•It Started With A Flower•

~Nora~

I must be paranoid

*Play: Pocketful Of Sunshine By Natasha Bedingfield*

•Couple Of Hours Later•

I must be out of my mind to accept all of Ryker gifts. I almost never accept gift because I always feel like I don't deserve it.
Like I'm not worth to buy a gift for, my father always made me feel that way and it haunts me till this day.
He messed me up in a unforgettable way.

My small apartment is covered in bags of gifts, I feel like crying.
Ryker is the sweetest friend I've ever had. He kept on buying me stuff I didn't need.
My eyes start to water from the memories of today.

Ace hates me, the coldness he gives me is called hatred. I recognize it, I wish I didn't.
He hates me but he does gestures that make me think otherwise.
He grabbed my hand to stop me from making my nails bleed and he bought half of the menu of Wendy's just for me.

I only wanted a burger, I'm so used to not eating or barely eating that it was a bad habit. He ignore me and went ahead to get me half of the menu.

I'm exhausted, I had to walk almost a block to my apartment with bags in my hands.
I refused for them to see how I live in my ridiculously small apartment that I made them stop a block away.
I told them that my apartment was here, they stopped at a big beautiful building full of apartments and they watched me enter the building before leaving.

I collapse on my small bed and shortly afterwards I fall asleep.
.........

•The Next Day•

My loud alarm wakes me up at 9 am, I usually don't work during Sundays.
Sundays are the longest days in the week for me.
I volunteer at a shelter shop for animals for a couple of hours then I go to church to help around.
I usually pack food at church to go around and give food to the homeless along with clothes, blankets and others.

I get out bed and I accidentally step on a bag. I head to the bathroom to get ready.
After a little bit of makeup, skincare and a cold shower I exit the bathroom with a fresh new pair of clothes from yesterday.

I'm wearing some ripped light blue jeans along with a cute white cardigan. I'm also wearing the new white shoes Ace got me.
I grab my my moms old necklace that she gave me before she passed away.
It's a very beautiful necklace with a red rose figure on it.

(Outfit if you guys didn't understand what I meant)

I spray some perfume and brush my hair. I decide to let it lose today and grab my bags to head outside.
I lock my apartment door and walk down the stairs to the exit.

I was staring at my very old phone, not paying attention to my surroundings.
My body hits something hard, I look up from my phone and realize I bumped into some random guy.

"I'm so sorry" I quickly say
"It's alright." He smiles at me with those perfect white teeth.
"I'm Max" He looks at me up and down. He holds out a hand.
"Nora." I shake his hand.
"I was gonna go get some coffee, care to join?" He gives me an off setting smile.

"Sorry I'm kinda in a rush. Maybe next time" I quickly walk past him not bothered to look back at him.

Creepy dude

I head towards the shelter building. It's not a far walk, 10 minutes max.
Plus today was very nice, it was the right temperature. Not too cold but not too hot.
I put my earphones in and listen to my playlist.

I finally arrive to my destination and remove my earphones. I'm suddenly greeted with a big bear hug.

"Nora!!"
It was Mily, my little sister.
She's 8 years old and she lives with my aunt who owns this place.
I pick her up.
"Woah, you grew so fast!" I put her back down because I'm way too weak.

"Come, we got a new dog here today!" She drags me by the hand.
"Alright alright I'm coming" I put my bags down next to the receptionist and follow my sister.

"We decided to do something new, we let the dogs outside for a while."
She heads towards the backyard.
She unlocks the door and I see dogs everywhere.
It's like a reward.

I absolutely adore dogs, they are such loveable animals.
My aunt stands a few meters away from me. She looks up and sees me, she immediately smiles at me and runs towards me.
She gives me a big hug.
"I miss ya, why don't you visit often."
"I have work, auntie" I hug her back.

She lets me go and grabs me by the hand.
"Come on, we have work to do."
"Alrighty" I smile at her
"We have a new dog today, I need you to walk him a little bit" She says
"Where is he."
"Right there." She points to a old golden retriever.

I would say he was 8 years old and he looks very tired.
I crouch down and slowly pet him on the head
He whines when I touch him.

"Oh poor baby, what's wrong with him?" I turn to my aunt.
"This fella was abandoned and his cruel owner had left him in the street for days."

How could anyone do that to this sweet baby?

I get up and head to grab the leash from the table. I buckle it around his neck and h quickly gets up. His tails wags.
"Let's go sweetie"
I walk towards the exit of the shelter.
He followed me but poor baby was walking slow.

He was so old and sick but I knew he wanted to walk.
We exit the store and his tail wouldn't stop wagging.

I decide to go to a park, it's very close to the shelter.
He walks next to me, what a good boy he is.
We arrive to the park and I decide it's time for a tiny break.
I sit on a bench and grab a water bottle from my backpack.
"Here you go you good boy."
I open it and let water slowly pour down from the bottle.

I scratch his head and he suddenly jumps on the bench next to me.
He lays down and puts his head on my thigh.
"I guess we are gonna stay a while here." I laugh and kiss him on the head.

Dogs are honestly the best

I look around the park when I start to feel like someone is watching me from a distance. I get goosebumps on my arms.
I must be paranoid.

A couple of minutes later, the feeling wouldn't leave.
I look around the park to see if there is actually someone.
I felt my heart stop when I saw someone behind a tree from a distance.
I rub my eyes and look back but there was no one.

I'm going crazy.
—————-

I Hope y'all enjoyed that! Don't forget to Vote.
Next chapter coming out soon