Beginning of a New Era

Chapter 2

Have you ever gotten a dream where it felt like you were falling and you didn't know when or how you would hit the ground? That's basically what my dream was until I shot awake on the couch. My head was spinning from how fast I sat up and I didn't realize how fast my heart was going until I felt it pounding in my chest. It took a few minutes, but I was finally able to calm myself down and relax.

"It was just a dream...that's all it was..." I mumble to myself a few times. I hated these dreams with a burning passion and yet there was nothing I could do to stop them from happening. They had been happening none stop since I broke up with my ex-boyfriend, Keith. Who might I add was a total jerk, but that is a story for another day. I reached over and grabbed the remote to shut off the tv which is playing some sorta of cooking show. I stood up and stretched before pulling my phone out to look at the time. It was the first time I had looked on it since I got on the plane. I had about five texts from my parents and a million texts from my best friend, Matilda. You might think our friendship is the typical best friend relationship where we've knew each other since we were young, but that would be wrong. I've only know Matilda for a year. We met over some random chat on Instagram and we clicked right away. I've only met her once at a cosplay conference in Texas.

I quickly send off a few text to my parents and Matilda letting know I'm safe and I made to it to LA. I noticed the time as I'm doing so. I hadn't realized how late it was, it was 6:30 in the evening. It felt like 7:30 because it is an hour ahead back home. I shove my phone back in my pocket, walked out of my room and downstairs to find Lexi. I didn't realize how big her house was until now. Her living room was the size of my living and dinning room combined back at home. I wondered into another room that is filled with games like a pool table, video games and a shelf full of board games. I walked closer to the shelf to look at the games. There were games like Uno, Shoots and Ladders, Monopoly and many others.

Before I could explore farther I heard Lexi talking in the kitchen. I walked out of the game room and found my way to the kitchen. Apparently I walked in at a wrong time because I walk right into Lexi full on kissing a guy who must be her boyfriend. I quickly look away and shove my hands into the pockets of my light blue hoodie I'm wearing. I can feel a small pain start to form in my chest. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. I wasn't going to cry here in front of them.

Lexi finally noticed me. "Oh, Grace. I didn't see you there." She said and when I look over she is moving around Caspian to come stand by me. Her attempt to move away from him don't work because he followed her, stood behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. I can finally get a good look at him. He is tall, he looks like he is about 6'0. He has snow white hair. Yes. White hair and I'm pretty sure he didn't dye his hair, but I could be wrong. He has light green eyes and pale skin. Which is a little odd with how tan everyone else is in LA. He has a well built body and curves that show through his tight black shirt. Over the shirt he is wearing a jean jacket. He is also wearing jeans and some boots.

"It's ok." I gave her a small smile. "I thought I'd come down and see when that party was." I look between them.

"Oh yeah! The party!" She pulled out her phone and looked at the time "It will start at 7:30. So we will leave here in a bit. I'm going to go get ready. There is pizza on the counter if you want some! Oh also, this is my boyfriend Caspian. Caspian this is my cousin Grace."

Caspian holds out his free hand. "It's nice to finally meet you Grace." He says. His voice is deep and kinda rumbles as he speaks.

"Nice to meet you too." I shake hands with him and smile. His huge hand covering mine almost all the way.

"Ok! Meet me back down here when you are done getting ready." Lexi commanded before she pulled Caspian out of the room.

I sighed and quickly grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza before heading back to my room. Once I finished eating I open my suitcases to look for something to wear. I wanted to wear something nice, but still comfortable. So I definitely wasn't going to wear a dress. I decided to go with a pair of bell bottoms with some holes in them and a white shirt with a blue butterfly on the middle of it. I laid out my clothes and jumped in the shower. When I finished I slipped on my clothes and fixed my hair. My dirty blonde hair is naturally curly so I always wear it down. I decided not to put make up on, I know I wouldn't feel like taking it off once we got back. I checked myself in the mirror to make sure I looked fine. My mother always bragged about my eyes to everyone. I have light gray eyes that get dark in the center of my eyes. I could careless about my eyes.

When I finished getting ready I headed downstairs and into the kitchen. Lexi and Caspian weren't down here yet, so I grabbed another slice of pizza and began eating it. To keep myself busy I pulled my phone out and saw a few more text from Matilda.

Matilda: How is LA so far? Have you seen any cute boys yet? What's it like so far?

Me: Woah! Slow down! I literally just go here a few hours ago and then I fell asleep. I'm going to a party tonight. I'll let you know how it goes later on.

I quickly send the text to her. I check Instagram and my other social medias, but there isn't much to see there. After a few minutes Lexi and Caspian walk in.

"Ok! We are ready to go now." She informs me. She is wearing a tight black dress and black heels to go with it. Now I feel under dressed, but it's to late to change.

"Alright. You look nice." I complement her before I quickly finished my pizza.

"Oh this old thing? It's nothing You look great yourself!" She grinned. I also noticed she had put on some makeup. It wasn't much though. "Alright! Let's get going." She turned and started to walk out. Both me and Caspian followed behind her to the car. The sun hadn't set yet and it was still bright outside. I got into the back of the car. I figured Caspian would want to sit next to Lexi and I wanted to hide how nervous I was. Lexi pulled out of the driveway and drove away from her house. I didn't say one word the whole way there. I was mostly worried my voice would give away how I was actually feeling.

I even more nervous when we stopped in from of a huge house. Lexi and Caspian got out, I quickly followed in pursuit. We walked up the walkway to two fancy dark brown doors with gold handles. Lexi strolled up to the door and rang the door bell. She laced her fingers through Caspian's as she waited for someone to answer the door. I fidgeted with my hands and looked everywhere, but at the door.

After a couple of minutes I heard a voice on the other side of the door and it suddenly opened. I looked over to see a girl. She had bright pink hair and was wearing a sparkly crop top and a black skirt. She looked like she was twenty two years old. She smiled at us which lit her whole face up.

"Lexi! Caspian! I'm glad you guys made it!" She exclaimed and quickly hugged both of them. After she hugged them her eyes landed on me and she smiled again.

"You must be Grace. I've heard a lot about you. I'm happy to finally meet you!" She said and the next thing I know she is hugging me.

I hesitated a minute before I hugged her back. "It's nice to meet you too." I replied and returned a smile.

"My name is Katrina, but you can call me Kat." She says to me and then walks into the house. "Come on in guys. We are waiting on a few more people to show up."

We quickly follow her in and she shuts the door behind us. Through the front door is a huge room with stairs leading upstairs. There is a medium size table that is round with a vase full of flowers on it. The was also a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It almost reminded me of an entrance to a ballroom or a palace.

Kat led us into what I assumed was the living room. There was a big white couch, a big tv and a few side tables with lamps on them. There was also a couple of windows to let some light in. Lexi and Caspian sat down on the couch. It wasn't long before Caspian put his arm around Lexi. I sat down and started to fidget with my hands again.

"I'll be right back." Kat said before she left the room. I started to get more nervous just sitting there.

"Hey Lexi. Do you know where the restroom is here?" I asked. I really didn't want to sit here for much longer. I needed a place to be alone for a few minutes and calm myself down.

"Oh yeah. It's out the door we just came in and down the hall to the right." She replied. It wasn't a very good explanation, but I'll figure it out, hopefully.

I got up and walked back out of the room. I looked around for the hallway she was talking about. I did find a hallway, but I wasn't sure if it was the right one. I still walked down it looking for the bathroom. I walked up to one door and hesitated before opening it. There wasn't anything inside, but a bunch of racks of clothes. I shut the door and went to the next one. I opened it to only realize it was a closet. I sighed and finally went to the third one.

I opened it and as soon as I did I hear a noise and quickly regretted opening. The next thing I know I'm making direct eye contact with a shirtless guy. I start to quickly back up and suddenly I lost my balance and I'm falling backwards with no way to catch myself.