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' My heart is yours to claim '
' So please, accept it already '
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CHAPTER 1
As my eyes fluttered open, a new world came into focus through a canopy of towering green trees, their leaves dappling sunlight into a mosaic of green and orange hues. Where was I? The air was thick with the earthy scent of damp moss and the distant whisper of a brook. All I can see were trees.. Then trees.. more trees...
Confusion and pain knotted in my head like a gnarled vine as I struggled to make sense of my surroundings. I became aware of an ache, a deep ache that spread from my head to my limbs. What happened? I slowly touched my head, wincing at the sharp ache that radiated from a tender spot. Flashes of memory flooded back, causing my head to tilt back—a blinding light, screeching tires, the feeling of being thrown violently through the air, then darkness.
But where was the wreckage, the shattered glass, the sirens? Instead, all around me stretched an expanse of untouched wilderness, far from the morning busy road I knew. Carefully, I shifted my weight, trying to find a more stable position on the swaying branch. a sudden lurch, I lost my balance. " Shit! "
Panic surged as I flailed instinctively, grasping at thin air. The world spun around me in a disorienting whirlwind of leaves and sky, and then gravity took hold. With a heart-stopping plunge, I plummeted through the air. The wind rushed past, whipping hair and clothes alike, until the ground rushed up to meet me with a bone-jarring impact. Pain exploded through my body as I landed in a tangle of limbs and leaves, the breath knocked from my lungs. Shit.. That was painful. I grabbed my ass, rubbing it to tender the pain, it didn't help. It had been a miracle that I lived. I looked up, seeing a thin branch that towered above me.
So that was the damn asshole that let me fall..
Slowly, I pushed myself into a sitting position, gritting my teeth against the pain that radiated from every bruised inch of my body. Goddamn, I really have arthritis . The forest seemed to hold its breath, the rustling leaves and distant calls of wildlife a distant backdrop to my struggle to regain my bearings. Above me, the tree loomed tall and indifferent, its branches swaying gently in the breeze. The sky beyond offered no answers, its vast expanse a silent witness to my fall and as if laughing at my demise, the birds chirped happily as if mocking me! God, this feels infuriating..
I glanced down, expecting to see the familiar university ID hanging from my neck—a reassuring token that granted access to Evergreen Hills, my school. Instead, there was nothing. Damnit! Panic surged through me like an electric shock. How was I going to get into school without my ID?How was everyone going to know that attend that damn school?!
