Forbidden Love

Chapter One ~ New Beginnings

 

 

 

I ANGRILY SLAMMED DOWN THE snooze button as my alarm buzzed dully in my ears. I rolled over grumpily, wishing for a few more minutes of sleep. But now that I was awake, I knew that the sleep wouldn't find me. Pushing myself off the bed, I gathered a fresh set of clothes and my toiletry bag and headed to the bathroom. My parents had died in a horrific car crash only a few weeks ago. The funeral had been held a couple of days ago, and today I was being moved over to a small town in England called Ashington. It was here that Carissa and Dalton Freebody (friends of my parents') had been so kind as to let me live with them.

I passed the halls that led the bathroom, ignoring the piles of boxes scattered everywhere. I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My mahogany hair hung in waves down to my hips, shining slightly in the morning sunlight that streamed through the windows. In the sunlight you could see the red highlights that were spread evenly throughout my hair. My chocolate brown eyes had purplish shadows under them, and long black eyelashes surrounded them. My rose-pink lips were in a straight, saddened frown. Turning my back on the mirror, I ventured into the shower.

The shower didn't last as long as I wanted it to, but I managed to calm myself down, and arrange my facial features without looking in the mirror too long before venturing out of the bathroom and down to the kitchen. Carissa and Dalton were there, sitting at the dining table; they had come down to come pick me up.

Carissa took one look at me, then hurried from her seat to embrace me in her arms. My arms wrapped around her slowly, but it didn't feel like the motherly hugs my mum used to give me.

"Oh, India, sweetheart. How are you?"

"I'm fine," I managed to lie. I had always been a bad liar, but I had been saying this lie frequently for the past week that it almost sounded convincing. Weaving myself out of Carissa's embrace, I went over to the cupboards of the kitchen, looking for something to eat. "When are we leaving?"

"As soon are your ready sweetie." I could tell they were being extra careful today, making sure whatever I wanted to happen, would happen. "We'll get the boxes into the boot of the car, and when you're ready we can leave."

I nodded as I much on a muesli bar I had found in the cupboard - considering that there was hardly any food left in there. Then, I turned on my heel and went to my room to finish the last boxes to pack.

There wasn’t much left in my room; all the clothes had been taken out of my wardrobe, my drawers were gone and what was left was scattered things on the stripped bed: perfumes, photos, a few of my childhood toys that I couldn't bear to give away, my collection of books, a few movies and a few spare pieces of clothes. I packed these things with exaggerated neatness into the box, then stared at my room for the last time.

I watched from a distance as Dalton and a few moving people carried box after box out of the house and into the boot of Dalton's car and a moving truck. I watched as they took boxes of things that belonged to my parents, and boxes that had memories, and boxes of my things until the house looked very spacious. After I had brushed my teeth, and my bags were safely loaded into the car, I stopped in the doorway to look at my old home one more time. Then, we were gone.

It was a three hour drive to Carissa and Dalton's house. For most of the ride, I stared blankly out the window of the car, watching the world race by us as the car streaked towards Ashington. There wasn't much talk in the car, and I was thankful that Carissa or Dalton made no big effort to have me talk. We stopped on the way for a bit of lunch at a café, and then we were on the road again.