Shattered Secrets

Chapter One

Alyson stared out of the passenger side window of her mom's 2019 Ford Escape, her thoughts turning to what was to come in the next four years of her life. College has always been a scary, yet exciting, future endeavor that she has been looking forward to for years. In the beginning, she didn't plan on moving four hours away from home, but life had other plans for her.

Alyson turned her attention to her mother for a moment, studying her posture. Alyson's mother sat in the driver's seat, one hand gripping the steering wheel while the other had a death grip on the gearshift in the middle console. Her jaw was tight, and her teeth ground together. Her eyes would only stray away from the road to glance at the mirrors and other cars passing by.

Turning her attention back to the window, Alyson stared outside at the world passing by while her mind involuntarily replayed what she and her mother had said to one another only an hour earlier.

"You know, I really can't stand the fact that you're going two hundred miles away to a school that we can't even guarantee will teach you anything productive. How are you going to get anywhere in life like this, Alyson? You are going to throw your life away for writing?" Alyson's mother snaps at her as they started driving down the street.

"Really, Mom? Why can't you just be happy for me for once in my life? You have been so angry at me since I started having an opinion of my own. I'm sorry that I'm not going to medical school like you wanted me to do, but unfortunately for you, I am allowed to have choices in life. I love writing and that's what I want to do with my life, whether you like it or not." Alyson's voice quavered toward the end of her argument, giving away the emotions that were reeling inside of her. How dare her mother not think she could be successful by writing?

"Alyson, it is time you did something with your life—"

Alyson interrupts her mom without thinking, her words harsh, "Like you did?"

The sharp intake of breath from Alyson's mother was the last sound she heard from her. Alyson's mother said nothing more about the subject.

* * *

Alyson's eyes were drawn toward the clock sitting above the door in the large auditorium. The hands appeared to be moving at the slowest speed imaginable. A sigh of boredom was released from her lips, her fingers tapping impatiently on the white table she sat at, nails clicking audibly, but not loud enough to draw attention to herself.

"At the end of every quarter, exams will be handed out. You will have two hours to go through everything. Make sure you study, because this will determine your final grade for that quarter." Multiple hands rose into the air, but the professor cut off any questions by stating, "Yes, your assignments matter, and yes, the final project due at the end of the class also matters, but the exam will take up much of your grade, to the point where if you fail the exam, but you ace everything else, you will likely end up with a C. Depending on what degree you are going for, that C might make you fail, so choose how you spend your year wisely." The professor shrugged his shoulders after scanning the room and then turned away, shuffling papers that were on the desk next to himself. "This commences orientation. Tomorrow you start classes. Be prepared."

Chairs skidded across the floor loudly as people moved to get up, zippers to backpacks closing, and people shuffling out of the door. Alyson waited until most of the room was clear before she stood up, not wanting to bother with the crowd.

As she gathered her belongings, Alyson glanced around the auditorium, taking in the remnants of what had just been a whirlwind of knowledge and ideas. The lecture had been intense, full of concepts she was eager to explore further. Professor Collins had a way of making psychology come alive, even if her head was spinning with all the terminology introduced in that first class. Although it was mainly an orientation to introduce students to the class, what will happen in the future, how testing is done, and much more, he also introduced the class to what they will be learning soon.

As she left the room, she caught sight of a man that looked to be around her age leaning against the wall across from the classroom. He had a pair of black headphones over his head, the song playing so loud that she could hear it from ten feet away. She took a moment to study him, her eyes roaming from his head to his feet. He had tousled black hair that cascaded over his icy blue eyes, and his full pink lips moved rhythmically, as if he were singing along to the song playing in his ears. His muscular build suggested an active lifestyle, giving him an air of effortless confidence.

As the man's eyes left the floor, lifting to the person standing across from him, Alyson let out a gasp. She knew this man. She hated this man. They had a past that Alyson didn't want to touch at this moment. Alyson's palms started to sweat, her heart pounding in her chest. Her fight-or-flight instincts kicked in, yet she froze in place, unable to move.

"Alyson," the man says, his lips curving into a smirk. He tossed his head to the side in a quick, jerky movement, sending his hair out of his eyes. They locked onto Alyson's wide green ones, before slowly moving down, eyeing her from head to toe. "You're as beautiful as always," he murmurs, kicking himself away from the wall and moving toward Alyson like a predator.

Alyson's eyes became shifty, her gaze looking anywhere but at him, trying to find an escape route, but unable to find one at that moment.

He stopped in front of Alyson, ending up entirely too close for comfort. "It's been a while," he says. "I haven't seen you since—"

Alyson snapped out of her trance, eyes snapping up to the man in front of her. "Don't you dare say it," she growled. "You don't get to remind me of our time together, Luca. Any of it. The past is over." She glared up at him, noting his six-foot frame towering over her five-foot four frame. As he reached up a hand to allow his fingers to graze her cheek, almost unconsciously, she slapped it away, refusing to acknowledge how it made her heart race faster, how her breath stuttered, and her skin tingled in its wake.

"Don't touch me." The words were intended to be a growl, but it came out as a whisper. Despite not wanting to acknowledge how her body reacted to him, she knew that he still affected her in ways that he shouldn't. It had been five years since they had last seen one another, six years since she had uttered three words to him, words that she would never utter again. Six years since he ditched her after she spilled the secret of a lifetime. "You ruined everything."

Luca stepped back, his face cast in shadows at her words. He licked his lips and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. The smirk that had been on his lips a few moments before was now wiped clean, replaced with a dubious expression. He nodded slowly, accepting what she was saying. "I'll see you around, Aly." Before she could open her mouth to tell him not to call her that, he was gone.

Alyson stared at the spot that he vacated for a few minutes, contemplating everything that had just transpired. Her mind was now elsewhere, fixed on a memory that left her wanting to curl into a ball and weep.

"I love you, Luca. You're everything to me." Seventeen-year-old Alyson lay sprawled across Luca's chest, her face snuggled warmly into his neck. She kissed it lightly, smiling against his skin as he murmured the words back to her, his voice full of warmth.

His arms tightened protectively around her, and he pressed a soft kiss against the top of her head. "I could get used to this. Us, together, forever."

Alyson's smile grew at his words, warmth spreading through her chest. His words played through her head repeatedly, making her the happiest girl on this earth.

Alyson swallowed hard at the memory, tears pricking the back of her eyes. She reached up and swiped a stray one off her cheek before turning and heading to her next class.