Chapter 1
There was this scheming girl trying to make moves on my boyfriend.
She staged a whole damsel-in-distress act, hoping Ryan would play the hero and rescue her.
But while the other guys rushed into the alley, Ryan just stood there, holding my hand, not moving an inch.
"Aren't you going to help?" I asked, my voice shaky with nerves and confusion.
I glanced at Ryan Blackwood, feeling anxious and a little lost.
Last night in my dream, he was the first to charge in.
But now, he just shook his head, looking at the dark alley.
His face was so calm, it was borderline indifferent.
"No," he replied.
I stared at him, my mind a mess.
It was like my dream was coming true right before my eyes, but Ryan was acting nothing like he did in my dream.
Before I could say anything else, I saw the two thugs ditch the girl and storm off into the alley, cursing as they went.
Ryan's friends and the girl walked out of the alley together.
Under the dim streetlight, I finally got a good look at her face.
For a split second, I was completely stunned.
She looked exactly like the scheming girl from my dream.
Tears were streaming down her delicate face as she looked at Ryan.
"Ryan, thank you for having them come to my rescue," she said, her voice trembling enough to sound pitiful.
Ryan tightened his grip on my hand and shot her a cold, indifferent glance.
"Wasn't me. You should thank someone else," he replied flatly.
The girl's face went stiff, like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
When she saw Ryan and me holding hands, she frowned a little.
Then she turned to the others and thanked them.
They shrugged it off, not really caring.
"No big deal, just doing what anyone would do," one of them said.
"Yeah, those two jerks? I'd beat them up every time I see them," another chimed in.
"Hey, you're the new art student, right? I think I saw you around when I was with Emily Farley," Lucas said.
Lucas Carrell is one of Ryan's buddies, and Emily's his girlfriend.
The girl wiped away her tears, her eyes still red, and managed a small smile for Lucas.
"Yeah, that's me. Hi, Lucas. I'm Ava Sinclair," she said.
My heart skipped a beat.
Even her name was exactly like the one in my dream.
Could this really be a coincidence?
Was my dream really a dream, or is something strange going on?
Bits and pieces from my dream kept flashing through my mind, and I couldn't help but keep staring at Ava.
The wind messed up her hair, and she tucked a strand behind her ear before speaking again.
Ava said, "Good thing you guys were there to help me out.
"Let's swap numbers. Dinner's on me next time," she added.
As I expected.
Everything was playing out like in my dream.
But there were some differences.
In my dream, Ava only added Ryan on Snapchat.
Right now, I watched as she unlocked her phone and pulled up her Snapcode.
She hesitated for a moment in front of Ryan before offering her phone.
But then she quickly moved on, handing it to Lucas instead.
Lucas was grinning from ear to ear as he scanned her Snapcode and sent her a friend request.
He waved his phone at Ava. "Don't forget to accept, Ava."
Ava nodded and passed her phone around to the other guys.
Once everyone had added her, she finally looked up at Ryan.
She put on a calm front as she spoke.
"Ryan, could you add me too?" she asked.
My heart started pounding.
In my dream, after they added each other on Snapchat, Ava began her pursuit of Ryan.
At first, Ryan rejected her advances politely, but soon he grew annoyed and eventually ignored her.
Then, on our wedding day, Ava showed up to crash our ceremony.
She claimed she'd die without Ryan.
In the end, Ryan allowed her to take his hand, and in front of everyone, they ran out of the wedding together.
*****
The wind was getting stronger.
I held my breath, waiting for Ryan's answer.
There was a brief pause.
Ryan raised our joined hands, his voice icy cold.
"Seriously? You're asking to add me right in front of my girlfriend?" Ryan asked.
Ava's smile froze on her face.
She clearly hadn't expected Ryan to be so straightforward, not caring about her feelings at all.
She bit her lip in embarrassment, her phone trembling in her hand, but she didn't put it down.
"Ryan, I didn't mean anything by it. I just," Ava started.
Ava didn't finish her sentence.
Ryan's gaze brushed past her, cold and indifferent.
He turned to me, his expression softening.
"Are you cold?" he asked.
As he spoke, he reached out and gently fixed my scarf for me.
I shook my head and met his gaze.
He was right there, inches away, but somehow it felt like he was a million miles from me.
After fixing my scarf, Ryan gently tousled my hair and said softly,
"We've been here for a while. You must be hungry. Let's go get something to eat," he said.
His steady hand took mine, and I instinctively followed him as he led the way.
For a moment, I couldn't tell if I was still dreaming or if this was real life.
We'd only taken a couple steps when Ryan stopped.
He didn't even bother turning around, tilted his head and called over to Lucas and the gang.
"You guys coming or what?" he asked.
That finally snapped everyone out of it, and they all hurried to catch up.
Only Ava was left standing there.
Even after we'd walked pretty far, I could still feel someone's eyes burning into my back.
I turned around and met Ava's gaze.
She was staring at me with a look full of resentment, frustration, and anger.
But in the blink of an eye, that expression was gone.
Ava smiled at me.
Looking at her beautiful, flawless face, I started to wonder if I'd misread that look.