Free Earthbound Angels Part 1: The Heartthrob Fallen Celestial Stories Collection by Sandra Ross

Erick and his would be wife. Not even her father's
association with Simon, who was known to be one of Erick's close
friends, had earned her invitations to parties in the castle. She
was surely hoping she would be invited in the wedding, at least,
and was making sure she would be there with Simon for people to
see, giving her an edge over Dreama. Simon already knew her enough
to know how she would think about things like this.
    Hollianne hadn't hit it off so well with Raven due
to Raven's inherent competitive nature. Not to mention that Raven
had been a bit snarky to Hollianne, which was a serious mistake
because that was the
only reason why she had never been invited to the castle ever . Hollianne
Talbot-soon-to-be-Angell took nothing from people. It may have been
due to the things that she had gone through in her life that made
her intolerant. Whatever it was, Holli had refused to be faced with
Raven's insulting nature, so she would avoid her as much as she
could. She certainly would not be insulted in her own
territory.
    Simon didn't blame Holli for not liking Raven.
It wasn't as if Raven made any great effort to be liked.
    But the fact that Dreama and Holli had become
like close sisters seemed to irritate Raven more. She was jealous.
When she used to be the one people prefer to be the apple of their
eyes, now Dreama was having her own place in the spotlight.
    Simon knew things about Raven that she probably
didn't realize herself. Not everything really was her fault.
    Raven had been "trained" in competitive
situations since she was old enough to walk and talk. Her mother
had thrown her into one beauty pageant after another until Raven
had become old enough to refuse.
    The really sad thing was that once Raven started
to put her foot down about not entering pageants any longer, her
mother lost interest in her. It was almost as if Raven had been a
doll that she could play dress up with over the years.
    So Raven went from being the center of her
mother's world to being an afterthought. That couldn't have had a
positive effect on her.

Chapter Eight
    WHEN DREAMA CAME along, things got worse for
Raven.
    Since Raven was the one entering all the
pageants, Dreama never had to deal with any of that. Not only was
she very young, she was intelligent in a quiet way, and had started
to make her own way by being very good in her academics. Her father
adored her and her mother seemed to find time for her that didn't
involve a purpose of some sort. Dreama looked quite a lot like her
mother, with her light blonde hair and aquamarine eyes. Truthfully,
her name was perfect because she did look a lot like a dream woman.
She had always looked like that.
    But Dreama's appearance belied the type of young
woman that she really was. In spite of the fact that she looked
angelic and almost waifish, Dreama was actually a very strong young
woman. When she was asked to enter a contest her mother wanted her
to enter, she refused, reasoning her way intelligently out of it
that made her mother proud of her instead of hateful that Dreama
refused to obey. The people that dared to challenge her had found
out quite quickly just how strong she was.
    Her strong personality pushed her into
situations that should have made other people cower. She was so
unselfish she would put herself in the way to protect other people
who could not protect themselves. She was something of a rebel and
a champion of the underdog. That was one of the many qualities that
made her such a wonderful psychiatrist.
    Her intelligence and quick wit made her very
memorable, too. Once someone met, they never forgot her.
    Simon certainly had not. He thought about her
all the time. Did he want to cause more problems between the two
sisters? They already had such a rocky relationship that something
like this would be more than a drop in the proverbial bucket.
Dreama had really never shown him the slightest romantic interest.
For all he knew, she had a boyfriend tucked away somewhere.
    But that