Chapter 1

THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION! ALL NAMES, PEOPLE, PLACES, EVENTS ARE FICTITIOUS AND DO NOT RELATE TO ANY TRUE EVENTS!

The story takes place in the fictional city of Autumndale in Colorado, in the Royal Academy of Ashwood.

"Miss Grace, you will be on stage in 2 minutes."

An Italian-looking middle-aged man, speaking a fluent British accent, looked towards a beautiful blond young woman around her early twenties, who was dressed in a gorgeous white performing outfit.

The young woman named "Miss Grace" looked at herself in the mirror in front of her and took one last deep breath before she answered.

"Ready to roll, Mr. Anderson!"

Every second, every moment that passed by seemed scary and every heartbeat felt more rapid and audible but Vanessa kept muttering the very common Bible verse she knew by memory, Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me ". Tension and anxiety gradually seemed to be built on her fair and beautiful round face.

At this moment, she heard the inevitable when loud claps and cheers were pretty much audible and the previously loud music of an opera song stopped.

At the nick of getting up, the sight of a small peach-colored sticky note caught her eye. And the sticky note read "YOU ROCK, DEAR!". Reading what was written on the sticky note, a warm feeling filled her nervous heart.

'I can't disappoint so many people now!'

"....... presenting Miss Vanessa Grace!"

The host announced on the stage.

Hearing the call for her on the stage, she steadily walked out of the backstage with grace and a pleasant smile. And there on the beautiful stage, the melody of a beautiful voice began to play, putting forward a mix of condescending, exciting, and melancholic feelings.

After the melodious, the audience burst into cheers, and claps of appreciation made Vanessa's heart feel excitedly joyful. She made a graceful bow at the audience at the end and left the stage looking as graceful as she could.

After that performance, Vanessa returned to a backstage room, tearing up a bit and praising God for helping her as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Lord, thank you, thank you, Lord!"

Her attention was soon taken when she heard someone knocking at the door of her room. But before she could check who it was, a tall familiar man in a cozy grey sweater and black trousers entered the room with a smile on his warm chiseled face and a bouquet in his left hand.

"You did it, dear!" He said, revealing an excruciatingly caring look full of love and pride.

As the man spoke, Vanessa's mind was suddenly flooded with memories of their past together. She felt a rush of emotion and tears began to stream down her face, although her expression remained captivating and beautiful, almost as if to convey that the tears were of joy rather than sadness. Despite the tears, the man nodded with a warm and understanding smile, as if he too could sense the depth of emotion that Vanessa was feeling in that moment.

8 Years Ago

"I'M SO DONE WITH MY LIFE!!"

Vanessa screamed as thoughts and memories of her parents arguing replayed in her mind amidst her breakdown in her bathroom.

Weeps of frustration, as heartbreaking as it could be for any parent to hear, were very much audible to any living entity around Vanessa's room.

Her parents had finally settled for a divorce owing to continuous disagreements and arguments over the smallest to slightly bigger things. And, her current breakdown was the result of having to bear the continuous rants of arguments still ongoing on call on the phone.

Washing her face with a distracted mind, Vanessa couldn't be more startled when she heard her bestie, Kennedy calling for her downstairs. Breathing a sigh of relief, Vanessa started getting dressed for school while gradually audible footsteps of Kennedy coming up could be heard.

"Van… I saw your dad move out with a horrid face. Everything alright?"

 A doubtful tone of a rather mature-sounding voice questioned the distressed Vanessa.

"Same old thing, Ken. Give me a minute, I'll get ready real quick." With a sigh, Vanessa was rushing putting on her blazer while trying to do her hair.

Kennedy, Vanessa's (best) friend of five years, was more than willing to give up another half an hour of her time to let her friend get dressed and pretty for school.

And yes, after a whole good forty minutes and twenty-eight seconds, they were at their classroom. Unfortunately or fortunately for Vanessa, she seemed to have erased the thought of her English assignment which was due at present and for which she was sent out of the class(she was given another day to complete it).

There was a reason why that could have been fortunate and unfortunate. Standing outside the class, she heard movements towards her right. Curious, she turned to gradually see a silhouette in the same old dark navy blue blazer and trousers and the blue-black striped necktie of their school.

As she stood there, lost in thought, a male student caught her attention. He appeared to be a year or two older than her, with neat and straight black hair that was styled in a classic mullet cut. His natural beige skin was impeccable, and his strong jawline gave him a strikingly handsome appearance. She couldn't help but notice his deep-set honey eyes with softly arched eyebrows that added a touch of mystery to his already enigmatic aura. He walked past her with a straight face, appearing visibly 'not-so-sociable'.

In The Cafeteria, Lunch Break

Kennedy could no longer keep up with her best friend's strange moods and asked the occupied-minded Vanessa.

"Hey, Van? Van? Van!"

"Huh? Yes? You were saying?" Vanessa gave an embarrassed apologetic smile for being absent-minded.

"Say, you have anything to tell me or maybe share something you know?" Kennedy asked while enjoying her meal, raising the question for the sake of not feeling too bored herself.

"Well, ummm…." Mumbling to herself, Vanessa noticed her friend wasn't paying attention to her, probably unaware of how exhausted her friend was with her mood swings that changed every forty minutes.

"Well, Kenny…. the thing is"

"Hmmn? Yes, what is it?"

Forcing herself to be courageous, she couldn't help but spill the beans already.

"So you know that I like a senior from the sophomore year of Grade 10 right?"

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