Breaking dawn
The world stopped before my eyes, and I stood still, star-struck. My heart started to race. I had never seen anyone so handsome before. I felt like I was in a trance, I couldn't take my eyes off him.
"Miss?" His voice sent cold shivers down my spine, putting every strand of hair on my body at ease.
"Ehm..yes. I would take this one," I smiled, feeling my heart flutter.
"Nico" a voice came from the back of the counter.
'Nico' His name had a nice ring to it. I wonder what Nico was an abbreviation for. Nicolas? Nicole? Nicodemus?. I smiled at the last name.
"Just a minute miss. I will be right back" He wore a crescent moon necklace around his neck and had the inscription of 'Nicola' written on the back of his shirt.
"Nicola," I said under my breath as he walked towards the counter, my heart aching.
"Where have you been child?" I turned to see a stressed Nanny walking towards me. "I have been calling you on the phone."
"You have?" I sounded surprised. "Who was the unfortunate fella that had the chance to teach you?"
"I am a fast learner you know," Nanny said dryly.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I am sorry that took so long," Nico's voice interrupted. "Please move over to the counter, so I can process your payment."
I stood close, watching him from under my eyes. He looked intelligent, just as he was charming. But his eyes looked like they were trying to be happy.
"Here you go," he said, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"Thank you." I stretched out my hands to take the receipt and the puppy manual. My hands brushed his and I quickly jerked feeling flushed.
What was this sensation I was feeling? I turned and walked out of the hall with Nanny, afraid to turn back.
********
"It looks like you were smitten," Nanny said with a twinkle in her eyes as we walked towards the front door of our house.
"Smitten by what?" I tried to look confused. But Nanny already knew that look.
"I am not smitten," I protested. "I just think he is cute," I finally agreed.
Nanny laughed. "Of course you do dear," she said. "But there's no need to be embarrassed about it. It's perfectly normal to be smitten with a handsome young man."
I tried to brush off Nanny Tabb's teasing as I pushed open the front door.
"Hey," Dad stood up from the wooden chair. "I was wondering what was taking you guys so long."
"We were "delayed"," Nanny looked at me teasingly and walked into the kitchen.
"Hi Dad," I said, ignoring Nanny.
"A mail came in from Tulane University while you guys were away," he said, reaching out to pass me the envelope.
"Really?" I had applied to Tulane University and a host of other universities in New Orleans while we were home in Trento. It was the only university that reviewed my credentials and called back for an online interview. So I was hopeful, really hopeful.
I snatched the envelope from Dad's hand, my heart pounding as I opened it and scanned the letters inside. My eyes widened in disbelief.
"I got in, Dad! I got into Tulane!" I cried, waving the acceptance letter in the air.
Dad scooped me up in a big hug. "I am so proud of you Gabriella," he said.
Nanny who had been in the kitchen, came over to join the celebration. She wiped away a tear of joy. "I am so happy for you child," she said.
As I held on tight to Dad's hug, I thought to myself. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all……
The next few weeks were a whirlwind of activity. I had to buy dorm supplies and pack my suitcases. Saying goodbye to Nanny was the hardest, I was sad to leave her behind.
"Be good, Piccolo," she said, hugging me.
"I will Nanny." I kissed her head.
As Dad drove me to Tulane, I felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness. We pulled up to the Tulane campus, and I was awestruck. The buildings were old and stately, and the trees were lined with Spanish moss.
Dad finally said goodbye after kissing me a thousand times with tears in his eyes.
"Excuse me," I stopped a young girl. "Can you tell me how to get to Maple Hall?"
"Sure," she said. "I am headed towards that direction."
"Oh! Great." I said, relieved.
I followed her into the building.
"I am Ariana, by the way," she turned and smiled at me. "I am a sophomore here."
"I am Gabriella, nice to meet you."
"Nice dog," she said looking at Milo.
"Thanks." I increased my pace to keep up with her.
"Room 201," I said out loud, checking the number of each room as I searched for mine.
"Did you say 201?" Ariana asked.
"yeah," I nodded.
"That's my room too," she sounded excited.
We finally got to our room and I began to unpack for the night. I noticed a third bed with no one lying on it. I lay down as seconds turned to minutes and minutes to hours.
I thought of calling home, but I didn't want them to get the impression that I was missing them already, so I tucked Milo close and listened to Ariana sing in the bathroom. She was nice and seemed like a chatterbox.
I lay awake in bed, my eyes closed shut, but my mind racing. It was the night before my first day at school.
What if I didn't make any friends? What if people here were also mean, like back home? What if I don't get accepted?
My stomach fluttered with anxiety.
I let my mind wander as sleep slowly took over my eyes, shutting out what seemed like a growl….a Werewolf's growl into the night. I guess I will be seeing my other roommate tomorrow.
Luna Rossa (Red moon) I ran, ran fast into the woods. I was being chased by a dark figure into the night, I could feel its hot breath on my neck and I could hear its heavy footsteps behind me, I was terrified.I tossed and turned on the bed. My nightmares were coming back, more vivid, more terrifying.I woke up with a start, my heart pounding in my chest."Hey, you're awake," Ariana said, sipping her cup of coffee. "Good morning.""Good morning," I tried to shake off my disoriented feeling. "What time is it?""10 am.""Shit!" I jumped out of bed. I was late for class. I hurried into the bathroom, showered, and brushed my teeth in record time.There shouldn't be much of an entrance for a fresher right? I ran through my closet looking for something comfortable. I dressed up quickly and grabbed my backpack."See you later, Ari" I dashed out the door.Determined not to be later than I already was, I raced down the hallway."Hey! Watch it!" The growl came from beside me.I had accidental
The PartyThe house looked like it was owned by a superstar. We drove in Ariana's friend's car, with a few of her other friends who giggled about the party in my room. I didn't know what to expect, but not what I was seeing right now.I have never been in a room with so many people around. They were booze everywhere and horny teens feasting on each other's bodies. The loud music kept me from hearing what Ariana was saying to me."Relax,"Ariana nudged my shoulders. "It's just a party, they won't bite.""Okay,"I smiled pretentiously.The tension began to ease up a little as I watched other students have fun."Ari Ari.."A girl from the crowd rushed towards Ariana. "You need to come see this. Phil just stripped on the kitchen table and is putting up a show.""Shut up!"Ariana sounded excited. She let go of my hands and ran towards what seemed like a dream come true for her."Hey,"I called out, hoping she could hear me with the loud music playing in the background. "You said we would stick
. It Wasn't LiesThe entire school went on with its activities like something strange didn't happen the other night. I got stared at and mocked like I made the whole story up."She's dying, she's dying,"One of the boys in my class mimicked my voice from the night at the party. The lecture hall burst into laughter. They threw a paper at me that read 'FREAK' on it.'So much for keeping things low Ella..'But I knew what I saw, I wasn't faking it like it was one of those dreams I had. I turned back and watched as they pointed at me and laughed hard. My eyes met Nico's and I could tell for a moment he somehow believed what I said."Good morning class"The lecturer walked In and diverted my attention to him."So strange news came to me this morning about the party of last night"He continued.I sat up straight believing it was time for me to be vindicated. Here it goes."I believe I spoke about you guys playing it low with the level of alcohol you drink at your parties"I stared in unbelief
. A Light At The Tunnel"Isn't he wonderful?"Ariana gushed.I watched Lola laugh about something Nico told her that probably wasn't funny."He sure is,"I frowned.Ariana looked at me and followed the direction of my gaze. "You know it's fine if you admit that you like him.""What!!?"I was startled by Ariana's words. "I don't like him, what's there to like?"I grumbled.Ariana smiled and left her seating position to meet me. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders "Of course you don't,"She paused. "But you didn't notice I was talking about Phil and not Nico." There was a very long pause. I turned to meet Ariana's teasing look. "Come on Ari, I knew you were talking about Phil."I lied."Hell yeah, you did,"She mocked and stood up to cheer the boys playing on the field.'Shit….'The last thing I needed was someone constantly reminding me of my feelings for Nico and, most of all, Ariana. He was a people man, guys loved him, and girls adored him. He had it going on so well for him. He did
A State Of Confusion"Redhead." "Redhead." "Hey Ella!!" I stumbled back into reality as Nico growled my name. "Huh?"I looked at him startled "What?" "Are we doing this or what?"Nico was as confused as I was. "Oh right,"I stood up. "Unbelievable,"he muttered.We were supposed to carry out our research on the dog today, a task that required our full attention. But my mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, each one more troubling than the last. The conversation I overheard at the restroom the other day kept replaying in my head, casting a dark shadow over my mood. I couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong, but for my life, I couldn't figure out whatWith a shake of my head, I tried to banish the lingering echoes of the conversation, pushing them aside to make room for the work at hand."Let's go,"I said to Nico and picked up my bag."Hey, are you okay?"Nico asked, surprising me with the concern in his voice.There was no way I could tell him about the conversation I ov
Missing linksWe gathered around the body outside the girl's dorm. The shock was nothing close to what I was feeling as I stared at the bruised body in horror.It was happening again. The same face scratch, the excessive amount of bleeding and the slow pants. The image of the girl from the party flashed back and I felt a thud in my chest.This was real!! They were monsters in this school, or maybe one monster. But I was relieved a bit, that this time, a bunch of other students could see what I saw. Maybe they would finally believe me and the need for name-calling like "Freak and Crackhead"would stop."Give way, give way"An ambulance came to pick up the body and zoomed off.The crowd was already getting noisy as they murmured to each other. I only stood and watched as the ambulance drove, hoping that the boy stayed alive"This is becoming eerie,"Ariana walked up from behind me. "Why would someone do that to a fellow human?"I turned to look at her frightened face. Ariana's face had gro
The Catch"Dad!"He had gone silent over the phone, not saying a word. "Dad!!"I repeated. "Yes?"His voice was cold."You didn't respond to my question."My curiosity was getting the best of me."What question? I couldn't hear the last statement you made, I think the service went bad,"He lied.It was happening again, just like at home when he acted like he saw a ghost the moment he laid eyes on that frame, he was getting cold feet over the same topic.If Dad wasn't going to tell me what I needed to know, I would have to find out for myself."It's nothing, Dad,"I said in a low voice. "It's probably the service playing tricks on us."Since he wasn't going to tell me anything, how about I also act clueless."Alright Dad,"I wanted to rap up the futile conversation. "I have a class now, talk to you later.""Okay Ella, and Ella"He pushed, "Be careful."I could have sworn there was fright in his voice. "Yes, Dad."I hung up and walked straight to class.*****The woods closed in on me as I cont
In Denial. "Al..pha…"I typed on my laptop and read through, scanning each word as I took in the truth. I was still in a whirlwind of emotions from last night's discovery. My eyes were sore and swollen, I had cried on my way back, running and not looking back. I soaked myself in water every 15 minutes to see if the terrible dream I had just experienced would go away, but it was too real to call off. How could Nico be a werewolf? He didn't look like a person capable of murder. And then Garry and Lola?? I placed my hands on my chest gently rubbing it. The truth was too much to bear. "What are you doing?"Ariana raised her head from her bed. I quickly shut my laptop and replied in secrecy "Nothing." "Why are you up so early,"she yawned and stretched. "So I could study in peace,"My voice gave away the need for privacy and I was hoping Ariana was going to understand that. "Okay, nerd,"She went back to sleep. I turned back to my laptop and read through the words again for the milli