An Unexpected Chance; book one

Chapter One; A Rough Start

Y/n’s alarm went off, waking her up at 5:00 in the morning. Groaning, she pulled herself out of bed and got ready for the day. Her younger siblings, who went to school, wouldn’t have to get up for another hour. She finished getting ready, then sat down to look over her emails. She had no new emails. That disappointed her cause she was waiting to see if her designs had been accepted yet.
Currently, y/n worked two jobs. One in the morning at a retail store, the other in the evening as a waitress. But she had a dream to one day be a successful fashion designer. A few weeks ago she had submitted her designs for a contest and was waiting on the results.. So far nothing.
She let out a sigh of disappointment and put away her laptop. By now she could hear her younger siblings moving around getting ready for the day.
Walking back to the kitchen, she almost tripped on their family cat, Stormy. Stormy rubbed her head against y/n’s legs and purred.
“I know what you want. You want your breakfast?” y/n asked Stormy.
Stormy trotted off in the direction of her bowl in response.
Chuckling to herself, she went and filled Stormy’s food bowl. By now her mom was awake.
“Goodmorning mom.” Y/n said.
“Goodmorning Y/n.” Her mom said.
Her mom worked from home as a product tester for Amazon. She was much taller than y/n, and sometimes people asked if they were even related, they looked so different. People say that she looked a lot like her birth dad, much to her dismay.
“Oh sweety, when you get off work tonight, can you go to the store and pick up some groceries? We are almost out of milk.” Her mom said.
“Why can’t one of the others get it? No one else works today.” Y/n said.
“Cause you’re an adult and I have your siblings doing other things.” Her mom said.
“Ok fine, I will. Do you have a list?” Y/n asked.
“I’ll text it to you later.” Her mom said.
“Ok.” Y/n said.
Y/n grabbed her coat, her backpack, and her phone as she got ready to leave.
“Have a good day sweety!” Her mom said.
“You too mom!” Y/n said.
Before leaving, y/n stopped at a bookcase and put her hand on a small wooden box. On the box was a picture of a man in his fifties.
“Have a good day Brandon.” Y/n whispered.
Y/n left and made her way to the bus stop. It took about an hour for her to get to work by bus. She was working on getting her license. A lot of people wondered why a 22-year-old wasn’t driving. It was just taking longer than usual because of some things that had happened. Y/n didn’t like to think about all that. Instead, she focused on getting her life on track and moving forward.
Y/n made it to work and clocked in. She greeted her coworkers, and began to put the clothes away that had been sorted and tagged the day before. She was a cashier, so when the store opened, she was upfront all day. Though it was February and still very cold, it was extremely busy. So she was very grateful to sit down when it was time for her lunch.
“Hey Y/n! Man, is it that bad out front?” Her coworker, Mary asked.
Mary worked in the back, and was one of y/n’s best friends. Her black hair was in a pixie cut style, and she was y/n’s height.
“You have no idea. It’s not usually this busy this time of year.” Y/n said.
“And that’s why I’m glad that I’m in the back and not up front. I’d lose my temper way too fast with all those people.” Mary said.
“And no one wants to see that.” Y/n said.
“Oh hey, I hear that there is a new movie coming out. A lot of people have said that it’s really good. Do you want to come see it with me this Saturday?” Mary asked.
“I can’t this Saturday. I’m having to cover a shift over at the other place I work at.” Y/n said.
“Oh ok. Then what about Sunday after church? I know you don’t work on Sunday’s.” Mary said.
“I’ll have to see. I don’t know if my mom has something planned this Sunday. If not, I’ll definitely go.” Y/n said.
“Great! Hopefully you’re able to come.” Mary said.
After finishing her lunch, y/n got up to get back to work.
“Oh, I can’t give you a ride today. Sorry girl.” Mary said.
“That’s alright. I need the exercise anyway.” Y/n said.
“It’s 2 here you work till, and 8 at the other place, right?” Mary asked.
“Everyday.” Y/n said.
“Alrighty, well I’ll see you later!” Mary said.
“See you later Mary.” Y/n said.
Luckily when y/n got back to work, it was a lot less busy, so she was able to get some merchandising done. At 2, she clocked out and changed into her waitress uniform. Then she began the hour-long journey to her second job. When she got there, it was packed, and there were people waiting outside to be seated.
“Oh my gosh, y/n! I’m so glad to see you!” Said one of her coworkers, Stephanie.
“Jees Luiz! Is everybody out today?” Y/n exclaimed.
“It seems like it doesn’t it? Now hurry up and go clock in! I really need help!” Stephanie said.
“I’m hurrying.” Y/n said.
The next five hours passed by in a blur. Y/n did pretty good with the tips she made. As she clocked out, Stephanie walked up to her.
“I bet you’re looking forward to going home.” Stephanie said.
“Not quite, I still have to go to the grocery store.” Y/n said.
“Ouch, it’s really a late night for you. Well, see you tomorrow y/n.” Stephanie said.
“See you Stephanie.” Y/n said.
Y/n left and walked over to the grocery store, which was just across the street. She looked at the list that her mom had sent, and started to grab the things that were on the list. After she made sure that she had everything, she made her way to the checkout lines. It was 10:00 by the time that she got home.
“Hey sweety, how was work today?” Her mom asked when she walked through the door.
“Busy. Very busy.” Y/n said.
“Ouch. I bet you made good tips tonight though.” Her mom said.
“Yeah I did. After tonight I should be able to get that dress that I’ve been saving up for.” Y/n said as she put the grocery bags in the kitchen.
“Here, let me help you with those.” Her mom said.
They began to work together to put away the groceries. Her younger sister, Caroline, walked in as they were finishing up.
“Hey y/n, can I ask a favor?” Caroline asked.
“Depends on what it is.” Y/n said.
“Can I please have you help this Sunday with picking up a new bedframe?” Caroline asked.
“At what time?” Y/n asked.
“At 9 in the morning. I know you don’t like to skip church, but I really need the help.” Caroline said.
“Sorry, no can do. You know the bishop asked me to make sure I go to church to prepare for going on my mission.” Y/n said.
“Ok, then I guess I’ll ask someone else.” Caroline said.
“I’m going to go and hop in the shower.” Y/n said.
“Ok, let people know so they can use the bathroom really fast.” Her mom said.
Y/n grabbed what she needed for her shower, then closed the door. She turned on the hot water, and started to play music from off of her phone. She took her shirt off, then carefully removed the bandage from off of her stomach. Three small cuts went along her side. She finished undressing, and hopped in. She quickly washed her hair and body, then just stood for several minutes under the water, enjoying the heat as the water hit her skin. She turned the water off, dried off, put lotion on, rebandaged the cuts on her side, then got in her pj’s. She left the bathroom and went into the room that she shared with Caroline.
Her family lived in a two-bedroom house. She and Caroline shared one bedroom, her brother Ben had the other bedroom. Their mom had a pull-out bed in the living room. It was tight and uncomfortable at times, but they made it work.
Caroline was already asleep. Y/n climbed into bed and pulled out her journal. She had kept a daily journal for the past 8 years, and she was very proud of herself for not skipping a day. After she finished writing, she turned off the light and went to sleep.
The next few days went the same way. Saturday rolled around, and she walked into work to cover the shift of one of her coworkers. The shift went normal until her lunch break. She got a notification on her phone. She looked and saw that it was a text. As soon as she saw it her face fell. One of her coworkers noticed and immediately left.
It was a text from her dad. They didn’t have a good relationship cause he had narcissistic personality disorder. That made any conversation with him a dreaded mess.
The text read, Hey y/n. I need your opinion on what to get for your mom for her birthday. What do you suggest?
Y/n groaned. This wasn’t going to end well. They had been divorced for two years, and her mom had remarried, but that still didn’t stop him from thinking that he could get her back and things could go back to what he wanted as normal. And it had only gotten worse since Brandon had passed.
Y/n rubbed the silver locket that Brandon had gotten her for her 20th birthday. When her mom had married Brandon a year ago, she had been unsure at first. But overtime he had shown her that he was nothing like the manipulative and selfish men that she was used to in her life. So, when he had died from a heart attack around Christmas, she had taken it really hard. She never took the locket that he had given her off.
She looked at the text and thought about what she should say. After thinking about it, she typed up what she was going to say. Just before she sent it, she read it again to make sure that it was ok. It read, As much as the kind gesture is appreciated, I’m not sure that is a good idea. You and mom have been divorced for two years, and I’m not sure this is really appropriate. Plus, we are all still grieving from losing Brandon at Christmas. So no, I don’t have any suggestions.
After looking it over, she sent send. After about 5 minutes, she received another text. She groaned when she saw that her dad had sent a very, very long text.  The text said, Oh so I can’t do anything nice, can I? I get it. I’m the bad guy. You just replaced me with some random guy that your mom decided to sleep with. No matter what you guys say, I wasn’t going to hurt you. You took out of context what I said. You know what. Screw you. All I’m trying to do is do something nice. I still love your mom. All I want is for things to go back to where they were before. When we were a happy family. I’m the only one that wants to work on things. I’m the only one that’s putting the effort in to make things better. But no. You guys just don’t care. I bet you wouldn’t care if I just disappeared, would you? Fine. Be that way. Live your life. It doesn’t matter what happens to me. But just so you know, you will regret it.
Y/n turned off her phone. She was not going to bother responding to that. She was going to have to tell her mom about it when she got home. Stephanie walked in at that moment.
“Uh oh, something is wrong. I can tell by the look on your face. What happened?” Stephanie asked.
“Nothing. It’s just my dad causing drama again.” Y/n said.
“Oh no, I’m sorry. Will you guys be ok?” Stephanie asked.
“Yeah we’re fine. He’s just ranting that’s all. He still thinks that he can get mom to come back to him.” Y/n said.
“Yeah, there’s no chance of that whatsoever.” Stephanie said.
“How much longer do you have of your break?” Stephanie asked.
“I’m just about to come back now.” Y/n said.
The next few hours passed by quietly, but y/n was now stressed because of the texts. She got home, and put her stuff away.
“Hey sweety, how was work?” Her mom asked.
“It was ok. But dad texted me.” Y/n said.
“Oh no, what did he say this time?” Her mom asked.
“Here, I’ll show you the text.” Y/n said.
She pulled out her phone and showed her mom the texts. After reading them, her mom handed her back her phone and looked at her.
“What you said was alright. There’s nothing we can do about how he’s choosing to react. Don’t let him get to you, and it’ll blow over.” Her mom said.
“Alright. I just hate how he does this. Why can’t he just accept that it’s never going to go back to how he wants it?” Y/n said.
“Unfortunately this is what life is when you’re dealing with a narcissist. Now, do you want to help me with dinner?” Her mom said.
“Yeah, I’ll grab the cookbook.” Y/n said.
Y/n always enjoyed cooking with her mom. It was something that they started when she was little. Over the years, they had put together a cookbook of their favorite recipes. Y/n pulled that off the shelve and opened the book to one of her favorite casseroles. In no time at all, they had it in the oven.
Y/n pulled out her laptop and started working on a new idea for a design. She still hadn’t had a response about the contest, but she hoped she would soon.
The next day she woke up, and she and her family got ready for church. Her family were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. After church, they went home and y/n got ready to go to the movies with Mary. She sat at her desk and put her hair up in a tight ponytail. She changed into jeans, a flannel shirt with a black t-shirt underneath, and black boots.
As she got up, she accidentally knocked a couple of things over on her desk. She started to pick them up. One of the things on her desk was a large metal key. It was a replica of the key from The Hobbit trilogy, her absolute favorite series. She had watched all the movies more times than she could think. Brandon had apparently gotten the key for her over the summer, and he had meant to give it to her for Christmas. He used to tease her about her favorite character, Thorin Oakenshield. She admired him, for he was the type of person that she wished she was. Brave, with strong moral values. And it of course didn’t hurt that he was incredibly good looking.
She finished picking things up and walked out to the living room.
“Where are you off too?’ her mom asked.
“To the movies with Mary. I’m meeting her there.” Y/n said.
“Ok, just be careful.” Her mom said.
“Yeah, you wouldn’t want to be taken by the Baltimore Butcher.” Her brother Ben joked.
“Ben! That is nothing to joke about!” He mom scolded.
For about 20 years, several states had been tormented by a man called the Baltimore Butcher. No one knew who he was, but what they did know was that he was a major player in the human trafficking scene. He was mostly known for leaving bodies of women completely mangled and showing signs of being tortured. The reason he was called the Baltimore Butcher was because he had started out by leaving bodies in Baltimore.
“Don’t worry mom, I’ll be careful. I have my self-defense keychain.” Y/n said.
“Alright sweety. Be safe. I love you.” Her mom said.
“Love you too mom.” Y/n said.
She left the house and made her way to the movie theater where she was meeting Mary.
“Y/n! Yes! Girls night!” Mary exclaimed as soon as soon she saw y/n.
“I know I am so excited!” Y/n said.
They went into the theater and bought tickets for the movie. As they sat down in the cushioned seats, y/n got an email. She squealed when she read it, which earned her a couple of glares.
“Y/n, what is it?” Mary asked.
“I won the contest! I can’t believe it!” Y/n exclaimed.
“Oh my gosh! Congratulations!” Mary said.
The lights dimmed, and y/n struggled to contain her excitement as they watched the movie. Once the movie was over, they continued the conversation outside.
“I still can’t believe it! This means I can get an interniship!” Y/n said.
“That is so awesome! We’re going to have to celebrate one of these nights!” Mary said.
“Definitely. I’m going to call my mom to tell her the good news, then I’m going to head home.” Y/n said.
“You don’t want a ride?” Mary asked.
“Nah, I think I’m good. See you tomorrow.” Y/n said.
“See ya girl!” Mary said. Mary left and walked over to her car.
Y/n pulled out her phone and called her mom.
“Hey mom, guess what?” Y/n asked.
“What?” Her mom asked.
“I won the contest! I already have an acceptance letter for an internship!” Y/n squealed.
“Oh my gosh sweety! I’m so happy for you! Congratulations!” Her mom said.
“I am so excited! I can’t believe it!” Y/n said.
“We are definitely going to have to celebrate this! Are you on your way home now?” Her mom asked.
“Yeah I am.” Y/n said.
“Ok, I’ll see you when you get home.” Her mom said.
“Ok. See ya.” Y/n said.
She hung up the phone, pulled her coat tightly around her, and started making her way home. She had been walking for about fifteen minutes when she thought she heard something behind her. Just as she was about to turn around, everything went black.