulation. Just a second before I'm sucked under, the seaweed leaves my mouth and I try breathing, but my lungs are filled with saltwater.

I fall onto a hard, white floor with a thud. I groan. The whole room around me is white and has no doors or windows. Just a white chair and a TV standing on a table in the middle of the room.

"Sit." Someone commands. I stand up and wobbly walk to the chair. I'm strapped down to it. The TV turns on, saying, "How well do you know your husband?" It booms.

Then the things I see next horrify me. Brandon and some girl, probably on our wedding day. I know it's not me because her hair is lighter and she's about five inches taller. But I can't see her face.

"It's just an act, I promise. Once I get to her parents, all that inheritance will come to us then I'll divorce her and we can get together again. I love you."

"Love you too." Then they kiss. Then I see Brandon in his boss's office, asking for a vacation. His boss agrees and Brandon comes home to tell me about us going to Disney for his work.

The chair drops me into some hole and I scream until I feel my bed again. The window hanging over my bed shines the sun on my legs. Then I sit up. Brandon didn't care about me. And he still doesn't.

...

"Ready for our spa day?" I ask Ella as I take her hand and lead her out of her preschool. She nods and prances all around. I'm taking her to this spa to get her nails and toe nails painted.

"I want pink!" She announces after the employee asked which color she wants for her fingernails. The guy who is painting her nails is actually my good friend, Jake.

I worked here until Brandon told me to quit so I could take care of Ella. And Paige works here now so I have someone to talk to while she does my nails.

I explain my dream I had the night before to her.

"Wow. Do you really think that's all true? I mean, it did only come to you in a dream." She points out.

"Exactly. I read somewhere that you can only dream about things you've already seen. Like that girl in there, I haven't seen her yet so I can't place her face. And I didn't see what happened with Brandon and his boss or him and that girl. But you're right. Maybe this is just all in my head." She carefully glues down a white tip on each of my nails and holds it down for a few seconds. I look like I have half a foot of claws.

During Ella's pedicure, she wouldn't stop moving her feet because Jake was 'tickling' her. The water was splashing all over him, too.

"Ella," I demand.

"You stop that right now or I'll bring you home." She immediately stopped and showed off her finger nails.

"They're so beautiful. Can you tell Jake thank you?"

"Thank you, Jake!" She says and hugs him.

"Thanks." I call after Ella leaves. I ask Ella if she wants to meet a new friend on the way over to Nolan's house. She doesn't have a choice, I just want her to say yes.

"Ok!" She pipes up. "Joslin, this is Ella. Ella, this is Joslin." Nolan introduces. Joslin is a brunette little girl, slightly taller than Ella, with brown eyes and looks just like her dad.

"What do you like to do?" Joslin asks Ella.

"I can swim!" Ella squeals. "We have a pool; lets go swim!" Joslin says. Ella frowns. "But I didn't bring a swim suit."

"That's ok, I can let you use one of mine." Joslin pulls Ella upstairs to probably her bedroom. "Kids." I laugh. Joslin and Ella swim in their in-ground pool while Nolan and I talk about the stupidest stuff.