A Timeless Place

Prologue

A timeless place. That's where I was. As always. I had my back to the lamp post, but I knew it was there. I knew it was looming above from behind me, showering my surroundings with its timeless illumination. I put up a fight but, as always, I lost, as a force pulled me around to face the lamp post. I tightly squeezed my eyes shut against the blinding light. But the light changed. It wasn't the blinding light of a lamp this time, but warm sunlight.

It was hot and bright upon my face where the sun rays slithered through the curtains and onto my face. I opened my eyes sleepily, snuggling further into my covers. No more than a second later, my eyes snapped open to the clock on my bedside. 7.58 am it read. Oh, crap. School starts in about half an hour. I threw my blanket over to the side before stumbling up. Woah, that was not a good idea- my head was spinning. I stumbled into my closet, grabbing whatever clothes I reached first before running into the bathroom. I hurriedly washed my face and brushed my teeth before grabbing my school bag and running downstairs.  

"Dad!" I called out. No response, of course, he'd already left.  

I grabbed an apple off the kitchen counter, put my shoes on and made my way outside. I sighed as I locked the door and started sprinting. My phone read 8.10 am. Record time, but I really had to start waking up on time... 

I looked at the reflection of myself from the back of my phone. There were bags under my hazel-green eyes and my dark brown hair was sticking up in random places. Taking out a comb from my bag, I combed through the wavy curls of my hair but who was I kidding - my hair would always look like plant tendrils, curling midway down my back. Taking a bite of my apple, I prepared myself for yet another mundane day at school. 

"Kitty!" Eli perked cheerily from behind the counter when I walked into my usual stop at Chance café on the way to school. I loved this café mainly for its simplicity and solitary peace. The café, while having a respectful amount of business, was not crowded with impatient busy workers who had a list of orders for their colleagues. Besides, my best friend worked here. I usually drank my coffee while she finished her shift. I came around so often I even had a tab here. Yes, at a coffee place.

"'Morning, Eli," I replied, going over to join her as she pressed in my usual order. "And stop calling me Kitty! It's Cathy. Cathy." I emphasised on the pronunciation. 

Eli smiled sweetly. I only scowled at her in response to which she replied "Right, caffeine first, then joking." 

I hated pet names. They seemed condescending, somehow. Cathy was alright, it was short for Catherine. Although only dad called me Catherine. Mom used to call me Kitty ever since she read Pride and Prejudice and made Eli and I watch the movie with her. One of the Bennet girls, Catherine, was nicknamed Kitty. After that, the name stuck. However, the tables turned less than two years ago when Eli, short for the protagonist's name Elizabeth, had a crush on the highschool's Mr. Darcy, a jock named Tyler Jefferson. That, however, was a very sensitive topic that was not often open for discussion between us after he knowingly broke her heart and I knowingly broke his nose. A lot had changed since then. And no one called me Kitty ever since mom died a few years ago. Eli tried every now and then but without much success. 

I moved over to the side while she gave my order to the barista, Jordan. 

"Hey, Cathy," Jordan greeted, beginning to make my large cappuccino while Eli served other customers.  

"Hey, Jordan, still working here, huh?" I replied. Jordan Reed was a student at our highschool, Hearstbridge high, who was also in my Chemistry and English Literature class.  

"Yup, saving up for college," Jordan did not like to financially depend on his parents. So here he was, working every weekday with Eli a year before we graduate. He was actually quite good looking, but unfortunately he was also friends with Tyler. Even more unfortunate was his friends with-