Chapter 1

Drift away

'Ouch!' I bumped into someone and fell down hard. Great my new T-shirt was dirty now. I looked up to see who I had bumped into. The sun blinded me and I could not identify the specie.

He bent down and offered me his hand. I got up (not taking it) and said sorry. Not wasting another minute, I turned around and ran towards Abby. I didn't get a chance to look at him or maybe I didn't give my self one.

All I and you know is, that I was walking (running actually) when all of a sudden I collided with someone, fell down in the mud, ruining my brand new W.I.T.C.H T-shirt, got up and was on my way again. End of story. Right?

Wrong!

What I thought was the end, was only the beginning.

Unaware of the turns my fate had taken that day, I took Abby by her hand and went into the college building.

'Who was that kind gentleman, you just bumped into.' She teased.

'Don't know.' I answered. 'I didn't look at him.'

'I haven't seen him around.' She said, still going on. 'Maybe he is new.'

'Ahaan.' I answered still sulking over my new shirt.

'Are you even listening to me?' Abby said a bit louder this time. I snapped out of my fashion trauma.

'Huh? What?... Yeah yeah, new boy.'

'Oh come on Aria! Its just a shirt.' She said.

'But its the first day of college!' I cried. 'How can I have a fashion disaster on first day!'

'Its not the end of the world you know.' She said. 'Plus it was too childish anyway.'

'It is for me!' I almost shouted. 'And W.I.T.C.H is not childish.'

Suddenly the bell rang and we had to part our ways.

According to our timetables, I had Math class while Abby had Biology. I hated to be without her, especially in a situation like this, but I knew I had to face my fashion doom alone. So I raised my head up and marched into my class.

There was an empty seat next to the window! Great! Finally some luck! I put down my books but I didn't know that my luck was short lived.

'Hey Aria! Nice shirt!'

It was Sybil.

Let me just tell you one thing, I and Sybil are not on good terms. She won't let a chance slip by, to humiliate someone. Its in her evil nature. And from all my experiences at the animal shelter, I can tell you one thing for sure, that nature cannot be changed.

I turned around and faked a smile.

'Hey, Sybil. Great to see you again. I didn't know you were still here.'

She smiled back. 'Neither did I. But I must say, that's a great shirt. Is it abstract? It looks so natural.'

Alright, so she's not stepping back.
Some of the girls laughed at this remark.
It wasn't funny at all.
I just smiled and sat down on my seat pretending to look out of the window.
Someone came and asked.'Is this seat taken?'
'Naa.' I said not bothering to look at him.
I was busy looking out. The view outside was kinda beautiful. It had rained last night. The nature was fresh and alive. It lightened up my eyes and refreshen up my soul.

'Good morning class.'

It was Sir Howard. We stood up and greeted him.

After a small introduction about himself, he began asking us our names and some questions about us. When he got to me I stood up and answered. 'I am Aria Homes. I live down the Willow street. I am a single child of my parents, who are lawyers. I hate rain, mud and the night. Because that's when things get icky, messy and creepy. But once the rain is ceases, the ground hardens and the dawn breaks, I love how everything feels.'

'Interesting.' He said. Or maybe I thought so. Nevertheless I sat down and looked out the window again.

Sir Howard started to tell us about what we were going to study in the coming year.
I was only half listening to him.
The bell rang soon after he finished. And I rushed out.

Abby was waiting for me in the hallway. We had English together.

'Hey.' She said

'Hey.' I answered and we went into our class.

Our teacher, Mam Annabel, was already there.

I took a seat beside the window again while Abby sat down next to me. There was a row of three chairs on the side. I don't know who sat next to her.

I looked at our teacher who seemed like an angel from above. She had a fair complexion and deep blue eyes. To top it off she wore a white flowy dress.

I had only seen her around last year and had dreamed of being in her class, but right now I felt like disappearing. With the shirt I had on, I did not wanted to be seen by her. But here I was, and there was nothing I could do about it.

'You will never be as beautiful as she is, so stop dreaming.' A voice from behind me said. I turned a around to find none other than Sybil.

'And certainly not with a hand-me-down shirt of a 5 year old.'

I was going to say something but Abby held my arm. She faced Sybil and smile. It wasn't her usual warm smile. Rather a mischievous and almost evil smile.

'I see, you haven't changed at all, miss I love peanuts in Florida.' She said.

Sybil's eyes widened. I thought they were going to pop out of their sockets!

'You wouldn't.' She said. I could seem some kind of emotion on her face. It was fear.

'Try me.' Answered Abby in a threatening tone.

They looked at each other for what seemed like forever, and then Sybil picked up her books and sat on the other side of the room.

'What was that?' I asked as she left. I had no idea what was going on.

'Oh, just something I learned during the holidays.' She grinned.

I knew Abby wouldn't spill the beans but I had gotten used to it and started to smile. Looks like dear old Sybil won't be teasing me anymore.

Maybe it's not the end of the world after all.

The rest of the day was the same, except for lunch. At lunch a group of boys and girls were gathered on one end of the cafeteria.

I could not see what all the fuss was about, but I didn't care either.

Abby, however was pretty curious, so she went to join them. Meanwhile, I sat down and ate peacefully. I had a whole table for myself.

'Can I sit here?' Said a voice.

I was busy eating my sandwich.
'Sure.' I said not bothering to look up.

Abby came back looking bored.

'What happened?' I asked.

'Angel and Leo got engaged.' She said, taking a sandwich from my lunch tray.

'Wow. Really?' I was a bit surprised but Abby wasn't. I bet she knew about it all along.

Abby is my best friend. We've known each other since kindergarten. She is honest, straightforward and fun loving.
Abby's father is a detective. That's where she gets her skills from. She knows almost about everyone at college.

'Are you free today?' She asked on the way to home.

'Yes. Why?'

'There's a party a Lily's and she invited us.'

'You.' I corrected. 'Invited you.'

Lily would never invited me. Not after the incident in 1st year. She thought (well, still thinks) that I was dating her boy friend behind her back. Which is so not true. That creep purposely made her think that just so he could get away from her.

'Nope.' Abby broke into my thoughts.

'Huh?'

'She said I could bring you along too.'

'Sorry Abby. As much as I would love to come with you I'm really not in the mood right now. Maybe some other time.'

I could see Abby got sad a bit but she got over it by the time we reached her house.

'Bye! See you tomorrow!' She shouted and ran inside.

'Bye!'

My house was a few blocks away.

It was much the same as Abby's house. In fact all houses on Willow street had the same basic construction. They all had Tin roofs with big attics and wide chimneys. Each house had a small garden in front of it. That was made it unique.

Our garden had all sorts of flowers and two mango trees. My favourite were the cluster of roses circling the trees. It's green grass was trimmed well and a water bath was placed in the middle for the birds. Gardening was my parent's favorite past time.

Mom wasn't home when I opened the door. It was normal. She and dad worked till 4.

I took a shower, ate lunch and crashed into my bed. Soon I was in my dream realm.