| Peach |

I stared into Mario's glazed eyes, covered with a thick layer of deep thought. We had been frozen like this for what seemed like years. Finally, Mario broke the silence.

"I just can't get them out of my head."

I nodded in agreement, feeling the same way. There was no way to conquer these hallucinations; it seemed like they were invincible.

I took a breath and said, "Just try not to think about them. Get them out of your head. Forget they are even there."

"But Peach, I can't," Mario sputtered. "They're everywhere I go, on everything I look at. And they're always of you, miss pretty in pink."

I stared blankly at him. I didn't need to say anything more. Mario had told me what I needed to hear.

His hallucinations are ones of me. And mine are ones of him.

I turned and walked away, feeling a wave of tiredness wash over me. It was almost 10; the party would be ending soon. I walked back over to the microphone to inform the others.

"Hey everybody! Glad you had a good time tonight, but the party is over now. Please grab your stuff and head back to your hotel room. Thanks for coming!"

The racers began noisily shuffling out of the cramped space, eager to return to the comfort of their suites. I watched them file out of the room, one by one. The last one caught my attention, though.

A man in red, slowly walking out the door. Staring at me, like I was a three headed dragon. He was mouthing something; I couldn't tell what, but I could make it out. Kind of.

"They're ones of you."

And then he vanished out the door.

The party was over, but my mind was still churning with every new thing I had learned that night.

Mario has hallucinations.

They're of me.

I have hallucinations.

They're of him.

I don't know what any of it means. I couldn't let it drop. But, I decided to leave it for tomorrow and go to sleep. I followed the normal routine, getting in my pajamas and brushing my teeth.

Not long after I was safely under my covers, thinking heavily. What does Mario even mean to me anymore? His words kept replaying in my head, over and over again.

"And they're always of you, miss pretty in pink."

This whole situation is just so confusing, I just went to bed.

That night I had a dream. And you can guess which type.

~DREAM~

I stood in the middle of a desert. Not any ordinary desert, though. A red sand desert.

I looked around, unsure of what to do. Suddenly, a million red hats came floating at me, slamming into my body. I tried to bat them away, but it didn't work. It only made me hurt more.

Then overalls came hurtling at me, bouncing off of my fragile body. They came from all directions, out of the midst.

I looked up at the bright blue sky, in search of comfort. The only thing I saw was a pair of icy blue eyes, staring down at me with an evil glint.

I stood there, being mauled by red, red, red, red.......

~DREAM OVER~

I woke screaming, shouting, gasping for air. I felt my body, relieved that is wasn't sore.

I didn't know why I had that dream, but I decided to take it as a message.

Red can hurt you.

-

Here's to the last day of Winter Break! I'm sad. Well, you finally have an update. This is kind of a filler chapter, but at least it's a chapter!

Break went well for me. Kind of went really fast, if you ask me. Well, anyways, I read all day yesterday and finished my book! Yay!!

I have a boring life. So that's all I have to say! Have a great day! Also, please tell me if you read the facts about me every day. It would really mean a lot to me. Thank ya! ♡

~zoeysha