It Started With a Dare

(Re-written)

~~~

Prologue

(Three years ago)

I stood in the center of my room, right in front of my large violet suitcase where most of my clothes were packed. Here in London, the place where I'll miss most of all will be my room. I always loved how most of the stuff here in my room were violet. All shades of them.

The walls were painted a soft shade of lavender then splashed-literally, splashed-with a nice tone of deep purple. I wanted to stick my anime posters on the wall, but Mum wouldn't allow me. She said it would only make my room dirty. The only things that hung in my room was my painting that I won 4th place in a school competition and a few cross-stitched embroidery that I made.

My four-poster bed with lilac-colored, see-through curtains was stationed at the corner of the left side my room, right next to my window. Nothing much can be seen out there though. Just old cherry blossom tree that stood right outside our gate and the house right across the street that no one has been living for years. Dad says the family there moved to Canada.

I heard a knock on my door, followed by it opening, revealing Mum in her office wear. Her black hair was in a tight ponytail that looked like it hurt. Her piercing brown eyes looked at me with no clear emotion in her stern face.

"Are you ready?" she asked. I just nodded. Mum examined my room then me. She frowned at my attire, which was consisted of an old t-shirt and wrinkled cargo pants. "You're not wearing that."

"Why? They're travel clothes, and they're comfortable," I shrugged casually.

"You're not wearing those bloody clothes, Anna," she stated again, this time more sternly than she usually was. "And fix your hair."

I sighed. It was always tiring fretting over my hair. I usually just let it down in its natural wavy, golden-blonde curls. But Mum always insisted that I should tie it up.

"Come on, love, surely you can let Annie choose her own clothes," Dad came to my rescue. Mum glared at him for a moment, before she surrendered. Somehow, I wondered how Dad ended up with Mum. They were somewhat so different.

Dad had a height of 6' 5", while Mum was just standing at 5' 3". He was a funny and easy-going person, while she was stern and hard to please. He was curly blonde, while she was straight, raven-haired. I guess opposites really do attract.

"So, are you ready? Packed everything?" Dad asked. I nodded. "Are you sure? Double checked everything?"

"Yes, Dad, I'm sure," I assured him. He smiled at me and engulfed me in a bear hug. He was always one for hugs. That's why I was closest to him than Mum.

When I was young, I rarely saw Mum. She was always at work. I would still be asleep when she would go to work, and I already fell asleep when she arrives home. When Mum and I have bonding time though, it would always be awkward since it was evident that she didn't really like those times. I would always be tense, and she would only be scolding me for every single detail.

Now, she was shipping me off to a small town in California, U.S.A. I was just thankful enough that it wasn't a boarding school. I was just going to live with her parents there. I don't really remember my grandparents from my mother's side. I only met them when they come visit here in London, and I was just a little girl back then. I guess this will be a good opportunity to meet them.

~~~

Dad drove me to the airport. Mum didn't stick around as always. She left for work, not bothering to say good-bye to me properly. Dad argued with her for a bit, before he realised that Mum was stubborn enough to not listen to him. I didn't mind though. I was used to Mum choosing her work over me all the time when I was young. Luckily, Mama Via, Dad's mother, chose to take Mum's place.