Chapter 1

Allyson's POV

"Allyson, come down for dinner!" I heard my "mother" call. I looked down at my paper cluttered desk and sighed. Senior projects suck! I still had 3 pages to write and had to finish putting my presentation together. Luckily, I had finished my speech last night and finished my hours last week.

Sighing again, I pushed myself away from my desk, stood up, and stretched. I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where my "mother",Lora, was staring skeptically at the pasta she had just put in a bowl.

"Did it move or something?" I asked, hopping up onto one of the barstools against the breakfast bar.

"I don't want no lip from you, shorty. And I just never liked the way spaghetti jiggles." she said, her southern accent coming out full blown. Before I could argue that I wasn't short, the door bell rang.

"Who could that be? It's 7 at night!" Lora asked, glancing at the clock.

"Don't know. I'll go see." I said, hopping down and giving her a smirk. I walked down the hall, past Lora's office, and answered the door. I almost squealed when I saw who it was.

I hadn't seen Charlie since he graduated last year. "Thought you'd be happy to see me, beautiful." he said, picking me up in one of his famous bear hugs. "Who is it?" Lora called from the kitchen. I grinned and dragged my old friend into the kitchen.

"Oh my God! Charlie! What're you doing here? I thought you were in Texas?" Lora said, dropping what she was doing so she could hug him. "My plane just got in a few hours ago. I dropped off my bags off at the hotel before coming here. Do you have any idea how long it takes get from Texas to North Carolina? Not to mention we had a 4 hour flight delay." he complained, leaning against the counter I had just been sitting at.

"No one told you to come all the way back to this minuscule town for spring break." I said, grinning at him and hopping up onto the counter. "Be nice, Allyson. He's come all this way, just to see you." Lora said, going back to playing with diner.

"I know he didn't come back just to see me. He came back to see his girlfriend!" I said, giving him a playful nudge. I doubled over laughing when he started to blush and stutter. Even Lora couldn't stop the giggle that slipped out.

"Come on, Allyson. You know you're the only one for me. All those passion filled nights meant nothing to you?"

"Oh please! You wish! I think you're mistaking me for your hand, dear."

"Allyson! Wording! My virgin ears can't take all this teenage bantering!"

Charlie and I began laughing even harder when Lora covered her ears in defense.

"Are you staying for dinner, Charlie? If so, go grab a plate and set it at the table." Lora asked, glaring at the two of us while putting her pasta dish on the table. "Of course!" he said, pushing himself off the counter and grabbing a plate from the cupboard.

After putting his plate down on the table, he walked back over to me and picked me up off the counter. "Put me down! Put me down! Put me down! Put me down!" I squeaked until he sat me down in one of the chairs at the table.

"Pipe down, shorty." he said, sitting in the seat next to me. "I'm not short! I'm 5'3'' thank you very much! And when I'm wearing my heals, I'm 5'7''!" I exclaimed, leaning back in my chair.

Lora sat down chuckling while we argued about my height. "All right you two. Enough arguing and lets eat these weird things people call noodles." she said, scooping pasta out for each of us.

The rest of the night went pretty well. Charlie told us about college life and how all of his professors were asses. He asked how school was going and laughed when I told him I was going to die because of senior projects.

It was almost 10:30 when he left. Lora and I gave him a hug before he left and he promised to come back tomorrow and every day until it was time to head back to Texas for classes.

"You need to go to bed. You've got school in the morning." Lora said, flopping onto the couch and grabbing the TV remote. I rolled my eyes and started up the stairs. "Don't forget you have a meeting tomorrow at noon." I called down before walking into my bathroom, which was right next to my room, across from the small room I called my office.

I looked at myself in the mirror and sighed. I pulled my jet black hair out of its restraint and it fell to my shoulder blades. I looked so tired. My light blue eyes had lost the shine that they had when I had more energy. Luckily it was Thursday and tomorrow was Friday. Then I got to make up the sleep that I had missed throughout the week.

Rubbing my eyes, I looked at myself again. Most people thought Lora was my mother. Her and my father were friends for years. Long before I was born. They had a thing in high school, but it didn't work out. Lora had told me stories about how dad was in school, but it just didn't seem to fit.

Dad had gone missing 7 years ago, When I was 10. Mom died during childbirth. All I had left was Lora. She wasn't family, but she was the only person who would take me in.

When I started high school, I joined the Naval JROTC it had to offer, thinking that if dad came back, he would be proud of what I'd accomplished while he was gone. Senior year, I was named Company Commander and had straight A's.

Charlie had been in the program with me, but a year above me. He was named Company Commander prior to me.

Glancing at my uniform hanging on the back of the door, I smiled. I had 13 ribbons, 9 medals, a gold/blue (color guard/drill team) agulet, and a silver (leadership academy) agulet. Commander and Chief had I was the most decorated cadet in my class.

It made me feel good to know I had earned everything on that uniform.

Sighing, I turned back to the mirror and turned on the faucet. I brushed my teeth and washed my face before shutting off the faucet and turning on the shower. Stripping off my clothes, I got into the shower and washed away the wares of the day.

Jumping out, I dried myself off and wrapped my robe around me and headed back downstairs.

Lora had gone to bed, but had left the kitchen light on for me. I walked up to the cupboard above the sink and grabbed my pills. Insomnia, ADHD, and depression.

Shutting off the light, I walked back upstairs to my room and fell onto the bed. Glancing at my alarm clock, 12:24, I pushed the button to set the alarm and fell asleep after the pills kicked in.