Shattered Secrets

Chapter One

Alyson

Alyson was staring out of the passenger side window of her mom's 2019 Ford Escape, her thoughts turning to what was to come in the next four years of her life. College has always been a scary, yet exciting, future endeavor that she has been looking forward to for years. Initially, she didn't plan on moving two hours away from home, but life had other plans.

She glances over at her mother for a moment, studying her posture. She sat in the driver's seat, one hand gripping the steering wheel while the other had a death grip on the gearshift in the middle console. Her jaw was tight, and her teeth ground together. Her eyes would only stray away from the road to glance at the mirrors and other cars passing by.

Turning her attention back to the window, she stares outside at the world while she waits impatiently to arrive at the University of North Carolina.

* * *

The college was one of vastness, with over a thousand different subjects to explore within the walls. There were students loitering about the courtyard, sitting atop benches, talking amongst one another. Some were laughing, others were quiet with their conversations.

In the courtyard lay an array of planted flowers, giving the outdoors a beautiful colorful look about it, with red and yellow tulips, pansies, hydrangeas, and so many more. There were also medium-sized flowering trees against the path to the college that were swaying in the breeze, basking everyone in their sweet aroma.

Alyson took everything in with a wide smile on her face, her eyes appearing to glitter in the sunlight, as if they were emeralds. Her heart was racing in her chest, her stomach flip-flopping consistently with the excited nervousness coursing through her. She caught the eyes of some students, and as they nodded a greeting to her, she gave a little wave in return, before returning her attention to the large, four-story building looming ahead of her.

It was tall, made entirely of stone and glass. The many windows adorning the front of it would allow for plenty of sunlight for those who didn't wish to use artificial light to do their work outside of class. That, combined with the expansive courtyard and garden, already made it extremely appealing to Alyson. She knew she had made the right decision in choosing this college. Now if only she could get her mother on board with it.

As she dragged her rolling suitcase behind her, she heard the click, click sounds of her mother's heels as she followed along, making comments under her breath that Alyson was ignoring. Unfortunately, they broke through Alyson's excitement, her heart clenching painfully at the reminder that her mother did not approve of her decision to move away from home, to come to a college that she didn't choose for her. It hurt her to know that she would never be proud of her unless she was the extended version of her mother.

Once they were through the large doors that led into the college, they took in their surroundings. There were at least a hundred students outside of the college, but inside there were even more. To the left of the entrance is what Alyson assumed to be the dining hall, based on the smell of food wafting from that direction, and to the right was an information desk that had a decent line forming.

Reaching into her back pocket, Alyson pulled out the map of the school and her schedule that she had printed before coming to the school. She had been under the assumption that there would be a delay in getting everything if she didn't get it all from home, and she was correct. Unfortunately, she came on the day that classes were to start, but she was early enough that she had a couple of hours to spare before she had to be in class.

"Mom, we should find my dorm so I can get prepared for classes," she said as she turned toward her mother, who was still gaping at all the students loitering about the lobby. They took off toward the dorms, with the map guiding them. By the time they got to her third-floor room, they were both exhausted. Alyson regretted coming to the school on the day that classes started. All she wanted to do was lie down and sleep.