Fate's Cruel Hand

Chapter 1

Lise

2 years ago

I felt the hot tears trailing down my face as I stared down at the two blue lines. This couldn't be right, could it? I didn't even know what to do, was it a reasonable reaction to throw the stupid pregnancy test across the bathroom and pretend I never saw it?

How was this fair? I was 16, I couldn't take care of a baby. I never wanted this, I didn't make a stupid choice, all I did was go to a party. A stupid party, with stupid drinks, and stupid guys, and stupid drugs. I wish I had never gone to that stupid party. The tears were coming faster down my face now, as I sank down against the wall, until I was on the floor. I stared blankly at the test in my hand as I relived that night.

"Damn Lise, how long does it take you to get ready?" I giggled as my best friend, Gabrielle, complained from where she lay on my bed.

"It's not my fault you choose not to look your absolute best whenever we actually go to these things" I told her. We were both dedicated high school sophomores, so we didn't go out to parties that often, or at all, but tonight was a rare exception. It was my cousin's birthday, and he begged me to come to a party with him so I finally gave in and was dragging Gabrielle along with me.

She lifted her head off the bed enough to glare at me,

"If it were up to me, we wouldn't go to these parties at all," I glanced at her, "And I don't know why you insist on curling your hair, you know it takes for freaking ever."

I turned back to my floor length mirror, and watched her in that instead, so I could continue to curl my hair.

"I insist on curling my hair, because that's the way Asher likes it best, and since it's his birthday..." I trailed off. She sighed,

"Okay, so your curling your hair because you love your cousin, but please explain why his fine ass isn't up here helping you?" she asked, I turned around to face her a horrified expression on my face,

"And let him near my beautiful hair with a curling iron?" I paused, "He'd find some way to burn it all off!" I exclaimed, only half joking.

"Probably" We both turned to see Asher leaning against my bedroom doorway and I swear Gabrielle got heart eyes, like all the anime characters do? I tried to hide another giggle. I admit he was hot, with short-cropped black hair and amber eyes. He was also tall, something Gabrielle adored about him, as both her and I were short. We were both only a few inches over five foot. But I would never see him as anything more than my cousin, or an overprotective older brother at most.

Asher glanced at Gabrielle like she had grown another head or something, I knew he only saw her as a little sister and I sort of pitied her but I think it's for the best, before speaking up.

"I might burn all your hair off if I try to help, but Gabi won't, and if we plan on leaving in the next ten years, you need help curling," he paused and gestured to my dirty blonde hair, that when left straight reached to my mid-back, "all of that". I shrugged and opened a drawer, pulling my second curling iron out,

"Here you go Gabi" I called, snapping her out of her Asher induced trance. She looked at me confused and spotted me waving the curling iron in the air,

"Oh yeah sure, I'll help you" she said getting off the bed and walking over to where I stood in front of the mirror. I saw Asher's chuckle and struggled to hold one of my own in.

"Well now that that's settled, I'm going to go watch some TV until you're ready" he told us, disappearing from my vision. I listened until I could no longer hear his footsteps on the stairs and commented,