My Nightmare in Shining Armor

Chapter 1

Everyone has regrets in life; I have only two regrets, not saving her and not surviving long enough to tell everyone who killed us.

I couldn't help but feel hopeful. Though it appeared to be the dead of winter and everything looked like they had reached the point of no return, it was spring. I knew that eventually the plants would grow and the flowers would bloom. The sun was shining as I sat on the cold, metal bench. Thank god I had my thick coat and hot chocolate to keep me warm. I was incredibly stressed but at the moment I didn't have a care in the world. It didn't matter the quarter was ending and I had a week of tests. I didn't mind that my boyfriend of three years had just dumped me.

I felt as though I could make it through. It seemed as though I had a chance. It couldn't have been easy for the buds to live and survive and the cold yet they did. They pushed through the cold dirt and welcomed the freezing air.

I was going to do what I had promised my father. I would pay no attention to those who said otherwise, it was my life and I would do as I chose. I would follow my dreams, damn the consequences. So as I sat with my hot chocolate in my fluffy hat and warm coat, I decided. I was going to get into art school and become the next Andy Warhol, if it killed me. Knowing my luck there was a high possibility it would.

I knew that to do this would mean hours of dedication, actually finishing a project and quite possibly the most effort I had ever invested in, well... anything. I had to try though; my father would hate it if I just gave up and refused. He said I had talent, now I know that's not much coming from an accountant but I would take it. With a great deal of determination in my veins I rose from the bench. I moved briskly towards my dorms, of course this lead to me running into someone and spilling my hot chocolate over both of us in the process. I failed, epically.

I felt the heat sink through my clothes scalding the areas where it touched bare skin. My body temperature rose dramatically and I could feel the sweat building up. For the first five or so minutes I couldn't speak to in shock over what happened. Eventually my vocal chords and mouth caught up with my brain. "I'm so sorry." The words tumbled out of my mouth in a hurried sentence, if it could be called that.

"Jesus Christ woman don't you watch where you're going?" For some unknown reason this caused the heat to spark into a quick rage.

"Look I said I was sorry okay? I didn't see you; if it makes you feel any better I'll buy you a new shirt or something."

"Yeah or something. Just watch where you're walking next time okay?" I didn't realize until that moment who I was talking to, the local psychopath, and son of the superintendent. Harker Millings. I was scared by now, there were rumors that the last person who made Harker angry had to move to another country because of how horrible the mind games the poor kid was put through were.

"I'm so sorry, um please don't hurt me. Here take this for you shirt." I shoved a fifty in his hand and quickly turned away, planning to speed walk then run from him.

"Wha- Hey wait up!" He hollered after me and began running forward. There was point in me trying to get away now, he wasn't just tall but also fit, and he was toned. Harker was built, surprisingly though not in the steroids kind of way, more like the I-could-kill-you-and-make-it-look-like-an-accident kind. I stopped and waited for him to catch up. "Are you scared of me or something is that why you ran?" At first I couldn't, well didn't answer. "Hey." He grabbed my wrist and all the heat moved to my face at the contact. I could see the headline scrolling through my mind 'Extra, extra innocent student caught blushing because a boy touched her wrist'. My face flamed brighter at the embarrassment I imagined at having people read this.

The school paper played a large role in my life. Because my roommate wrote the horoscopes for it and I was the author of the "ask Cupid" column where students submitted questions about relationships that I had to answer. I was known for my advice in the love department, even though I have a terrible track record for relationships. The question: Cupid yesterday a boy touched me? Do they have cooties, what do I do? My response: You're in college for goodness sakes woman, learn to deal. If only I was one of those people who took my own advice. Instead of taking my own advice I decided it would be better to shove my foot in my mouth. "You don't care why I ran. Lord knows you scare enough people without paying attention to their feelings so don't even pretend to care about me. So just take the money and leave me the hell alone."