Wish What You May

Chapter 1

      Tabitha's eyes shoot open as she gets out of bed; she checks her phone and sees that she is nearly late for her class. She runs to her door but slips and smacks her head right into the doorknob; she stands and quietly rushes around her dorm to not wake her roommate. Tabitha frantically gets ready for her class, "15 minutes to run halfway across campus. No time to shower."

      As she hastily crosses campus to attend her English lecture, Tabitha realizes she forgot to put on the necklace that she wears every day. Tabitha's mom gave her a beautiful feather necklace shortly before she went off to college in Virginia, about halfway across the country. Unfortunately, her mom passed away only two months after Tabitha left, leaving her as the last person in her bloodline. All her other relatives died due to various 'mysterious circumstances'; every day, she lives in fear she will be next. Her mother gave her the necklace to wear as protection.

      Tabitha can easily be described as a naturally beautiful woman. She is the exact average height for a female her age, five feet and four inches tall. However, people often question whether her hair and eyes are natural; her hair is a deep ruby red, and her eyes are an emerald green. Tabitha has a bubbly personality with the people she is comfortable around, but strangers see her as cold and reserved. She loves to listen to music and read books; these activities take up most of her time outside school and work.

      When Tabitha finally arrives at her class, she is almost late but manages to squeeze in just in time. After sitting through an extremely boring lecture, Tabitha heads over to the campus diner, Holly's, to grab herself breakfast. After she eats, she heads back to her dorm, but on the way there, Tabitha encounters a strange person she has never seen before. Tabitha does not think much of it, seeing as it is the beginning of a new semester and it is still her first year; maybe they are a transfer student or she has just never seen them around; this is a relatively large campus. However, she starts to grow concerned when this person begins following her to her dorm, but instead of acting out of fear, she turns to them and asks what they are doing.

      "Hey there, my name is Avery. I'm sorta new here...Wanna be friends? I like your vibe." Avery smiles at Tabitha and holds out one hand. "Uhm, sure? Why didn't you just ask instead of following me? Tabitha responds, shaking Avery's hand. "Just wanted to get a grip on your vibe before I talked to you," Avery says as they begin to walk. Avery is short with warm copper skin, brown curly hair, and ocean blue eyes. "Are those your real eyes?" Tabitha asks. "Certainly, although I could ask the same to you." Avery winks, and they continue walking.

      The two arrive at Tabitha's dorm and walk-in to greet her roommate, Faith. Faith is also short, about five feet, but she has golden hazel eyes and cool fawn skin. She almost looks like a doll, with perfectly symmetrical features and all. "Hey, bestie," Faith says, smiling as Tabitha and Avery walk in. "Who's the new chick?" Tabitha begins to speak, but Avery boldly interrupts, "Hey, I'm Avery. By the way, I'm not a chick; I actually identify as gender-neutral." Faith jumps up to shake Avery's hand, "My apologies, friend. I'm Faith. Nice to meet you."

      The three continue getting to know each other for about two hours before Avery must leave to attend their class. Then, Faith and Tabitha decide to go out and grab lunch from one of the on-campus restaurants. After they eat, Faith heads to her class and Tabitha chooses to go back to her room to study for her Psychology test. On the way back to the dorm, she finds a ring lying on the ground right in front of the statue of their school mascot, Sergio the Penguin. Her attempts to ignore the ring are futile; Tabitha feels drawn to it but cannot understand why. Finally, Tabitha picks up the ring, but as soon as she puts it on her finger, she feels a shock and a sudden feeling of fatigue. Without questioning the sudden tiredness, Tabitha decides to go back to her dorm to study but quickly falls asleep instead.