With so much excitement, Kayla rushed down to Vivian’s house to break the news to her, she knocked and Vivian opened the door, she jumped on her with a tight hug filled with so much joy. “YAY, I am so happy Kayla, I got in”.
Vivian didn’t understand what she meant so she asked “Got in where?”
“I got an admission into LANDA” She screamed with joy.
Vivian ran into her room, Kayla followed her and went straight for her laptop to check her mail. She jumped up with more excitement when she saw hers “I got in too”. They both screamed with joy and hugged each other tight. Vivian’s mom heard them scream as she walked in and met them hugging and asked “What is this all about?”. They hugged her and chorused “We got into LANDA mom”. Her mom was very happy to hear the good news and called for a celebration with a champagne.
LANDA High School was every student’s dream. The school’s name was spoken with a certain pride by parents. New students arrived each year with exciting hopes and this term, among the new students coming in, two stood out: Vivian Austin and Kayla Depp, who were more than happy to be part of a school highly spoken of by people . Their yearning and hope to getting into Landa came through for them.
Vivian and Kayla had been friends since the days of middle school. They had collided on the playground at age eight when Vivian was chasing after her dog, Kayla who was busy with her toys, not looking up hit her slightly which made them both angry, but not afterwards they bursted into laughter. That laughter grew into something bigger and unexpected: a friendship with unspoken loyalties, and care for each other. Where one faltered, the other stood; where one spoke loudly, the other listened.
Kayla had lost her father who died when she was eight due to cancer, she wished she could have had the ability to cure him but it only clocks in when she becomes eighteen years old. He left enough wealth behind to make her never to lack anything in this world but not to fill the hollow and his absence. Money had given her comforts but not a father’s voice or a father’s love. She lived with her mother, who guarded her heart with sweetness and never let her lack anything.
Vivian’s home was more quiet in a different way. Both her parents were alive, they weren’t wealthy in the flash of Kayla’s world, but Vivian had only her mother while her Dad doesn’t really have much time for his family, her Dad was in her life more like a dead man. The love she felt for her friend was larger than any measure of envy, filled with unconditional devotion and love that made their friendship richer and blissful.
They made necessary preparations for their resumption into LHS
LANDA High School
and that week was one of the best week they had together but little did they know that LHS was going to turn things around for them.
They arrived at LHS
LANDA High School
on moving day with suitcases and that kind of exhausted exhilaration that follows long travel. Their dorm room was small and sunlit, two beds close enough for both of them. Vivian hauled her luggage across the hallway with so much joy in her heart while Kayla` wrestled with a heavier suitcase.
But there was something strange about the place that suddenly killed Kayla’s joy, she felt this might be the beginning of their misery but shrugged it off. All that mattered to her was that she’s here and Vivian is there with her, happy.
“It’s nice to be in our dream high school,” Vivian said, as she dragged her bag into the dorm and dropped it with a thud on her bed. Kayla, still wrestling with hers gave a smile.
“Let me help you with that, lazy bunny,” Vivian teased. She stepped forward and took the suitcase, lifting it like she carried nothing. Kayla made a show of pretending to be offended and then sat on the bed beside her friend. They laid back, with their palms on top of each other.
“You know, I never knew we would be in the almighty LANDA High School,” Kayla murmured.
“Same here, but here we are,” Vivian said. She rolled to her feet and pulled Kayla up. “Let’s go have some fun, please.”
Kayla blinked. “So, where are we going?”
“I heard there will be a welcome party at Jackal Hall tonight. We should go after showers, of course.”
Vivian’s eyes were already sparkling with joy: the kind of joy that involved dressing up just right now and going out there to have a fun filled moment with her best friend.
They showered, dressed, and was prepared to go rock the party, when they were ready to go, a gentle knock sounded at their door.
“Who is that?” they asked in unison.
A voice answered “I am here to welcome you all to LANDA High School.”
Vivian reached for the door. When she opened it, a young man stood with a smile as bright as a sunllight. He was damn handsome that made Vivian speechless for some seconds.
“And who might you be?” Vivian asked, dangerously carried away by the sight of him.
“May I come in?” he asked politely.
“Yes… yes, please come in,” Vivian stammered, stepping aside. He walked past her with a smile on his face. “So sorry, please forgive my manners, I am Dave Hurst by name. Nice meeting you, ladies.”
Dave extended his hand for a handshake. Vivian’s heartbeat raced faster and glad; Kayla’s expression, by contrast, didn’t show much interest; Kayla wasn’t the kind to soften quickly. She didn’t find Dave especially attractive, there was no rush of interest.
To spare Dave any uncomfortable rejection, Vivian took his hand. The instant skin met skin, something like a shutter clicked behind her eyes, a flash of white and black, a rush of images that belonged to no present moment: a voice she had never heard, the repetition of a name. Vivian gasped, short of breath, and then she fell…
