Chapter One: Romance and Hatred...

Alianna Hartwick discovers many dark secrets about her friend and is introduced to Winter, her friend's fiance.

            The screech of the alarm clock blared through Alianna’s peaceful sleep, causing her to groan in annoyance. She tried as gently as she could to press the “snooze” button, but she ended up slamming her fist on it. As a child, Alianna would watch movies in which the protagonist would slam their fists on the “snooze” buttons. She decided to test it out and now it’s her habit.

            As if that weren’t bad enough, her phone decided to play “Don’t Stop Believing” across the room, signaling her best friend Mickey was calling. Alianna groaned again and rolled out of bed, literally. After a few moments of dozing off on the ground, Alianna retrieved her phone and pressed it to her ear.

            “Hello?”

            “ALI! You have to meet me in the café today!” Mickey’s voice cut through her after-sleep fatigue. “Wha…why?” Alianna laid on her bed, closing her eyes.

            “I have some really big news!” Alianna could almost hear the grin in her voice. Never in her one year of knowing Mickey did she ever sound this happy. “Okay, fine. When do I need to get there?” Alianna fiddled with a string poking out of her pillow case, staring up at the ceiling where a poster of Glee looked back at her.

            Ten minutes later, Alianna stood before the mirror applying makeup and wondered what could be the big news. She finished up and strutted down the stairs. Dana, her roommate, greeted her with a cup of coffee and a bagel.

            “Thanks, Dana.” Alianna said with a mouthful of bagel. Dana flashed a smile and sat back down at the table. “I have to meet Mickey for lunch at Kozi Café, is that okay?” Even though she already knew the answer, Alianna thought it would be a good idea to ask anyways.

            “Is that the tall, hot blonde?” Dana grinned. Dana and her bisexual mind. “Yes Dana.” Ali rolled her eyes and finished her bagel. Digging through the mountain of s**t in the closet, she finally found her purse. “Dana, we really need to clean the closet. There’re bags EVERYWHERE.” Alianna complained, shouldering her purse.

            “Will do, see you later.” Dana waved dismissively and read a magazine. Alianna took one step outside and was blasted with cold Washington air. Rain poured down and quickly drenched Alianna’s hair. She clicked the button that unlocked her car and plopped down on the seat and started the engine.

            Within minutes, Alianna parked her car in the small lot of Kozi Café. As the name suggests, the café was very cozy but rather small. It was unknown to many people but the few people who came were regulars.

            Mickey was standing outside, grinning from ear to ear. “This state rains so damn much, doesn’t it?” She laughed, and gestured for her to come in. “I want you to meet someone.”

            Alianna shook her wet hair and tried to brush out the parts that were sticking out. Mickey walked forward, Alianna following. She sat down next to someone who was reading a newspaper. Ali also sat down.

            “You must be Alianna.” A deep voice greeted her. Alianna looked up. Sitting there was a gorgeous blonde man. Alianna could swear she died and went to heaven. “Uhm, yeah. That’s me.” Alianna said, mentally cursing herself for the worst response ever.

            “This is Winter. He’s my fiancé.” Mickey beamed, kissing his cheek. Alianna’s jaw dropped open and tried to hide her disappointment. “That’s…uh…great! I’m so happy for you guys!” She replied with a rather audible squeak. Winter chuckled and folded the newspaper. “How come you didn’t tell me before?” Alianna attempted to not get caught staring at the hottest guy ever.

            “Well, we’ve only been dating for a month. But I’m really head over heels,” Winter answered for Mickey. Ali swooned inside her head. “We don’t have that much time to chat, I have a church group meeting. Will you drop me off?” Mickey fluttered her eyelashes at Winter. “Of course, babe.” Winter smiled and pecked her cheek.

            “What? Mickey, you’re not Chr�"” Alianna began, but Mickey cut her off. “So Alianna,” Mickey threw her a dirty look. “How’s Brad?”

            “Uh, we broke up months ago. I told you that,” Alianna blankly stared at her, wondering why the hell Mickey would be lying about her religion. “So Winter, do you have a job?”

            “Yes, I work as a chef at Palace Kitchen.” Yet again, Ali’s mouth dropped open. Palace Kitchen was a five-star restaurant, the best restaurant in Washington. “Li, can I talk to you for a minute?” Mickey dragged her over next to the bathrooms.

            “What the f**k do you think you’re doing?” Mickey glared at her. “Stop flirting with him.” Alianna couldn’t believe what she just heard. “I’m not flirting with him! I just want to know what his job is!”

            “So you’re being a stalker? Remember, he is my fiancé.” Mickey smiled evilly. “Mickey, really. I’m not trying to flirt with him. And why did you lie about being Christian?” Alianna blurted. Mickey’s smile vanished. “If you mention ANYTHING like you tried to do earlier, I’ll tell all of your exes you want to get back together with them.”

            “Mickey, what the hell? Why are you acting so weird?” Alianna flicked a piece of hair behind her ear and gazed puzzlingly at her. “Because of YOU! All you’ve done for the past year is chasing after all of the guys I wanted! And finally I managed to catch ONE hot guy, and you’re already trying to steal him from me!” Mickey snarled.

            “But you know what? I’m not letting that happen. He loves me for me. We’re getting f*****g married!” Mickey laughed but it sounded like choking. “He loves you for you? You’re lying to him. I bet you’re not even lying about just being Christian.” Alianna couldn’t believe Mickey was acting like this. The entire year they’d known each other, Mickey had never shown signs of jealousy.

            “That’s right, Li-Li. He also thinks I’m twenty. And that I’m a virgin.” Mickey narrowed her eyes. Alianna scoffed. “Right, right. Do you think these secrets are going to be secrets forever? He’s going to find out someday, when he meets your parents!”

            “Shut up, s**t. All you do is just go around f*****g guys. That’s why everyone in college hated you!”

            “What are you talking about?! I’m not a s**t, and everyone at college knew that.” Alianna protested. Mickey obviously wasn’t finished. “They thought that until a certain someone spread the rumor you slept with five guys while you were still dating Brad.”

            “I hate you Alianna Hartwick. The only reason why I introduced him to you was so I can get him to hate you, so finally someone will ruin your fairytale. Finally, everything ISN’T all about you.”

Author's Note

I realize there are a lot of not-very-descriptive words in this story. Hopefully they will be fixed with the help of a thesaurus next chapter.