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Aurora ☪︎
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Chapter 01:  Everything Happens for a Reason [Edited]

Everything happens for a reason. At least that's what people like myself would like to think. People like me who need it to have a spark of hope that something good will come out of it.

I've always had this mindset since I was a little girl. Every time something bad would happen, I would remind myself it happened for a reason. Maybe not a good one at the moment, but a reason nonetheless. That whoever controls my life is doing this for an end goal. So when it's 3 a.m. and I'm working in a small diner ten minutes away from campus with a couple of my classmates coming in, I'm hoping it'll be for a good cause.

I set the cloth down on the table and hastily wipe my hands on my apron. Kelly, a working mother of two, and I are the only ones who can take the late shift so we're in charge of everything. She's been working here much longer than I have for the past month, perhaps years.

I tie up my black hair into a high ponytail yet the ends still fall about three to four inches past my shoulders. Picking up the notepad and pen, I make my way over to the familiar blue-haired boy and his friend. His obnoxious, overly pastel hair is not something you see every day.

"Welcome to Diana's Diner. What would you like to order today?" I ask, mustering the most cheery voice I can during this hour. I don't know them very well, which is why I have to use that rehearsed line. I usually pass by them in class to get to my seat a few rows ahead. People also tend to tip better if I act all enthusiastic around them.

The blue-haired boy looks up at me, grinning, a smile way too big for this hour. His unbelievably bright blue eyes stare at me for a brief second before looking back at his menu. I take this chance to get a better look at him.

His skin is pale and decorated with a few tattoos on his left forearm. His white polo shirt that hugs his skin makes all the dark ink stand out more. I don't pay too much attention to his face. Even though he is attractive, I can't get over the hair. You don't see people with blue hair very often, and if you do they usually can't pull it off. He can.

"Okay, let me get the classic burger with fries and a side of mozzarella sticks," His friend with blonde hair says which makes me switch my attention to him while I scribble it down. "Oh, add in a Pepsi, too."

My eyes widen significantly when I finally look up, seeing a nasty bruise on his cheek. I trail down to his hands which are grasping the menu and they're bruised up too. They seem pretty recent seeing that it's only red and hasn't faded into purple quite yet.

"Bar fight," The blue-haired boy speaks up, noticing my stare. There's a slight English accent to his voice, almost unnoticeable. I make myself look away and back towards him before nodding. It's not my business. Though, now that he mentions it, I notice the light smell of alcohol on both of them, which I try not to cringe at.

"What about you?" I ask, redirecting the topic to the task I have at hand, waitressing. I still have time before applying to internships so having a job in the meantime seems like a good plan.

"Chicken and waffles, Caesar salad, and root beer." He nods over to me and I write them down right under his friend's order.

"Alright, they'll come right up," I say, slipping the pen in my pocket. I start walking away, not find it necessary to stay any longer.

"Wait!"

I close my eyes briefly before opening them again, turning around with a smile plastered on my face. I pull my pen out, preparing myself to write down a last-minute order. "Yes?"

"You're in my stats class... Aurora, right? Like the princess." The guy snaps his fingers in realization with an underlining tone of teasing. His friend snorts and I try not to eye-roll at his princess comment, it's something I get easily annoyed at.

I nod curtly.

"I'm Matthew, that's Caleb." he points to the blonde guy with the bruised up face who waves. I nod again, engraving their names to their faces in my mind so I won't forget. Their names sound familiar. I've probably heard it in class but didn't pay much attention to it.

"Okay," I respond before walking away.

☪︎

"Hey, wake up," a voice whispers, and I can feel somebody poking my shoulder. As much as I want to ignore whoever that is, they're making it pretty damn impossible.

My eyes shoot open and I sit up, quickly realizing I'm still in class. The students loudly chatter to each other as they make their way to the door.

"Oh god," I groan, sliding my hands down my face to wake myself up a bit more. I turn to see Matthew right next to me, laptop in hand, and a giant grin plastered on his face. It's just like last night, is he always this happy?

"Thank you," I tell him before standing up and packing my things. This isn't the first time I've fallen asleep in class, but there have been too many times to keep track of.

I blame my insomnia. I can sleep for a few hours during the night, maybe four or five if I'm lucky but when I wake up, I stay up. It's why I work at the diner late at night. If I'm going to be up so early, I might as well make money and do something productive.

"Yeah, no problem, Princess." There it is again, that whole princess joke. Once you hear it a thousand times in high school it gets old. This time I do roll my eyes and start speed walking away from him.

"Hey, wait up!" I hear him jog up to me, completely blocking my path. With the way he's looking at me, I can tell he knows I'm annoyed.

"What?" It comes out harsher than I had planned, seeing as he steps back slightly to give me the option to walk away. His eyes seem to be calculating my movements, trying to figure out how much patience I have left.

"Sorry, I mean what?" I ask in a softer tone, feeling a little bad. I may not get a full eight hours of sleep and can be highly agitated by any little thing, but I still can tell if I'm being an ass or not. In this case, I apologize and fix my tone.

"You stay up late at night, right?" he asks, not acknowledging my apology, not that I care about that anymore.

"Why?" I narrow my eyes slightly, trying to figure out his intentions. He said it out of nowhere which is a little strange.

"How would you like to be invited to a party my frat house is hosting tonight?" he asks, practically shoving his phone to my face. I give him a dirty look, not appreciating the sudden action but all he does is give me a sheepish look.

Nevertheless, curiosity gets the best of me, so I decide to take a look. "This? This is your fraternity?" I ask, the name Sigma Chi written across the screen in bold. The parties they throw are crazy, lasting all night. Their guest list is impossible to get into if you don't have connections. Or so I've heard.

"Why are you so surprised that's my frat?" He asks, cocking his head to the side like a puppy. His tone is light and with the two encounters I've had with him, I question if he's ever been serious in his life.

"I'm not. I'm surprised that you're inviting me, seeing as other people are actually eager to go that you can invite." I nod my head over to the small cluster of people that I noticed following him and some other frat members. People always do that, trying to get an invite.

I've been invited to parties before along with my friends back at home. It would be a hit or miss and after a few, it starts to get boring. People would stop inviting me when they realize I don't go anymore. I don't blame them, I wouldn't want to invite somebody who has no intention of going over and over.

"So you don't want to come?" He questions, walking with me as I check my phone for the time as well. I have another class in ten minutes and I can't be late.

"Precisely," I reply.

"But the party will be so boring without you," he pouts but immediately drops it when I give him a look, unconvinced. Who just says that to a stranger? "Besides I'm sure you have nothing else to do tonight so what do you have to lose?"

I stay silent, unsure how to answer it so he continues to speak.

"Okay. How about, I add your name to the guestlist anyway so you'll still have the option to come if you decide to, yeah?"

"Why do you even want me there? I don't know you."

His lips quirk up in a small smirk. "Because I think you're interesting. You have a mysterious vibe and I like it."

"Oh, so you think with me going to this party I'll suddenly be swooned by you and tell all my secrets?" I ask sarcastically.

"Yeah! So is that a yes?"

He has a look of determination and I know he won't let this go unless I give him an answer so I just nod. "Okay fine. I'll consider it, but I make no promises of showing up." I warn, stopping just so I make sure he understands it.

His never disappearing smile grows a little wider, I'm surprised he has no smile lines or how he manages to make a smile that big look so casual. He puts out his pinkie in front of me and I look down.

"Really?" I raise an eyebrow and he nods eagerly like a child.

Letting out a deep sigh I give in and wrap my pinkie around his before quickly letting go and walking away. "I have to go now, bye."

"I'll see you tonight sleeping beauty!" he yells, loud enough for random people nearby to hear. I purse my lips, wanting to come right back and smack him for giving me those names. I resist that temptation and instead head to my next class.

This is the first official chapter of Dream with Me! I hope you enjoyed it and there's more coming.

If you're confused from the prologue, the prologue matches up with the ending. You'll have to read the ending to make sense of the prologue.

Anyways vote, comment, and share with your friends! I love reading comments and it would be a great help if you can share this story to other people.

(Side note to the book club members reading my story, commenting will really help me keep track of who read my story and who didn't, thank you!)

Much love

Jess