I awoke to the soft sound of a door closing. My eyelids fluttered open. I looked around the room. It had an airy feel to it. It was the palest shade of lavender, with a small white desk and a big set of French doors leading out to a balcony. There were a few chairs in the room and on the balcony. There were two doors on each side of her bed.

Her jaw dropped open. This was certainly an improvement from the cramped room she shared with the girls at the orphanage. Before she could get dragged back into that nightmare, the French doors opened.

A man with curly black hair walked in. He didn't pay any attention to her as he grabbed one of the chairs and went to go set it on the balcony among the others already there.

She watched him do this twice over before she asked, "What are you doing?" The man jumped, his grip on the chair loosening. He swung his head towards her. He looked her up and down. He took a few seconds to respond. "I'm bringing these chair out to the balcony to make room," he said. He went through the French doors and returned a few seconds later, empty handed.

She nodded her head." That makes sense," she said. Another question came to mind. "What's your name? This whole time I've been calling you "The man", in my mind."

He chuckled and shook his head. There was something about that laugh....

"Do you want to know the full name?" he asked. She shrugged.

He smiled again, wide enough for me to notice a small dimple in his left cheek. "Then it's Darin Nicholas Avery Lakesture. You can call me Darin," he said. "And you are?"

"My name is Rowan Daring. It's nowhere near as fancy as yours, but I make do," I joked. I held out a hand." It's nice to meet you, Darin, well, besides the part where you found me and carried me here," I laughed. Darin did the same.

He took my hand and pumped it up and down twice. "Same here. You know, you're kind of funny."

I stuck my chin up. "It comes with the territory of being me. Thanks," I said. A cough came from the doorway. We both turned our heads. There was a girl with dark skin and brown curly hair with bits of purple streaking through it. She was wearing black everything, even her makeup was black.

She smirked. "Jeez, Darin, the poor girl's not even awake for an hour and already your hitting on her," she shook her head," Sad, so sad." Darin let go of my hand as if it were a hot coal burning his hand.

He glared at the girl. "I am not hitting on her. Just being friendly towards our guest. You should try it sometime," he said.

She snorted. "Yes, I'm sure your right," she said and kicked the door closed. She strode towards my bed. She set a tray down on a table beside my bed. "Eat this, you'll feel better. I'm Talia, by the way. Some people like my brother don't know how to introduce people correctly," she said, plopping down on a chair and kicking her feet up against the wall.

"Thanks. I'm Rowan," I replied. Talia just nodded. I grabbed the tray and sat it on my lap. There was steaming soup and a sandwich with a tall glass of lemonade.

I finished the sandwich off in a matter of minutes. I took a sip of the lemonade, loving the sourness. I took another huge gulp, then turned to the soup. I dipped my spoon in the soup and brought it to my lips. The hot soup came in contact with my lounge and I screeched and spit the soup back in the bowl.

I flapped my hands over my face. "Hot, hot, hot!!! That was hot!" I could feel my face heating up, though I didn't know if it was because of the soup or my embarrassment.

Talia burst out laughing and I blushed harder. I looked over at Zee's. There was a look of amusement on his face, but, to my relief, didn't laugh.

He leaned in close and said, "It helps if you blow on it first." Talia laughed harder. I glared at him, but it didn't have any merit. Then, I cracked.

My quiet chuckled turned into loud peals of laughter. Tears were in my eyes. "You know, you're probably right," my laughter quieted as I said, "Though, in my defense, that could possibly be the first warm meal I've had in months."

Hey guys! First thanks for taking a chance with me and reading my book! I've had so much fun writing it and I hope you guys had a good time reading it! Please follow me for notifications when I post the next chapter! Also, feel free to comment, I love constructive criticism, so don't be afraid to correct any mistakes you think are there! Until next time...

~ChancebyCandor~