As I Fell ✓

Prologue

It was a nice thing, being in love.

"Elliot! It's not fair! Give me back my phone," I laughingly yelled at my boyfriend.

I had been chasing him all over his apartment for the past few minutes now and I found it unfair since he's taller and has longer legs, and I'm a foot shorter than him. Of course he has the advantage. Thank god he's hot, I guess.

"I won't give it back unless you do my math homework. You're great at that," he said, now grinning at me like those male models you see in those teenage magazines. It was just perfect.

But not everything is.

Elliot and I chased each other in his apartment with soft, white pillows his mom got him for Christmas, still in our sleepwear. He was wearing nothing but boxers, though I had gotten used to it these past two years we had been dating. I, on the other hand, had on a simple blue tank top and pajamas with baby ducks. They were cute.

Being with Elliot Haynes meant being with possibly one of the most popular guys in our small private school. It meant a high school experience filled with fun flirting, dating, parties, and friends. I wasn't popular or anything at school. I was just average, except I had been known to be consistently in the honor roll ever since I started. Elliot made me something more than that. He made me happy, something that lacked a lot whenever I slave away in school.

I know high school can be traumatic, but with the friends I have and the boyfriend who promised to always stay by my side, things were bearable. And I was happy. Elliot's sharp facial structure, towering height, and sparkling green eyes might be only a bonus to this whole thing I have going on.

Elliot laughed heartily as I chased him around the room, running over carpets, jumping over sofas and tiny coffee tables, trying my best not to break any of the antique vases he owned. He still had my phone in his hands as he did, and I kept chasing him all around until my chest hurt.

"Feel tired yet, babe?" he asked with a huge grin on his face as he stopped in front of me. He had still been holding onto my phone.

"Maybe a little," I said, catching my breath.

Elliot wrapped his arm around me and escorted me outside to his balcony. The fresh air was good and the view from up here was dazzling. It was something I always had the pleasure to see yet every time I stare out into the horizon, everything seems so familiar and new at the same time.

"Sorry for making you tired. Let me help you up," he said as he gently held my waist and picked me up. Elliot placed me on the thick railing of his balcony and I thanked him. We used to sit over the railing every day after school and watch the sunset. Today, I had been waiting for him to sit by my side, except he wrapped his arms around me again and bit my ear. It tickled and I laughed.

"I love you, Athena. And I'm sorry," he whispered into my ear as he slowly handed me back my phone. I held onto it and looked back at him. His eyes were not sparkling anymore. I didn't know why.

"For what?" I asked back.

"This."

Elliot visibly gulped, with his face stoic and expressionless. I felt his hands on my chest and the pressure he exerted to push me over. I felt my heart stop beating for a moment, with every sound around me seemingly going silent. It was deafening.

I didn't know what happened right after Elliot said those words. I just felt light. I felt every feather of the breeze hit my body, and the sensation was almost like I was falling off a building in my dreams. But it was real.

Everything was real.

I didn't scream. Everything had happened so fast I wasn't able to open my mouth to call for help. Almost instantly, I felt something crack in me and I felt electricity course through my upper body as I landed on something hard.

I couldn't move, but damn did it hurt.