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WHO GABE IS
AURORA
My eyelids were heavy and my body ached, the sound of a beeping heart monitor waking me up. Heart monitor. That means that someone found me and I'm not dead. I managed to open my eyes and saw everything blurry until I blinked a couple of times, then I noticed my hand felt heavy, so I looked down and saw a man's hand atop mine. My blood ran cold and I snatched it away as soon as possible, waking its owner.His forehead had been on the bed next to our hands, and he shook his black hair gently before he looked up at me, "Oh, hey, you're awake," he stood up and smiled that same smile that would always make me feel butterflies. Now, I barely felt anything."Kiran?" I croaked out. My throat was dry and hurt like a bitch."It's me, I'm here," he answered as he brought a straw for me to sip some water from to my lips, "I'm so sorry, Aurora. For everything." He tried to touch my face, but I quickly pulled away from him.Related chapters
Chasing Sunlight HERO
KIRAN "Mr. and Mrs. Williams," I greeted as they entered the waiting room where I had been sitting, "How is she?" They looked at each other and then Mrs. Williams said to me, "Kiran, Peter, and I would like to thank you for finding and bringing Aurora here, but we think you should leave." I swallowed, "Did she ask you to kick me out?" "No." "Yes." Her parents answered at the same time and Mrs. Williams looked at her husband in disbelief when he answered yes, all while keeping his eyes on Kiran with a strong and intimidating look. No matter if it was Aurora to ask me to leave or her parents, I'm clearly not welcomed here, so I nodded my head to them and left. Once outside the hospital and in the fresh, crisp air, I knew I wouldn't be able to go home and sit still, so I decided to walk to the gym - I had to get the car, anyway, so two birds with one stone. It was a forty-minute walk, and all the time I kept seeing
Chasing Sunlight MOVING?
AURORA Sleep was impossible. I felt pain everywhere, and after a painful trip to the bathroom, I got to see all of the bruises that Gabe caused. My left eye was black, my bottom lip was busted, my cheek was red from him slapping me, and it is faintly visible where his hand was when he was choked me. I looked like I had been kidnapped and tortured for information. I learned that Gabe was on a separate floor than me and on the opposite side, which made me feel a little better, but they wouldn't tell me if he was awake or not - which was worrying. I found out this morning that my room faces East and I was able to watch the sunrise. I thought about Kiran a lot, especially then, but I tried to distract myself. My parents have forbidden me from seeing him several times now, and he even said that we don't belong together, so I am trying to put my own feelings to the side and respect their wishes. "Good morning, Ms. Wil
Chasing Sunlight CAN I BE HIM
AURORA My heart skipped a beat and my stomach dropped when I heard the knock on the door. I had been organizing things to donate before we moved while my parents were finishing up some things with their work before we packed up the house.My parents understood my uneasiness being back in the house, and I'm thankful for the move and how quickly they had gotten everything into motion. I see things differently now. I think differently. My mind has been rewired to assume that everyone meant me harm, that no one was who they claimed to be, and it was a horrifying revelation. When I saw it was Kiran, I was filled with relief more than anything, but I was also nervous to answer the door. I didn't know what he could be here to say that he hadn't said at the hospital or the night before Gabe's attack. Since I'm leaving, and I don't know if I'll ever see him again, I spilled everything to him. Every thought, emotion, feeling that I ever f
Chasing Sunlight THE END
AURORA "Because you want to." Such a simple answer to a heavy question. Four words, 16 letters, that hold so much truth that it could change my life forever. "We're going to be 18 soon," he began to reason, "The day that happens, we run away, we move to New York. You can focus on Broadway, and I've always wanted to fight at Madison Square Garden," he was smiling as he spoke, "I don't think either of us has much of a life here anymore... let's run away." My mouth was agape and my head was spinning. The thought of dropping everything and leaving with a guy that I've only known for a few months filled me with anxiety, fear, hope, and excitement. I've never done anything so crazy before - I've always been the goodie two shoes who always follows the rules, I'm not the kind of person to just run away with a guy I'm in love with. In love with. I smiled at my initial thought. When I thought about Gabe that d
Chasing Sunlight INTRO
Kiran The school was cold and smelled of fresh rain, something I should have expected entering a school in the early morning of August in Oregon. The walls were gray-painted bricks and the floor was cold concrete, making my shoes tap with every step. It felt like I was walking into a prison, not a high school. Through the doors and to the right side, there were a few people gathered in a circle on the cold ground and against the wall. One of the students had a guitar with him but wasn’t playing. My first class is off to the left of the school’s entrance, so I wasn’t able to do any more than glance at the group of people, even though my curiosity was piqued. I haven’t pulled out my guitar in forever. It was just a hobby of mine that I picked up years ago when my dad convinced me it was a sure way to win a girl's heart – to serenade her. My passion wasn’t in music, though, I chose to devote my time and energy to M
Chasing Sunlight FIRST DAY
KIRAN I gripped onto the strap of my backpack that was swung over my shoulder and made my way to the first class of the day. English. You'd think having English be your first language would make it easy to pass. Not true. Walking in, I saw the typical sight for a high school class: by the windows were a group of girls who were sitting on top of their desks and gossiping, near the front of the class were the kids who would be labeled nerds, arranging their papers and books precisely to their needs, and in the back of the classroom was the one guy who always has his feet on his desk with his arms crossed and his hat over his face, taking a nap. I decided to take a seat at the desk next to the sleeping guy since there was less chance of him trying to talk to me and ask the inevitable question of, “Hey, you’re the new guy, right?” I still need to get my anger issues under control until I start mingling and trying to make friends here. I wish I had found a
Chasing Sunlight LUNCH
KIRAN At my old school, we walked around like we owned the place. Girls drooled over me and my buddies – I guess you could say we were popular, but we were one of the many popular groups at that school – the “tough guy" group, I guess since we were all fighters. I did the classic new kid move and sat at the corner of the cafeteria closest to the exit with a small amount of food. I needed to have an easy escape should someone try to approach me and somehow trigger my anger and I can’t hold my tongue, causing me to need a quick getaway. I don’t want to make a bad first impression because I’m here to try to better myself, and I know my sarcastic personality can come across as rude sometimes. I definitely wouldn’t describe myself as shy or meek by any means, but I’m not the most sociable person when I’m out of my comfort zone, and I am entirely out of my zone right now. No one will ever
Chasing Sunlight CHEMISTRY
AURORA Gabe slung his arm over my shoulder and whispered into my ear, “Who were you talking to, babe?” “Just greeting the new kid.” I smiled at him and put a fry in my mouth. “He’s funny, I think we could be friends.” Gabe laughed, “You try to be friends with everyone, babe.” I tilted my head and said, “You say that like it’s a bad thing.” “You’re just too nice sometimes." He pinched my cheek with a pout. I rolled my eyes at him and continued eating, letting my ears tune into the other conversations so that I didn’t have to hear another lecture from Gabe about being too nice. My third class of the day was Mr. Hammond's chemistry class, one of my favorite teachers. He makes chemistry fun and he jokes around a lot, he kind of reminds me of Bill Nye – the way that you kind of think of him as a goofy uncle fig
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