Epilogue

I felt a dream accompany me when I fell asleep, at the end of the day that I lost count of the days I’ve been here. They were more like a coin flip this time. Where the nightmares followed me every night when I first woke up in the world, after meeting Nina, I started to have the dreams that she had. I would find myself walking alongside her, holding her hand, watching the world spin around us. It was strange. Sometimes, I would look like a zombie, and other times, I’d look like the me from my world. I’d feel comfortable when I looked like a normal girl, but I’d feel right when I looked like a zombie.

This dream was different. It started at my high school. And I was alone. I walked into the building and headed down the hall to the stairs that led to the second floor. I started to hesitate, as my body remembered the motions it did on that day that seemed so long ago. I looked down and saw myself as I was in my world. I stopped before reaching the stairs, not wanting to even look at them. But before I could turn around, I felt an arm on my shoulder. I saw Nina standing next to me, her smile welcoming me. Her hair was different. Instead of the many loose ponytails, it was straight and shiny. She held her bangs back with a hair band, letting her face shine in front of me. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t need to. She began walking and I followed her, walking up the stairs onto the second floor.

As we reached the last step, I saw the familiar scene as that day. My heart sank. I wanted to walk away. I wanted to run down and not look back. But Nina held on to me. She wasn’t going to let me go. Her face was serious, looking straight at the person who was continuing to instill fear in me. Dawn looked at us, not with hatred, not with anger, but with seriousness. Her hair was straight and black, and her makeup was as sharp as ever. I wasn’t afraid of this Dawn anymore. She could still be scary, but it was always the other Dawn that could hurt me a lot. I felt like I could reach this Dawn, even if it was going to take me a long time to do so.

Nina stared at Dawn, catching every little twitch she had. If she took a step forward, Nina would follow. If she raised her hand, Nina would raise hers. Dawn would look over to the door that led to the storage room, and Nina would put her arm around mine. We stood there, looking at each other, before Dawn turned to her left and walked away from us. She didn’t say anything or even look back. She just continued to walk, turning the corner and disappearing from our view. Nina turned to me and smiled. She held my hand and walked with me to one of the classrooms and watched as I walked in, staying outside and waving at me.

I woke up and felt something pulling me. I saw Nina on the floor next to me and smiled. It was something she started doing ever since we share how we felt about each other. It wasn’t every night, but there was always at least one. She’d leave her room to sleep alongside me, regardless of whether or not there was space for her. I always felt bad because she ended up sleeping on the floor, but every time I tried to ask when she’d do it, she would just smile and keep quiet. But I noticed that every time she did it, my dreams would transform into something nice, regardless of how they started.

Nina awoke soon after, stretching as she turned towards me. She greeted me with the smile that never grew old.

“The ground is so hard! Why do I have to deal with this pain?” she said, grimacing. I put my hand on her head and shook it around.

“Your choice,” I said with furrowed brows. “Perfect bed. Good sleep.”

“That’s true, but I like being out here with you.”

“Share when. Make room.”

“But that would ruin the fun!” I shook her head again, hearing a happy yelp from her. I smiled and made room for Nina to join me on the couch.

“Dreams?” I asked.

“It was really nice. You were with me as we were walking together, holding hands. I remember you laughing a lot, which made me happy. I want to remember what I said, so I can see it in real life too.”

“Not too hard. Your words. Your face. Your hand. Laughing, rolling over.” Nina laughed.

“And what about you?” she said as she took my hand, her smiling starting to fade. “Did you have a dream too?”

“Dream. Not bad,” I said as Nina’s smile started to return to her. “Saw Dawn, but saw you. Held me. Protected me. Dawn, did nothing. You watched. You stayed. You smiled.”

“That sounds a lot like me, always by your side. I don’t know if you’ve been noticing this, but you’ve been having those types of dreams more often now. And to me, that sounds like a good thing.”

“Good thing. Feel same. Dawn, scary. But Nina, strong. Nina, protects.” Nina couldn’t help but laugh after hearing that.

“What would we be if I couldn’t do something like that? But I think we’ve sat here long enough.” She stood up and walked toward her room. She left the door open, something she started to do some time ago. “Agnes is already outside waiting for us! She always says that we don’t move fast enough, and I’d like to not prove her right for once!” I laughed along with her, knowing that I was part of the problem. I stood up and stretched, walking around the room I was now so familiar with. I saw the blue book I held so close to me, sitting next to a pink one, as if they were holding hands. I watched Nina step out, with the same outfit that always made me feel safe, and followed her up the ladders, ready to step into the world that only looked the same, but never stayed the same.