Unwanted Change

Chapter One

      He came from behind me in the night, taking the one thing I held with pride.
The one thing I wouldn't give away until my wedding day, the one thing I warrantedly held unselfishly.
A masked figure clothed in darkness there to strip away my life... or at least everything in it that contained consistency. He changed my life forever in the worse and best ways, and somehow I have learned to thank him for it.
But we're not there yet. Let's start at the beginning... or the end. No, I don't know. Let's just start at the point a little before my entire life came crashing down. 

                                                                                                 ~~~~

"Alright class. That's it for the day! You may work on your homework for the next five minutes." Mrs. Palowski said, smiling warmly to her students as she began to turn off the projector. 

Although I'm not great at math, I loved Mrs. Palowski. She made learning fun and exclaimed curriculum in a way that made it easy to understand. 
It was hard for people to dislike her with her shoulder-length brown hair, sea green eyes, stylish clothes and bubbly personality. The only people who didn't like her were basically just idiots who didn't like anyone. 

"I can't wait to hang out with everyone tonight!" My best friend, Elaina, said quietly, leaning closer to my desk as she sat in the seat to my left. 
Her long black curls fell neatly in her face and her dark brown eyes shined with excitement. 

"I know," I exclaimed, laughing softly. "Me either."

We continued with our homework for the next four minutes, occasionally whispering back and forth. We were going to the football game tonight with our friends. We weren't the most popular kids at the high school but somewhere in the middle. Those kind of labels didn't matter to us. 
The main group consisted of Juliet, Ian, Bloom, Apollo, Elaina, Phoenix and I, Theophilia (but most people call me Theo). Juliet and Apollo are the only ones who aren't seniors like the rest of us, they're juniors. My heart welled in my chest as I thought of them. I loved them so much and we had all grown close together in the past two years due to our love for Christ. That was the characteristic that we each obtained that set us apart in our secular school. 
The bell rang just as I finished the last problem of one of my assignments. Everyone hurriedly packed their things away as Mrs. Palowski excused the class. 

"Okay, meet me at my locker so that we can ride together." Elaina reminded me as we walked out of the classroom into the busy halls. 

I usually drove myself to school but she picked me up to day so we could go to her house and then the football game together. 

"Alright!" I exclaimed, smiling cheerfully as we parted ways. 

The hallways echoed with teenager's slamming their lockers and laughter bouncing off every wall in their excitement to leave school on this Friday in October. The smell of Axe (aka male ego) and heavy perfume (aka girls who didn't know when to stop) lingered everywhere as heavy as skunk spray. Okay, well, not that bad, but pretty much. 

Geez, do they not understand that these intense smells give people like myself severe headaches? I wondered, not truly upset - just a little peeved. 

I finally arrive to my locker and though of tonight in anticipation. I was super stoked. Normally I don't like football games, but it was Daniel who originally invited me. He's not someone I would usually go for, but I had been crushing on him since junior year. It wasn't until this year when we finally had a class together that we actually began to talk. He was most every girl's crush in this school if that helps you understand how incredible this experience was. Although I admit it regrettedly, he is one of the most popular guys. I kept telling myself that it wasn't just that fact that drew me to him. He was going to hang out with me and all my friends tonight, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited beyond belief. Every time I thought of him with his perfectly styled blonde hair and deep blue eyes along with a muscular body, I get butterflies.
I mentally screamed in anticipation.