Dreamland (41-86)

Summary
It is Caitlin's first time officially cheerleading in front of people. Her mum's there cheering her on and has a sudden exasperated excitement to the point where she almost appears to be happy. All the cheerleader's names are being called and one by one, they come out. However, when Caitlin is called, someone in the audience is screaming "Cass", the name of her sister. This makes her feel very uneasy because she has not yet overcome her sister's disappearance. When the moves are being formed and Caitlin is on top of the pyramid, the guy is still shouting his sister's name and that makes her feel even more uneasy. She thinks her mind is deceiving her and becomes very perplexed and ends up falling from the pyramid. However, a fellow cheerleader ends up catching her but Caitlin hurts her knee a bit. When that happens, her mum is very worried and she rushes to her daughter's safety.

Caitlin then gets her band aid around her knee. There is a football party later on in the night. Her best friends Kelly and Rina plan on attending it with her. They stop by with Kelly's car to go get some quarters. While there, a cute guy starts talking to her and she finds out that his name is Rogerson. Her friend Kelly thinks he's very good looking while Rina thinks he appears to be dangerous. When the trio arrive at the party, they each go their separate way. Caitlin goes to Mike - a point guard who appears to have a mini crush on him. At the party, she spots Rogerson collecting money for something. When Mike asks her what she's looking at, she says nothing and she's just cold. He then offers to give her his jacket. Suddenly she thinks of her sister and sees herself in the position her sister was in many years ago. She realizes that if she does accept the jacket, she'll be seen as Mike's girl and denies it. Instead, she walks away from the party with Rogerson leaving Mike very angry.She asks Rogerson to drop her home and when he does, they make out in the car for thirty minutes before she goes inside. Although she is not the kind of guy her sister  would go for, she feels somehow a connection/similarity and knows that her sister went through the same.

One afternoon, Caitlin and her mum were watching TV and they end up seeing Cass on TV. Cass is working as an assistant in the crew on a TV show where her boyfriend Adam works at. The mum kneels down in front of the TV and half smiles, very glad that her daughter is alive and well. Caitlin becomes worried because Rogerson hasn't called her back. Eventually, they end up meeting once again. They plan on going out on a date but her parent's are a bit hesitant because they have an idea of what kind of guy he is. When they finally agree to let her go out, he makes one stop before their official stop. She goes with him inside a house where everyone is smoking or drinking. Rogerson then sells a guy his age a bag of pot for $75. The people there then asks Caitlin if she wants some but she decides not to become a subject of peer pressure. After that, they make another stop before finally going on their actual date.

Quote
"When I say you are to be somewhere, you are there. Understood?" (Dessen 85)

Reaction
This quote is said by Rogerson's father after he gets into a little trouble. His parents appear to be very strict human beings with probably the best intentions for him in life. The question I really impose on the character is why is he screwing up his life at such an early age? What led to him doing drugs, smoking, and drinking? Sometimes people say that the way a child turns up in life is based on the way his or her parents raised him or her. However, in this situation, it does not appear to be the case. Many times, the child chooses his or her own destiny. The parent can try to raise him or her as much as possible but in the end, it is the child that determines what kind of path he or she chooses. After all, they say you can bring a horse to a stream but you can't force it to drink.

*Most importantly, why could Caitlin want to date him? I know girls like to be with dangerous guys at times but this case is not appropriate. He's a bad boy who does drugs, doesn't seem too good to me...