Was Susie's love interest imagined?

So, I get that it's fiction and all, but I got to thinking while watching this movie that Ray was portrayed in such a dreamy way, and ultimately was kept beyond Susie's reach in the movie...
So I'm wondering, was Ray made up? Given that the movie was narrated by a girl who was already dead, I got the impression that maybe she added her love interest, Ray, as a sort of contrast to the horrible man who tricked, abducted, and murdered her. Ray had nothing but good intentions with Susie, and George Harvey had nothing but bad intentions for her... It's like they're mirror images of each other (which is to say, the same, but reversed due to the way mirrors reflect light)...
That kinda gives me the impression that Suzie imagined Ray as a coping mechanism, maybe a way to imagine that the terrible man who abducted, (presumably) abused and murdered her was really this "perfect guy" who swept her off her feet...
I get that the concept doesn't match up 100%... But I just felt that the camera work involving Ray suggested he had a "dreamy" quality to him... Which would make sense if Susie was dreaming him up as a mental replacement for the monster who was abusing/killing her...

Thoughts?