Chapter 2: The Beginning

Patricia woke up with a start, to the sound of her alarm ringing. She looked around her room in shock, half expecting to be still in the club with that mysterious man near her. She was disoriented because it had all seemed so real. From the feelings, to the thoughts, to the touch of that man, everything was surreal, yet seemed like reality at the same time.

She turned the alarm off and stuffed her phone under the pillow. All she wanted to do was go back to sleep and find out the identity of the man who had stirred up such feelings in her. She noticed it was already half past seven. She had to get to school by eight, damn it.

Groaning, she got up from the bed and walked towards her bathroom to get ready. Oh, how she hated waking up early in the morning. She had no problem with high school itself. It was fun, really, given that she was the queen bee and everyone practically worshipped the ground she walked on.

After she stripped, she stood under the shower spray, just thinking about the dream. The details had already started fading yet that man's voice and the feeling of his arms around her... She shivered. She wouldn't be forgetting that any time soon. She stepped out of the shower five minutes later and hurriedly got dressed. After she was done and satisfied with the way she looked, she went downstairs into the kitchen where her mother was making breakfast.

She had definitely gotten her good looks from her mom. They shared the same golden hair, high cheekbones and slim physique. On the other hand, she had gotten her tall height and violet eyes from her father. She had started to wear brown contact lenses since she was a little girl due to the unnatural color of her eyes. It saved her from the unnecessary questions.

Whenever she had asked her mom why her eye color was the color it was, her mother had only said that it was due to her father, and whenever she asked about her father, her mother had told her that he loved her very much and he had left only to keep them both safe.

She made her way to the kitchen counter and greeted her mother.

"Good morning Tris," her mom replied, smiling. "Did you sleep well?"

Patricia groaned, remembering her night. "No, mom. I couldn't sleep. There was this pounding in my head and I felt feverish." She quickly added as her mom started to look worried, "but now, when I woke up, everything was fine."

Her mother didn't look convinced, "Are you sure you're okay, dear?"

She smiled. "Yes, mom, I'm sure I'm okay. Don't worry."

Patricia grabbed an apple from the counter and walked towards the front door as her mother called out, "Aren't you going to eat your breakfast?"

"Sorry mom, I'm already late for school; the first class starts in like ten minutes," she called from the door, "bye, love you."

"Love you too dear," her mother sighed as she walked out the door.

Upon reaching the school, she parked her car and got out. After she had locked it, she started walking towards the school doors, all the while running her gaze across the grounds looking for her two best friends, Stella and Candice. She did not find them outside, so she walked in through the main door, into the hallway.

And was immediately ambushed by two girls, one with auburn hair and the other with chocolate brown hair. She came to a stop and they, at once leapt on her, knocking her back and started talking.

"Oh my god, Patricia! We did not know. You should have told us!" Stella, the one with the auburn hair exclaimed.

"Of course! You went through so much and you didn't even think of telling us? We're your best friends, for god's sake!" Candice shouted, looking as if she was about to cry.

"How could you even think of keeping this from us?"

As if suddenly struck with a thought, she added, "wait a second, were you even planning to tell us about it?" Stella asked, her wide eyes shining with betrayal.

What?

"Wait! What are you two yapping about? I don't even know what I've kept from you, much less what you're saying."

The two of them shared an exasperated glance and then Candice spoke slowly, "did Alaric break up with you?"

Oh.

A sudden pang of pain went through her chest. Of course they knew. She was sure the whole school knew by then. She should have told them about how Alaric had come to her house the day before only to tell her that he wanted to break up with her.

Never. Never had it happened that one of her boyfriends had broken up with her. It was always her who broke up. Always her. The heart breaker. The girl who played with hearts. Never had it happened that a boy had broken her heart.

And it just had to be the boy for whom she'd started to feel for. Never had she let herself catch feelings. But she had. For Alaric, the school's bad boy, a player, much like herself. Which was exactly why she should have seen it coming, and been extra careful. Instead, she had let her stupid heart out and worn it on her damn sleeve.

Hadn't she learnt enough lessons throughout her life? She couldn't rely on anyone other than herself. She couldn't trust anyone. Every person was a lesson, every situation a trial.

They had started dating three month ago, just for fun. But if she had known that she would develop feelings for him, she wouldn't have even thought of dating him. But she had dated him. Kissed him. Slept with him. It couldn't be undone and she just had to get over him.

Candice and Stella lead her to the janitor's closet. After entering, they closed the door and looked at her expectantly. So, she took a deep breath and began. She told them everything. And they listened quietly, not interrupting even once.

When she was finished, silence descended upon them all. Patricia didn't mean to cry, she rarely cried, but a lone tear slid out of her eye and down her cheek.

Stella came forward and pulled her into a hug. "It's okay. You'll get over him," Candice assured her.

"Of course she will. He's an a**hole and he didn't deserve her. Besides, it’s good to know that our friend does have a heart, after all." Stella pulled back, smiling.

Patricia couldn't help it. She laughed and so did they as they pulled her into a hug together.

And that day, right then and there, Patricia promised herself something. She would never let any guy get close to her. To her heart. She would never let herself feel, much less fall in love. She would do all she could to keep her heart, whatever happened. She loved her life-however it was-and she would keep it that way.

If only she had known that day what was to come and how her life was going to change. How she would change.

After what seemed like a long day, the school was finally over for the week. It was Saturday the next day, also the day of her eighteenth birthday.

〰〰〰

That night, Patricia was in her room when her mother called from downstairs telling her that she was going out to shop for groceries. She answered back with an okay and after telling her to lock the doors, her mother went out.

A couple hours later, she decided to go into the kitchen to see what her mother was cooking. However, when she got downstairs she found that she wasn't back yet, which was surprising as it had been two hours already.

She decided that she would give her mother a little surprise when she got home by cooking dinner. She accessed the ingredients present, thinking of a way to combine them together. Being satisfied with her idea, she started on the dinner and an hour later, the dish was finally ready yet her mom still wasn't back.

She dialed her number and called to ask what was taking her so long. She started to get worried when she found that her mom's phone was turned off. She never turned her phone off. She started to pace in the kitchen, wringing her hands together. Why is she so late? She told herself to wait for a few more minutes before coming to the conclusion that something was wrong.

It was almost ten, four hours after she had left, and her mom still wasn't back. She didn't know what to do. She didn't have any family other than her mother and aunt. Just as she started to panic, she heard her phone ringing from where she had put it on the kitchen shelf.

Relief washed over her when she found that it was her mom. But it quickly vanished when she didn't hear her mother's voice on the other end, but that of a stranger.

"Is this Patricia?" A male’s voice from the other end spoke.

"Yes, but who is this? And what are you doing with my mom's phone?" She demanded.

The line was silent for a moment before the person spoke up.

"I’m a police officer miss; your number was on speed dial in this phone. I found it by your mother's car crash. She had a collision with a bus and she’s just been taken to the nearest hospital."

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