Two Lives, One Fate

Prologue

Prologue  

My foot was tapping nervously along the desk, as my heart convulsed with it. As I sucked in a deep breath, my eyes darted to the large wooden grandfather clock that was on the other side of the room. The soft buzzing noises of the slight chatter bothered me. We were in a library, after all.

  But I guess it’s not so bad with the entire room chattering away around me. If I had a heart attack, no one would notice. I’d die slowly and quietly, before he even showed up. I checked the clock again. It was half past six, and he was half an hour late. I lower my eyes to the book I was holding. It was for our English project. He was assigned as my partner to read Othello with me. Part of that assignment was study sessions complete with worksheets that we had to fill out together.

  The rhythmic tapping of my foot brings out a shiver in me, causing me to don my teal sweater. Can someone please explain to me why the library would keep the AC on full blast in the middle of December? They might as well lock me in a freezer and stick it a snow globe in Siberia.

  “Scarlett?” I jump in my seat, startled that he had snuck up on me. He smirks a bit, than pulls up a chair beside me.

  “Don’t do that to me. If I have a heart attack, you’ll have to finish the project alone.” I retaliate, snapping at him angrily.

  “Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry, I can make it up to you.” He waggles his eyebrows suggestively, causing me to roll my eyes.

  Out of all the guys I could have been stuck with, it had to be Drew, right? My subconscious shoots at me in a blaming tone.

   I cross my legs and stare at the book, pretending to read where I left off. But my mind was in a million different places, and Shakespeare was not one of them. In the corner of my eye, I notice him shrug his navy blue backpack off his shoulders and take out some construction paper and other art supplies. I turn my head to him and gave him a weird look.

“So, what’re you doing…?” I ask slowly, putting Othello down. He looks up, and takes out some scissors, which he sets beside the markers.

  “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m making the cover for the project!” He exclaims. I raise my eyebrows, letting that sink in.

  “So while I’m slaving away reading the book and doing the entire study guide, all you’re going to do is the cover?” I ask him in shock.

  “The cover is the first thing a teacher sees. And I brought sparkles.” He replies. What scared me was how serious he actually sounded.

  “Okay. Well. Bye.” I stand up and push my chair in, grabbing my book. He grabs my arm before I can reach it.

  “Wait! Where are you going?” He asks.

   “Home. I’m not like those other girls you hang out with. I’m not going to do all the work myself and have you claim your credit. So you can take your sparkles and shove it.” I shot back, pissed as ever.

  Drew stands up and pushes his chair in too. I start walking, but he grabs my shoulder.

“What?” I ask, irritated. Wordlessly, he hands me his blazer. I look at it, questioning his intentions.

“It’s cold outside. You should take it.” He offers it to me, holding his hand out more. I sigh, giving in and slipping on the woolly jacket.

  “What about you? Won’t you be cold?” I inquire. He laughs slightly.

  “You don’t ever have to worry about me.” He snatches Othello out of my hands and returns to the desk.

  “You’re right. You’re not like those girls.” He gazes into my eyes as if he can read my thoughts and opens the book.

  “I’ll finish the project myself. You go home, watch a chick flick or something.” Drew’s eyes are on the book now, as if dismissing me. I was speechless, but I wasn’t going to pass up a chance at getting out of schoolwork, so I spin on my heel and walk out into the chilly evening air.

  I powerwalk to the bus stop, trying to put as much distance between myself and the library as possible. Yeah right, my brain answers. More like between me and him.

 I try to suppress the grin that urges its way onto my face as I wipe my mind clean of him and start debating whether to watch The Notebook or Titanic for the umpteenth time.

  The bus arrives within two minutes and I pull out my phone and look at my speed dial for a split second. Two people. 

Sabrina. My school girl best friend. I even thought she looked kind of like a nerd, but she was such a good friend to me when we first met that I upgraded her to be my legitamite best friend.

Rose. My hooker best friend. My brain suggested a headache on the way when I checked out her name and started wondering why I was friends with a smart girl and a prostitute one.

Right now, I was focused on working on my Othello project and acing my next history test. I didn't even want to think about hookers and how I knew them. I got off the bus and started walking to my house, thinking about life and school and how hookers aren't needed.

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 A/N: Another idea I had. Thanks @BatteryPoweredWings for the cover. Please comment and be honest about this story too. :)