Under The Night Sky

Chapter 1

Prologue

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE, OK?!"

There was a long, heavy silence. The two men stood across from each other in the tiny living room. The first man's eyes were wide with shock, beginning to brim with tears, while the second one had his head lowered and fists clenched.

"No, please..." The first man whispered, tears streaming down his face.

"I'm sorry, Marco..." the second man turned away. "It's just not going to work."

"Is it because of who I am? My career?" The first man, Marco's voice broke, lip trembling.

The second man remained silent, turning on his heel to grab the doorknob.

"Jordan!" Marco gasped, grabbing his wrist. "Please don't leave me. I promise, I'll do everything I can for you! I love you!"

Jordan's hurt face turned around one last time to face him.

"Goodbye, Marco."

Then the door slammed behind him and Marco dropped to the ground, heart hurting like someone had shoved a thousand knives into it. His hands moved up to his face, shielding his eyes from the waterfalls that had begun to flow. Marco's body shook violently with sobs, curling himself into a tight ball on the ground.

"Jordan... I'm so sorry..."

There was a wet stain slowly building on the carpet from where his tears had fallen.

"Please..."

There was the sound of a notification popping up on his phone.

"Come back to me!"

Marco screamed, his voice ringing across the room, filled with pain and anguish. The sound of another text rang in the silence that ensued and Marco finally lifted his head to turn in the direction of his phone. He slowly got up and walked over to it, noticing it was from one of his friends.

Liam 🤪✌️: Hey man! So how did it go?

Liam 🤪✌️: You ok? You're not responding...

Marco's eyes dropped to his pocket. He wiped a hand across his face in an attempt to get rid of the tears before reaching into his pocket.

The diamond ring glistened in the light, casting mini rainbows around the room.

Marco 🐶: He rejected me. He's gone.

-*-*-

"HOPE NICHOLSON!!"

The girl's head lifted off of the desk, eyes drooping. She tried to get her vision to focus on the tomato-red, quivering face in front of her that was practically spitting with anger.

"Oh, hi Miss..." Hope yawned loudly. "What's the problem?"

Ms Butler's eyes narrowed until you could barely see them anymore.

"The problem," she spat. "Is that you are not. Paying. ATTENTION."

Hope tilted her head to the side, unfazed by the teacher's sheer rage. "Well, why should I? What's the use of learning about things I'm not going to need in my later life?"

"Well, you will need to know it for the test, Ms Nicholson." Ms Butler hissed before quickly turning back to the board. "I will have to issue a detention for you, since you clearly weren't listening to the lecture. Tell me, what is the powerhouse of the cell?"