All Bets Are Off

Chapter Sixteen - Ella Fordman: The Sleeping Beauty

 

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Dedicated to Until_The_End24, my trophy wife

 

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~Chapter Sixteen – Ella Fordman: The Sleeping Beauty~

I woke up to the sound of rocks hitting my window.

It was quite clichéd, really. Almost something out of a fairytale. You know, those ones where the girl is awakened by her prince charming and he has come to profess his love for her in an undying show of affection, complete with ‘happily-ever-afters’ and magic.

Wow, I must’ve been sleepy and delirious if those thoughts were what were going through my head when I heard a consistent tapping at my window.

Letting out a small groan, I flipped over and stared at my alarm clock, which blinked just after two o’clock in the morning—on a Monday morning, mind you. It’s red numbers glared angrily, almost seeming to reflect my mood.

“What the hell?” I muttered, slipping out of bed and padding to the window, looking out uncertainly. An involuntary shiver left me as the arctic temperature of the room caressed my skin, causing gooseflesh to rise on my exposed skin.

Just as I was about to reach the window, a pebble came flying at the glass, and I jumped as the gray rock make contact with the building material with a clanking sound. I swallowed thickly and stared at the window; thankful it hadn’t caved in and showered me with sharp, broken pieces of glass. That would’ve topped off my morning.

My paranoia kicking in and making me fear a murderer or worse, I gingerly hid behind my chiffon curtain, peeking out into the street below and scanning the sparsely lit road for the perpetrator.

And there stood none other than Phoenix Adams, wearing a large jacket and ripped jeans, a pile of stones in his cupped palms as he stared up at me. His hair was slightly disheveled, and color was high on his cheeks and nose. Through the large, flimsy jacket, and standing out in the ridiculously cold breeze, I imagined he would be nothing short of freezing.

This had to be some kind of weird dream. No way could Phoenix actually be standing outside my window right now throwing pebbles at it. Stuff like this just didn’t happen in real life—and certainly not in situations like this.

Another pebble came flying up, accompanied by the words, “Psst, Ella! Wake up!”

I slowly unlatched the window and brought it open with a loud squeal, just as another stone came flying towards me. I barely had time to duck before it whizzed past my head and went flying into my room, and I leaned my head out of the window, glaring accusingly. “Hey, watch it.”