sorry! -Cheebes
Chapter 1
The Paradox
One fateful, hot September day, two completely different girls were running. One was running as an assessment, the other ran for her life. Both were orphans, though one had never known her parents. One was the last of her kind; the other, an ordinary yet extraordinary person. One was seeking a home, the other was hunted down. One was brilliant, the other’s light shone through in a subtler way. But in these completely different persons, one with a real life, the other, a half life, the paradox would unite. In an epic of passion, loss, love, murder, and revelation lay their common destiny: adventure.
Chapter 2
Braden
Aryel tripped for the fifth time. Her shoelaces, worn from the tribulations of asphalt and loam, were so frayed that even the most complex knot could not hold them together. Her breath came in regulated gasps as she pushed herself to keep moving. A bead of seat rolled down her face. Caught by the sunlight, it flashed like a teardrop. She flicked it away and kept going.
“Alright, Mandela, let’s move. Move! Move!” the coach barked. The gym was filled with dumpy girls, all running in purple and orange uniforms. Aryel lagged near the end of the parade, her form shaking with the effort. She was quite pretty. Her hair was caught into two long braids, which swung behind her with every footstep. Her skin was pale, and her brown eyes were large and well lashed. The purple and orange sweat-suit was not flattering on her. Orphancy did not suit her. Dark circles marked her tiredness from working all night to support herself. Why did a sixteen year old need a job to support herself? Aryel was alone. Completely alone, with no friends. After the death of her father, no one had cared to take in this girl. Her clumsiness and bluntness was obvious, but her homemaking skills were unsurpassed to any who cared to test them. So Aryel struggled on, alone, unwanted, and desperately trying to earn a n ‘A’ in P.E.
After gym, Aryel hurried off to shower and change. The football season had just started, and the county, in order to preserve its star team’s record, required the Orange Hill High football team to practice during and after school hours. The Haurochs were champions. Rumor had it that, at the first game of the season in a few months, a live haruoch would fly over the stadium! The legendary monster eagle-lion-bull hybrid was just another genetic experiment gone crazy.
It was stupid, the way some people in the government made a fuss out of such a sport as football, Aryel thought. Posters up and down the hall screamed out at passers by about the upcoming team tryouts and the fencing tournament. Fencing was an obscure sport, but was fast becoming noticed by the Orange City community. The main reason was Braden Hale, a new student. He was the rising star of the fencing team, and had won them several championships. He was also becoming the HBOC. Slenderly built yet unbelievably talented, he rose quickly through the ranks. He was quiet, but handsome, and he was the object of many a girl’s romantic dreams.
Aryel skipped over Hale and moved on to her next appointment. She had to make good time to her next Geometry class. Aryel had promised her father that she would finish high school. She was now determined to keep that promise, since her father was gone. Geometry was one of the subject with which she struggled.
Still lost in thought, Aryel kept walking- and crashed right into someone! Books spewed all over the floor as Aryel stammered out an apology.
“I’m sorry…didn’t mean it…” she mumbled, glancing up- and looking right into the breath-taking gaze of Braden Hale! His brown hair that with hints with blue fell gracefully down into his startlingly deep gray eyes as he bent down to help her up.
“No problem,” he replied, pulling her up. Aryel immediately bent down to pick up the book closest to her feet, just as he stooped to reach it. Their hands touched for a moment, and to Aryel it felt like fire. She jerked her hand away and reached for another book, only to knock the one Braden had just picked up out of his hands.
“Oops…” Aryel murmured, embarrassed. Braden, to her surprise, began to shake. It was a moment before she realized he was laughing- at her!
“Ha ha ha ha!” he chuckled. “That was great! Very smooth! By the way, what’s your name?”
“Aryel- Aryel Mandela,” Aryel said sheepishly.
“Well, Aryel,” Braden said, her name rolling like a silver bell off his tongue, “sorry about this whole fiasco. I’ve got all my books, and fencing practice is coming up. See you ‘round!” And he lithely moved off down the hall, surrounded by mesmerized girls.
Aryel blinked and moved on. Somehow her encounter with the famous Braden Hale had shaken her up. But algebra was waiting, and she had work to do.
After school, Aryel went to work. Her job involved clearing tables at the town’s most popular restaurant- Blue Jay’s. The pay wasn’t excellent, but any job in Blue Jay’s was an incredible feat for any high-schooler- most of the workers were attractive college students. Like on most Friday nights, the place was packed. Aryel was squeezing past two tables, her miniskirt swishing as she brushed by their occupants, when she spotted him. Braden Hale was sitting in a booth directly across to the one she had to clear! Aryel blushed as she approached the table, trying as best she could to hide her face from Braden. Unfortunately, Aryel looked much more attractive in her uniform than in her gym outfit, and the occupants of the booth next to Braden’s, full of college guys, immediately noticed.
“Hey, sweetheart! How’s about clearing this table!” one of them hollered. Aryel turned crimson, but said nothing.
“I think you’re on to something there, Bill,” said another.
“He’s right,” cried another. “Hey darlin’, how about we…” His voice trailed off as Braden’s fist slammed the table just inches from his nose.
“If I were you,” Braden said quite calmly, but with a dangerous edge in his voice, “I would get out and not come back until I had any manners.” His threatening demeanor, coupled with the newspaper article framed above their booth about him and his strength, led the boys to quietly leave their bill on the table and slink away.
“Thank you!” Aryel stammered. “I…I should’ve…”
“Hey, haven’t we met?” Braden asked her, quite casually, as though the recent exchange with the men that he had held did not upset him.
“Yes, we have- I, ah…bumped into you today,” Aryel replied shamefacedly.
“OK, then. Just steer clear of lots like that; you never know what they’ll get up to.” Braden spoke with a gleam in his eye, as if he enjoyed telling weird people off. His slender figure and sweeping hair had many a waitress fluttering her eyelashes at him as he turned and left the building.
After her shift had ended, nearing midnight, Aryel stumbled out of Blue Jay’s. She was exhausted, and she still had homework to do before she could sleep. She did not notice the figures sneaking up on her out of the darkness.
“Miss Aryel Mandela?’ one called out. Aryel came alert and nodded.
“Then you’re the one we’re looking for. Why don’t you take a stroll with us down to the riverbank?’ the girl said threateningly, balling up Aryel’s jacket in her fist. Aryel blanched. The riverbank was the worst part of town, with hooligans and vandals lurking its banks.
“Wh-wh-what do you w-want?” she stuttered.
“You talked with Braden Hale?” the girl demanded. All the others sighed.
“Y-y-yes,” gasped Aryel. “I-I ran into him by accident…”
“No one runs into Prince Braden by accident!” the girl cried, hurling Aryel to the ground. “He is not to be touched by any girl, including you! Braden Hale is no one’s property, you thief of men’s hearts! And the girls of OH High will see that you shall never do so again! No one goes near Prince Braden! You broke the law- and you must be punished!”
Thanx for reading! Hope you enjoyed it!
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