Stars Dancing [Dreams-To-Lovers Romance]

"Oh, thank heaven for air conditioning." It was too hot by the pool, and I didn't want to melt so I'd taken refuge in my room of the Seaside Resort where I was met by a blast of cool refreshment.

A shower and fresh clothes, and I was ready to settle down for the afternoon. No, scratch that, sweating by the pool had made me hungry.

Rhoda'd gone for a walk on the beach, and I decided to not hold off on dinner. Ever since we'd enjoyed the lounge food two nights before, I'd been craving that seafood polenta again, so I ordered delivery and curled on the sofa with my pad.

I'd intended to get back to writing my new book, but my finger hovered over the Discord app. I missed those fuckers in Special Streaks, but they weren't my only friends, were they?

No, my adventures with Discord hadn't even started with them. It'd begun with Zoe and a book called Flopper, and a character that felt like some space opera version of me: chaotic and riddled with bad decisions, but trying to put myself back together again.

There wouldn't be money in my bank account, giving me flexibility when I got fired from the world's worst nannying job. The poetry contest on Purple Road wouldn't have appealed to me in the slightest without his encouragement, and good lord, what would life be without HC Maron and his jolly wife aiding me through the darkness of the past week?

I didn't want to think about it, and that made me want to hug Zoe and all the crazies on her server even more. Maybe NightLover wasn't just some broken piece of code throwing out ridiculous screeches, and BlackPesc, with all the feckin' fecks! God! I LOL'd just thinking about that one.

And what about GayPirate's past lives? And was DeBagg a victim or a pirate? Was Minus Ater a real fiction by a talented author, or a fake? All those people were so full of life and character; was a computer program really making all of them up?

God, I hoped not. I wanted those voices to be real, and I wanted them to know. I opened the app and tapped Zoe's server.

#ayela's-stage:

Ayela: I've had some rough days. Got laid off. Ouch.

gif of shame

It's royally embarrassing. Made some bad decisions. Or one. A beast of a woman who's not worth the dog shit you scraped off your shoe last week. But I figured out that there's something burning in me, and that passion, crazy as it is sometimes, is a fury that can fuel my destruction or can combust and send me into orbit.

I'm gonna fan the flame and figure out what I want from life. Something's gonna try to stop me; it always does, and I'll get distracted. I'll probably lose again and do stupid shit I regret. But I'm gonna keep trying.

Also, I met someone, and I think she might be worth trying for.

Guess I didn't have anything funny to say tonight, gang. It got real. Thanks for being there when I couldn't figure out my way forward.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Don't worry, Zoe, my eyes have strayed, but I'll always be your Comment Goddess, no matter who holds my heart."

I opened up my file for Discordant and started reading through the first five chapters again, getting re-oriented to the story. Yes, it was autobiographical, and I'd lived it, but I wanted to get back in the flow— it's a sort of head space to be in when writing that's different from my average, every day thinking brain. I needed to get back in the setting of those early days of Discord and the light-hearted, flirty feeling of it.

Bong!

New message. Woah. From Bitsy Joon with the Known Cosmos Earth Press. I greedily opened it.

Samantha,

Thank you for trusting me with Ayela Scarsdale's secret identity. I know this is not something any of us take lightly, so I value the confidence you've placed in me. I would love the chance to talk with you over video if you're open to it.

Don't worry. I'm not asking you to pitch a book or anything you need to prepare for. Honestly, I connected to your poetry and was so enchanted that I read Moons Dancing too. Let's just say I'm a person who is interested in dreams and what they mean, so I want to spend some time with you, if it's okay?

I don't know if you're familiar with the Known Cosmos Earth Press, but if you haven't seen our "Dream With Me Now" cartoon series and graphic novels, I think you'll find them interesting. You aren't the first person to write a dreams-to-lovers romance, but I've never seen it done so explicitly like you're doing.

Here's a coupon for the animations and graphics so you can watch them free: Link to "Dream With Me Now Series 1."

If you're open to hanging out in a video chat, let me know what will work for you.

Sunshine greet you,

Bitsy Joon

Well, wow. I read the message again. Then a third time.

Dreams. And people interested in them. It was a repeated theme today. First Cora, now Bitsy. I really, really wanted to talk to her and find out more, but Discordant was pressing down on me, and it felt like I should get more of that under my belt before I lined up a meeting with Bitsy Joon.

Argh! When was a going to find the time to watch her animations?

I closed Bitsy's message and focused all of my attention on Discordant. By the time Rhoda got back from her walk, I'd polished off dinner and written three chapters. Rhoda ordered take out and videoed her son Filly while I wrote two more chapters, then decided I'd had enough for the night.

"How far are you, Sam?"

"Welllllll, dear Rhoda, the book version of me has met you, introduced the readers to Discord, shown them my train wreck nannying job, and given everyone some laughs and inside scoop on the lives of web serial novelists."

"So it's not scary yet?"

"Indeed."

"Can I read it?"

"OMG, do you want to, Rhoda? I didn't even think of that. I can't pay you, but hells, it would be awesome to have a beta reader."

"I don't want payment, Sam. I wanna absorb it and get the feeling of the story as it happened to you. And I know we're friends, but I promise to be truthful and tell you if I think something's not working."

I nodded, "Excellent. You're hired. Incoming files. But Rhoda, we need to figure out what we're doing next. Are we going back to Wyoming?"

"Eventually, yeah, but you said Cora has a show in Nashville this weekend, right? And I'm not done vacationing. This trip is everything I needed. Filly is happy with your Nanna, and he'll be at his dad's the next few days, so there's no rush to go back. Don't you wanna go to Nashville? I do!"

My heart skipped a beat. Then another. Oh lord, I hadn't even sent Cora a video of my face. What if she didn't like it? I what? Show up at her concert? She doesn't know who I am? And then I try and pretend like we're a thing?

Rhoda giggled, "Sam, the look on your face is priceless!"

"Hey! I'm in distress here. I need a paper bag, not mockery!"

"Oh get over yourself, Samantha! You're not allowed to be moody pants about Cora. She's into you and was sad that you ghosted her for a few days. She'll be over the moon if you go to her show, and some part of you knows that. THAT's what you're really nervous about, isn't it? That something between you and Cora could be real?"

"God, Rhoda, I can barely stand the thought. It's still too—

"'Mistake In A Bottle,' I know. I chatted up a hunky man on the beach and half of me wanted to go home with him and strip him naked and the other half wanted to run away screaming in case he's a master manipulator about to screw my life up. I dunno how I'm ever going to trust any one ever again, so I know how you feel about Cora. But how will you feel if we just go home and don't take this chance?"

"Like shit. Like a coward. I'd regret it for a long time."

"Then that's the answer. How long do you want to stay in Miami?"

"Her show's on Saturday, so let's leave for Nashville around then. Sound good?"

"I'll buy the tickets."

And she did. Rhoda booked us an airship while I picked out a movie, and we passed the night in the cool of the resort, unaware of the brewing storm.