At First Sight: Special Edition

At First Sight

Heather Todd

Copyright © 2014-2015 Heather Todd

This publication is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws, and all rights are reserved, including resale rights: you are not allowed to give or sell this book to anyone else.

Any trademarks, service marks, product names or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if we use one of these terms.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Printed in paperback January 2015 and available in Kindle and E-book format as of January 2015 through Amazon, Create Space, Barnes and Noble and Smashwords.

Printed in the United States

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN-13: 978-1503247604

ISBN-10: 1503247600

Dedicated to my mother. You’ll get that sequel soon. I love you.

1

             
Crash!

             
“You’re going to wake the kid up!” hissed a female voice, huffing and puffing as she scattered around the quarters.

              “Move it. Come on,” murmured a deep, male voice. “We’re going to be late!”

              The slam of a door woke thirteen-year-old Lola Adams from her rare, pleasant slumber. She sat up from her cozy quilt and squinted, noticing the daylight outside and that she was still in one piece. Normally, her mornings would consist of screaming and slapping. On notable occasions, there would even be punching. But this morning, she was free. She felt fine. She wasn’t huddled in a corner crying, and she wasn’t even yelling for everything to stop. Everything was quiet.

              Too quiet.

              Lola carefully rose from her bed and padded out into the hallway, glancing around. “Mom? Dad?”

              No answer.

              She walked farther down the hallway and noticed a broken plate on the floor. She picked it up and recognized the cheap floral pattern bordering the outside edge. She glanced up from the plate to find an empty kitchen. It wasn’t just completely void of people. All of the cabinets were open, revealing nothing but dust and maybe a solitary glass. The refrigerator door hung open, confirming that even the baking soda was gone. The entire kitchen was empty of necessities.

              “What?” she murmured to herself, confused.

              Lola walked to the living room and sighed, shaking her head in disappointment rather than anger. The movies and music were gone, but they left the television. Her parents weren’t really smart when it came to deserting their only child. It was really appalling to Lola that they would take all the food, but leave the television.

              Her parents were notorious drug dealers in Los Angeles. They knew how to buy and they knew how to sell. Selling was how they afforded entertainment, great food, and comfortable clothes. Yet, their attitude toward life in general was horrible. For a married couple, they didn’t act very much in love. They would scream at each other, beat each other, and even throw their own daughter in the mix. She had the bruises and scratches to prove it.

Lola was pretty sure her mother smoked and drank during the pregnancy, but she thought she turned out pretty well. She made good grades, she had great friends, and she was decent-looking.

              Lola walked into the master bedroom and noticed the bed was still covered in the soft, red duvet. She climbed on the high bed and sighed softly. She had always liked this bed. Whenever her parents weren’t home, she would simply cover herself with the duvet and think about what it must be like to sleep on the plush mattress and the soft covers. Her bed was a simple twin bed with one quilt and one pillow. It was comfortable, but it wasn’t like this bed.

              She suddenly sat up, coming to terms with what was going on. She wasn’t being chased out of the bedroom. She wasn’t being thrown around. She wasn’t being yelled at. Everything was silent. She could even hear the birds chirping outside. Her parents had had enough of her and they left. They had abandoned a thirteen-year-old to her own devices.

              She was alone and… safe.

              Regardless of the fact that she was actually by herself, she couldn’t help but come to terms with her situation. She was by herself and wasn’t even in high school. She had no other adult figure in her life that she knew about.

              How was she going to make money?

              How was she going to survive all alone in Los Angeles?

              She thought about telling the neighbors and then she remembered that the neighbors thought her family was completely crazy. Even if she did tell somebody, they would place her in a foster home with God knows how many boys and girls as her “siblings”. She didn’t want to be treated as a case number.

              But, she was only thirteen years old. What else was she supposed to do?

              It had been nearly five years since Lola’s parents had deserted her. She had learned to fend for herself by doing small chores for a thirteen-year-old and working her way up to a movie popcorn job to earn decent cash. She made her own food, kept herself clean, and also kept  her grades up. With one month left until she graduated high school, she was well on her way to a better life away from Los Angeles. Thanks to her teachers and the principal, she had managed to earn herself a scholarship to Harvard. It was the number one school she had always dreamed of when it came to earning her medical degree and the thought of finally leaving Los Angeles for something better brought her serenity.

              She was never angry when it came to her parents leaving. It made her feel safer. She no longer had marks on her skin. She wasn’t dealing with depression anymore. She was finally happy and at ease with herself. Though her secret was still a secret even from adults, she was perfectly happy being by herself. As long as people saw her true smile, nobody had any reason to worry. Who needed parents anyway?

              Sure, she thought about her parents a lot. She wondered if they were happy with their lives now that she was no longer in them. Did they still fight with each other? Were they still married? Were they even still alive? These questions haunted her on some days. However, on other days, she lived her life as carefree as possible.

              Lola walked out of her last class for the afternoon, hugging her books to her chest. She opened up her scratched locker and began piling her books inside. Being a smart student had its advantages. She was quick and smart enough to finish her homework during class. It made work much easier. It wasn’t an easy task putting together someone’s popcorn and trying to figure out a math equation.

              Suddenly, her locker slammed shut. She looked up expectantly only to see a stocky boy with a military cut and a wicked grin on his face. His name was Dale and he was as dumb as they came. The only thing he was good at was smashing into people to score a touchdown on the football team. Other than that, he couldn’t carry a conversation.

              “Dale...” Lola rolled her eyes. “Can I help you?”

              She had known Dale ever since freshman year. Their first interaction was in the cafeteria on the very first day. Lola had a bag lunch of day old meat when she bumped into Dale. Needless to say, she came home with a chocolate milk stain on her white shirt and an echo of his taunting in her mind.

              “Lulu, are you going to the beach party tonight?” he asked with a slight chuckle.

              “How many times do I have to go over this with you? My name is Lola. L-O-L-A.
Lola
,” she drawled out.

              “Whatever,” he scoffed, obviously not paying attention to her implied insult. “So?”

              “I…”

              “Of course she’s going!” exclaimed a perky girl with blond hair. She placed an arm over Lola’s tanned shoulders as she glared at Dale. “You have a problem with that?”

              “Lulu can’t go. She’d ruin the whole thing
,
"
he complaine
d
.

              To some people, this would be hurtful. But after Lola’s parents left, her backbone grew considerably. Words were words. What could they do to her that a few slaps through her childhood hadn’t done?

              “Dale, I think Ashley is looking for you,” said the blonde.

              He grinned and left the girls alone, searching for a certain redhead who was never going to be into Dale. The blonde turned to Lola and grinned. “You are
so
going to that party tonight.”

              “Excuse me?”

              Jessica Banning was the type of girl that you’d never expect to hang out with Lola. She was popular and pretty with her blond bob, perfect tan, and amazing green eyes. She was the fantasy of every guy. She never had a relationship past six months and she had lost her virginity at the age of fourteen when she got drunk. Yes, she drank at parties and went to parties like it was church. But she was the best friend Lola could ever ask for. Only Jessica knew about Lola’s home life and, through it all, she stuck by her side. She even promised she would knock out her parents’ teeth if they ever showed up again.

              “I can’t go without my best friend! That wouldn’t be any fun,” she pouted, walking with Lola toward the school parking lot.

              Lola giggled in disbelief. “Jessica, please. I’m not the party type, you know that. I don’t even have any party clothes.”

              “The party’s on the beach. You have beach clothes, right?”

              “Well, yeah but…”

              “Great!” They’d arrived at Jessica’s convertible. “I’ll see you there at seven!”

              Before Lola could protest, Jessica was gone. She sighed and smiled. She loved her best friend, but she could be really crazy about the popularity. They were complete opposites, but they had so much more in common together than most people would think.

              Jessica’s parents weren’t around, either. They didn’t abandon her, but they spent most of their time at the Cedars-Sinai hospital performing life saving surgeries on normal and famous people. Jessica stayed home by herself because of that, but she and Lola were normally together on most days. It was something that helped them bond immediately when they met freshman year.

              Lola pulled out her key to her beetle and was getting ready to unlock it when she dropped the key. She heard someone speak so nearby it felt like it was coming from inside her head. He sounded pretty young.

              She furrowed her brows in confusion and fright, looking around the parking lot. Everybody else was leaving and it was just her. She highly doubted she could get mugged at school. Right?

              She heard the boy’s voice more clearly this time.

“What if it is her? No, it can’t be. Nothing happened. Maybe it’s with her? Ugh, this is so frustrating! I can’t even enjoy a good surf without being pressured about the whole damn thing.”

             
Lola winced at his outburst. Whoever it was, he was really upset. For some reason, it bothered her. She clutched her chest, feeling a small ache in her heart. Her expression turned to one of confusion and she dropped her hand. Why was she feeling bothered by this person? She didn’t even know him!

              Lola scrunched her face up in confusion. What was she even thinking? Somebody else’s voice was in her head. Somebody else’s
thoughts
were in her head. This wasn’t normal.

              She looked over her shoulder again and quickly got into her car, making sure to lock all doors before driving off. She needed to clear her head. Maybe the party wouldn’t be so bad.