#Chapter1

Prologue

Two Weeks Earlier.

/"Is my outfit okay?/" I nervously ask Faith for the tenth time in that past three minutes

I am wearing an adorable knee length white dress with little pink flowers on it that I covered with a matching pink sweater so that I look more put together. For shoes I chose a pair of white sneakers and for hair I decided on loose curls.

/"Hanna, you look amazing/" Faith responds genuinely with a small smile from my chair

/"Yeah, If Chadley doesn't think so then he's blind/" Bailey cuts in as she continues to read a random fashion magazine from my bed

Chadley Huntington.

Chad for short.

Chad and I have been dating for ten months.

Today is our ten month anniversary and I made the brave decision to surprise him with baseball tickets.

He's obsessed with baseball so I wanted to give him a present to correlate.

I hear a knock on my bedroom door before it opens to reveal my mother.

/"Are you ready?/" She asks with a smile

I nod my head as I nervously grab my purse and say goodbye to my friends. They return the farewell as I exit my bedroom.

I really hope that this all goes according to plan.

-

/"Do you want me to pick you up later?/" My mother asks me as I unbuckle my seatbelt

I briefly glance at Chadley's house before facing her and shaking my head.

/"No, I'm sure his mom will drop me off/" I reply since his mom always volunteers to drive me home

If she's not up for driving me home then I could just call one of my moms.

/"Okay, call me if you need a ride back/" she says with a serious tone of voice

My moms are crazy about kidnapping.

They never let me, or my siblings, out past nine unless we are with another trusted adult.

I understand their worry though.

/"I will/" I reply with an appreciative smile as I exit the car

I close the car door behind me and make my way towards their front door, making sure to walk along the stone pathway.

As I arrive in front of the main door I knock on it three times and wait a couple of seconds before I'm met with Mrs. Huntington's excited facial expression.

/"Hanna!/" She exclaims with obvious happiness

/"Hello, Mrs. Huntington/" I say with a smile

She steps aside so that I can walk into their house, which I do with no protest. She quickly closes the door behind me to keep the autumn breeze out of their warm household.

/"Chadley is upstairs in his bedroom, would you like me to go get him for you?/" She questions politely

/"No, is it okay if I go up alone?/" I ask her

She instantly shakes her head and uses her hands to usher me towards the stairs. I thank her before making my way towards my boyfriend's room.

The closer I get towards his bedroom the clearer I'm able to hear some particularly odd noises coming from it.

Could it possibly be from his video game?

He hasn't played a game in awhile.

His television?

He doesn't usually watch cable.

Once I'm outside of his bedroom I'm able to one hundred percent make out the sounds from the other side.

He's watching porn.

Why would he be watching porn?

I twist his doorknob and push the door open only to immediately stop in my tracks at the sight that meets my eyes.

Oh my goodness.

This can't be happening.

/"Oh my god/" I say with an appalled tone of voice

My best friend jumps off of my boyfriend at the sound of my voice with a shocked facial expression.

No.

Please, tell me that this isn't happening.

/"Hanna, this isn't what it looks like/" Chadley tries to defend as he stands up with an obvious tent in his pants

I glance over at my best friend only to see her trying but failing to cover her body with his blanket, the same blanket I slept under one night when my parents and I were fighting.

/"It looks like I'm being cheated on by my boyfriend and best friend/" I say with a slight voice crack

I'm not going to fight for him.

Obviously our relationship didn't mean as much to him as it did to me.

So, I'm done.

/"Oh, then it's exactly what it looks like/" my best friend says

/"Shut up, Ava/" Chadley says to her with an annoyed tone of voice

I sigh as I calmly hand him the baseball tickets, I have no use for them anymore.

/"Happy ten month anniversary/" I say with a small reminiscent smile before retreating out of his room

/"Hanna, wait!/" He calls after me but I continue to walk away

/"Just let her go, babe, she was going to find out sooner or later/" Ava says to him with an annoyed tone of voice

I can't believe I was so stupid.

How did I not see the signs?

Always texting each other whenever he and I were together at school.

Always getting jealous whenever I mentioned a milestone in our relationship.

Always having secrets.

/"Hanna, is everything okay?/" Mrs. Huntington asks me with a confused facial expression as I step onto the tiled flooring

I quickly wipe my tear away and nod my head.

/"Yeah/" I reply with a small smile

/"Did Chadley do something without consent?/" She asks with obvious fear which makes me release a small chuckle

I'll truly miss Mrs. Huntington and her exquisite baking skills.

/"I love your son, but tonight he broke my heart/" I reply honestly with no hate or malice in my tone of voice

/"Oh no, honey/" she says with a worried tone of voice

/"It's fine, I just wanted to tell you so that you do not assume the worst/" I tell her

She leans in and embraces me in a ginormous hug which I do not stray away from. I actually find comfort in her hugs.

As I pull away from the hug I hear Chadley yell from upstairs.

/"Hanna, wait, I can explain/" he pleads with a fearful tone of voice

I give him a genuine smile before gripping the doorknob.

/"Goodbye, Chadley/" I say before exiting the Huntington residence

I quickly run down their pathway and towards their street. I fish my phone out of my pocket and dial my mothers number.

As the phone starts to ring I feel tears begin to prick my eyes before they quickly slide down my cheeks.

/"Hello?/" My mom answers with a shocked tone of voice

/"Mom, I made a mistake, can you please come pick me up/" I ask her as I being to bawl out crying, the salty tears now soaking my dress.

-

/"Hanna, I know that you're extremely upset but please let me remove your makeup/" Bailey pleads from the left side of my bed

Bailey wants to be a dermatologist when she grows up so whenever someone isn't taking care of their skin she gets extremely irritated.

I agree to let her remove my makeup so that I do not have to listen to her complain about it for an hour.

/"Do you want some ice cream?/" Faith asks me as she continues to gently stroke my blonde hair

I look up at her from my position on my bed and nod my head. She smiles down at me before standing up and exiting my room, closing the door behind her.

While she's gone Bailey decides to start on the makeup removal process.

Honestly, I just want to sleep for the next however many years.

As soon as Bailey finishes removing my make up I hear a knock on the door. As I look over I notice that both of my moms are standing near the doorway with sad facial expressions.

/"I'll leave you guys alone/" Bailey says with a smile as she uses her thumb to comfortingly rub my shoulder

She grabs her purse and quickly makes her way out of my room. When she's completely out of my room my parents walk in and close the door behind themselves.

They remain silent as they take a seat on either side of my body.

/"He cheated on me,/" I answer their unasked question

My mom has a horrified facial expression while my mother has a murderous facial expression.

The both of them look at each other and seemingly converse with just their eyes.

/"He cheated on me with Ava/" I add on

Their eyes widen almost simultaneously.

/"Charlotte!/" My mom squeaks out with an appalled tone of voice as she smacks her shoulder

I am so glad that I can not hear their thoughts.

/"Hanna, would you like to take a little time off school?/" My mom asks me as she averts her attention away from my mother

I nod my head not wanting to be a third party in their stare match.

They nod at my answer and give me another sad smile before placing a kiss on either side of my head.

/"If you don't mind I would like to take a nap, I'm exhausted/" I say to them with a small smile

/"Okay, yell if you need anything/" my mom says before exiting with my mother

Ugh.

This day went nothing like I had hoped it would, but Ava was right.

I was bound to find out about their secrecy affairs sooner or later.

I let out a sigh as I kick my shoes off and slide underneath my blanket.

Maybe I can sleep this away.

-

Aspen's POV

/"I feel so bad for her/" I say as Charlotte and I descend the stairs towards the kitchen

/"So do I, but there is not much that we can do. We have to let this breakup take its toll/" she responds as she leaves me at the barstools to fetch a glass of wine

/"I wish I had more experience in the breakup department so that I could give her the correct advice/" I say as I take a seat and watch Charlotte pour a glass of wine

She tenses at my words and immediately stops pouring.

/"Babe, I understand where you are coming from, I really do, but not everyone deals with breakups the same way/" Charlotte says before she slides me the glass of wine

I nod my head in response and use my pointer finger to circle the rim of my glass.

/"How is Amanda doing?/" I ask Charlotte with a curious tone of voice

Amanda is new to Charlotte's gang.

She lives in the house that Charlotte and I used to reside in before we decided to adopt.

She's an extremely nice woman, she even has a daughter.

Aurelia, I think.

/"I actually talked to her yesterday, she said that she's settling in nice and Aurelia can't wait to begin her training/" Charlotte replies

I smile at this piece of information.

/"That's wonderful! Should we visit them soon?/" I ask

She shrugs as she takes a sip of wine.

/"You should call her and ask, I'm sure she wouldn't mind/" Charlotte replies

/"You know, I think I will/" I reply as I raise from my barstool and walk towards my cellphone.