For the next week, the school put on its annual carnival. It had been a month since Lorelai had fallen, and met Kilian. She fell in more ways than one; Lorelai and Kilian now spent even more time together than Lorelai spent at home. He was second only to her dreamworld.

Sitting in her room, Lorelai could hear her sister thundering around the house. Contact in 5…4…3…2…1… “Lore! Wanna go to the carnival with me?” “Bec, Kilian and I are going later,” Lorelai sighed. “I never see you any more. You’re either with Kilian, at school with Kilian, or asleep, probably dreaming about Kilian. I deserve some contact; you can meet him later,” Rebecca sulked. Well, she had been neglecting Rebecca lately. One carnival couldn’t hurt. Besides; she could meet Kilian there later.
     
Rebecca dolled herself up and Lorelai threw on some jeans and a clean t-shirt. By the time Rebecca was ready to go, Lorelai had already called Kilian and arranged to meet him by the cotton candy booth. When they got to the carnival, Rebecca went straight for the tilt-a-whirl. Last year, she had thrown up, and she was determined not to this time. She and Lorelai rode it a few times, until Rebecca looked a little green. When they got off, Lorelai saw Kilian and walked into his warm embrace.

With a light kiss on her lips, Lorelai turned around to the sound of Rebecca’s squeak of surprise. Oops. Guess I didn’t tell her I was meeting up with Kilian. When she met her sister’s eyes, Lorelai was astonished to see they were full of tears. The night had meant much more to Rebecca than she thought it would. Rebecca turned around and ran, not even bothering to look where she was going. With a quick glance at Kilian, Lorelai took off after her sister, leaving him in the shadow of the cotton candy booth. Lorelai saw the telltale color of her sister’s hair whip around a corner. She and Rebecca had dyed their hair different colors during their last girl’s night. Lorelai’s purple streaks had long since faded, but Rebecca was still hanging on to one of her last memories of her sister that didn’t feature Kilian. Her blond hair still had red in it, while Lorelai’s black had lost the purple as she had lost her sister. Tonight was the first time in a while that they had spent time together. Lorelai promised herself that she would spend more time with her sister in the future.

As she ran after her sister, Lorelai started to feel dizzy. The bright lights of the carnival blurred together, and she dimly heard Kilian calling her. The lights of the carnival got brighter, and Lorelai realized she was in the dream world. The suns were now ominous, representing everything she had left behind. The light breeze brought a cold sweat to her face, as Lorelai struggled to find a way back to the real world. For the first time, the dream world scared her.

Back in the real world, Kilian found Lorelai in a slump next to the Ferris wheel. Her sister was nowhere to be seen, and Lorelai was steadily getting paler. Kilian was taking out his phone to call an ambulance when Rebecca showed up. “Y-you! You did this!” She screamed at him. “It’s your fault, she was fine before you came. Butt out and let me take care of her!” Kilian stumbled backward and stood up. Caught up with her sister, Rebecca didn’t see him leave. Kilian ran to his car and sped to his house. Rebecca’s right. I did do this to her. I don’t know how, but I have to go get her. I have to fix this; I have to go back to the dream…