Chapter Two

"BEEP BEEP BEEP!" a piercing sound rings in my ears.

I realize I fell asleep on Adrian's chest and roll over to the opposite direction of the sound, but Adrian shakes my shoulder, "Alivi, please take this." I reach over my shoulder and take my phone. Adrian drifts back to sleep, mumbling about 'ringtone.' I finally answer the phone on its 4th ring and shouting is on the other end.

"Alivi, do you know what time it is?!"

Blinded by my phone's brightness, I squint at the time shown at the top of my phone. "It's 1:21 in the morning?" I respond dry-like.

"Don't get sarcastic with me, and you better be home before Angela and Dad get back."

I roll my eyes hard on the other side of the line. I despise the fact that Genieve calls Mom by her first name. I get that she's her step-daughter and all, but her tone displays hatred every time.

"Where are you anyways at 2 in the morning? You better not be at that Adri-kins place like I found you last time…"

She draws out' last time' to get inside my head, which she succeeds in, "Okay, Genevieve," I immediately jump out of bed, disturbing Adrian.

"What are you doing u-?" I make a shooing gesture with my hand towards Adrian, to signal him to go back to sleep.

I look for my sweater while talking on the phone, "I'm coming home now,"

Adrian is now out of bed with puzzled written on his face. Soon he realized what's going on and helped me retrieve my items.

"I'll be there soon, okay. Please," I sympathize with the last word, "Please, stall for me if they get home before me." There's a long pause from Genevive.

During that time, I turn around in place, still searching for the long lost sweater. Looking up, I see Adrian, arms outstretched, holding one of his hoodies and some matching gray sweats. I place the phone between my shoulder and ear and smile dreamy-like at my boyfriend. He took the phone from my ear and put it on speaker so that I could get changed. FOr some reason he's hurriedly texting someone on his phone but I dont question it.

"Fine," my step-sister groans dramatically. "But you owe me big time, AND this is the last time I'm doing this crap for you."

Before I could thank her and promise to change my ways, she hung up. Adrian hands over the phone to me before he yawns.

"She seems nice, I wonder what's her favorite boy band?" he says in mid-stretch.

I laugh heartily at his sarcasm, "Don't be like that, Adri. But," I walk over to hug him and steal a kiss before I leave. "It's NSYNC if you were really wondering." I pull away about to step out of the room, but Adrian grabs my hand and pulls me closer.

He puts his hand on my chin and lifts it. "Look I know it's random but I love you, don't forget. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me." He puts a loose strand of my hair behind my ear, " Don't get hurt and be careful for me, okay?" He seals this with a kiss on my forehead. "I'll always be here to protect you."

After squeezing me one last time, he lets me go, and I head out of his room. Slowly closing his room door, I tiptoe around the house, trying to find the back door. I spot Adrian's dog, Princess Sin, sleeping soundly in front of my escape entrance. I carefully lean forward to unlock the door and then step over the dreaming golden retriever. I hear a door open from the down the hall. Fuck. Without hesitation, I leave out of the house. The door closes with a click, and then I rush to get across the street.

I shove my hands in the hoodie's pockets, trudging along the sidewalk. The drizzling rain drums on the hoodie and bleeds through the cloth. The hairs of my neck stand and I look around my surroundings for any strange activity. Only a late-night jogger is running around the block and greets me with a head nod. I nod back and keep walking. I should've called a cab knowing it was raining and that my house is like three miles down. Looking over my shoulder, I realize Adrian's bedroom light is off. I sigh wishing i had risked it all and stayed the night. A few seconds later, my phone vibrates in my pocket. Glancing at my lock screen, praying Mom isn't texting me, I see a text message as a car pulls up a few feet away from me.

Before Anyone Else: Stop staring at me and get in the car before we both get in trouble.

I laugh as I turn around, giving him the finger before writing back.

Me: If there's a murderer in there...I'll haunt you

Before Anyone Else: I fucking love you too, get your tiny butt in the car.

Before Anyone Else: She was near my house when I texted her to come pick you up so be nice :(

Surprised that he did see my gesture, I turn around and wave dramatically towards his house. I laugh as I see him dangling half of his body out the window blowing me air kisses witht he same energy. He's so full of it. The car horn honks and I dash across the streets as the rain seemed to get harder. The driver rudely pulls off before my seatbelt could be fastened, I let it slip out my hands and create a note for myself to put it on later. "Hey Al, long time no see." my friend, Ida, jokes.

"Very funny. How long will it take for me to get home?" Ida gestures to her phone in the cupholders. " Oh, my day was great, thanks for asking. Obviously, I don't mind picking you up early in the morning after just having -" I interrupt her instantly, " It wasn't like that, and you know that." I say, flustered. She grins, saying she's just kidding after seeing my reddening face. I open up Google Maps and type in my address, "23 minutes if you take the highway but 18 if you take the scenic route."

Ida's eyes narrow, and a smirk slowly creeps up her face. "How much trouble are you in now?" "Not much yet...why-" I start, but Ida already made her decision. Glancing over the dashboard, I see numbers in the '60s. "Recheck the phone, Liv's."

I pull up the app again to see that I'll arrive in 20 minutes. "Ida…" My voice quivers, "Maybe you should slow down, I'll be fine if I get home 23 minutes from now…"

Ida laughs and turns up the radio a bit. "Don't worry, Alivi, nothing is going to happen. No one is on the road at this hour, especially not in this neighborhood and if i dont take the highway. I could practically run a couple of red lights." She glanced over at me, seeing my nervous expression, "Not that I would. Adrian trusted me to get home safe, and I'll do just that." Ida speeds up a little bit further, clearly not meaning anything she said.

I zone out, facing the window to the fast-moving scenery, thinking about what I'm going to do when I get home and what I have to face. In mid-day dreaming, I see a white car down the street coming to a four-way. The light ahead of the vehicle has turned red but hasn't even attempted to slow down yet.

I shake Ida's leg, "Stop the car, Ida! NOW!" I scream.

" You can't distract the driver! Wait, why are you telling me-"

Before I know it, the car is close enough for me to the white car driver's reaction. His eyes widened as he immediately turns his head to the side, closing his eyes. The last thing I remember is the beard of the new victim of this crash. The white car's door flings open before the two vehicles collide. The white vehicle hit the passenger side, and Ida's car spun counterclockwise into the traffic light. Ida tries to hit the brakes and control the steering wheel, but it's too late. I'm jerked forward, and glass breaks from my forehead. I tumble out of the windshield and onto the hard pavement. The back of my head bounces on the ground and splitting pain shoots throughout my body. A piercing scream is heard and it blurs my vision even more. Soom to find out that the scream belonged to me and I couldnt stop. The pain was too hard to bare, it was as if every part of me was burning amd it kept getting worse. My limbs felt like they were being stabbed and torn apart with hot wax. strain to crane my neck to see my new environment.

Glass is sprinkled around the road like fresh snowflakes.Ida's car seems to be a few meters away from me, and blood trickles down the hood of it. A man in a suit, which is now torn, walked up to me and crouched down with a goatee. He is covered with nicks as blood trickles from his ear to his neck. His hands are cold as he finds my pulse. He examines my face and lightly touches my forehead, I wince. Colors of blue, red, and white come into view, so does more red and white. The man slowly lifts my head and puts soft fabric underneath it. In the corner of my eye, I see my driver getting taken out of the crashed vehicle.

She looks perfectly fine. Since her seatbelt was on, only the airbag had affected her. Ida's bleeding from the side of her face, and her arm is bruised. Limping, with help, towards the ambulance truck, Ida spots me, and tears run down her eyes. She forcefully steers the police officers to me.

"Alivi! Are you-OH MY GOODNESS!" She covers her mouth and collapses to her knees.

She locks eyes with me as terror fills them. She's picked up and is placed on the stretcher for the rest of the way to the ambulance. My stomach vibrates, and I realize I'm in Adrian's clothes. The goatee man looks at the hoodie's pocket and back at me, I give a struggling nod as he takes it out of the pocket. He turns the phone toward me, and it's a message from Adrian.

Before Anyone Else: Hey ;) Are you home yet? Text me when you're there safe.

After reading the message, I stifled a cry. With all my strength, I clutch the device to my chest. I imagine Adrian is here with me, that I'm in his arms telling me that I'm alright. But he's not here. He thinks I'm safe in a still driving vehicle on my way to my house. How could this have happened? How can so much damage be done in less than 10 minutes? My past events this evening flash before my eyes: The laughter. The hugging. The taunting. The yelling. They come back to my senses like a dream, a dream I want to start over. My thoughts are interrupted as I'm carefully placed on a stretcher and wheeled to the ambulance. The goatee man is talking with police officers, and anxiety matches his body language. The next thing I know, I'm being hooked up to IVs, and the paramedic asks if I feel any discomfort, but then: I'm lost again.