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`
 

I walked down the alleyway, so cold with the rich smell of damp decay and dead rodents
near the brick wall on the other side with the creature·s stale blood trickled all the way
to stop near my cold feet. The alleyway gave a claustrophobic feel, but no one was here.
No one was here.

My watch foggy with mist from the cold weather, read 10:42pm, I was late although I
knew I had to have a change of clothes. With the clothes I was wearing now so damp
and my glasses askew, I probably needed a hot shower. This day was going tremendously
badly. Today was meant to be the day, the day I would change, when people would look
at me and not just pity me as the beautiful girl who had lost her parents. I said to
myself: I will keep a smile on my face and say ´I·m fine. Thank youµ and all my friends
will believe me. Today I will be Melanie , the girl who every boy loves and the girls love to
envy. Today was meant to be the day, but right now my stomach was filled with
butterflies and my face was covered with a new layer of sweat. If anyone saw me now
they would think of me as a distraught angel, a role I definitely was not going to play.

Walking down the alleyway was quite peaceful; I discovered that I didn·t need to prove
myself, knowing that no one would come here to find me...

I think that I am going to puke, maybe the scent of stale blood is finally coming to my
head...but it didn·t seem right; I have never felt nauseous by the scent of blood, once I
even had to have a blood transfusion. The blood transfusion was given in the hospital
after the car accident which took my parent·s lives. I never cried after that day, my
tears ran out, for nothing could be worse than losing them, so I took an oath that I
would never cry again, never. Gosh, I needed to get a grip! I was meant to go to my
birthday dinner. Even though it was a surprise and I could probably get out of it , but I
felt that I needed to prove myself and tell Aunt Jenna that I was okay and for her to
stop worrying about me. I needed this...no I needed someone, someone who would not
die in front of my eyes, someone who will understand; but no one was here for me.
Absolutely no one who would die for me, because the few people who would were already
dead, I promised not to shed a tear because there is nothing worse than losing my
parent·s, absolutely nothing so that memory will always be immortal as well as the pain, I
promised that the day after the car accident. Nothing could ever be worse than that
pain, but the pain from maybe a sports injury passes, so it·s mortal so I will not shed a
tear for something so stupid. Never... in a way it feels almost right for myself to get
injured. As if it·s payback for allowing my parent·s to get in the front of the wheel and
drive you back home from eating with their friends while wearing a seat belt but
forgetting to tell them to wear one as well. The small doses of pain gave an almost small



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feeling of release from the life I owed them. I should have told them, but then it was
too late and the truck...

My eyes started to water, my heart gave a sudden jolt of pain while my stomach made a
very uncomfortable knot. This only happened when something bad was going to happen
or an odd stalker was following me, but they were usually drunk and usually think I·m a
prostitute, which is obvious of what they think towards me in there drunk state as they
say something like ´HEY BEAUTY!, wanna come here and give this man some love!µ while
fanning themselves with a few 10 dollar notes pretending that there 100 dollar notes,
and I clearly don·t wear stripper clothes, maybe they think I·m a slut. Showing that in
America the shortcut alleyway from St Richard·s High School to 5th Avenue is a very
weird place to walk threw at daytime, although no one was here at night. No, this was
different something extremely bad was going to happen... I ran so fast it took a while
for my brain to sort through the opaque fear which was clouding my thoughts and
causing me to be so rash. I was most likely going crazy. I probably was, as no sane
person would believe they saw glowing ruby eyes in a pitch black alleyway following your
every step. I must really be going crazy or maybe all this thinking of death has made my
imagination turn on me... but it seemed so real.

After a few minutes of clearing my head I finally realise I·m lost. This would be a very
common ¶Mel·s finally come to her senses· time which Lauren, my best friend with
beautiful mahogany hair and clear emerald green eyes would say. I loved her but even
she would run if she saw what my imagination took me to, but the blood glowing eyes
seemed so real. Gosh why did I let Erik talk me into breaking in to school to go
swimming with a few of the other Quarterbacks and cheerleaders? Probably because I
used to be those stupid cheerleaders who had a key to the school for afterschool
practice and misused my schools trust? That was probably it and that I needed to prove
I was still the same girl, but I wasn·t that careless, beautiful, athletic, rich, platinum
blond, alabaster white and a sapphire blue eyed cheerleader which any guy would love to
date anymore. I looked the same all blue eyed and blond and I was still a popular,
beautiful and rich athletic cheerleader but I wasn·t careless anymore. I understood now
that even though my personality changed those dumb Quarterbacks still would love to
date me because of how ¶stunningly beautiful· and ¶prettier than a diamond· as well as
¶having those legs were meant for the runway· or because I was ¶more beautiful than
Rosalie would ever be in Twilight· so they only wanted me for how I looked, no one liked
me for just me. Not even Lauren, she likes me as a best friend but also for popularity. I
call her my best friend simply because she used to get me, even though she barely knew
me inside, but that was enough and that was what made her my best friend in the first
place but then she stopped listening. At least she knew me more than the rest of my



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crowd even though it was only by 1% and 0.5% of it being which exclusive party·s I
attended and which celebrities where invited too .

So even though I looked the same on the outside I found that I could witness a lot
more than I did before, an example would be like when your vision was normal but then
you suddenly need glasses and after a while you use them so much you can·t see at all
without them, except from blurred images but then you go through lasic eye-surgery
and you can see clearly again, but your eyes never change on the outside as it·s just you
who changed on the inside. From this view I could clearly see that I was late and
completely lost.

After realising that I left my phone on top of my Mac at home so that I wouldn·t leave
it at school and thinking how stupid I can be sometimes. I looked up to see any big
apartments which I might recognize, but there was nothing I could see other than the
deep blue starry sky. Nothing, I could barely see anything now because of the time and
there were no lampposts here as it wasn·t near the main part of the alleyway. Running
my across the long brick wall of the alleyway I started walking, but to no avail I think
I·m getting more lost than I thought before. When I suddenly heard foot steps...god
hope it·s not those drunk men who think I·m a prostitute! But it turned out just to be a
guy who was quite tall and probably around my age and he was walking right up to me.
Maybe he knew the way to 5th Avenue from here or maybe he was going to crash right
into me as it was impossible to see otherwise he would walk right past me and wouldn·t
be able to hear my call because of the white blanket of fog surrounding us. God it was
so cold! But he stopped right in front of me and took out a flash light from his backpack
and shined it right in front of his and my face between the small spaces left between
our bodies. His hand was so close I could almost feel it on my coat. He started to take
his scarf of so that he could wrap it around me. When I suddenly found that I was
shivering with white powder of carbon dioxide expelled from my mouth in a weird cloud.
As also was it my teeth chattering which I thought at the time was the sound of paper
scrunching. I realised it was probably past 11:30pm now. My foggy watch confirmed that
it was nearly 12:00 am and that I was freezing and was lost, in the alleyway for more
than an hour when it only takes 20 minutes to walk from school to 5th Avenue and that a
stranger had found me and was right now swapping coats with me. I was utterly
confused, as if my expression showed the same thing when he looked up at me he said

´You·re Melanie, Laurens friend. I·m Alexander or just Alex will do, I·m new but I go to
your school and Lauren invited me to your surprise birthday party. So then it started
getting really late and Lauren told all of us to go look for you.µ Alex said, he was...wow
he looked amazing in a way beautiful. His hair was blond with brown natural highlights
his eyes where almost the same blue as mine and looking into them gave me a feeling of
waves crashing he also had a small ring of silver twisted in above rim of the pupil, it



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looked almost as if it were a piece of a jewel so rare it would cost the whole world to
acquire. Realising that he probably thought my mind babbling and quietness was actually
me having hypothermia. I said the smartest thing that came to my mind,

´Oh uh, hi Alexander sorry for being late I just uh got lost because uh someone I think
was following me. So I started to run and then couldn·t find my way back and then it got
extremely cold.µ Wow I·m so stupid! As if that much isn·t obvious!

´You look like you need something to eat and rest a while.µ

´Thanks but I don·t know how to get home.µ God that was smart of me if he said that its
obvious he·s implying for him to get me home...gosh I think my minds going overdrive
Alexander is so beautiful its highly likely he won·t even look at me but then again I was
apparently ¶the incarnation of beauty herself· or so my mother·s friends told me while
wishing that I was there daughter.

´It·s ok maybe you should stop at my house as its closer and my folks are home and I
think your Aunt Jenna is having dinner with someone. So you can come to mine and get
something to eat and then I·ll take you home. If your okay with it.µ

´Wow. Umm thanks that would be very kind of you.µ

´You·re welcome, come on we better go. You look like you·re going to freeze.µ

So I followed him out of the alleyway and to a big Range Rover parked under a
Christmas tree. I found that even though this guy was completely new here I felt as if
I could trust him. Something I haven·t felt since the accident. So even though I just
met this guy it felt almost as if I could trust him with my life and secrets and that he
would understand me and fight for me. I felt that in 12 minutes of just meeting this
guy. I was truly going insane. I knew he was probably one of the most exquisite
creatures this lifetime has ever seen and I was sitting right next to him in a massive
Range Rover with the heater on high looking also extremely beautiful but also looking
like one of those desperate people who would die for love half frozen, like Rose in The
Titanic. Maybe I looked like an Ice Queen. While sifting through my crazy thoughts I
realised that he was probably waiting for me to say something.

´Uh so how did you found me?µ that seemed like a good question someone would ask if
they were found in an alleyway looking like a half frozen Popsicle.

´This guy called Erik said that you where probably near the school. So we all started to
search around there. A few of us went into the alleyway I just called that girl, Lauren
telling her that I found you and that I·m taking you home.µ

´Oh well Thanks again for finding me. I got quite scared near the end.µ



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´Anytime you get lost, I·ll find you.µ

´Thanks.µ

Alexander·s house was basically a mansion which was also part of 5th Avenue although it
was more of a 5 floor condo. There were a lot of unpacked boxes in front of the big oak
doorway which looked like it was built in the medieval times. The living room had a
tasteful display of art scattered around the walls with a beautiful thick chestnut table
placed in the centre looking extremely old like a few of the other antique ornaments
and rugs. Even though his ¶house· was located in 5th Avenue my house was located on the
opposite side of 5th Avenue and the traffic indicated that it would at least take 30
minutes to get there. I realised that I was still wearing his coat and scarf, sliding it off
my shoulders to reveal my cashmere cardigan, Channel top, Levi jeans and my Chanel
boots. As well as unwrapping his scarf to show my Juicy necklace. I looked back up to
say thank-you but he was staring right at me with his expression so intense I sat there
like a dodo bird. Realising that he had my attention he said,

´Did you see the persons face that was following you?µ he asked in a soft but deadly
voice which was so beautiful it took my breath away, but finally coming to my senesces I
responded.

´Uh no but I remember the colour of his eyes.µ

He responded by saying.

´And what would that colour be?µ

´Red.µ I blurted out; gosh he probably thought I needed to go to a shrink or the mental
hospital.

´Maybe he was a man trying to get a picture of you while being scared so he could put
you on page six.µ God he saved me from my mental embarrassment and I was more than
happy to change the subject from the image of those ruby red round eyes.

´I hate it when they always take pictures of me and then call me a party animal when
I·m only 17 and have only had alcohol with bread in church and that alcohol was wine and
I personally thought it tasted rancid, no offence.µ Who knew? Maybe he was like the
rest of the teenage guys in my year that always got drunk and did drugs after hitting
the striper club, but he didn·t seem like that type he seemed mo re mature even though
his skin was luminescent without a single sign of breakouts. His skin looked absolutely
flawless and he had no hollowness in his face indicating that he most likely did not do
drugs. He looks wise beyond his years. To emphasize his age was probably the same as
me, his gold hair was perfectly tousled and framed his face so perfectly it was hard to



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describe the words that came to mind if any girl looked at him. They would probably
pass out. Any girl, but I wasn·t any girl and maybe he was like me in people liking him for
his looks and not him. As if he could read my thoughts he responded by saying,

´Offence not taken, I hate it when people just like you for how you look and not how you
are on the inside.µ

´Same.µ

´Oh here you can change into that before I drop you to your house; it·s my sister·s so
you can keep it, she probably forgot she bought it.µ He said while handing me a knee
length dress, embroidered with gold and pearls dripping off like teardrops at the
bottom of the beautiful silk cream dress. The dress was beautiful and delicate and
looked quite old.

´Thanks but I couldn·t, I·ll give it back to you at school tomorrow.µIn response he just
shrugged. A very fluid movement which showed a long bleeding gash on the hidden side
of his arm. I gasped.

´Are you sure your okay did you hurt yourself?µ he asked while the blood was tickling
down the length of his arm.

´No it·s just uh your arm is uh bleeding and you might want some plasters.µ

´Oh its okay it·ll stop in a sec it·s not deep, I·ll just get a towel. You can change in the
guest room it·s down the corridor,µ he motioned to a big room to my left. ´And ill uh wait
outside till your done, if you want to take a shower the towel is in the bathroom and
there·s some other stuff you can use on the counter, see you in a sec.µ Then he strode
away to most probably the kitchen to get a ton of band aids I hope. While he was
walking away I headed to the guest bedroom, it wasn·t polite to wonder around
someone·s house without knowing them well enough. As well as intruding their privacy
was not a nice thing to do.

So I opened the door and the room was beautiful with antique showpieces in the glass
cabinet and the furniture looked beautiful in earth tones. The bathroom had a gold sink
just like my ¶house· as well as the golden bath-tub. Overall the structure of this house
was basically the same as mine; my ¶house· even had the same size guest room down a
corridor. Although at the same time it looked completely different with my house being
full of electronics and High-Tec machines...even the taps where touch activated and the
security being the whole eye scanner. Here it was different it was modern but also it
had a lot of antiques...more medieval.



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I stepped in the bath-tub and quickly took of the disgusting grime and fowl stench of
my body until I smelled like ¶velvet rose· washing my hair as long as required, I wouldn·t
mingle I didn·t want Alexander to think of me as those girls who spend 5 hours taking a
bath. Washing the rest of the smell and cold dampness from my hair till it smelled like
strawberry... wow I guess Alex and is family where always buying a new tub of shampoo
and other stuff because none of these bottles where opened. Grabbing the towel from
the side I got out of the bath walking towards the big oval mirror with a marble counter
holding the gold sinks. Beside the sink on the right was a new toothbrush in a plastic
case and a small bag of mini face-wash, perfume, toothpaste and a comb. On the wall
was a hair dryer in its stand.

After brush my teeth and combing through my long blond silky hair after drying I
slipped on the beautiful cream dress which fit me perfectly. I then put on my Juicy
necklace and slipped on my Chanel boots which were actually quite clean and went well
with the dress as they where a nice shade of milk chocolate brown and they where
luckily the right height for the dress stopping three quarters of the way of my leg. My
cashmere cardigan was not that damp either so I put on my cardigan which was luckily
the same colour as my boots and went well with the dress.

Looking in the mirror I saw Melanie again the girl who was so pretty that even though
girl·s boyfriends would easily leave them to be with her, but they couldn·t hate her
because the moment they looked at her they wished they where her. Although that girl
was me I sometimes hated it as some people just didn·t understand, why would they
want to be me? That girl with no parent or the girl with no true friends...it made no
sense because if they where me they would hate it. Absolutely hate it, because that
accident changed me. I realised that I didn·t have my parents to hug anymore when I
came home from school or my mum to give her my mother·s day present or my dad to
promise me hell try to give me golf lessons, and to realise that was horrible. I had no
one, absolutely no one.

Before I could think of crying Alex knocked on the door so I let him in before I could
let any tears escape. He took in my facial expression immediately and told me to sit
down...but my face felt cold and very stiff, how odd. I quickly smiled to make sure I
didn·t look like I wanted to commit suicide any second.

´You look better.µ Wow his smile was breath taking.

´Oh uh thanks...is your arm ok?µ I sound like I·m mentally challenged.

´Oh yeah it was just a scratch.µ

´So you·re new right?µ



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´Yeah I just moved here a few days ago.µ

´Cool, uh so you have a sister right?µ Maybe it was a brother...

´Yeah I have 2 sisters and 1 brother, how about you?µ

´Hmm?µ wow I sound as if I just woke up from a coma or a concussion, this definitely
isn·t me.

´Do you have any siblings?µ

´Oh uh no I·m an only child although I was meant to have a sister.µ

´Sorry.µ

´It·s ok it wasn·t a miscarriage or anything.µ Wow this guy was asking about me and not
like the other guys in St Richard·s High School asking about which party I went to or
would I date the guy. He was asking about me.

´Oh what happened then?µ He seemed just genuinely intrigued so I wondered how to
answer and settled on the truth.

´My mum and dad died in a car accident and my mum was pregnant at the time, I was the
only one who survived because I was wearing a seat belt.µ We just sat in silence for a
while when he responded choosing his words very carefully.

´That must have been horrible. My birth mother died when I was born and my biological
father died shortly after. He uh committed suicide when I was 3 and then I·ve been
with this family ever since. My siblings as I like to call them shared around the same
past as me so we were all adopted and I like to call my adoptive parents my actual
parents. Life gets better even though it·s a painful journey.µ He looked as if he was
surprised that he was sharing this information, which probably meant he was like me.

´I·m not sure if the pain will ever pass for me...I mean you where 3 when it all happened
but you weren·t actually there or have many memories of the actual accident which
might replay in your nightmares every night. Although at the same time you had to live
longer with it, but you had a family which you consider your own to help ease the pain.
You have someone. Me, I have no one. Aunt Jenna says I can always tell her anything but
really she·s just being nice so that she can go to a few parties with me and make sure I
write her a cheque from the money I inherited from my parents will and from my trust
fund. I have absolutely no one.µ

´You have someone.µ He said in a voice that made the sentence a statement, but I still
responded.



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´And who would that be?µ His eyebrows shot up and I could see his perfect jaw line. He
started moving his right hand indicating with his index finger towards himself. I felt my
jaw part slightly when he rested his left palm into mine... the texture of his palm felt
like liquid gold, his hand was perfect and that·s when I knew that his hand would look
too beautiful in another·s, but in mine it looked normal. Almost like it was made for my
hands only to hold it, like it was only laid for my palm to rest on top to make the beauty
unfathomable to most people that their jaws would most likely drop. I could equal his
beauty and I suddenly felt quite calm until he said the next words which are going to
make my stomach do a crazy knot when it registers to my thoughts.

´Me. You have somebody, and that·s me.µ Wow just a few words which made the pits of
my brain where a little part of the happiness emotion, pure happiness and glee
registered. I needed to declare myself, I guess, too.

´Thanks, and if you need somebody... I·m here.µ Wow, it almost felt as if my heart was
truly beating again, and that only happened when I visited my parent·s grave. I barely
knew this guy but it was almost as if he was made for me, he asked about me, he
wondered if I was ok and he just said that I can rely on him. For once I felt whole.

´I want to ask something but only if you think it·s ok.µ

´What is it?µ

´Lauren, she told me that if I was to ever date you I should ask her how to ask you... I
was just wondering whether that would that be safe?µ I admit I fully laughed with just
my happiness emotion. It almost felt foreign to me but before I get caught up in my
emotions I quickly decide to save myself from the tears threatening to release from my
soar eyes.

´I dunno, if Lauren where aloud she would have gotten some duck-tape and stuck you to
a chair, I swear sometimes she hates me because guys ask me out and don·t even look
her way.µ

´So, Lauren is definitely ruled out.µ He smiled this beautiful smile which is going to make
my heart melt any second.

´Definitely.µ He passed me my Coach handbag and got up.

´Common lets go get something to eat.µ

After eating my lobster bisque, he dropped me off at my ¶house· and I headed straight
for my room, taking off the dress carefully, I changed into my night clothes and went
straight to bed. I didn·t have nightmares tonight, instead I dreamed of Alexander.



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School today, at least ill have somebody. Lauren is probably downstairs in the car park
with her newest car and Aunt Jenna·s probably at another guy·s house. I·m probably
right on 2 occasions because Aunt Jenna isn·t in the house and Lauren is waiting in her
car. I slid in to the passenger seat next to her. She finally responded after a few
minutes of gawking at me.

´Hey I was so worried about you last night!µ

´Oh thanks for asking some guys to look for me.µ

´So the new guy found you right? He·s so hot... did you guys talk?µ I knew she wanted
him, Alex was hot but also perfect... he looked amazing.

´Yeah he found me in the alleyway and he·s major hot.µ

´I am so going to ask him out, or make him ask me.µ Her tone of voice gave a feeling of
her owning him and if I was to cross that I will be dead. If only she knew.

´Common let·s just get to class before it·s too late.µ I said while opening my door on the
right of the Mercedes and rolling my eyes.

Like every other year of school I sat with the rest of the cheerleaders, oddly in this
school we never have a captain but they always treat me like one. Like every other day
people said hi, and guys asked me out who I rejected and Lauren looked at me in awe.
There where at least 6 other guys who drove sleek black Range Rovers to school. When
Alex got out of his car a lot of the girls at my table started squealing. He walked
straight up to our table where his gaze fell on me. The whole year was staring at us. So
I decided that this was really weird, so I got up to just stand next to him like he was a
typical new student and I was just going to make casual talk with him as I·m head-girl.
After a few minutes everyone else started getting back to their conversations but
shooting me a cross between jealous and envious glances. I personally didn·t care.

´Hi Melanie,µ

´Hi Alex, do you know which classes you·re in?µ

´Yeah I just got my schedule this morning, I have Mr Dalton 1st period.µ

´Oh that·s good; it means you probably have some of the same classes I do because half
the year has the same classes which are compulsory while the other half is on a
different Schedule.µ

´That·s great.µ Then he entwined his hand into mine. I didn·t understand my
surroundings as he suddenly made my heart melt with the fire radiating off his hand,
although his hand was quite cool. When my heart started beating again I noticed that



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both girls and boys in my year where shooting us pure envious stairs looking as if the
guys could take Alexander·s place or vice versa. Although right now the only thing my
brain could register right now was how his grip was gentle but protective although
allowing me to have the option to slip my hand out of his, showing that he wasn·t like
those possessive freaks. I only met him once before but like yesterday I felt as if I
could trust him with my heart and soul and if I was to die right now I wouldn·t really
mind as long as he was there and I could sense his presence. I feel whole, for once
after the accident I felt whole and it absolutely terrifies me. The reason why it
terrifies me is because if he was to die, I will never be able to take the pain again. I·ll
most probably kill myself and that thought chilled me to the bone.

´So have you noticed that nearly every girl in this school is staring at us pointing
daggers towards me but wearing a bitchy smile which looks innocent shining towards
you?µ His hand was still in mine and I thought I was going to faint.

´Nope but then again have you noticed that every guy is shooting daggers towards me
while every other girl wishes they where you?µ

´They should never want to be me.µ Gosh it felt like the wash of memories of my family
where going to drown me. Until I realised that he was shaking me and that I was on the
floor. The jet black waters drowned me while the beautiful smell of unconsciousness
was coming towards me in full force.

I woke in the hospital wing with a blurred images of alot people around my stretcher
but all I could clearly see was the face of someone so beautiful it nearly broke my
heart. After noticing that I was awake a school nurse came running up holding a flash
light and flashing it right in to my eyes. Gosh nurses where so annoying sometimes and
after a few tests she finally realised that a bunch of kids who should be in class where
skipping to see what happened to me where standing around so she shooed them away.

Although it looked as though everyone left Alexander was in the corner sitting on a
wooden stool though it looked strangely right.