Page 1 of Dream (Fighting Fate)

Chapter 1

Olivia

Saying goodbye to someone you cared about was the worst.

Especially if you knew that goodbye was forever. I think those kinds of goodbyes did something to your soul. They changed you in a way that affected your life forever. Like a tiny little piece of your essence stayed behind when you left.

Well, that’s how I felt when I said goodbye to the people of Gulu that morning anyway. I’d grown so close to each and every one of them over the last six years, they all felt like family to me. My heart had never felt so heavy.

It was something I never thought I’d feel when I first came to Africa. When my parents had packed me up at thirteen and moved us to Uganda as part of the United World Aid Group, I’d been horrified. At the time, we’d been living in Salt Creek, California, and my life, as far as I was concerned, had been perfect. I’d lived right in the middle of the popular crowd, with a guaranteed place in the cheer squad when I reached middle school.

I didn’t speak to my parents for days.

But it only took a week in Gulu for me to realize how shallow my life had been, and I can tell you, it had been a pretty hard pill for me to swallow. By the end of my second week there, my priorities had changed completely. Popularity and ranking became something I was ashamed to have wanted, and the thought of deciding someone’s worth based on how much money they made filled me with sadness.

Knowing I was about to return to such a society wasn’t easy for me to accept. If I had my way, I would’ve stayed in Gulu indefinitely. I loved what we did there, and I loved helping the people who needed so much. But it was time to head back to the land of the free so I could formally begin my adult life.

The idea of paid work thrilled and terrified me at the same time. I was excited to start making plans for my own future—to go through the process of deciding what path I wanted to take—but the thought of my day being regimented and controlled in so many ways, scared me more than I would admit.

As I stood at the boarding gates at Entebbe Airport, ready to say yet another goodbye, this time to my parents, I consoled myself with three things: the knowledge that I would be seeing them again in eight weeks’ time; that it was now late June, and I wouldn’t be starting work for another seven weeks; and that I’d be spending that time with my dad’s sister, Aunt Jenny.

Aunt Jenny was thirty-three, unmarried, and had never had any children. As an executive with a company that made games for a well-known gaming console, she lived most of her life in an apartment in Los Angeles. But when she wasn’t busy making a fortune, she spent the rest of her time at her beach house, about an hour’s drive north of the city.

And that was where I was heading for the summer. Over a month of relaxation on a secluded beach in California. I wasn’t entirely sure I was ready for it.

“All right there, kiddo?” Dad asked, hoisting my backpack higher on my back for me.

“As right as I’ll ever be,” I said, drawing in a deep breath. This was the first time I was going to be taking such a long trip on my own. Even though I was excited, and I knew I was equipped to deal with the majority of things that could come my way, it was still pretty freaking daunting.

Mom rubbed my shoulder. “You’ll be fine. You’re the toughest nineteen-year-old I know.”

“Really?” I deadpanned.

She held my gaze for a few moments before her expression turned a little teasing. “Okay, well, you’ll be the toughest nineteen-year-old I know in the US. How’s that?”

I laughed. “I’d say that was fair.”

She brushed my cheek with her thumb. “But you really will be fine. You’re going to have a great time with Aunt Jenny. I know just how much she’s been looking forward to seeing you. You’ll be a spoiled little princess by the time we see you next.”

Rolling my eyes, I gave her my best sarcastic laugh. “Yeah, right.”

“You never know,” Dad said with a smirk. “She can be damn persuasive when she wants to be. I recommend not arguing with her.”

A voice cut in through the loud speaker behind us. Emirates flight 7-3-0 is now boarding. Please start making your way to gate 4 with your boarding pass ready—

“I guess that’s me,” I said, my stomach churning.

Mom enveloped me with a bone-crunching hug. “Make sure you call me as soon as you can. Aunt Jenny will be waiting at LAX for you. Be safe.”

Releasing her, I swallowed down the lump that was forming in my throat. “I love you, Mom. Be safe.”

Dad grabbed me and squeezed me tight. “Be safe, kiddo.”

‘Be safe’ was a saying Dad started the week we arrived in Gulu. It was a saying that meant more than we could know at the time, considering the environment we’d arrived in, but it had stuck throughout the years. To us, it had more depth to it than a simple, ‘I love you.’

“I will, Dad. I’ll see you soon.”

Mom pressed her closed fist against her mouth as she watched me back away. I could tell she was smiling by the way her eyes crinkled at the corners, but I knew it was purely for my benefit. The way she grasped Dad’s hand until her knuckles turned white told me just how nervous she was to send me off alone.

If they didn’t have to wait for the new missionaries to arrive and run through the processes with them, they would’ve been right here with me now. But that was just the way it worked, I guessed. These things took time, and I knew I needed as much of it as I could manage in order to get myself into the swing of things back home.

I smiled as best I could, trying to ease their worries. “Don’t scare the new family,” I teased as I joined the line.

“I can’t make any promises,” Dad called back, draping his arm over Mom’s shoulder. It was a seemingly innocent gesture, but I knew just how much his touch calmed Mom’s nerves.

As the line moved forward, and the stewardess checked my pass, ushering me toward the tunnel, I took one last moment to appreciate the people who had shaped me into who I was today. My love for them was without bounds. I would forever be grateful for who they were.

Blowing them a kiss, I inhaled, slow and deep. Then I turned and walked away.

Chapter 2

Josh

The crowd was impossible.

“Joshua! I love you!”

“I’m your biggest fan, Joshua. Kiss me!”

“Please, Joshua! Let me have your baby!”

“Sign my poster, Joshua!”

I pushed through the crowd, blindly following Corey as he plowed a path toward the waiting SUV. Cain and Daniel flanked me, taking most of the pressure off me as I moved, scrawling my marker over anything the fans thrust my way. The paparazzi pushed forward, careless of the fans they were crushing in their quest, their cameras clicking and flashing as they yelled out absurdities.

“Joshua, where’s Caitlyn? Is it true you cheated on her with Hannah Bryant?”

“Do you think Willow’s Way will get a nod for an Oscar, Joshua?”

“Is there any truth to the rumors you and Hannah Bryant are engaged?”

Their voices instantly muted the second Cain and Daniel pushed me into the backseat of our Escalade, climbing in behind me and shutting the door.

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