Grey looked back at me, shaking his head, and muttered, "What the hell is she doing here?" He glared at her, and she frowned.
"Let's go," he said, grabbing my hand. "We're gonna leave before this turns into something." We skated against traffic and exited onto the main floor.
"Grey," Sasha called in a sing-song voice. His back tensed up, and he faced her while pushing me behind him.
"What do you want, Sasha?" he asked as politely as possible.
"I can't say hi to my friends?" she asked and smiled a bright, fake smile. "How are you doing, Mutey?"
"Why are you still calling her that?" he asked.
"It's my cute nickname for her," she said casually.
"Well, she doesn't like it. So knock it off."
She rolled her eyes. "So I see you two are buddy-buddy now." My heart slammed in my chest as she glared at me. Why the heck did she hate me so much? I did nothing to her. And she wasn't even with him anymore. Was I? Technically? I didn't even know at this point.
I was still scared that this would turn on me somehow, and Grey would laugh in my face and tease me alongside Sasha.
But he didn't. He remained between Sasha and me as she continued to speak. "Are you guys dating?"
"That's none of your business."
She scoffed. "Hazel, just to warn you, honey, he doesn't like you. He wants to sleep with you and then try to come crawling back. As he always does."
"That's rich coming from the cheater," he said cooly as she gave him a perfect smile. "I never did anything when you slept around with Evan." He leaned in closer, never losing his balance. "I should've, though. You most definitely deserved it."
Her eyes flashed with hurt. "This is the type of guy you want to get with? Someone who thinks cheating is acceptable to get back at someone else?"
"No one thinks it's acceptable," Grey said. "You, for who you are and how you treat people, would deserve it."
"You wanted to get with Hazel all this time. Did you not? So who's really the cheater here?"
"You," Grey said through grit teeth. "When I saw how Evan reacted to the lie you told me to get back with me, I knew I'd messed up. But because I didn't want to hurt you, I stayed. And still, what did you do? Evan got in your pants again."
"That's because Evan treats me in a way you never will. He'll never stay with me while wanting another girl."
"He used Hazel to get to you. Do you think you're special to him? You're both not above cheating. It's only a matter of time that you'll both get what's coming."
"Nobody cares about Mutey. She was just useful to use."
"What's your obsession, Sasha?" Grey asked calmly. "You're like a dog with a bone. You don't know how to let go. Get over yourself and leave us alone."
"Get over myself?" she asked, her voice shrill.
We didn't see Evan approach, but he stood behind Sasha and put his arm on her shoulder. "Sasha, babe, come on." He looked between Grey and me apologetically. "Let's have fun."
"I would've had fun if it weren't for Grey and his Mute bi—"
"Sasha," Evan snapped. "Let's go."
He was quickly able to yank her away from us as she protested angrily. "Who's side are you on, anyway?!"
The tension left Grey's body, and he slowly turned to face me. I hadn't even realized there were tears in my eyes flowing down my cheeks until he wiped them away. "Don't let her get to you," he said and kissed my forehead. "She's not worth it. She wants to get under your skin."
"I don't get why she hates me so much," I signed. "I didn't do anything to her."
"She's envious. Don't pay it any mind."
I grabbed his hands and wrapped them around my waist, pressing my head into his chest. He leaned his head on top of mine. We breathed together there, and I felt the anxiety washing out. He was with me now. Not her. He was finally on my side. He was finally holding me and finally kissing me. It was no longer a dream but an actual reality.
"I guess this is a bad time to ask if you'd wanna date," he said. "But you already know I like you, Hazel. And I told you in our dream that I would ask you. So can we make this official?"
I pulled away, and I nodded with a bright smile. Grey grinned, and his lips met mine softly. He repeatedly rubbed his nose against mine, causing me to smile and squeeze him. He chuckled.
"You're so cute," he said. I kissed him in response.
We eventually let go of each other and traded our skates for our shoes again. We hardly got to have fun before Sasha ruined it, but I got something good out of it. Grey made me feel a bit better about where we stood, especially now that we were official. I looked at him appreciatively in the car as he drove us to get some food. He looked back at me with a slight smile on his face.
"I know I'm handsome, but dang, I guess I'm more handsome than I knew," he said. "Soak it all in, Hazel."
I laughed at his playful arrogance and poked his leg.
After eating food and kissing me on a park bench, Grey finally decided to get me home. He pulled up to my house, and I gave him a quick peck before getting out of the car.
"See you later," he said with a wink. I smiled knowingly.
Grey pulled away from my house once I unlocked my door and made it safely inside. My mom was in the living room with Timmy curled in a ball beside her on the couch.
"How'd your date go?" she asked.
"It was nice," I signed. "We skated a bit, got food, and then sat in the park."
"So, tell me about this boy! I wanna know all about him."
I couldn't tell her much. Not without it blending into what I know about from our dreams. The truth was, I knew Grey more from being in our dreams together than in the real world. That was why we were getting to know each other now.
"He's sweet," I signed. "He was rough around the edges when I first met him, but he softened up after a while. I developed feelings for him, and he felt the same way. I don't know, mom." I was getting shy. "I just know I like him a lot."
"I can see that," she said. "My only rule is no sleeping with him. Got it? I feel like I'm letting you get away with murder at this point."
"I don't want to sleep with him, mom," I signed, horrified.
"Maybe not yet," she said and left it at that. "Wanna watch a movie?"
"Sure," I signed and plopped down. "What movie?"
"Jurassic Park?"
I nodded. It was one of my favorites. I sat close beside her and leaned my head into her shoulder. She kissed the top of my head as she pressed play.
Sleep with Grey? I knew we felt a lot for each other, but to do that when we just started dating? Granted, I know plenty of people do that all the time. I, however, never had that desire. Not that I was ignoring my body's needs and blind to physical reactions, as I was not, but I never thought of going that far with anybody.
I pushed images of this away as my eyes grew heavier. The last thing I remembered was hearing the T-Rex roar as it escaped the electric fence in the movie.