What happens in the mall stays at the mall
I stood on the balcony of my new apartment, gazing out at the nuzzling city of New Orleans. Finally, I was here, in the vibrant and historic city. I had heard a lot about New Orleans, particularly the weather. The summers were hot, long, and oppressive, while the winters were short, cool, and windy.
I thought of ways to gradually embrace my new life and feel excited, but I couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. The scene from last night flashed back and a sudden sense of shivers ran down my spine. Dad had always been secretive about his past, and I had never been able to pry it out of him. But I knew something was haunting him. It was the way he looked at me sometimes, with a mixture of love and fear.
I shook my head, trying to dispel the negative thoughts. I was here to start a new life, so I might as well start trying to make the most of it. I turned away from the balcony, waiting for Nanny to get dressed. It surprised me all the time how I always managed to get ready before her.
"I wonder what she always does that takes so much time," I murmured. "I mean, you are old, you just have to jump into your boggy gown, it can't be that hard."
"Gabriella!!" My heart skipped at the sound of her voice. I hope she didn't hear me.
"Nanny," I protested while walking down the stairs. "I have told you not to strain yourself shouting like that." I searched her eyes to see if there was any glint of disappointment.
"You have a cell phone, just call me when you need me," I smiled.
"pst…" she scoffed, "I told your papa I didn't know how to handle one of those," she said frowning.
I laughed, took her hands, and walked out the front door.
We managed to get to the mall in less than an hour using a train after Nanny had several stops watching numerous street performances, and rewarding each of them with a coin. She decided to shop at the food section, while I walked aimlessly around the mall thinking of what to buy with Dad's credit card.
I had intentions of spoiling myself a lot today, all at the expense of Dad of course.
'This should teach him never to drop an impromptu one on us ever again'.
I had tried not to sound so excited when he offered to cover all expenses, or else he was going to get suspicious.
"I like your Dad," Lucy once told me. "He knows the way to a lady's heart, and shopping is one of them!" she exclaimed while twirling around in her new gown.
A feeling of nostalgia came rushing back.
I came to a halt when I saw a puppy signboard that had 'Kennel' written on it.
'No way' I never knew they had a place where people could buy dogs at a mall. I walked into the hall and it immediately felt like I was in heaven.
"Hey cuties," my voice was high-pitched. I was overly excited.
"Hi there, what's your name," I picked up a puppy and looked at his tag, "Let's see…"
"Oh, it says here that you are Mi…."
"Stop him! Stop him!!" a scared voice screamed from across the hall "He stole my bag, someone please stop him."
I watched in amazement as the security guards ran after a man covered in a hoodie. Trying to jump over every cart while apologizing to everyone they bumped into.
"Here's your bag ma'am" The guards handed the young girl her bag after what seemed like a wild goose chase.
'Thank God they caught him'
"You don't mess with me next time you see me," The young girl said hitting his chest and stamping her legs on his feet.
She smiled across the hall to where I was standing. I turned back to be sure I was the one she was smiling at and gave a nod when I saw nobody was standing behind me. She waved at me and walked away from the security guards and the man who stole from her.
I smiled in amusement 'What a funny character' I liked her instantly.
"Would you like to get this one miss?" The husky voice startled me. Shifting my attention from the drama across the hall to the whining sound of the puppy on my hands.
"Yes please, I love this one," I raised him. "He is super cute…"
My voice left me, as I stared at the man standing close to me. 5' 7'' inches, broad shoulders, Viking gold hair, bristly eyebrows, a hawkish nose, firm long legs, alluring eyes, and sensual lips. 'God the man was sexy!!'
Breaking dawnThe 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 unfortunat
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