FORTIFIED

Episode 1

"Love you too Mum. Bye." Adriel had to break free from her Mum's tight embrace or they were never going to leave the sidewalk.

"One last kiss hon, I don't get to see you for another month. A whole month before I get to see my baby again." Adriel wanted to roll her eyes. Her mum was such a drama queen.

"Mum, it's really not that long. I have to go now, bye!" She unhooked her mum's arms from around her neck and quickly hurried into her dorm.

She, unfortunately, chanced a look back.

"Oh, brother." Adriel sighed.

Sure enough, her Mum was still by the porshe Mercedes, crying.

Even the driver—Henry—looked a little sad she was leaving.

Adriel waved one final goodbye before disappearing into one of the dorms.

She got in and exhaled in relief.

All the dorms were built on the same side of campus, so it was like a community where students lived.

Each dorm in the community had its own name and the name of the dorm she'd been given wasn't at all creative, she thought.

It was called 'the blues'. Yeah seriously, not even joking.

Adriel checked the pamphlet again, making sure she got it right.

Yup, 'the blues' it is.

She took her time admiring the dorm's infrastructure.

"Whoah." Was the first thing she said as she took it all in.

The common room was very spacious. The flat-screen took nearly half the wall and the lounge looked befitting for a five-star hotel.

They really did get their money's worth. The school was a private University slash Academy on an island just west of Europe. You literally need a boat or a helicopter to get here.

And what's more, it was located very close to the shore, so you can see the ocean in some parts of the school.

She was lucky, her family already lived on the island.

She checked her pamphlet again and the word R-10 stared boldly back at her.

Adriel sighed dragging her feet along with her boxes.

"Eight, Nine...Ten." She counted the number off each door, till she found the right door.

The hallway was unusually dark and eery and she could have sworn she felt someone touch her. Goosebumps rose to her arms as she knocked on the door.

"Weird." She muttered rubbing her arms.

The door opened revealing the most beautiful girl she'd ever seen in her life.

There was something about her that was enchanting and just drew you in. The girl threw a smile her way.

"Hi, I'm Becky, you must be our fourth roommate." The girl said.

"Yeah," Adriel answered. She wasn't usually nervous around people but she always felt inadequate in the presence of much better-looking people than her, and everyone in the room was. Great.

Adriel closed the door and did a quick sweep of the room. It was very spacious so that each person had her spot.

There were four desks all equipped with a computer each and everyone had their own bed and wardrobe. The only thing they did share was the bathroom.

"So what do you think?" Another girl with hair bleached blue asked typing away at her iPhone chewing a piece of bubble gum. Adriel shrugged.

"It's alright. I'm Adriel by the way." She introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you Adriel." A third voice answered. She was lying on her stomach on her bed with a soda in hand. She had long dark hair, with beautiful dark brown eyes that seemed to stare into your soul.

They were all crazy attractive. Were they models by any chance?

She on the other hand thinks she's okay with her brown skin, long curly hair, and big brown eyes.

"No, we're not." The blue-haired girl answered chuckling lightly. Adriel facepalmed.

"I said that out loud, didn't I?"

"Yup you did," Becky said chuckling, her blonde hair bouncing as she did. She later got to know them as Becky, Victoria, and Lucky.

Victoria was the brunette and Lucky was the girl with the blueberry bleached hair.

They all seemed chill and she felt comfortable with them. Maybe Hudson Academy wasn't so bad after all

{¶{¶{¶{¶{¶}

Adriel woke up sweating, her hands shaking; she'd just had another nightmare and like all her other dreams, she couldn't remember it. It's been that way since the accident.

She checked the time. It was 5:15.

"Great." Adriel knew she wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon.

Groggily, she stood up and went to her bag. She brought out a book. It'd always brought her comfort in the past, she didn't know much about that now though.

She read a few chapters and was about going back to sleep when she heard a voice.

"You're a Christian?" Victoria asked raising an eyebrow. Adriel looked at her shocked. She didn't even know anyone was awake. She looked at Victoria confused.

"What?"

"You're a Christian," Victoria stated, nodding at the book in her hand.

"Yeah, maybe." Adriel shrugged. She only read it because her mother asked her too. Said it would help, though she hadn't found out how.

"You're not sure?"

"I only read it 'cause of my Mum. Don't understand half of what is written in here anyway." She raised it. Victoria chuckled.

"Me neither. Goodnight." Victoria slept back almost immediately.

"Goodnight." But it wasn't a good night because she woke up screaming an hour later to a nightmare she couldn't remember.

{¶¶}¶}¶}¶}

It was orientation day and Adriel was excited. The weather was a little bit chilly but she loved the tranquil feel around her. She was a science major but she loved her course as a Biology student even though her talents had always been in art.

Adriel was an aesthete by heart. The school was very beautiful she'll give it that. Some of the buildings have been around for so long that some even had vines growing on them giving it an ancient almost antique look and she loved it.

Virtually every spot on campus was camera worthy as she noticed the students around making the most use of it with their expensive phones raised in clusters.

Her curls were already getting frizzled because of the humid air.

She rubbed her arms trying to get warm as she hurried to the designated hall stated on the pamphlet for the orientation, and it would be for two days.

None of her roommates were in sight but it was to be expected, she was a fresher, they weren't.

It sucked going alone, although she realized that most people didn't even bother with the orientation. She needed friends pronto.

"Hi." A deep breathy voice greeted beside her. Adriel looked up at the sound of the voice and her heart skipped a beat.

"H-Hi." She managed to stutter out. Was she hearing things or was the handsome man actually talking to her?

She didn't get a lot of attention from the male species and definitely never one this attractive.

"Sorry to bother you, but I have no idea where I'm going. Do you know the way by any chance?" He asked. She only managed a nod. She was tongue-tied.

This guy was more than handsome, he was the most attractive man she'd ever seen in her life and she's seen a lot of attractive people.

His eyelashes were longer than hers. His eyes were a light green that seemed to stare into her soul and stop all rational thoughts from forming in her brain. He had on a small smile and it had succeeded in turning her insides to mush.

He had very dark brown hair that was almost black and he was talking to her and he was very close might she had.

"It's right here." Adriel led him through the entrance of the ceremonial hall. She wasn't someone who fawned over or ogled a man but she hadn't been able to keep herself from glancing up at him every five seconds. It didn't help matters when he insisted on sitting with her.

"So, what are you in for?" He joked. She leaned in at the sound of his voice without even realizing it.

"I'm a Biology major. What about you?" Adriel asked somewhat shyly. He didn't look away as he kept looking at her in that way that was doing mad things to her heart. She would have blushed if her complexion allowed it.

"I'm an Engineering major."

She nodded, not used to the attention he was giving her. Since she hadn't been listening, she'd missed the announcement that had been made at the podium up front. She was sitting on the fifth row.

"That's my cue. I never caught your name stranger." He said, about standing up.

Her eyes widened

What? He was leaving?

The announcer had supposedly called him over to address the freshmen.

He wasn't a freshman it would seem but a senior.

The side of his lip tilted up in a playful smirk and her heart skipped a beat again.

"I know I need to work on my lines but I can't help it if you leave me tongue-tied." He said.

She managed a smirk as well despite the surprise. He was a senior, not a freshman. That was unexpected. She really hadn't been able to tell.

And she left him tongue-tied?

"Is that so?" She became bolder leaning just a bit closer.

"Hm-hm." He nodded. He was so close to her that she could see the black specks that doted his green eyes, his flawless skin, and his very kissable lips. He was absolutely breathtaking.

Usually, she had a lot more restraint over herself when dealing with men but he was destroying all rational thoughts from her mind.

He leaned down to whisper in her ears and she shivered when his lips grazed her ear.

"I never caught your name."

"Adriel." She exhaled breathlessly.

"It's Adriel." He smiled looking into her dark chocolate eyes.

"Yo Jayden, are you coming or what?" Someone yelled over from the front stage.

Jayden, so that was his name. It suited him. He looked like a Jayden.

"Well Adriel, I have to go. Catch you later?" He asked hopefully. Adriel only nodded.

He wasn't the only one who got tongue-tied.

"I'll see you around Jayden." She managed to say.

There was a twinkle in his eyes as she mentioned his name.

"Bye Adriel." He said with a slight smile before turning and making his way down the side to the podium.