Liora couldn’t make trouble anymore.
The college higher-ups canceled her one-year punishment and kicked her out for good. Maybe Zachary had something to do with it, but honestly, that didn’t matter anymore,
Now, everyone was buzzing about the rumor that Zachary wanted to
date me.
At graduation, I was swarmed.
“Roz, don’t forget us when you’re rich!”
“I heard that you can take your pick of any job in the companies the Ramirez family invested in. I truly envy you.”
“Why even bother working? Just be Mrs. Ramirez!”
“Who would’ve thought Zachary would fall for you when he came to back up his niece?”
I wasn’t in the mood for their chatter.
Holding that diploma felt like getting a prize after years of grinding.
My background wasn’t great, and I’d worked so hard to get this far, I couldn’t let romance distract me.
Now, I had one last thing to do.
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After the graduation ceremony, while everyone celebrated, I went looking for Zachary
He had an expensive necklace as a graduation gift for me. I glanced at it, then gently set it back down.
“You don’t like it?” he asked. “Tell me what you want instead. I’ll get
it.”
I didn’t reply. I just started undressing and said, “Zachary, do you want to sleep with me in real life?”
Last time, we only kissed in the car before Liora interrupted.
Since then, our shared dreams hadn’t stopped.
In those dreams, our bodies kept pulling us together, but we never brought it up in real life.
Zachary chuckled and looked down. “So you’re finally letting the dream happen for real?”
I gave a soft grunt and turned my head away.
Dreams couldn’t compare to reality. The touches were real, the heat was real-every sensation felt sharper and deeper.
As I wished, I heard Zachary’s voice. It was low and full of emotion.
When it was over, I curled up against him, staring blankly into the night.
He whispered all sorts of things in my ear.
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“I like you, Roz. Can I call you that?
“Can we meet again tomorrow?”
He became clingy and gentle-nothing like his usual distant self.
But all I could think was one thing. Maybe that was it. Maybe that would finally end those bizarre dreams.
I heard that if I lived out a dream in real life, it would break the loop.
I knew I could only truly move on once those dreams stopped for good.
Late into the night, while Zachary was fast asleep, my phone lit up with a message.
“Rosalyn, what time are you arriving tomorrow? I’ll be at the station to meet you.”
It was from Callum Jennings-the same senior Liora used to crush on.
We’d only reconnected not long before graduation. He’d come to campus for a recruitment event, representing his company.
Back then, Liora hadn’t been officially punished yet, and I was still unsure about my future.
That was when Callum called out, “Rosalyn?”
It took me a minute to even recognize him.
He used to be one of those popular types-handsome, well-liked, always on top of everything. But I never paid much attention to that
crowd.
The only reason I remembered him was because we once wore matching jackets by accident, and Liora flipped out
He smiled and said, “Even if you forgot me, I still remember you. You’re top of the class. You’ve always worked so hard. It honestly made me feel a little lazy.”
“You’re too modest, Callum.”
“Are you job hunting?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“Well, my company’s got an opening that fits your field. The pay is decent, though it’s not based in Los Angeles.”
That instantly caught my attention.
After adding Callum on WhatsApp, we only talked about job-related stuff-nothing more.
It wasn’t until Zachary made it clear he was pursuing me that people started paying attention. But when I reported Liora, barely anyone cared.
It made me wonder-was love supposed to come with such a huge gap in status?
To everyone else, winning his heart meant I’d already made it in life. Then why did I push myself so hard to get into college?
After giving it some serious thought, I took the job Callum offered.
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Still, before moving forward, I needed to end those dreams myself.
While Zachary was still sleeping, I slipped away and boarded the train heading north.
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