Mystery Behind Everything

Chapter 1 - Old And New Changes

- Liliana POV

      It began in the school year of 2019. Everything was changing for me and I couldn't stop it. I tried everything but nothing was working. I've never had it this rough in my life at all. My mom and dad were divorcing. They were making me and my little brother Will choose between them. The worst thing is when I picked one over the other the fighting got even worse. I tried to reason with them but nothing was working. I decided to move in with my mom. Most kids would move in with their dad's but not me. I'm different. I and mom were always close. She was like my best friend in a way. Yes, we argue like regular parents and kids but we makeup, and I forgive her when it's time to eat dinner.

      I do miss my dad and my brother Will. He wanted to stay with dad which is fine but I'm going to miss him including dad. He would come with me and mom every other month. It's nice that he still can come home especially with school going on. After mom and dad got divorced Will kind of went into a bubble. That's another reason why he went with dad. He was always closer to dad. He needed to stay where we were living at first but me and mom moved a little farther away.

      We live 4 hours away from where we used to live. So yes we are still close to Will and Dad just far away. We still live in the same state just in different cities and towns. We moved into a small town called River Bridge. We've lived here before. I was 5 when we moved away. I loved it here. We moved away because my dad got a job offer in London. We lived in London for about a year then moved back to New Jersey but didn't live in the small town that we lived in before. I always wondered why we didn't move back home. I never asked. I guess I was too scared to ask and also way too young to understand.

      I walked inside the kitchen. I see smoke coming from the stove. I see mom right in front of it. Of course, I thought to myself. She has always been a bad cook. Dad always made the food. I walked over to her and took the towel and helped her contain it from making fire somehow. "Why do you keep trying?" I ask looking at my mother with a serious look and tone. "I guess trying to prove I'm better than your father at cooking which I'm not." My mom says back. "You don't need to prove anything mom. I choose you for a reason." I say back to her, hugging her. "I have to go to the hellhole that I like to call school," I say grabbing my bag running to the bus stop.

     I run over to the bus stop and I see my friend Parker. She gave me a tour on my first day at River High school. I came in the middle of the year so I was the new girl for a couple of days but somebody came into my place. I didn't mind because I hate getting attention. When I feel like I have to cough I hold it in because it causes too much attention my way. I haven't talked to the new girl much. And when I say much I mean at all. She's very well-known and she's only been here for 3 weeks.

      I and Parker get inside the bus we both put our earbuds in zoning out the noise of kids screaming and laughing loudly. Why can't teenagers be normal? We get to the school after 4 stops. I don't have many classes. I took extra classes in my summer of Freshman and Sophomore. I get to stay here until lunch then I go home. I could stay home or stay at school but I have work. As soon as I moved back I got a job at a coffee shop. I wasn't going to transition from home to school every day. It gets kind of boring and depressing.

      It was time for my first class and my first class of the day is math. The class I always hate until I graduate. There is nothing nobody will do to make me fall in love with math. I and Parker have that class together which is the best. We sit by each other and she gives me her notes because I sure need them. She has been a good friend these past couple of weeks. Ms.Dodds comes into class with her hair in a ponytail. I look at her eyes and they look puffy from crying. I see red scars on her neck from her pale skin. I don't think no one noticed but me. She must have been having a bad day. She starts to talk and her voice is soft. I could barely hear her. I might try to talk to her after class to see if she is okay but I won't do it now. That's too much attention.

      We didn't do much in class today. We took a pop quiz and just were on our phones for the rest of the class. Some people left and some people stayed. Me being me stayed behind. After everyone leaves, I tell Parker to meet me at my locker. I go up to walk over to Ms. Dodd's desk. She has her face in a book then I hear a whimper come out of her mouth. "Are you okay Ms.Dodds?" I say softly. " Yes, I'm fine." Ms.Dodds says wiping her tears with her sleeves on her long sleeve shirt. "Are you sure, maybe you should go home?" I say back. "No I'm fine plus I have a lot of grading to do." She says getting up. I walk over to her and hug her. Some people just need a hug. It might make her day better.

       I squeeze her a little tighter then step back. "I'm always here to talk," I say rubbing her shoulder. Ms.Dodds isn't as old as me. She is in her early 20's. "Sorry to ask you this at a bad time but can I get a tardy slip?" I ask looking down at my shoes. "Umm yeah... yeah." Ms.Dodds goes to her desk, takes a tardy slip out, and writes on it.

       I walk out of the classroom and go straight to my locker. I put my last class books and notebooks then exchanged them with my next class books and notebooks. I notice that Parker is talking to some guy. She told me she had a boyfriend but I've never seen him.

I walk over to her and clear my throat.

" Oh yes, I'm sorry Thomas this is Lilianna the new girl." She says carelessly.

I roll my eyes at the way she said it. " Nice to meet you." He says taking my hand shaking it.

" Nice to meet you too," I say with a soft smile shaking his hand back.

" Well, we have to go to our next class," Parker says.

      Parker kisses Thomas on the cheek. I smile at them. I wish I had something like that. The last boyfriend I had abandoned me after we had sex, such an asshole. I walk to my next class with Parker. We have most of our classes together.

      Before I knew it the day was over. I had time before work so I went home to change my clothes. I went ran past my mom and went into my room. Before I changed I saw something today that looked weird. I went into the Library today. And I went over to the yearbooks and saw my handwriting. It was weird. It looked like a love letter. But that's not the strangest thing. The strangest thing is that I have the same one but addressed to someone else.

      I went under my bed and pulled a box that had all my yearbooks in it. I pulled the one from last year. I opened it. I knew it, it's the same one.

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Thank you for reading I'm excited to write this book. The mystery is going to keep on coming along with the cliffhangers. I love you guys make sure you give me feedback. I do read feedback and take it under consideration.