ONE
Note: Pov will change between Nora and Dane at times.
***
Nora
Imagine if your life was perfect in every way; what would it look like?
Well, it sure as hell wouldn't look like mine since, you know, it was crap.
I was walking alone in the streets at twelve in the morning, no battery life, no company and a broken heart.
It was the night of my graduation from East Side High, and I was happy to say, it wasn't as shitty as I intended it to be.
Hence why I decided to go to the party that Emma Watson threw at her huge house. My best friend, Lia, had ensured me that Dane wouldn't be there, but hell. There he was.
Dane and I are in a relationship. Or what some from the outside world would call a relationship. We were sorta the 'power couple' people looked up to, and we were voted "most likely to get married" in a prom category.
But just like any relationship, we had problems.
Last week, he had bluntly accused me of not supporting his decision of taking up on his boss' offer of going full time at the office instead of going to college.
I had done no such thing.
All I simply suggested was that he take the online classes at one out of the SIX universities that he got accepted to, and still work part time at Galvin Enterprises.
I mean, why apply if you had no intentions of going in the first place?
But he had gotten upset, saying I didn't understand him or his situation, and I was too closed-minded to his alternative.
That's the thing with Dane.
He always thought that nobody gets him, and he's all alone in this world. Even when I proved time after time that I was literally never going anywhere, and that I understood him more than he even understood himself, he just wouldn't get it.
When we met, I sorta knew he was the one. We were both freshmen in high school. I was the quiet average kid, and he was the loner closed off boy.
He was never a bad boy with a shadowed image, but he wasn't a dweep that you could push around either. And I guess something about him caught my attention.
I sat with him on the first day of school, and I was happy when he didn't tell me to leave. But, he didn't tell me to stay either.
In fact, he didn't talk to me for days when I would sit with him, which only made me like him even more. For some strange reason.
But once we started talking, we were inseparable. He became my heart, and I became his. I knew everything about him and I loved each and every one. Flaws and all.
I knew quite well that he couldn't afford college, and since all the financial aid he applied for went null, his only alternative was to work. But he could still work and go to school.
That was all I said.
Yet he was just so blinded to any alternative other than his, that he thought I was just being unsupportive.
See, that's the thing with us, we were both strong minded people which led us into more arguments than anything. But we worked well together. And we love each other.
At least I know I sure as hell do.
Our stubbornness would be our downfall one day. Even today at our graduation, we didn't utter a word to each other.
Of course, we smiled and took pictures since we were confident as hell that we were gonna work this out, get married someday and show our kids our grad pics. But we were both too prideful to speak first.
On my end, I knew I did nothing wrong, and he always let his insecurity of being alone and misunderstood cloud his judgement to the only constant person in his life. Me. Literally.
And him, well he thought I was just being the rich brat kid who doesn't understand his life and why he wants to do things his way.
But couldn't he just see that I just wanted the best for him? He's literally my heart and though I hate him sometimes, all I want for him is nothing but happiness and prosperity.
So, when I saw him tonight, I wasn't ready. He too was shocked to see me which only meant one thing.
Lia and Derrik set us up. Lia and Derrik were siblings. The rare type that got along.
Derrik is one of Dane's few friends and well, Lia is Lia.
They somehow felt it was their duty to always fix us when we were in our little disputes. And though we appreciate the concern, Dane and I had our ways of working things out.
We would avoid each other for a couple days, do stupid shit to tick each other off so that an argument would arise, and then in the argument we would kiss and make up.
Toxic and immature? Maybe, but it worked.
So when people intervened, it never turned out right.
Like tonight, when things went totally downhill. After Dane and I noticed what the evil twins were up to, we made it our duty to avoid each other.
Dane saw Thomas Lurkey flirting with me, and went total jealous boyfriend on our asses. But it's not like I flirted back. I literally avoided the guy.
But Dane didn't do what he normally did if a guy flirted with me and scooped me away. He did something bad.
He went and flirted with the chick who had wanted him all these four years we were together. Yup, he did.
I was so pissed that I ran up to them and pushed the thot into the pool, which obviously caught the attention of everyone in the vicinity, and I had shouted at him so loudly that people in Asia could've heard.
"What the hell Dane!? Her? Seriously?" I had shouted and gestured to the now soaked but trembling girl. Attonette knew she wouldn't have won that fight.
"You were the one flirting with that dickface Thomas" He shouted back evenly as loud.
I had noticed that we had spectators, so I pulled him aside to continue our argument.
This was it right? Avoid each other, piss each other off then argue and make up. That was suppose to be the end of it.
But this time we didn't kiss and we didn't make up.
It had gotten too far, and we both knew it. Next thing I knew was that I was running down the driveway in tears, not really sure where I was heading all alone. Lia had been my ride.
He chased after me for a while, shouting after me in the breeze of the cold night. Then he stopped and turned around, and I was relieved until I heard the engine of his truck roaring down the road.
I hid in the bushes until he passed, and took a different route into the city. I knew it would've been a long walk home, but I didn't mind. I needed to clear my head.
So here I was, in the streets of Newark, New Jersey all alone in the middle of the night, with approximately a hour walk out of the city to get home.
It was almost peaceful. The lights and empty streets. Me, my thoughts and my broken relationship.
So yep my life was just peachy. Note the sarcasm.
And maybe I was being a little mellow dramatic since people were out there with actual life problems, but in that moment my situation felt a lot heavier than I wished.
Then out of nowhere, someone rushed passed me. It was so fast that I barely saw where the person went.
Then another body ran passed me. Then another. Then another.
I looked at the direction they came from, seeing even more people running my way. They were all clothed in dark coloured clothing with their faces covered. So the next thing I did was no doubt really stupid.
I ran.
And not across the street away from the potential danger or anything. Nope; I ran in the same direction they were coming in.
Another guy ran passed me, as he turned around to snarl at the men behind him. His next actions had me planted in my spot, and I knew if I lived to see tomorrow then I was a blessed girl.
He took out a gun.
He took out a gun and started firing at the men behind me, not even once acknowledging the innocent 17 year old girl in the mix.
I tried to move but all I could do was look between the two parties.
The men that were on the receiving end of the bullets took out guns of their own, and that was when my feet worked.
But it would've been better for everyone if I had stayed put, since the minute I moved I was punctured with a piercing bullet from the first guy. Then with another to my chest from the other guy.
I fell to my knees first, feeling as yet another bullet connect with my left shoulder.
I couldn't scream. I couldn't cry. I just laid there as my blood soaked the ground and my eyes fluttered closed.
The last thing I heard was the defending sound of sirens, and a thudding pain in my chest as someone lifted me from the ground.
Soon after, I completely let the darkness eat me whole, as the very thud of my heart against my chest became void.
