Chapter 3

*Alarm playing September by Earth, Wind, and Fire*

"Uhhhhhh!" I tossed and turned all night. I was not ready for today at all. I turned off the alarm on my phone and started getting ready for school. I decided on some cute light high-waisted jeans, a simple cute top with a floral pattern. I brushed my teeth and my long black wavy hair, applied some concealer to cover up my dark circles already forming under my eyes from my sleepless night, and accented my hazel eyes with some mascara.

"As good as it's going to get."

I headed downstairs to find my mom had made me my favorite... Waffles! My mom truly was the best. I kissed my mom on the cheek as I went outside to find the BMW already waiting out front for me, with Carter holding the keys to it for me.

"Thank you, Carter. Have a good day! My mom has made breakfast; you should grab some."

"Thank you, Ms. Mila, but I have already eaten. The GPS is already set to get you to your school. Have a good day."

This BMW was, of course, all blacked out. The interior was leather, and it was definitely the luxury model. It even had seats that would warm-up or cool down. I turned on the car, and as he said, the GPS was all ready to go for me.

"Here I come, La Jolla High School..." I turned up and blasted the song on the radio as I flipped my shades down and made my way to my new school. [A/N: Cue the song Midnight City by M83🎵]

It didn't take me too long before I arrived. The school was huge. It's way bigger than my old school. Of course, I had arrived thirty minutes early as my auntie had asked me to, so I could get shown around. It took me a minute to find the main office, but I finally did. I saw a middle-aged woman with a charming smile greet me.

"Good morning, young lady. How may I help you?" So far, so sweet. I flashed her my best smile to hide my nerves.

"Good Morning, ma'am. I'm new here. My name is Mila Valdez. I transferred from Maine."

"Ah yes, Ms. Valdez. It's so good to have you here." She turned around to grab a folder and quickly turned around to hand it to me.

"Alright, Mrs. Valdez, the left-hand side has your class schedule, and locker number, and combination. The right side has your student ID and school policies. Your student aide will be here to show you around in about ten minutes. Till then, go meet Mrs. Ambrogio, the school guidance counselor." I looked around, wondering where to go.

"It's right down this hallway, second door on the left. It will have her name on a plaque beside the door."

"Thank you, ma'am."

I nervously made my way down the hallway. I looked at the plaque to make sure I was in the right place, "Mrs. Elisia Ambrogio," I mutter under my breath absentmindedly. Hopefully, this is the person. I knocked on the door and heard a gentle voice saying I could come in.

"Hello Ma'am, the receptionist out front said to come see you. I'm new."

"Right. You're Amilia-" I cut her off.

"Just Mila, please." I hated that name. That disgusting monster wanted a son so bad so that he could pass on his name, Emilio, but instead, he got me. So they decided on a more feminine version... I didn't want any connection to him, so from a young age, I decided I just wanted to go by Mila. If we had enough money, I would have changed it permanently a long ass time ago.

"Right Mila... Valdez. It's nice to meet you. I'm Mrs. Elisia Ambrogio. You can just call me Mrs. A." She said this with a sweet smile and put out her hand to shake mine. I shook her hand, and when I did, she had a weird look on her face. It quickly went away, and she just smiled again. She was a little taller than me and looked very young. She had shoulder-length black hair and palish skin, but not a sickly-looking pale. Honestly, she was beautiful. She had these beautiful light brown eyes that seemed to be almost glowing. She sat down, and I followed right behind her.

"I won't keep you too long, Mila. I just wanted to meet you and let you know that my door is always open if you ever need anything. So don't ever hesitate."

"Thank you, Mrs. A."

"Alright, well, your student aid should be here. I'll see you around, Mila." She smiled again, and I left to find my way back to the main area of the office. When I got there, there was a short tan girl with curly hair waiting. As I approached her, she turned around and smiled.

"Hi. You must be the new student. My name is Chloe. I'll be showing you around."

She had such a great smile and beautiful eyes. She was beautiful in general. Like wow. Shit, I really need to say something.

"Hi. I'm Mila. Thank you for showing me around."

"Of course, let's go ahead and get started. We have the first three classes together AP Calc, Gym/Health, and AP Spanish, and your locker is pretty close to mine." She said with a smile. Hmm... AP Spanish.

"Hablas español?" She smiled and replied

"Solo un poquito prefiero el Latin." I just smiled as she said that she spoke a Little but preferred Latin.

"I'm starting to feel more at home." She lightly chuckled.

"Good, I'm glad. The school isn't too bad. Like every normal school, you have your cliques, but it's open and judgment-free for the most part."

We walked out, and she took me to where my locker was, then we made our way to AP Calculus always had straight A's and would spend every free moment I had studying. I wanted to make sure that I got a full ride to a good college so I could get a good-paying job and get my mom away from that horrible place. Even now, coming here, I'm still in a lot of AP classes. I've already taken the SAT and ACT, scoring very well on both. All I need to do now is decide where in California I want to go. Once I'm done with school, I'll have all general courses already done for college and can basically focus on career-driven classes. I want to become a pediatrician or a child psychiatrist. I love kids, and I want to help as many as possible, especially those who have been through what I have. I know UCLA has an excellent medical program and is only a couple of hours from where we are now. I sat next to Chloe for math, and soon the bell had rung for us to head to second period. Chloe broke the silence on the way to our next class.

"Are you ready for GYM~~?" she said sarcastically and dramatically. I softly laughed.

"Are you being sarcastic? You sound way too excited." We both laughed, knowing she wasn't.

"You got me. I was hoping if I said it enthusiastically, I would feel less reluctant about going."

"Yeah? How'd that work out for you?" I smirked at her.

"It didn't..." We both laughed at this as we entered the gym. Wow, it was huge. We approached a tall, mean-looking lady with short brown hair.

"Hey, Coach Floyd. This is Mila she's new. She needs gym clothes and a locker."

"Alright, go grab her some clothes. You do this all the time, so I'm sure you know where they are. You can grab her a lock while you are back there; the key is attached to it." She looked down at her clipboard. "Locker 58 is hers."

She then blew her whistle, yelling at everyone to get changed and that we were playing volleyball today. She then proceeded to say that "People with excuses to get out of exercising can see her now." I had a good laugh at that. Great... Sports... I suck at sports. I'm really good at running, though, which doesn't take much coordination at all. Chloe helped me get my clothes and locker. Luckily my locker was right next to hers. As she gave me my clothes, I suddenly became self-conscious. Everyone had short black socks, but I can't wear short socks... then everyone would see my scars from cutting. I started to panic. I could feel my anxiety crashing down on me like waves. I turned to Chloe.

"Can keep the socks I'm wearing now, on? I don't like wearing short socks." I could hear the slight tremble in my voice and I tried my best to hide it. I'm hoping she doesn't notice or if she does, I hope she doesn't question me.

"Oh yeah. As long as they are all black." I felt myself smiling.

"Awesome!" Relief washed over me instantly.

I could tell that Chloe was concerned by my sudden panic outburst and the slight tremble in my voice while asking her about something so small such as socks, but she didn't try to pry, which I appreciated. I haven't told anyone besides my best friend Julian about how I cut my ankles. After I told him, he held me accountable, and I haven't cut in so long. Still, I don't like telling other people because I don't need anyone's pity. It used to get me through all the pain I've been through. It helped me numb out everything when I was feeling too much, and it helped me feel something when the darkness had completely taken over, and I couldn't feel anything at all. It was like another escape of mine, not as healthy as running, I know, but it helped. I hope I don't let him down again.

We got split up, and of course, I wound up on the court—just my luck. I should have said I was on my period or something. Just then, I heard the door to the gym open and close. Everyone stopped and turned to look, as did I in walked this tall, absolutely gorgeous girl. She was just simply stunning. I was completely mesmerized.

"Nice of you to decide to join us, Emma!" The coach shouted.

She just simply waved the gym teacher off as she kept making her way to the locker room. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I was completely in a daze. Her beautiful dirty blonde hair was put into double dutch braids. You could tell that she had long hair, and it looked so soft too. I just continued to look her up and down, noticing her long, slightly tan legs that lead up to her perfectly sculpted ass. Oh my god, this girl was perfect. As I made my way back up to her face and I locked eyes. Oh, Fuck!! She sees me checking her out. I hurriedly turn around, and I'm blushing so bad I can feel my cheeks inflame. I was so in thought about this girl. Emma... What a beautiful name for such a beautiful girl.

Then It was too late...

"Hey, watch out!!" I heard some stranger yell out, but before I could even protect myself. The ball had already made contact with my face.

"Fuck!" Damn, this hurts. I soon felt warm liquid coming down my face, and then I tasted it... Yay, blood.

"Alright new kid, watch your language. Go to the locker room and get cleaned up. Stop getting blood all over my gym floor." I scoffed and rolled my eyes. What a bitch. I made my way to the locker room and went to the sink immediately—so much blood. I must have broken it again. Looking in the mirror, I just saw a lot of blood, and my nose was crooked. Great. I started grabbing for more paper towels as I kept feeling more blood gushing out. When I went to look back in the mirror, I saw her. Emma, gorgeous Emma. She was completely up against the locker with a towel over her mouth and nose and her eyes... Oh my god, her eyes looked black with red specs glowing in them. She soon shut her eyes and what looked like very dramatic deep breaths. That was so weird... I'm guessing it must just be the lights in here... There's no way her eyes are black with red specks.

"Sorry if you aren't good with blood. I've got a lot coming out right now." I said apologetically.

She didn't say anything back and just continued to hold the towel over her mouth and nose with her eyes glued shut.

I looked back to myself in the mirror and tried to move my nose.

"FUCK!" Bad idea. Stupid idea. I had my eyes closed at this point from how painful that was. It's definitely broken. Not my first time with one, though. Mr. Sperm donor made sure of that. Once I bring my head back up and open my eyes, Emma is now right beside me. So close. Our eyes lock again, and they definitely aren't black. They are these beautiful blue orbs with swirls of green in them, and I swear they look like they are almost glowing. They are so beautiful... she is so just wow... She moved her perfect soft full pink lips, but I didn't hear what she said. Then she spoke a little louder. Breaking me out of my inner thoughts.

"Are you okay?" Oh my god, how long was I staring at her? Why am I so fucking awkward? She just started to smile at me, and I just melted. My heart and brain had officially left the building without giving me a two weeks notice. Her smile was perfect and heart-wrenching. I felt myself start to blush as I realized I had lost my train of thought again, and she was still waiting for a response.

"Yeah... I'll be fine... It's not my first one." Wow, Mila. Stutter much. You are so annoying right now. She started smiling at me again.

"Here, let me help. My brother is a doctor." She placed one hand on my cheek, and her touch just electrified my body. Just one touch, and I felt this massive spark radiate throughout my body, warming it. Unfortunately, this electrifying feeling was cut off pretty pre-maturely when she decided to grab my nose and pop it back into place.

"FUCK!" The sexiest girl alive just popped my nose back into place... I'm in so much pain, and I know this is a horrible time to be thinking about how hot it is that she just popped my nose back into place. I locked eyes with her again, and I noticed she had a slight smirk on her face, and somehow her eyes were an even lighter shade of blue and green and seemed to be glowing more. I must really be tripping right now.

"Why were your eyes so dark before? I thought they were black with... They are so much lighter now." I heard myself spit out. Her gorgeous eyes never left mine.

"Chloe, can you take her to the nurse, please?"

What the hell. How did she even know Chloe was coming in her. I didn't hear anyone come in. That's just freaking crazy.

"Yes. Are you okay, Emma?"

Okay. I'm a little confused as to why she would ask Emma if she's okay first when I'm the one injured. Don't mind little ol' me over here with the broken nose and gushing amounts of blood...

"Yes. Don't worry about me. Just make sure Mila is taken care of."

Her voice was so seductive and had a little bit of a sexy rasp to it and an accent. I couldn't place the accent, though. Wait... She knows my name!!! How? I haven't introduced myself to her at all. This is my first time ever seeing this girl in my life; trust me, I would have remembered if I had because you don't just forget about seeing and meeting a goddess. She looked at me and smiled.

"I'll see you both in a little bit."

She said as Chloe, and I walked out of the locker room. God, her voice. Mmm... everything about her.