The Clash, Book One

Chapter 19: Wake Up Call, Part A

Alena woke up with a start as she felt herself falling off the bed.

She groaned when she hit the carpeted floor. She moved into a sitting position before running her fingers through her long, blonde hair.

Considering that she felt as though her world was falling apart, she couldn't imagine a more fitting way to wake up.

Alena then slowly rose from the floor and crawled back into her bed.

She sank face-first into her pillow as she let out a deep sigh. As if living in Hyperion Heights wasn't hard enough, she found out that the insufferable human that is Ivy Belfry is not only awake, but in all likelihood, she was the one who cast this damn curse.

And to top it all off, Jack had no idea who she was, other than a girl he danced with at the ball.

The slight bright side to this whole situation is that she hadn't been lying when she called in sick to work.

Alena then heard her stomach growl, and she figured that she should probably eat a snack.

Though she had made breakfast for herself and the girls before taking them to daycare, she hadn't had much of an appetite.

Alena then rolled out of bed, and her eyes flitted over to her closet, thinking that she might feel better if she got dressed.

While she had the energy to at least change out of her pajama pants into sweatpants to drop off the girls at daycare, she had only managed to throw on a sweatshirt over Jack's shirt.

Alena then heard her stomach growl - again - and decided to just head to the kitchen. She grabbed her phone before she ambled out of her room. At this point, she doubted anything could lift her mood.

She fixed herself a bowl of cereal before settling in on the couch. She flipped on the TV and left it on cartoons, as she didn't want to have to think too much about what she was watching.

Her phone then beeped from where she placed it on the coffee table. She picked it up and read the text messages from Natalie AND Kimberly, both of them checking on her and assuring her that the girls were fine.

Alena sighed as she sent a simple reply before placing her phone back.

If her three-year-old daughters could tell that something seemed to be wrong, Alena wasn't exactly subtle about her disheartened mood.

She then began eating her cereal. She soon became aware of how quiet the apartment was, even with the sound of the TV.

Part of her was really missing the sounds of Emma and Lily's chatter and laughter - along with her feeling slightly guilty about still taking them to daycare - but she was reminded by the other part of her that the twins had Jack's laugh. And it would be his eyes looking back at her.

She loved her girls more than anything in the world, but it was just too hard for her after running into Jack the night before.

"Nick," she then corrected herself out loud. If she was going to keep seeing him - which she undoubtedly would - she'd have to learn to call him by his cursed name.

She made it this far with her other cursed loved ones. One more couldn't hurt, could it?

Those words had been her mantra as she tried falling asleep last night. They did little good, however, since all she did was dream about the reunion she had wanted with Jack.

Alena was pulled from her thoughts when she felt the milk pouring down her chin and onto the shirt.

"Bloody hell," she cursed before getting up and going into the kitchen. As she was grabbing paper towels, she complained, "I can't even bloody eat without being distracted."