Finding You (UNDER THE PROCESS OF EDITING)

Chapter 1 - Before

The attached cover was made by JabberlocksBox. I loved it! What about you? :)

~*~

2 YEARS LATER

The first thing I noticed was my face painfully pressed against my desk, and also, the drool covering it.

On most days, I got up at 5 am to practise gymnastics, which was my everyday routine. Since my dream was to compete in big events like the Rio Olympics, I followed a strict timetable - which involved five hours of gymnastics in total - from eleven years of age. I would get up and practise until 7 am, then go to school, come back, study for an hour and a half, practise gymnastics for three hours and then sleep at 10 pm.

However, since school hadn't started yet, I ended up in my room at 7 in the morning, watching Simone Biles - my favourite gymnast - perform her signature difficult moves in various competitive events. I felt oddly tired and fell asleep on my desk. If someone came inside my room, I sincerely hoped that I didn't snore too loud.

I lifted my head up from the desk, switched off the laptop and looked at the date on the alarm.

I gasped. A huge, overly dramatic gasp.

Wasn't today supposed to be my first day of sophomore year? The third week of August?

My phone dinged with a message, and when I looked, it was from my best friend Camila:

'First day of sophomore year. Are you coming?'

WAY TO GO, STUPID.

We hugged dad and said our farewells. He had to catch a flight to LA to attend a conference meeting regarding the architectural firm we owned. Business was booming, he had told me, what with all the structures he had to design for the various companies which paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars for a few unique blueprints.

~*~

I pushed the doors of hell open and went to turn my locker combination and put my stuff inside, not bothering about the people talking loudly around me.

I suddenly felt the gaze of someone burning holes into my back. When I turned, though, all I saw was a tall figure with blonde locks.

...Weird.

I saw Camila Rodríguez and walked over to her to say hello. Camila had moved here in kindergarten and on her first day of school, she was teased for her Spanish accent by a boy in the same class. I punched him square in the nose, and we had been best friends ever since.

Her glossy, midnight-black hair was tired back into a messy bun which rested on the caramel skin on her neck. Chocolate-brown eyes sparkling with sarcastic humour, she gave me a stupid grin.

"Hola, Chloë! Aren't you ready for sophomore year?"

"Yeah, I'm quite excited for yet another boring year." I drawled while slamming my locker shut.

Then I took a look at my schedule.

Oh, NO. NONONONONO.

I saw the subject and her evil name itself: Geography, Mrs Nutter.

Mrs Nutter was a widow with a personality that was anything but positive. She was extremely short and had an enormous warr on her left cheek, like the one in iCarly. Her face was wrinkly, with sagging cheeks. She spoke in a monotonous tone that could put anyone to sleep, and she would give you detention if she found out that you were sleeping in her class.