Hello Everyone,

I started rereading some of my stories due to a short period of free time. Let's just say, I am not really satisfied with the way I wrote them so I've decided to start them over. I sincerely hope that you will read it again.

Enjoy and review!

~Bridget.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hollywood Heights or any of the characters! I only own the plot.

Chapter 1

The Day My Life Changed

'There are two types of pain in this world. One of them is the pain that hurts you and the other is the pain that changes you.'

~ Loren Tate

6 months before

Downtown of Los Angeles

Once upon a time, there was a girl, called Loren Tate, living in the downtown of the city of angels in a small one-bedroom-apartment with the most normal life a person could ever have. Exactly 6 months ago, she made the mistake of agreeing to switching shifts with one of her coworkers due to a sudden urgent family crisis, or at least she thought so back then. That specific day started just like every other ordinary ones. She would've never thought that her life was going to change for good by the end of it.

Beep-beep-beep

The annoying sound of the alarm clock made Loren jump up into a sitting position, with sweats covering her forehead, as she was previously having a nightmare about the night of a life-changing event in her life. It was about the night when she received a call from the police to let her know that her mother had sadly been killed during a burglary at the bank she was working at and also her body had never been found due to a fire caused by the gang who committed the crime.

Flashback

Two years ago, the 20-years-old Loren Tate was finishing up her second year of college at Brown University and was currently was on her way back to California where she used to live with her mother, Nora Tate. The two of them had a really spectacular bond that no other mother and daughter had. She wasn't just a mother to her, she was her best friend. At the age of 4, Loren was abandoned by her bastard father, who left saying that he was only going to get a package of cigarettes, even though he didn't smoke, but in reality he left her for good and let Nora bring her up alone. Ever since that moment, the two girls had been inseparable and they didn't even disconnect when she left LA to live in a state across the country and go to one of the most famous universities in the US. Still two years later they hadn't changed a bit and right then she was going to visit her because she hadn't seen Nora for a very long time and desperately needed to spend some quality time with her. Shortly after the plane landed, Loren got her luggage from the check-out booth and quickly caught a cab. The closer they got to her old house, the more excitement kept on growing inside of her. She knew that her mother was still working; therefore she still had 2 hours to set everything up. During the plane ride, she planned every single minute of this night: Going home, cooking dinner, surprising her mom when she gets home and lastly going to their favorite spot to watch the stars. Only if she would've known that all the work she'd done was just a big waste of time. Having everything already done, worry started to fill up her veins because Nora was supposed to be home for hours. The moment she stepped out of the house to go looking for her mother, her phone went off and that was when her heart shattered into a million pieces. Her. Mother. Is. Dead.

End of flashback

Ever since that day, Loren has been living alone with no relatives or family members left. Her mother was the last person she ever cared about, so her death was pretty much devastating for her. After the quick reminiscing, she turned around to look at the watch on her bedside table and it read '7:05'. At that sight, worry started fill her body given the fact her shifts begins at 7:30 and it takes at least 20 minutes to get there. She rapidly jumped out of the bed and began to get ready as fast as she could. She usually doesn't work on Saturday but one of her coworkers had a family crisis, so she decided to be nice for once and switched shifts with her. Within a total of 20 minutes, she was ready and arrived to the bank, parking her car next to a big black van. That's kind of odd, she thought to herself but she didn't have time to observe it even more, given that she was already 10 minutes late.

Loren: Hello, Mrs. Collin! I'm so sorry for being late. My alarm clock didn't go off at the right time and I…

Mrs. Collin: I don't want to hear your explanation. Just go over to your booth and start working. We'll talk about this afterwards.

This woman can be so freaking rude and annoying sometimes that Loren swear that she could kill her. It's true. She needed a lot of strength not to yell at her and choke her to death at situations such as the previous one. I mean, she didn't even let her finish her explanation yet she is already planning the ways how to punish her. Fortunately, there weren't a lot of people at the bank today giving Loren the opportunity to be alone with her thoughts. She had no clear idea why she was thinking of her mother today so much, nor why this day was so depressing but the memories just kept on flowing and she just simply couldn't stop them. The rest of the day was mostly quiet until a strange-looking man walked in and started causing trouble. As soon as the securities took a note of the man's strange behavior, they headed over to take care of the situation but what they weren't was the group of masked men running in and two of them disarming them by pointing their guns to their heads. The rest started yelling at the people who was in there to lie down on the floor. One of the men turned his head and stared at me and then running here, jumping over the counter he pulled me against the wall. He put his weapon to one side of my stomach and whispered something in my ear.

Burglar: Shh! Don't be afraid and try to stay calm! I'm not gonna hurt you… - waiting a couple of minutes for me to react, he quietly continued. - Just follow my lead! First, try to reject!

She honestly had no idea why but she did as instructed and proceeded to scream and shake wildly in his tight grip around her tiny frame.

Burglar2: Hey! What are you doing?

Burglar: She doesn't want to obey so I'm going to teach her a lesson.

Burglar2: Have fun with that! Don't be too loud! – He answers while letting out evilest chuckle a person has ever heard.

The words exchanged between the two criminal scared Loren even more than she already was and she suddenly regret ever agreeing to play along with this guy. I mean, who is she kidding? He's a freaking criminal who just broke into a bank and he even has a gun. He could be saying 'A' once and then do the total opposite when they're alone. Trying to think of possibilities to escape, she has already been dragged into the office in the back and he finally released her from his tight grip on her waist. Here comes nothing, thought Loren to herself.

Burglar: We have to get you out of here!

Loren found it quite strange of him to say that because why would somebody you just met care if you get killed or not. She still couldn't seem to wrap her head around this situation but she knew that the guy was right because if she stayed her she could risk being killed. He rushed to the window, opened it and then looked around. Seeming to be observing the place thoroughly, a couple of minutes later he turned back around on his heels and grabbed her arm, dragging her towards the spot he has just vacated.

Burglar: OK. You have to go to the back of the building. My car is parking there. All you have to do is rush over there, get in the car and hide. Here are my keys. It's a Chevrolet Orlando. It should be quite easy to find it. I will be there too as soon as this disaster end.

Loren: Why should I do what you're telling me to do? Why should I trust you?

Burglar: If you want to get out of here alive, I'm afraid you have no other choice than to put your trust in me. Trust me, there's no other way where you could escape. They're guarding all of the exits. This is the only way.

Loren: Why are you doing this? I don't even know you and yet you are here trying to save me.

Burglar: Listen. We have no time for this. I just want you out of here save OK? I tell you the rest once we're done here. Now take the keys and go!

Loren couldn't decide what she should do. It was a really unusual situation and nobody taught her what to do at times like this. Considering her options right now, she made the decision that she would take the risk and go with the flow.

Loren: OK. – The guy smirked with a smug look on her face. Seriously? - Can I at least know your name?

Burglar: We don't have time for this.

Loren: I'm not going to move unless you tell me your name. Why should I even believe that you are being honest right now. You could kill me the moment we get out.

Burglar: Do you think I would stupid enough to give you my keys? You could easily drive away and never come back. Now go!

The painful truth is that he did have a point there and it was pretty hard for Loren to admit it. She was normally a very stubborn person but she knew that right now she has no time for protesting. Finally fully giving in, she proceeded to climb out. When she was half way out of the window and one of her legs was hanging in the air, she noticed her savor taking out his gun. All of a sudden becoming worried, she jumped back in and got as far as she could away from him.

Loren: What are you doing with that?

Eddie: They think I raped you; they have to think I take care of you too.

Loren: Why?

Eddie: Because if they think you're dead, I don't have to take you back there and you can run away. - He shot with his gun to the wall. - OK now you really have to go!

Doing as she was told, she climbed out of the office and watched him for a moment as he was running back to the main area. She followed the path to the back of the bank and started searching for his car. Couple of minutes later, she finally succeeded in finding the vehicle and quickly hopped onto backseat. Now all she had to do was wait and see what is going to happen next.

I hope you liked the remake and I just want to say how sorry I am for the lack of updates but I am extremely busy with school and stuff. I know it's short but I will try to make the other ones longer. The good news is, I have done 2 of my tests and I have one next Wednesday so there's only two left, which means more time for writing.