Prologue – When You Are Hurt

I never thought it would happen. I never thought I would fall in love. But I did, and it left me shattered inside. The feeling was so exhilarating that I completely forgot the most important thing life had ever taught me. Sometimes, the ones you love the most are the ones that stab you in the back. That's what he did to me, and how I ended up on the other side of the world trying to start a new life. I should have known. When it came to loved ones, I didn't have the best experience. The ones who I thought were the most precious things to me in the universe turned out to be something horrific. But it was ten times worse when the love of my life put me in danger because of his ego, and then walked out of my life with the same confidence he walked in with, as if nothing had ever happened between us…

Chapter 1 – History

[3 years ago…]

"Hey girl. What's up?"

"Nothing much."

"Wrong!"

"Wrong?"

"Yup. There are loads of things up. You know, like the sky and clouds etc."

I stared at Serena and shook my head at her. She always had some sort of crazy comment lingering in her head. But I guess she could say the same about my sarcasm.

"Breaking News. There is a shortage of common sense in the world. Stupidity has taken over!" I said as Serena laughed and opened her locker to reveal pics of us from the day we became friends right up until the party we went to last weekend.

We had always been inseparable, from day one. I knew all her secrets and she knew all of mine. I couldn't imagine what I would do without Serena. She got me through the toughest times of my life. When my brother died, when my mum left my dad for another man, and when my dad began abusing me because of his frustration. Serena was my support through all those times and we spent endless nights where I just cried on her shoulder in her room and she told me everything was going to be okay. If it wasn't for her, I would have joined my brother in the afterlife long ago. But she kept me going. Especially when I found out what it was like to be hurt by the ones I loved the most.

When my mum left us, I felt betrayed. I thought that all those times she said to me that she would always love me and never forget me, she was lying. Her leaving our lives broke me inside and it broke my dad as well. He used me to take all his frustration out. He would beat me, torture me. He even tried to stab me once but my brother, Daring, saved me and got stabbed in the heart. I didn't know if he was dead or not at the time but the blood made me unconscious and we both ended up in hospital where I found out that Daring had died saving me. To this day, I feel that it should have been me. I should have been the one who died, not him. He may have been a year older than me but acted like the father I lost when my mum left. The police took Dad away and I went to live with my cousin Tiara and my aunt Divine. Ever since, I have lived with them and tried to forget about the past. Tried to forget everything that happened. But no matter how hard I tried, life would always bring me back to square one. Sometimes I feel as if the world is trying to tell me something. That the ones I love the most will be the ones to bring me the most pain. But I guess that isn't always true. I mean, I do have Serena and she would never turn on me. Not after all the times she got me through life.

"CIARA!"

"What?"

"Are you alright? You kinda zoned out and I was worried because usually when you're quiet, you're thinking about something and that's my cue to leave cuz I don't want to be involved in some crazy plan of yours that includes me wearing a clown's costume whilst trying to balance on a unicycle to scare the sixth formers."

I laughed at her comment. She always knew how to make me feel better.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to. What were you saying?"

"I was asking if you saw that cute guy from the party again."

The party we went to was huge. All the kids from my school were invited. Whether they be year 7s or 13. If you went to Shroy Secondary School, or as we call it SSS, then you were invited. So we went and had the time of our lives. There I met a super cute guy. He just moved to Shroy Town and had his first day at our school a week before the party. He had already made a few friends, not that many though. His name was Saahil Patil. I hadn't seen him in school but to be fair, our school was huge and we had a lot of students. That's why a hall was rented for the party and there was an entry fee to pay for the price. He accidently bumped into me with half a glass of coke, spilling it on my black dress. He felt so sorry that he walked me all the way home, stayed until I changed and then bought me ice cream from a late-night convenience store to make up for it. In my opinion, it was a magical evening and I had wished it would never end. But I would be lying if I didn't say that he was giving off FRIEND vibes rather than BOYFRIEND ones. Needless to say, it was slightly disappointing.

"That cute guy from the party has a name. Saahil. And no, I haven't seen him. But I've been so caught up with work that I've basically been either going to my lessons, eating lunch, or going home that I haven't really had a chance to stop and look for him. And you know how impossible it can get to find someone at our school."

"That's sad. I actually thought you looked great as a couple when you walked out of the party together. Don't you have his number?"

"I do. But like I said. I was extremely busy to think about him, let alone call him."

"Call who?" said a rather familiar voice from behind me. I turned around and as fate would have it, there he was. Standing as if he had no idea what we had been talking about. Although that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. I didn't need him hearing Serena calling him cute.

"You actually Mr Patil. You and Ciara seem to have become very good friends after the party so I expected you to keep in touch. But I'll let you two sort that out amongst yourselves. That's my cue to leave. See you after class Ciara."

And just like, Serena walked off with such confidence whilst I melted into a puddle of embarrassment after I realise exactly how handsome Saahil looked in his black leather jacket.