Thank you to all you readers who have bothered to click on my little story, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave a review, any type of criticism is welcomed!
If you were sharp enough to notice, I have set the story's genre to Romance/Humor, even if this prologue is pretty dark, it gets lighter later on so please bear with it!
Now on to the story...
Lucy had no intention of getting into a relationship of any kind.
Nothing good had ever come out of being in one for her. She got too close to them, and she got hurt the most when she could have avoided the whole ordeal by leaving the people alone in the first place.
Whether the relationship be a parent-child on or just simple friendship, she had gotten hurt more than she could handle, or anyone else could for the matter.
The first such incident that had led her to this belief had happened to her at the tender age of seven.
Being a loner in the earlier years of grade school, could affect anyone, much less Lucy herself. Not being so outspoken, as she would have liked, she hadn't dared approach any of her classmates back then, neither did they want to approach her to start a conversation, as they had no need to. Such was the mentality of seven year old.
Having no friends to turn to for any comfort, she only had the warm embrace of her parents for any sort of relief from the harsh world of loneliness, especially her mother, Layla. Layla had been… well, to put it simply, a mother figure to Lucy.
As little sense as it had made, it was one of the many things that had kept Lucy's relationship with her alive and fresh. They had often strolled in the garden in their estate, talked over a cup of hot chocolate in the winter next to a fireplace, read books in the library together, although Lucy knew that her mother had spent those times with her knowing that she was a loner.
Time had gone by in a blur, and before Lucy could properly process the information, she had learnt that her mother had gotten cancer. Desperately trying to help her, Lucy's father Jude had hired doctors from far and wide, coming into their estate, only offering the best to help treat Lucy's mother's illness.
Alas, life was never so kind as to have things go anyone's way whenever they really wanted it to. Her mother's illness had only continued to worsen, despite doctors in white lab coats rushing in and out of their estate almost every day, sometimes carrying in vials with colourful liquids, sometimes lugging in weird hunks of machinery that they filed her mother's room.
Throughout the whole period, Lucy had never understood what was going on around her. Furiously denying the fact that her mother was sick, she had submerged the thought into the dark recesses of her mind, only making the onrush of doctors filing through her estate even more surreal and dreamlike.
The days had passed by hazily and the last few memories she had left of her were all brief and fleeting. Just a glimpse here, some brief chatter there, the days where they had taken strolls in the garden, shared stories over hot chocolate were all gone, lost in the cruel mess of memories, that were slowly slipping away from her.
The last time she had seen her mother, was on the last day of Novemeber. Seeing her mother, on her bed, after so long. She had wires taped onto her arm that connected to a huge machine that stood in the backdrop, blocking the huge window in her room and most of the sunlight.
In the dim lighting of the room, she could faintly make out her mother's outline. She had slimmed down immensely, almost bordering on a living pile of skin and bones as Lucy had so delicately put it. Her skin had paled to a faded brown, but the familiar smile that was always plastered on her face was still there.
Lucy could feel the tears silently stream down her face, seeing her mother's state deteriorate into something so bad, but she couldn't feel anything. All the pain of having to wait, the pain of seeing her father scream at doctor's about her mother's condition, had dulled out all her emotions, yet she was still crying, and she didn't know why.
Lucy stumbled forward towards her mother as she gestured for her to come. Looking around the room, she gulped. What was once a grandiose room, magnificently furnished had been reduced to an empty chamber with a single bed surrounded by clusters of machinery and her father standing by the doorway, silently watching the exchange between them.
"Lucy, I know that you've been alone in school for a long time," Layla weakly began, using her left arm to firmly hold Lucy's tiny fist.
Gulping down a lump in her throat, she bit the bottom of her lip as Lucy intently listened as her mother continued, "I know that I've been the only company that you've had."
Layla paused as she let out a ferocious cough that made Lucy back up. Lucy watched as her father stepped forward, his expression stern, but his eyes softened with worry.
Waving for him to back off, Lucy listened as her mother continued talking, "The world is vast."
Lucy patiently waited for her mother as she paused, an uneasy feeling building up in her gut, the emotions that she had bottled up finally bursting forward, pushing tears to her eyes.
Biting back a sob as she felt her mother's grip loosen a bit, she gripped her hand harder as she heard her mother say, " One day without a doubt, you'll meet your own friends that will protect you."
Letting her tears flow freely as she shook her head, willing for her mother to stop speaking as her grip on Lucy's hand slackened, her eyes softening as they started to lose their shine to them, growing dull.
"No one in this world is destined to be alone," Lucy's mother fiercely whispered, grasping her hand firmly again, a fire burning in her eyes.
Nodding shakily, Lucy weakly stumbled forward and let her legs give way, her tears pattering onto the floor, the only sound that echoed around room.
"Go find those friends of yours out there," her mother whispered, her voice growing weaker with each passing word, until her grip fully slackened, her arm falling limply by the side of the bed.
"Mommy," Lucy began, her sobs racking her tiny frame as she shook the hand, "Mommy!"
She watched as her father wrenched her free from the bed and dragged her outside, his own tears mixing into the pool of her own that had formed at her feet. Screaming for doctors down the hall to come into the room, Lucy had simply run into her room, and sit by the fireplace, grabbing her blanket, she jumped into her bed, letting her tears fall.
"No one in this world is destined to be alone. Go find those friends of yours out there."
The words had ringed out in her head, over and over again for the next few hours and even days. Her mother's parting words the only thing that kept her walking. That kept her breathing, that gave her the will to live.
So that was what Lucy set out to do, find friends just like her mother had wished for her to do.
Then came the second incident that had Lucy's crumbling trust in relationship fall apart even mother.
A month after the death of her mother's death, her father had moved and migrated to a neighbouring town, moving into a large estate, although quite small in comparison to their previous mansion.
Blending into the environment a new school had been surprisingly easy as Lucy, being the only child of Jude Heartphillia, the president of owner of the Heartphillia industry, had all her classmates flocking to her, without her having to even lift a finger.
Lucy's fear that she couldn't live up to the final words of her mother had subtly died down, having been placated, Lucy had comfortable settled into her new life.
With friends, above average grades and undoubtedly having won the title of teacher's pet, life had proceeded well for her for a long time. In the bleak and dark shadow that her mother's death had cast over her life, Lucy had finally glimpsed something that she had yearned for.
Hope.
Not only had she lived up to her mother's dying wish of finding the friends that she had long needed, but she felt that she had grown close to them. Going out with friends and having them come over to her house to hang out had all but become a routine in her life, and she had hoped that her father would have been proud of her like her mother would have been.
It didn't happen.
Instead her father had screamed at her one day when she had come home, even going so far as to smack her, not bothering to hold his anger or his strength back. Choking back a surprised sob, Lucy had already gotten her reply before she had asked the question.
"What are you doing with the credit card I had let you use?" her father had muttered, his voice wavering with his anger that he was trying to suppress.
Lucy flinched and recoiled, trying to back up from her father as she replied, "I-I've b-been using it to buy stuff f-for m-my friends."
Anger flashed across her father's face, his control over his anger falling apart.
"You imbecile! Don't you see that they're just using you for your money! My money!" her father shrieked, pausing to grab a fistful of a curtain trying to calm himself.
Lucy felt her heart shatter as the truth sunk in. Her friends. No. Her classmates, had always seemed quite distant anyway, but Lucy had just brushed it off as they had secrets they had wanted to keep, just like Lucy had her own secrets that she didn't want anyone else to know about. Whenever they were hanging out, their happiness had seemed a bit force, their true feelings for Lucy hidden under a mask of greed.
Nothing about their friendship was real; it was all built on lies. Ugly lies.
The familiar wave of despair washed over her again, dulling out the pain as her father had hit her across her face.
Lucy felt even more guilt jab at her heart as another memory resurfaced.
"Hey Lucy! Could you come over for a second," her teacher, Mrs Gale, called out to her, as her classmates filed out of the room.
Quickly slinging her bag over her shoulder, Lucy stalked over to the petite teacher.
"Lucy! You know that you've been getting perfect scores on your math test recently right?" Mrs Gale had chirped, her smile hiding something that made Lucy squirm uncomfortably.
Hiding her discomfort, Lucy cheerfully nodded, proud that she had been able to produce such fine results.
"I've been putting in a good word for you with the markers of the tests, so could you do the same by putting in a good word for me to your father?" the teacher had politely ask, the thing that had made Lucy squirm finally showing itself.
Lucy fidgeted nervously, not sure why the statement had made her feel so uneasy, even though the meaning behind it had escaped her.
Seeing Lucy remain silent as an uncomfortable tension settled over the quiet classroom, Mrs Gale had promptly cleared her throat and dismissed her, a sour look donning her face as she watched Lucy scramble out of the classroom.
Lucy gulped as tears welled up in her eyes. Everything that she had worked so hard to build up: her reputation, her 'friends', and her reputation among the teachers.
Had all been lies?
Lucy fought back a loud sob that scratched at her throat, a thought pawing at the edge of her mind.
Had all her work for her mother been lies?
Lucy flinched and backed up as her father moved forward again, his am trembling in anger as she felt the sting of a slap rain down on her cheek. Wincing in pain as she feebly begged her father to stop, Lucy brought her hands up in defense.
A few tense seconds passed as Lucy whimpered, the full weight of the truth dragging her heart through a huge mix of emotions that Lucy couldn't separate. Hearing the familiar click clack of her father's shoes echo down the hallway, Lucy timidly peeked through a crack in between her arms to see her father disappear round a corner, his expression dark and his features knotted up in anger.
Thus began her third, last and most horrible experience with relationships.
Lucy had had enough. The very next day, she had gone back to school, and screamed at the lot of classmates that proclaimed to be friends, saying that she would never get close to anyone ever again, as they had all only done it for the money.
With that, Lucy had detached herself from modern society and holed up in her own little sanctuary. With no friends, and her mother gone, the only person that she could go to for comfort left was her father.
Obviously though, given their earlier conflict, she knew that getting through to him would be impossible, but being a kid with no one else to turn to, she was desperate to say the least.
Grasping at straws, Lucy had tried to get through the rough exterior of her father by warming up to him. On his birthday, she had tried to make him a rice ball, remembering that it was a snack that her mother had used to prepare for them on picnics.
Instead of accepting it, he had rudely swiped the delicacy off of his desk, leaving the snack scattered over the emerald green carpet of his study, shouting at her to study and become a person worthy of inheriting the company, rather than make useless treats like rice balls.
Lucy flinched at the memory.
She had started to notice it slowly, after her mother's death. Lucy's father had slowly sunk into his own work, being the only comfort from her mother's death. His attitude had done an about turn, from once being a rather docile and tolerant man, his temper thinned horrendously, his anger quick to show whenever anything trivial had showed up. He was also quick to resort to violence to resolve his problems, usually screaming and slapping not only her, but also the maids and butlers that served the household.
Nevertheless, she had persisted in her attempts to grow closer to the man she had come to know as her father. Lucy had tried on various occasions to invite him out to spend time with him, whether it be to go for a picnic, visit a travelling circus that had stopped by their town, or just to simply take a walk at the local park.
However, all her attempts were only sneered upon, everything she had tried to do had all been immediately shot down, and only met with a nasty retort, which usually stated for her to focus more on her studies, or find a good man to marry their family into, all for the success company that she was supposed to inherit.
To say the least, it hurt.
Having the only and last person that she could go to comfort, to share a laugh with, or just have them enjoy her company shun and berate her like that, had taken a huge chunk out of her self esteem and confidence, leaving only behind a hollow husk of what used to have been Lucy Heartphillia.
Even so, life still moved on, and somehow, Lucy had scraped enough resolve out of what remained of her life. Her attempts to get together with her father had decreased in hopes that he would have left her alone and leave talks of marrying to a successful suitor for money, and studying more out of her life, and give her some personal space that she desperately needed.
However, the more she willed to avoid such conversations with her father, the more he had come to her to pressure her into keeping up her studies, even going so far as to often bring her to meetings with his clients to try and hook her up with their sons.
She had managed to resist going to some of the gatherings at first. Even if she did go, she had mostly just exchanged polite greetings with men almost twice as old as her, as she had only begun middle school. She had tried to weave in and out of crowds, not drawing too much attention to herself as she stayed in a dark quiet corner or lounged by the entrance.
Progressively though, her father had become more desperate to set her up with someone by her second year in middle school, as a quarter of his company collapsed. He had then forced Lucy to mingle during the gatherings, usually keeping a firm eye on her movements, even resorting to pulling her aside and beating her into doing it when she had refused once.
Still, Lucy was stronger than that. Despite all the troubles that life had sent her, she had managed to cling on to her mother's final words, and with that the only thing that she had to keep her moving, she had persevered.
Taking beating after beating, scolding after scolding. She had managed to fool herself somehow into thinking it would all turn out okay.
Then the last straw came.
It had been towards the end of her third year in middle school, when she had been abruptly called to her father's study during her bath time. She had hastily donned a shirt and a pair of shorts and approached the study.
Looking at the large oak doors that dominated the end of the hallway and gulped, an unsettling feeling squirming in her gut. Lucy still pushed the door open anyway, rather face her father than have him beat or scold her.
Wincing as the door creaked, signaling her arrival. Peeking into the study, she found her father seating at the desk, his back to the window which had curtains drawn over, making the only source of light in the room the little sunlight that managed to stream through it.
"Lucy, I have found a suitable suitor for you. A young named Sting Eucliffe, from the Eucliffe industries. Do not worry about his age, even though he is the successor to their company, he is around the same age as you."
"But daddy, I don't want to marry someone I barely even know. I want to meet the person and fall in love," Lucy replied hesitantly.
"I have already signed the documents for the transfer. You will be moving in to their estate in Magnolia by the start of your first year in high school. You'll also have plenty of time to fall in love when you live together under the same roof," her father replied promptly, traces of impatience creeping into his voice, making Lucy wince at back down.
"But daddy-"
"Enough! You are my daughter! You will do as I say! I would let you do what you want if you weren't so useless! So for now, you are just a tool for me to use!" her father spat, releasing his anger.
Lucy felt the last bits of her heart break, stretched beyond the limit. That was all she was to her father?
A tool?
She was born of his and her mother's blood, love and dedication, and this was all she was to him? Swallowing down a sob, she clutched at the edge of her skirt and chewed viciously at her lip, biting back a scream.
Giving a strangled noise as a form acknowledgement, Lucy quickly exited the study wordlessly. She rushed past the small crowd of servants that had gathered outside the study, only nodding as a sign of thank you when they had reached out worriedly to her.
Safe in the lonely confines of her room as she slammed the door shut, she collapsed soundlessly. Sobs racking her frame, as no tears fell, having all been used up long ago. Lucy continued to cry, letting her emotions that welled up over the years rush out in a huge wave.
Lucy had no idea how long she had been lying on her floor.
"At least the cold floor had provided more comfort than my father ever could," Lucy joked humorlessly to herself.
Rolling over onto her back she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, trying to do something to take her mind of the revelation. She had no freedom, no friends… in fact she didn't really have anything left now that she thought about it.
Like a bird in a cage.
Chuckling darkly at the tasteless analogy, Lucy shakily got up, an emotion burning in her gut, fueling her will. Stumbling to her closet, Lucy swung open the large door and rummaged through piles of clothes that she had barely used until she found two large bags that were hidden under a few pair of jeans.
Dragging the two of them out, she set them out onto the floor, and carefully double-checked that she had locked her door. Zipping the huge trunk open while pushing the large rucksack aside, she grinned, the dreadful feeling quickly being replaced by a more light and bubbly one.
Looking at the piles of clothes and other essentials that she had carefully squeezed into the tiny trunk, she grinned as she poked at the articles of clothing.
In days where she had been locked up in the weekends, especially after the incident where her friends had tricked her, she had a sneaking suspicion that her father may one day go too far in scolding her, so she had prepared two bags where she had packed her clothes, and other essentials like shampoo or toothpaste.
Over the few years that her father's attitude had taken a horrendous change, preparing the bag had become a weekly ritual for her; a small break from the harsh reality that was her life. She had escaped into her thoughts, about where she would have gone, should she have seriously run away.
Bustling cities, rural countryside, maybe even camping out in dense jungles, all of them wild fantasies that had spurred her on in the dull life that she had to lead.
Zipping the huge trunk as she suppressed a giggle, she pushed it aside and grabbed the rucksack and opened the zip. Rummaging around, she fingered a small chest that held onto letters that she had written to her mother whenever she had doubts in her life.
Letting her eyes graze over a small notebook that settled cozily at the end of her backpack, that held the first few chapters of a story that she had been working on recently, Lucy grinned, happiness surging forth in the back of her mind, blocking out the spite that had infested in her mind over the years.
Poking at four bags that held four years of savings, that added to twice as much a normal worker could earn in a few years.
Guess being wealthy had come in useful after all. Closing the bag, she looked determinedly out her window.
She was ready to sneak out.
Sneaking out had been easy. Her father usually cooped himself up in his office and rarely called on her. Most of the servants usually had dinner together in a large hall near their quarters in the basement, so she hadn't run into any of them.
Before Lucy had made her escape, she had taken the liberty of leaving a note especially for her daddy dearest. She had stated in the letter that she would had run away from her marriage, and that she would have been moving to Hargeon, a port town far to the west of their town, to get away from him and take a boat to somewhere else.
When in actual fact she would have been running toward Magnolia that was to the east of their estate. Despite it being the place where her supposed fiancée was supposed to reside, she had chosen that place specifically for two reasons.
Exactly because that was where her fiancée, Sting, was supposed to reside, it would be the last place that he would have looked for her. Secondly, it was the town, where her mother had given birth to her and raised her, before her death.
Rushing out the backdoor undetected, Lucy rushed outside, and shivered excitedly as the cool air rushed out to greet her. Lugging on the large rucksack and dragging the heavy trunk behind her, she stealthily made her way to the back gate of the garden and snuck out.
There was no turning back
It had been a week since Lucy had run away and she had managed to successfully made it to Magnolia without any problem. She had stayed her first night in a small motel called Lamia Scale before taking to finding a nice apartment.
She had found a nice and cozy apartment just a ten minute walk from a nearby school and was close to a shopping mall making it more convenient for her. Although the landlady had looked somewhat skeptical into renting out an apartment to a lone little girl, she relented anyway, saying that she was fine with any tenant as long as they didn't disturb the neighbors and could pay the rent.
It had taken a huge blow to the amount of cash that she taken with her, but she had enough money to keep going for at least two more months without a job.
Next, she had enrolled into the local school that was fortunately located near her apartment.
Magnolia High School.
The town's most wicked school that was said to have churned out delinquents at a rate of 120%. Earning a notorious reputation for themselves after a huge incident that happened five years ago, Lucy had reluctantly applied herself there for her first year in high school, although, it would seem unlikely that a rich heiress like herself would enroll in such a place. More of a reason to enroll there should her father come looking for her.
Lastly, she had gotten round to getting a few jobs for herself, knowing fully well that she couldn't rely on the tiny sum of money that she had saved for herself forever.
She had managed to secure a job at a local bookstore that was owned by a petite woman with wavy blue locks that went by the name of Caroline Mcgarden, who also had a daughter who was her age. Other than that, Lucy had managed to secure another part time job at a small restaurant, as an errand girl, and as someone who cleaned up the kitchen and dirty dishes.
"At least the manager was kind enough to let me take home leftovers," Lucy sighed inwardly.
Time in her new life had flown faster compared than the dull aristocratic one she had led previously, and before she knew it, it had been the day before her first day in her new high school.
Despite it being a delinquent school, the students still followed the dress code impeccably as she had checked once when she passed by the school. The school campus was also deceptively clean and the attitudes of the students as she walked past were scarily polite.
Not much of a delinquent school.
Nevertheless, she still had to keep a low profile. No one must know who she is, or was. She had to take her burden alone, and no one must suffer like she did.
Those were the only thoughts that weighed on her mind as she looked at the huge campus from outside. Gulping as she gripped her rucksack that carried books and stationery instead of money and clothes, she looked around as a steady stream of students filed into the school on the first day.
Sweeping her gaze around the stream of students that filed into the school, Lucy gulped and ducked her head further as a pair of obnoxiously loud students passed by her.
Not wanting to stay outside for long, Lucy stepped inside.
So that's the prologue!
I'll be introducing the rest of the cast next story, so do look forward to it, and thank you again for clicking on this story. Do check out my other stories, for those of you who liked this.
Also... Happy New Year!
-Fluff Master