The Two Worlds of Arabella

Summary - Arabella's life is mundane and has been for as long as she can remember. She had never had a dream until the day that she unknowingly slipped a special ring on her finger.  The next morning she woke up to find she had mysteriously lost almost 100 pounds and her hair had grown a foot overnight. Within the few days following, her dreams became more and more real and  she wakes up with strange tattoos on her wrists.  Her confusion continues to grow as she finds that she has a stalker who is sending people to attack her.  While trying to figure out what is happening to her, the one good thing to come of this is the man she has believed to be her true love for the past five years has finally noticed her. 

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Just a note before the beginning of the story....The prologue and first chapter  are meant to give you an idea of who Arabella is before her adventure starts.  I mention that to say this:  If you are thinking of stopping after reading either the prolouge or Chapter 1, you should hold out and keep going.  The adventure really starts in the 3rd chapter and just keeps getting more exciting as you go.  Anyway, thanks for reading.  Hope you enjoy. :-)

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Arabella had been overlooked her whole life. All through her school years, she was the person who was last picked in gym class, or for that matter, any class where you chose your own groups. Although, 'picked' just is the right word, because no one actually picked her. She would wait in a group as one captain chose, then the other. There was one time a boy on crutches was chosen before her, and she was the last one standing. The captain walked away, scowling, knowing that he was the one stuck with her. 

School dances were no better. Knowing that she would not be treated better at a dance then in gym class, she only went to one dance in all of high school, and that was senior Prom. Her girlfriends had talked her into it, saying it was all in her head. Everyone liked her and she would have a good time. The excitement grew in her mind as she allowed her heart to believe what her mind knew were lies. They spent hours shopping, looking for the perfect dress, the most sparkly jewelry, and shoes that would turn heads.  

Arabella had never been more content. The amount of hours spent shopping was barely more than the time they spent getting ready. She helped to twist other girls hair and pin it back, paint toe nails, pluck eyebrows, and apply makeup. For the first time in her life, she felt beautiful. The deep blue dress she wore made her blue green eyes stick out and pierce a person who actually took the time to look at them.  

The problem was that no one did take the time. Not one glance, not even accidentally. Arabella moved around the decorated gym, sitting and standing by different groups of girls that the guys were flirting with. No one flirted with her. Arabella went home and cried that night, and many more after that. 

For the rest of her high school life, she became extremely withdrawn. She wouldn't talk to her friends, she sat by herself at lunch. In class, the one place her bright mind allowed her to shine naturally, she no longer raised her hand. She did her work, but otherwise, tried her best to be even more invisible that she already seemed. 

The only thing that kept her going for the last few weeks of school was looking forward to college. A chance to start over, become someone new. Of all the people with who she would graduate, not one had been accepted to Northwestern, so there would be no one to tell stories about who she had been. That summer, she was packed and ready to go only days after she had graduated. She had chatted to her soon-to-be roommate, Jenny online several times, and so far as she could tell, they would get along fantastically. 

And she was right. Arabella and Jenny became like sisters. After the first semester, they started enrolling in all the same classes. When you saw one girl, the other was somewhere near. They stayed roommates until they graduated, both with degrees in business management. They stayed in Chicago, getting an apartment together as they both went to work in the real world. A few years later, Jenny was married. Arabella was on her own, and life went back to normal for her.  

While they had been in college, the only reason that people noticed her was because she was with Jenny. In the few classes they didn't have together, no one sat by Arabella, no one wanted to work on projects with her. It seemed to her that nothing had changed since high school, except that she now had a best friend. And that was okay to her. Or that was what she led others to believe. 

Inside, Arabella was looking for a place to hide while she let the world fly by. She wanted to climb into her closet and pull the door closed. No one would take the time to find her. The depression that held her down would just take over and she would be able to ignore everything else.  

At the same time, another part of her pulled her towards one tiny feeling she had. One day, she would do something great. She was destined for more than what she was now. That one minuscule feeling would drag her out of the closet, letting her continue on with the monotonous days that were her life. This feeling would quickly be hidden by the pessimistic side of her mind. There's nothing special about you. You'll never do anything great. If you were special, someone would have noticed a long time ago. Give it up. These thoughts would continue until she felt the need to climb back into her closet and hide. The cycle continued every moment of everyday.