CHASE

He paints a pretty picture,

But the story has a twist;

The paintbrush is his razor

And the canvas is his wrist.

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CHAPTER 2

Have you ever woken up early in the morning just to turn off your alarm and then put your head back on the pillow just to lay down peacefully for a few minutes, only to have gone back into a deep slumber, and realizing that when you wake up again you have only twenty minutes to get ready to school. If yes, then even you are welcome to the 'Lovers of Sleep' club!

Its currently 7:40 in the morning and I have only twenty minutes to get ready and reach school before the first period bell rings. I get up with the speed of a lightning bolt and dash towards the bathroom to take a bath and dress up for school. I quickly brush my teeth, take a bath and I am out of the bathroom within a record time of seven minutes. Yes, sometimes it's necessary to count the time used.

I wear a faded blue denim jeans with a white polo shirt and leave my hair in a 'messy yet sexy' style. I go down, wish everyone good morning, grab a granola bar and start towards my car. And yeah, I own an Audi A3 Sportback e-tron. My foster parents gifted it to me on my sixteenth birthday and I can't thank them enough for it.

Its central means of propulsion remains a transversely mounted petrol engine, a 148bhp 1.4-litre, four-cylinder turbo petrol unit. It has unique 17 inch alloys, LED headlights, Audi's rear dynamic indicators, adaptive lowered suspension and rear parking sensors on the outside and has dual-zone climate control, cruise control and MMI infotainment with a retractable 7 inch display, sat nav, DAB radio, Bluetooth, smartphone integration and a 10GB hard drive on the inside.

What? Some people do research a lot!

I still have eight minutes left to reach school and with the speed at which I am driving I would soon be within the hell's entrances. And as unwanted thoughts kept consuming my mind, I keep driving towards the hell we call school.

I joined Rosewood High in 8th standard after shifting here from England. That year was the most depressing one of my life. Not only had I lost my parents before shifting but also I lost my sister in the next three months, due to an a*****e called Jade Benjamin. And then she committed suicide exactly after two years, leaving me alone in this cursed world.

These last four years have not been easy for me. I have been depressed, and yeah I cut, but these people whom I now call my family have helped me through all the hard times.

'After all, Family is not always by blood. Sometimes trust and love is all it takes!'

After my parents' death in the accident, I and my sister, were orphaned. But Jamie and Chloe, our godparents took us under their wings and loved us as their own. But after moving out here to California, my sister started to hang out with the wrong crowd.

And Jade was one of them. If it had not been him, then she would still have been alive. Since that fateful day of my sister's death, I have hated Jade Benjamin and everything that's related to him. I still remember how everything had taken a toll on me, with me being only a thirteen year old.

Maybe if I had to have a conversation about my family now, as an adult, I might look upon the predicaments differently. But as a thirteen year old, trying to grasp the concept of a future with both my parents and my elder sister gone, all I could see was its immediate and colossal impact on me and my life.

All I could think was that I had already been forced to face enough hardship in my short life so far, without having to contemplate upping sticks and crossing the world, relocating my entire existence. All this led to one thing, Depression.

Depression is a Black Hole. All the light inside it disappears as quickly as it comes, and even the things you once loved can't remind you of what it feels like to be happy.

You want to cry when you think of the people you love because you can see the pain you are putting them through. You don't want to hurt them but you can't help it. It is an illness that one cannot fight on your a own. Depression pulls you under into the ocean of sadness and drowns you; it makes you forget why life is worth living at all.

I have been through it. I have lost sight of my life and then found it again. I spent six years, after shifting here, with seven people who are now like my family, and never believing in anyone who told me that it would get better.

Soon, I am in the parking lot, parking my car besides Luke's car, with five minutes to spare before the bell for the first period rings.

I'm going to say this, though it might sound cliché -Depression can be overcome; things can get better. And when things do get better, you will be able to love your life and the people in it with more vigour and vibrancy than you ever know, existed.

After everyone, that is Ryan and Rue, came, the four of us start walking into the school towards our lockers. On my way, I smile and wave at everyone who wishes me, to not seem rude.

Recovering from depression takes a long time, and it's a slow process. Over time you will start to enjoy things more, and eventually, that will lead to a renewed appreciation for life.

When I began to recover the beauty I used to see in the world around me in nature, in learning, in people became crystal clear again. But that joyful renewal made my new life even sweeter than it was pre-depression because I knew what it was like not to see how wonderful life truly is.

My appreciation for the people who helped me through that time and who came into my life afterwards has never been higher since I recovered. They were the people who kept me alive those two years, who loved me no matter what, and depression taught me how important they truly are to me. The same goes for friends; I lost many over the course of those years, for countless reasons. Now that I have a group of wonderful people who support me in every facet of my life, I will never take them for granted.

All this is to say that even the darkest situations can lead to better times ahead. When that blanket of darkness was lifted from my life, it revealed the beauty that I never knew was there before. People, places feelings - they are all part of what makes life a fantastic and exquisite experience.

As I open my locker I see Aliana Mase, Rosewood High's s**t, strutting towards me in her too-short-and-too-pink-for-my-liking dress and six-inch high heels. She has always had a weird obsession with me ever since sophomore year and has been on my back since then.

"Hi there, Chasey...." she says trying to make her voice sound husky but let me tell you, she fails at it terribly; it sounds much like someone's choking her. And don't even start about that s****y nickname.

"Hey, Aliana," I say, trying to keep my voice monotonous to hide my growing frustration.

"So, do you want to hang out with me tonight? You know my parents aren't home and you wouldn't want me to be alone, would you?" she says while running her long, manicured fingers over my arm and chest.

I push her off me (desperate much!) and reply, "No Aliana. I have got some better and useful work to do." Note, the stress on USEFUL.

She turns around with a grumpy look on her face and calls for Ashley. Ashley tilts her head a little and looks and me and a look of recognition crosses her facial features while I am still glaring at Aliana. I then glance at her and glare more furiously.

I know she hasn't done any wrong to me but as I said before, I hate anything related to Jade. She has a look of hurt in her eyes but she is quick to mask it. I was confused but did not show it or, maybe I did. I turn around and go to my first class, Algebra.

Time flies by as normal, and soon it is Lunch. I buy my lunch and walk towards our table only to find Ryan and Rue sucking off each other's faces and Luke gagging at them. I sit down and start eating my food while we make small talk.

My eyes dart around the cafeteria and I look over to the populars' table. All the s***s and jocks are sitting around eating their lunch while some eat each other's face off. Especially Aliana, she and Jade are literally giving everyone a free porn show.

But there's one who is silently eating her food, Ashley. I don't know anything about this girl. She seems so sweet and innocent but she isn't. She starves herself by just eating that salad. She dresses like a prostitute with those short skirts, crop tops, high heels and make-up.

She just acts like another one of those wannabe barbies. There are many rumours that she has slept with more people than Aliana but she has never dated any guy. I am not the one to believe in rumours but everything about her screams a w***e.

Soon, the bell rings signalling the end of the lunch. My next period is American History. I and Rue walk towards our class and on our way, I bump into Jade, the a*****e. Behind him is Ashley staring at me with an unknown emotion in her eyes.

Jade smirks at me and I flip him off. "How's your lovely sister, Chase! She was one hell of a girl; and making her fall for me was way too easy," and this did it. I punched him straight on his jaw and soon started a fight. Rue tried separating us while Ashley just stood there watching us two with many emotions in her eyes, fear being the dominant one.

That fear in her eyes, broke my heart. It was like I could feel all her hurt; the pain that she had stored somewhere deep within her heart.

"Will you just try to help?" Rue snapped at Ashley. Ashley then tried to separate us, but just at the wrong time.

"Mr. Matthews and Mr. Benjamin, to my cabin now!" the principal shouted, glaring at us.

We both got up and followed him while Rue and Ashley went back to class.

As soon as we closed the door and sat down in front of the principal he started his lecture about discipline and school's reputation and at the end we just got a detention for today since I was once the captain of the basketball team and I was second in all my classes, after Ashley. Shocking, right!

And well Jade being Jade he was the son of Mr. Benjamin, one of the richest people in the town and also the captain of the soccer team. We left his office and he just turned around and gave me a sinister smile and we walked towards our last class, my being gym.

I changed into my gym shorts and a sports jersey. Today, coach made us play volleyball against the girls. After the bell went off, we changed into our normal clothes and I tell Ryan, Rue and Luke everything and then make my way towards detention.

I sit at the far corner of the room and put my earphones into my ears, set an alarm and adjust my position to dose off just like the teacher. After an hour of peaceful slumber, my alarm goes off. The teacher wakes up after a minute or two and brushes us off.

I get up and push my way past Jade and walk straight to my car and drive back home, not even once glancing back. Soon I am home, driving past the speed limit. I run upto my apartment and ring the bell only to find mom and dad home.

"Why are you home so early?" I ask.

"We wanted to tell you something." They reply with guilt in their eyes. Why would they be guilty?

"And what is it?"

They both remain silent, looking at each other as if they are talking to each other with their eyes.

"Can you both please tell me!" I snap at them, feeling frustrated.

But dad's answer shocks me and I am dumbstruck.

"We have decided to an agreement with the Benjamin's and you are supposed to be engaged to their daughter for a year."

What the actual f**k!

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"There are times we all feel insecure but don't let it get you down,

Just take it one step at a time and you will see that you can move mountains."