He knows my name.

Jamal's POV

The sun wasn't up but I was. I mean, I got accepted. Yesterday was the worst and best day of my life. I got fired from my very good salary job. And, I finally got accepted into Deluxe University.

I took a glass cup from the kitchen cabinet. I walked to the fridge and poured myself a glass of water. The glass cup slipped and fell and I was suddenly reminded of that crazy lady.

She had such a bad sense of fashion. She wore a bright red crop hoodie, bright yellow sweat pants and a lemon green shoe. She looked like a traffic light. Her chestnut brown eyes turned grey when she exploded.

She needed to visit the mental hospital for treatment.

I took my dumbbells and worked out as I did every other dawn. Today I decided to do half my usual time since I still had a lot of packing left to do.

The buzz of my phone caught my attention. I put the dumbbells back on the floor and walked towards my phone. I picked up my phone and it was a message from 'LOVE C', I mean Cassie, my girlfriend.

"Let's go to school together" I read the message out loud. Cassie wasn't exactly my girlfriend. She was my best friend, my neighbour. Till one day she decided I was her boyfriend and gave me a ring which I rejected. But Cassie wasn't one to back down easily. She saved my name as 'LOVE J' on her phone and saved hers as 'LOVE C' on mine as well. I changed it several times but she would always take my phone and change it back. So I just left it as it was.

I ignored her message and continued with my workout. The buzz continued. I picked up my phone and there were ten new messages from 'LOVE C'.

Are you reading this?

Why aren't you replying?

Jamal Jackson

I know you're seeing this

I'm coming over

Seriously?

I'm calling

Are you shutting yourself out again

Today is that day, isn't it?

I'm seriously worried about you

I checked today's date and realized what day it was. I immediately froze. I couldn't believe I forgot such an important day. My eyes became watery and at that moment I remembered my mum's words "men don't cry". But, how could I restrain my tears when I had so much sorrow in my heart. It was exactly two years today and two weeks before I turned seventeen. The day I lost my all, the only woman I truly loved, Patricia, my mum. How could I have forgotten?

I walked to the closet and flung it open. As the unshed tears stung my eyes, I bent down and took the box that contained my mum's belongings. I took out her favourite scarf, I sniffed it and it was all gone. I couldn't smell my mum any longer. My pain reemerged as if I just lost Patricia yesterday. As I rummaged through the box, I found a picture I took with my mum when I was only eight. I caressed the portrait as I recalled my mum's exact words on that day, "You're special Jayjay, just like your dad". How could she even say that, when the man never cared about our existence?

As I caressed the portrait, I felt something fall to the ground, I checked and it was a diary. A diary which had my name on it. I flipped through the pages and it was empty till I got to the last page. There was a letter penned down in my mum's handwriting.

Happy 17th birthday Jayjay.

I want you to be happy, son. I want you to experience love. Having you in my life and falling in love were the happiest moments in my life. One day when you are older, you'll understand. You deserve to be happy, son. You have to live life, every once in a while just party like a rockstar. Don't procrastinate your happiness because tomorrow is never assured.

I felt my tears glide down my cheeks. I realized how alone I was. Life has never been fair to me. And the death of Patricia was a wound that was never going to heal. I sat on the floor, burying my face in my knee as I hugged my legs. I shed so many tears my eyes began to hurt.

I tossed the diary and the portrait into my suitcase and continued packing for school.

After I brought my three suitcases out, my eyes scanned the apartment for the last time. Two of my suitcases contained my belongings and the last contained the envelopes.

Envelopes that terrified me every time I opened them up. I sighed my last and left for school.

***

SKY'S POV

My stupid phone wouldn't stop buzzing.

My head ached so much from drinking too much last night. Daisy was invited to a party yesterday and I tagged along. Daisy was lying right next to me and she was still asleep. The party was great, that I could recall but how we got here I wasn't so sure. We were so drunk and the stench, oh my god, it was that bad. I looked around and we were in Daisy's room.

"Why wouldn't people just leave me alone?" I said ignoring the buzzing of my phone. The noise awoke Daisy. And she looked normal, even though she drank a lot more than I did.

"You should check your phone. It has been ringing through the night and it's so disturbing" Daisy said and continued with her sleep.

I rummaged through my bag and came out with my phone. It was Michael, my twin brother and I missed ten of his calls. It must have been urgent, Michael would never call more than once. I dialled his number and called him back.

"Hello Michael, what's up? You've been calling through the night" I asked.

"Sky you need to come and see something. Come to my apartment as soon as possible. This is so creepy" Michael hung up immediately before I could ask "why or what?".

"Daisy, I'm going to see my brother. Will you come along?" I asked as I walked to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

"No, I'm really ~very sleepy," she said with sleepy eyes and continued with her sleep. She wouldn't have said that if she knew the famous Michael Klein was my brother. And it was weird how she used very and really in one sentence.

"You might regret it later, Daisy. You should come with me," I said before walking into the bathroom to take my shower. I wore a big black top and green baggy shorts.

"Let's get going," Daisy said. She was one of a kind and she changed her mind immediately after I was done bathing. She said she did not want to regret it so she got ready and we left together. Michael's hostel was just a five minutes walk from mine and we were finally here.

The hostel was one of the most beautiful buildings I had ever seen. It was surrounded by beautiful flowers and coconut trees. It had a huge statue of a mother breastfeeding his child in front and several summer huts located at the right places. I continued examining the hostel as we neared the entrance of the building.

"Sky!" a male voice called from behind. Daisy turned around and suddenly I could see the terror in his eyes. She quickly turned to me blocking my view as I turned back to see who called.

She leaned towards me and whispered to my ears; "Are you still dating Ryan?"

"Who is Ryan?" I asked, peering at her amused.

"The guy that just called your name," Daisy said as she searched for hits on my face. I turned around to take a look at Ryan and I suddenly felt stuck. Ryan enveloped me in a hug. The so-called Ryan was embracing me as if I resurrected from the dead. Did he love me that much? I pulled back since it felt so awkward.

Ryan was so good looking. He had dark hazel eyes and his pointy chin illuminated his clean-shaven face. He had the whitest set of teeth I've ever seen. And his eyes wrinkled when he smiled. His black shirt hugged his body and I could see his muscles protruding. He was so tall and extremely good looking. But for some reason, I found myself comparing him to Jamal, the idiot who almost killed my fish, my hex of England. Maybe, it had to do with the same colour of their eyes.

Jamal was super good looking. He also had hazel eyes. Even after being such a jerk, I found myself thinking about him all day. He was a mystery I wanted to unravel.

My lips parted when I noticed Ryan wasn't alone. He had company. Someone else stood by him and he looked so familiar. Messy brown hair, hazel eyes surrounded by dark circles and a sharp jawline.

Was I hallucinating from overthinking? He was real. In front of me again, the jerk who almost killed my fish. My hex of England.

His gaze was fixed on me and it felt like lasers penetrating my skin. He took a step back when I took a step closer. He kept his eyes fixed on me. As if searching for hits.

"Hello Michaela," he greeted, looking super annoyed. "Do I have to meet you every day," he continued.

We didn't meet yesterday. And how did he know my name? I lifted my gaze to his face. His eyebrows were creased and he peered at me as if he would strangle me any second from now.

The idiot knew my name.

******