1.

ALORA

Someone is watching me.

His dark eyes and the smile on his lips make me want to run but my legs refuse to move.

“My doll” he calls out to me with a sickening smile that makes my body feel like it has bugs crawling on it. “I’m coming for you, Alora. You belong to me”

My eyes prickle with frustrated tears at how helpless I feel towards this man who makes all the alarm bells in my head go into a frenzy.

“Who are you?” I choke out with a voice that betrays the terror I feel. I have no idea who this man is or why I am so terrified of him.

“Stop” I scream when he begins to run towards me while cackling like the sinister characters in the horror movies that I hate with a passion. “Don’t come any closer” I yell out, more desperately.

“Alora!” someone yells from a distance but I am too terrified to look away from the man who is getting closer as I struggle to force myself to move.

“No!!!” I scream with horror when the distance closes between us and his hand darts out to touch me “Don’t touch me!!!”

“Ali!” the voice yells again and this time it sounds closer, louder and more desperate.

I am forced into a sitting position as a blood-curdling scream tears past my parched lips. I thrash blindly, scratching and pushing at the hands that try to wrap around me.

"I got you. I got you, princess" my cousin, Tristan, whispers in my ears, not releasing the hold he has on me.

“You are safe, princess. It was just a dream,” he assures, his heart beating as fast as mine.

I cling to my cousin and take deep breaths. I feel another hand pat my hair gently, and I look up to see Ronan, my best friend, looking at me with worry.

My body trembles while I try to calm down, but it isn’t easy. It’s never been easy to regain myself after a nightmare.

“Here,” Ronan whispers and hands me a glass of water and some pills.

“Thank you” I mumble shakily as I pull back from the hug and take them from him. I hand the empty glass back to Tristain who places it on the bedside table.

Ronan takes a seat beside me, his green eyes filled with so much worry as he leans down to place a gentle kiss on my forehead.

I lean into his touch and let out a shaky breath, sighing in contentment at the warmth I get from him. He was always so warm.

"Are you sure you can resume classes tomorrow? You are a mess, Ali?" Tristan asks.

"I will be fine. It was just a nightmare" I tell him, sitting up to wipe the stray tears that slipped.

"Maybe you should take a week off. It's college, no one would give you any hassle for deciding to resume a week late," Ronan suggests but I was already shaking my head in refusal.

"No," I say firmly, sitting up, "I have to start with everyone else. What is the use of starting over if I cower before the starting line?"

It’s been seven months since high school. Seven months since the bullying incident that forced me to lose over 50kg of weight. Three years since the mistake that ruined my life and an eternity since the whispers and nightmares that tormented me.

Tristan sighs. We’ve had this conversation before, and I know he is worried, but I can’t stop now. It will be much more difficult to start over again if I do.

Tristan was more than my cousin on my mama’s side. His parents died in a fatal air crash when he was ten, so he was raised as my brother by my parents.

“Ali, I know this is very important for you, so why don’t you consider coming to school from the house? That way mama can keep her eyes on you,” he suggests like I knew he would, but I shake my head in refusal.

“I am not going to attend Uni from home, Tris. I am fine” I insist. “They are just nightmares. I didn’t push myself to the point of death trying to lose that much weight in a short amount of time so I could back down because of a stupid nightmare.”

"Maybe we should leave tomorrow? We can still make it to practice," Ronan suggests, and I get on my feet.

Tristan is currently signed to a basketball team in Manchester. Ronan loved playing basketball too and wanted to go pro, so Tristan convinced his team to sign Ronan as well. They were due at the camp today, but they had insisted on helping me move into my apartment.

“No” I refuse, glaring at them both “I am not a child. I can take care of myself”

Tristan is not one to back down. His golden-brown eyes, like mine, peer at me intently, but I don’t back down and hold his gaze.

I have always envied Tristan. For as long as I could remember, Tristain was always the popular guy. His 6’8 athletic build, thick curly brown hair and sleeve tattoos drew people to him like a magnet.

We were both a stark contrast to Ronan who had pale skin, green eyes and blonde hair with a charming smile that made girls swoon. They were both girls’ magnets.

Tristain sighs in defeat before he grabs his backpack by the side of my bed and turns to Ronan. “We got to leave now if we don’t want to miss our flight.”

“Are you coming with us?” Ronan asks and I arch a brow.

“To the airport?” I don’t mind since the airport is close to my apartment, but I still have a lot to unpack.

“No” Tristan answers and points to my anxiety and panic disorder pills bottles in Ronan’s hands. “You are out, and Mama Delani said to make sure you got them refilled.”

“Mama said that?” I ask in surprise. She is strongly against me using pills to manage my anxiety and panic attacks because she fears that I will get addicted to them. “I thought she didn’t want me to take them anymore?”

Tristan shrugs “Pops managed to convince her to let you get them refilled since you would be alone in school.”

“Here” he hands me a prescription signed by my doctor. “But she still doesn’t want you taking them unless it’s absolutely necessary” he warns, giving me a knowing look as I snatch the prescription and tuck it into my shorts pocket.

“You want us to drop you?” Ronan asks again and I shake my head.

“I’ll go alone so I can drive myself back,” I tell him.

"Are you sure you’ll be fine?” Tristan asks again, and I roll my eyes before I push them towards the door.

“Stay safe, Al” Ronan says with a sad smile before hugging me “I’ll miss you like crazy. Promise to text me all day even if I’m too busy to reply. And add photos too.”

I hug Tristan as well before pushing them out the door. "Call me before you take off and after you land" I instruct before slamming the door in their faces.

"She is such a spoiled brat" Tristan gasps and I can imagine the dramatic expression on his face.

"As if that's not on you," Ronan scoffs.

The smile disappears from my face as soon as I hear their footsteps move away from the door. I sink to the floor against the door and my hand finds its way into my newly installed butterfly locs.

I pull hard, hoping the pain will make me feel better “I’ll be fine.”