The Goddess Test ◊ L.H.

alpha

Quinn Jackson ◊

They say that love punishes, but it's a lie. Love is the cure to all of the things that truly hurt us. Whether it's being alone, rejected, or losing someone, love will always be the cure for it.

It really is. But everybody said that life would get better, and that the pain only lasts for a moment, yet my pain has been going on the past three years of my life. I was supposed to be a senior in high school this year, having the time of my life.

I was supposed to be dreaming about who would become homecoming queen, whether or not I would be asked to the winter formal, if I would be an escort for the potential King, and all of the sporting events and games throughout the year, and figuring out what I'd be doing for the rest of my future.

But that wasn't my life. I was too stressed out worrying about my mother all the time. She was barely in her forties, just turned thirty-eight last year, but she wasn't going to see a day over thirty-nine.

It terrified me. My mother has been so active in my life that when we got the news three years ago, I didn't know what to do. I tried focusing on my studies, but I was too busy taking care of her.

And now, we were moving into a small one bedroom, one bathroom house, because it was all we could afford nowadays.

I leaned my head back against the headrest as the truck engine rumbled as we made our way down the freeway, my eyes fluttering shut as we passed by miles and miles of trees.

◊  ◊  ◊

Piercing blue eyes stared at me and startled me as I looked around. A large manor was spread in front of me, the brick aged and glorious in all its standing.

Green vines crawled and climbed along the wall, giving the building a sense of it being alive.

He stood there, watching me as I attempted to figure out my surroundings.

He had blond hair styled perfectly in a quiff, scruff scattered along his jaw with beautiful plump lips with a black metal piercing in them. He had a small button nose, and two blue eyes that looked as if the sky as trapped in them.

He wore a black shirt button up shirt with all of the buttons done except two, with black pants as well, and he stared at me with his arms crossed across his broad chest, his demeanor changing as recognition crossed his features.

"Quinn." He breathed out, his voice just as you suspect it would sound, rough yet gentle at the same time.

He licked his lips, hesitantly walking towards me with a shy expression and he glanced behind me and his expression darkened, but as I turned the scene dissolved into mist.

◊  ◊  ◊

"Quinn, dear. Wake up." My mother said, jostling me awake and I groaned as I opened my eyes, rubbing my face and scrunching my nose at the lack of sunlight.

The man was mesmerizing, to say the least. As we continued to unpack and move everything inside, he was on my thoughts constantly.

The house was smaller than expected, the panels on the outside were once a beautiful brown color, but was now a dull off shade.

There was a small sidewalk leading up to the house, weeds in the cracks of the cement with some wilted flowers along each of the sides.

White panels surrounded each of the windows, with a tan brown door in the center of the building, and I reluctantly left the house and watched as men started moving boxes into the house, and I grabbed one of mine and carried it inside.