: Choice (Book 1 : The Nairda Series)

Chapter 2 : Dreams

Adrian wakes up at the sound of his alarm.That was the fifth time he had dreamt of suicide.The dreams were becoming more frequent.Each dream was different,he had drowned, shot himself, stepped infront of incoming traffic and in the most recent one he had hung himself.What puzzled him was the amount of detail he would remember,most people forgot about their dreams the moment they woke up and the more they tried to remember,the more they would forget.

The dreams always started in the same way.He stares at the ceiling as he recalled the most recent dream.It was evening when he gets into his car and drives to the hiking trails,this was where they would go to watch the sunset every Friday. It was a ritual they started after they were invited to their first house party in Calabasas,one of the best surbubs in LA by Ginny,the daughter of a hollywood heart-throb.She had a crush on Adrian at the time which was why the bro-squad got an invitation in the first place.She had stalked him online, before "bumping" into him at his favourite cafe.

They dated for six months before she moved to a prep-school in New-York.The distance killed the relationship and they both moved on without any resentment between them, plus it was hard to compete with the son of one of the wealthiest people in New York.

The bro-squad would gather there under an oaktree which had incredible view of LA. Here they could disconnect from the world and simply enjoy the view,talk about the upcoming weekend plans.They would strategize on which parties they would attend and which ones they wouldn't because when you live in Los Angeles,there was always more than one party going on at any given time.

The best ones,were either in the surburbs or exclusive invite only events.Due to Val's influencer status and connections,they were always invited to the best parties around. Val and Ginny were close, not as friends but as business partners.Ginny had introduced her to the real movers and shakers in LA after hearing her sing at a kareoke bar once. This was what contributed to her success and launched Ginny's career.They worked together and Ginny was unofficially Val's manager.

Adrian stood there staring at the oak tree which had a noose hanging from it.He approached the tree,looked around and was sad that he was alone.Tears ran down his face as he remembered all the happy memories they had shared on the hill,his face turned red while his chest was filled with so much emotion he felt consumed by it.He turned and took in the view of LA, the sun cast an orange hue as it was setting and lights started to flicker as everyone was getting ready for the night.He took a breath before walking towards his car and got a foldable chair from the back seat.He placed it under the noose,stepped on it,and fit the noose around his neck and pushed himself from the chair.At the stage of death he would wake up drenched in sweat, heart pumping hard.The strange thing was when he woke up he would see a man in-front of his bed staring back at him.The first time it happened he yelled out but the man had completely vanished.His parent had come into the room in their pajamas, his mum with a bat while his dad had something that had suspiciously looked like a cooking pan.Adrian asked him the next morning, to which his dad replied.

"Everyone has their own thing", before he removed the same pan and used it to make eggs.

He couldn't remember what the man looked like but he saw him at the front of his bed everytime he woke up from a dream in which he had commited suicide.He would blink and the man would be gone.He hadn't told anyone about the man.The last thing he needed was being commited to a mental health facility.

"Adrian,you awake, honey?" Adrian's mum interrupted his thoughts as she walked in.

"Yeah,morning?" "Good morning baby"she walked up to his bed and sat on the edge. "Alexa,open the curtains and play Bethoveen"

Before the accident,this would have annoyed him, but his mum had always had the rule of never locking his room. She defended herself by stating it was her responsibiltiy to know what he was up to when he lived under her roof.What if he was hurt and they couldn't get in,to which he replied she could just call him to check up on him instead of barging into his room.This always led to one of their famous arguments which would requirehis dad to intervine.There was no doubt his mother loved him but she loved him too much and too hard,his father once told him this was the main reason he had asked her to marry him.She was the most loyal person he knew.