In case you're reading, it'll be nice to also drop a comment me because it makes it easy for me to thank you for deciding to read this book. So, don't be a silent reader. Lol!

Anyway, one of my books got accepted into the Wattys2020 awards. Wish me success..

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Never in my huge imagination would I have believed that one day I'd get to see Alexander in person, get driven in his car to get tea and after that having my number stored in his phone as 'Suicide Girl'.

He also gave me four tickets to his game next week. I think I must have impressed him by mentioning all the footballers that had played for his club from 2013 till date.

Alexander was visiting his friend here in Manchester whose wife got delivered of a baby boy over the weekend, however, he said he'd be returning to Liverpool tomorrow.

"Why are you grinning like a lunatic?" Summer asked.

My grin vanished. "It's nothing." I tried to unlock the front door but Summer pulled me back by the scruff of my neck.

"Who's the guy?" She beamed.

I scoffed, hitting her hand away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The door came open after I had typed in the password. Mom wasn't home yet. Summer followed me to the kitchen. I was glad when her phone distracted her and I could drink my water in peace.

"You lucky bitch!" She squealed, walking briskly to my side and shoving her Samsung Galaxy in my face. "Alexander Arnold followed you on Twitter! So this was what you were hiding, you sneaky girl." She flicked my forehead with her index finger.

Sighing, I seized her phone. "Are you stalking me?"

Summer rolled her eyes. "We will have a long talk now. Come on, you."

My friend didn't let me protest and dragged me ask the way to my room, balancing on my own bed like it was hers.

Idiot.

"I stumbled into him today." I confessed.

Summer's smile widened. She tapped on the bed. "Come and sit. Tell me all about it honey."

With a snort, I did as she asked. However, I did not tell her about the circumstances surrounding my meeting with the footballer. It was better no one knew about my attempted suicide. I trust Alexander not to tell anybody.

"He gave you tickets to the game next week? Hell yeah, I'm definitely coming. I'll tell Winter and Cole right away." Her hyperactivity was sort of getting on my nerves but I laughed it off.

"Where's Crystal and Emma?"

"Emma will be flying back to the States this evening, I'm certain. Crystal went with her to visit some of their friends. Winter should be at home."

Snorting, I switched my gaze to the chandelier above our heads. "I didn't ask you about Winter."

"I know you, Aurora. You care about him so much and even more than me and Cole." Summer said in a soft voice that forced my eyes to settle on her.

"It's bad when you put it like that."

She shrugged. "Have you heard anything from your stepfather?"

I accepted the diversion gladly because I would have said one or two words back and she would have become offended. How could she say something like that?

Summer cleared her throat. "I asked you a question, Aura."

I smiled. "Mom said he's getting a lawyer to fight his case in court."

My friend scoffed in annoyance. "That stupid piece of shit."

Closing my eyes, I fell back on my bed. "Can we talk about something else?"

I could feel her scrutinizing gaze on me. Hearing her sigh, I opened my eyes.

"Fine. Let's about about our love lives."

Groaning, I rolled over and laid on my stomach, spreading my hands above my head.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes!!! Now stand up, you little shit."

I laughed when Summer tickled under my foot until I subjected to her demand. We talked till way past midnight, and passed out carelessly sprawled on my bed.

Mom didn't come home that night.

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"Aurora." A voice whispered.

"Come with us." Another whispered.

In the dark room I was cowering in, a silhouette of a man formed at the window which was the only source of light. He looked at me and I saw his eyes, they were red. The man laughed, displaying sharp teeth.

He came forward and seized my neck. My hands thrashed helplessly at him but they went right through him.

"Let me go." I begged, feeling life drain out of me.

He chuckled. "You are mine, Aurora. Mine."

Jerking awake, I wiped my sweaty forehead with the upper part of my blanket before ripping it off my body.

The nightmares. I'm used to them. I'm used to seeing those monsters that they no longer bother me, but each time I awake from those dreams, it's like I lost another part of me to them.

And as for that stupid f*cker claiming me as his, he should get another think coming. I would fight next time.

My room was dark as usual because the curtains were not yet open and I hated sleeping with the lights on.

Summer's side of the bed was empty. I figured she was in the bathroom or downstairs because her yellow backpack purse was still on my bedside table.

Winter texted me.

▶WLH: do you want to hang out at my place? just you and me... I think summer and cole are going bowling with his friends.

I smirked. That sneaky rat.

◀Me: Sure, give me a time. But you're coming to pick me.

▶WLH: By six this evening. And I'll think about driving you or not...😎

His house was like twenty minutes away from here. Maybe I would walk. And that leaves me with eight hours to myself unless Summer had other plans.

Summer emerged from the bathroom stark naked, erupting into a loud guffaw when I buried my face under the blanket.

"Put on some clothes, you crazy woman!"

She burped loudly. "Borrow me some of your clothes. I'll return them later."

"You never do." I stated, catching a glimpse of her backside as she strutted into my wardrobe like she owned the place.

"I'm glad you understand me, my friend. What the hell Aurora? This place looks like death. There's only black and grey here!" Summer yelled

I laughed, logging into my Instagram account. "Take what you see or walk home naked."

She might actually consider doing that. I had a psychopath for a friend.

"Hold on-" She poked her head out. "That would be a horrific idea. Imagine the poor souls I'll scar for life.".

See? I told you.

"Consider me no longer as your friend."

Summer went back inside. "You know I'd be a great role model to my god children."

I snorted, journeying to my bathroom and leaving the door open. "As if I'd let your crazy ass near my kids!"

"Winter would." Summer yelled.

"As will Cole." I teased, laughing at the embarassing red tinge on her cheeks.

Summer quickly recovered. "Don't forget to confess your undying love to your boyfriend. We wouldn't want lose our my future god kids right?" She waggled her brows at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Shut the fuck up."

She laughed, rushing into the bathroom. "I love you, I love you, I love you toooooooo!"

Oh, shoot me already.

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"Should I order Chinese?" Winter asked, dropping me on his bed. I had asked him to give me a back ride from the front door.

"Sure." I tossed my drawstring to a corner.

Winter's mother, Lauren had laughed at our immaturity from outside the house. She worked in one of the Chambers in central Manchester and her work closes by six every evening and starts by seven in the morning. Willow wished to follow in her mother's choice of career. I don't blame her because they both could argue effectively.

While he made the call to the Chinese restaurant, I sat Indian fashion farther up on his bed and opened his laptop only to be greeted with an image of him and Crystal as his wallpaper.

Something shifted inside of me upon seeing the cones of pink ice-cream in their hands. Crystal had a hand hooked in his right arm while his other hand took the photo. The huge smiles on their face told me they had a fun time.

When was this?

Feeling the bed dip beside me, I gazed at Winter. He had this expression that was reserved for only me. The warm kind, the sensational kind, the-

"Are you and Crystal together now?" I asked him while he focused on searching out a movie folder on his laptop.

"Yes."

"When did this happen?"

To some people I might come off as nosy. As best friends, Cole, Summer, Winter and I are responsible for each other. We are here so that no one makes terrible mistakes and gets to suffer the consequences. So, this is me looking out for my best friend.

"At the party-" Oh, the one you guys disappeared on me. "We talked and connected over a couple of drinks."

And another thing. I smirked.

Winter noticed this and pinched my right cheek. "Don't worry, you're still my best friend. No one will steal me away."

I wanted to ask if he was sure about that but I settled for a weak smile instead and switched my gaze back to the laptop.

No one better be stealing you away.

"Death note?"

Winter wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close. "Yeah, I got some movies from Crystal."

Crystal, Crystal, Crystal. The mention of her name alone had an awful jarring effect on my nerves.

"I didn't ask who you got the movie from."

Winter stared at me, taken aback by my harsh tone.

"What's your problem?" He demanded.

I got my phone from my drawstring. "Let's just focus on the movie, shall we?"

Winter thought it better not to argue with me and changed his attention to the movie while my mind wandered far away from things like 'Death Note' and spiraled around the recent events in my life. Sven's arrest which was a very good thing, Alexander, now Crystal and Winter were dating... What more could possibly happen?

I wasn't jealous of them. Like Summer, I knew Crystal would hog Winter all to herself now that they were dating and that would not be nice. Summer would freak out if she gets wind of this new development. Cole I was sure would act unbothered as was his usual reaction to stuff.

Maybe, I need to visit Summer so that we could plan Crystal's death ASAP(As soon as possible). Maybe we could sneak bees into her room at night, or drown her somewhere. Just kidding.

"Aura." Winter called me from my evil thoughts.

"Hmm?" I hummed.

He shoved a plate of ramen and shrimps in my hand. I avoided his eyes, afraid of meeting the grave expression in them.

After shutting the laptop, he sat on the bed, sitting face to face with me.

"What's on your mind?"

Nervous, I glanced away from his striking blue eyes. The effect of the sweet aroma of my food on my nose was lost.

This conversation was long overdue. I had no single escape route out of this one.

Winter's next move was unexpected. He raised my chin with a finger and gazed deep into my eyes as if by doing so he could unravel every tangle of my mind.

"Tell me." He urged.

"It's nothing."

Winter sighed. "You're an awful liar. And don't think about escaping from this conversation, it's not happening."

Okay. Telling him about my suicidal thoughts would not sit right with me. Should I or should I not?

I decided not to. "I'm worried about my step-father leaving prison very soon."

Winter reached up to brush away something on my forehead. I sucked in some air at his touch.

"He won't leave soon, I promise you." He slid some strands of ramen into his mouth and slurped noisily on them.

Finally, the confession I needed. "You put the call across."

He choked slightly, dropping his chopsticks on my socks- covered feet. "W-what?"

"Oh please. I knew you called for Sven's arrest. However you did it, I'm grateful to you. Can I eat my food now?"

Winter chuckled at the way I had been writing eyeing my food repeatedly. "You and food-"

"-are inseparable. Thank you."

While I ate, I made a few tweaks to this new book I'm planning on publishing soon. It was sort of like a diary I wrote daily and only Winter got that privilege of seeing it. Summer would cringe at the amount of depressing 'sh*t' in it and Cole... He was unpredictable.

Winter's room was filled with the melancholic tunes that seeped steadily into my soul. Good Classical music.

It seemed ancient of me to like a genre of music that has been in existence for a long time. Everyone's entitled to their choices, right?

Winter preferred Jazz, Summer Hip-Hop, K-Pop, Cole, Rap and Country music.

"Have you slept with her?"

Winter shot me a nonchalant look. "No, just a couple of weird stuff that you wouldn't know about."

I quirked a brow. "Try me."

He smirked. "She blowed me."

I feigned disgust since I already knew. "Nasty." My eyes had to betray me and travel down to his crotch. Bad girl.

"Who's corrupting your innocent mind, Aura?" Winter voice was a little lower than usual and his eyes... I just could not look in them because of the tingly feeling crawling up my spine due to the intentional movement of his fingers on my leg.

"I'm not that innocent you know. My mind's ruined everyday by Wattpad and the television."

Winter smirked. "If you say so. Want a drink?"

"Yes." With one last look at me, he grabbed the empty plates and their wrappings, then headed out.

Me on the other hand, I silently screamed into a pillow and hit my head with my knuckles multiple times, although my thick hair got in the way.

"He has a girlfriend, he has a girlfriend, he has a girlfriend." My chant continued until Winter came back with a water jug and two empty glasses.

"Who has a girlfriend?"

Nervous, I grinned. "Aladdin."

How was this chapter?

You realize I'm still setting up the stage for some major events right? And the next couple of chapters would be quite eventful before I slow things down a bit😎

So, let me hint you about what would happen in the next chapter... Well... we get to see Alexander again!!! That's all the hint I'm giving, lol 😁

Thank you for reading and your constructive feedback are always appreciated.

Love,

Tris❤