Chapter 1

The jostling of the train made Brittany reposition herself in her seat as she waited for it to come to a stop. It was roughly 12:30pm and she still had so much to do. A never ending list of errands and a few assignments of homework, but she still had work at three. Along with the bustling crowd, she made her way to the busy streets of New York. New York was completely different from the small town she was from. There was way much more people, bigger places, better food, and more opportunites. Every since Brittany can remember, she knew she was going to pursue her dreams of becoming a professional dancer. Getting out of her small town to get into such a prestigious dance school was the hard part. Now that Brittany was here, she knew nothing was going to stand in her way. She didn't necessarily plan out how busy she was going to be though. School, dancing, and her job took up most of her time. Having many friends didn't really fit into her schedule, except for a few of her dance buddies and some other students from her classes. Brittany would however make sure she had time to squeeze in a few minutes of playing with Lord Tubbington. She still doesn't know how she convinced her parents to let her take him with her. Having Lord Tubbington with her kept her company most nights when she was really feeling lonely and crumbling under the stress of too much to do.

Heading back to her apartment, the blonde made one final stop at a local market to pick of a few groceries she needed.

With bags on each arm, Brittany fumbled with her purse to find her keys to unlock the deadbolt of the apartment door. Stumbling through the threshold, Lord Tubbington dashed across her walking path causing her to lose her balance.

"Sorry Lord T! I didn't see you there." Making her way to the kitchen, she threw the bags of food onto the countertop and leaned over the island while looking at the perched cat on the couch.

"How was your day?"

Giving no reaction, the cat continued to look at the blonde in the kitchen now putting away food.

"My day hasn't been that great either. I'm so swamped with school and work that I have no time for myself anymore." The blonde gracefully made her way towards to livingroom, picking up the oversized cat and sitting him on her lap scratching the top of it's head.

"I figured since I haven't gotten much time to spend with you, I would make our favorite dinner." All giddy with smiles, Brittany exclaimed to Lord Tubbington she had gotten all the ingredients to make chicken alfredo. With a glance at her watch, she silently cursed to herself.

"Shoot! I promise I'll make it up to you later, but for now I have to go to work." Bustling to get all her belongings together and heading towards the door, the blonde swiftly turned around to eye the cat still lying on the couch.

"Please try and stay out of trouble while I'm gone." With one last look, Brittany was out the door and heading to the coffee shop.

Opening the door to the coffee shop, the blonde threw a quick wave to John standing behind the counter refilling the pastry case.

"Hey John."

"Hey Britt! Good day?" Giving her manager a slight shrug, she made her way to the back to punch in and get her apron.

Working at a coffee shop wasn't her ideal job, but it helped pay some bills and the tips weren't bad either. She loved being around the people and not to mention taking home all the leftover muffins and scones from the day. Not only did it make her happy, but Lord Tubbington as well. Even though her parents insisted on paying for her apartment and bills, the blonde was very adamant on being independent. Even if that meant selling a few of her most prized items on ebay to be able to pay for her phone bill because the rest of her money went towards some of Lord Tubbington's addictions. Brittany had always been thankful for her mom and dad's support, but the way she saw it, it was time to grow up and start learning how to handle things by herself.

Brittany had landed this job a month before school had started. She met John through orientation at her school. Being in the same group, they introduced each other and decided to stick with each other so they'd always have a friend. John was a local New Yorker and new the place very well. Through lunch at a place John had suggested, he learned where Brittany was from and how she was going to stay here, but it'd be hard without a job. John then mentioned the coffee shop was now hiring and it was near the place of her apartment. Brittany went for a quick meeting with his boss the next day and immediately got the job. Til this day the blonde still thanks John for helping her get the job. John always replies back with a nonchalant shoulder shrug and 'you're welcome'.

After the busy evening rush, things start slowing down around 8:30.

"I can take it from here Britt. I know you probably have a lot of homework to do." John stated as the blonde quickly wiped down the counter tops.

"I really don't mind staying. I only have a little over a hour until my shift ends anyways."

"It's cool. I've got it. You just go home and get to studying for your midterms. You only have a few more weeks."

Already taking off her apron, Brittany gave John a quick hug and a grateful thank you as she walked out the door.

After making dinner and cleaning up the kitchen, the blonde stared at the four books lying on her bed.

"I don't even know where to begin Tubbs." Lord Tubbington looked up from his sitting position on the cat stand.

"I think I'll start with anatomy since I have the most trouble with that and then work my way down to the easier subjects."

The blonde paced around her bedroom with bright colored notecards in her hands for the next three hours. Losing track of time, she glanced to her clock and realized it was a little after two and had an early 8am class. After she removed all the book and materials off her bed, she gave Lord Tubbington a tiny kiss on his ears before settling down into bed.

The numbers on the clock went from 2:30 to 3:55 in what felt like a matter of minutes. The blonde had been tossing and turning and couldn't seem to get her restless mind to ease. In her final attempt to get some sleep, Brittany headed downstairs with a blanket and pillow and flopped onto the couch. She grabbed the remote and turned on the tv which was on some strange spanish channel. With a shake of her head and silent laugh, she knew this had to be Lord Tubbington's doing because all she watched was Lifetime, MTV, or disney movies.

Finally settling down and her eyes getting heavy, the blonde drifted off to sleep.

With the sound of leaves rustling around her and the sun gazing through the trees, the blonde found herself lying down on the ground just looking up at the sky. She had never been more relaxed than in this moment. With her arms stretched to her sides, she threw a handful of leaves into the air.

"Lord Tubbington would love to be here right now. I can see him rolling around and pouncing on the leaves." A big smile crept across the blonde's face as she imagined the playful cat in the leaves.

As she laid on the ground enjoying the rays from the sun beating down on her face, she heard distant laughing. Slowly leaning up to inspect her surroundings, the blonde was sure she was alone. Lifting her hand to shield her eyes from the sun, she spotted a girl in the distance. Cautiously getting off the ground, she made her way to the mysterious figure. Getting closer and closer with each the step, she was able to make out little distinctions. Waves of long dark hair cascaded over sunkissed skin. The girl was wearing a strapless peach colored sundress that twirled with her every movement. The blonde couldn't help herself from staring. With just a few feet separating the two, the blonde hestitantly spoke.

"Ex-excuse me?" Patiently waiting for answer, the blonde eyed the twirling Latina.

The blonde spoke again. "I'm sorry, but are we the only ones here?"

Still with no response, Brittany closed the gap between the two and caught the other girls attention.

With her hand outstretched Brittany gave the Latina a light smile and introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Brittany."

A radiant smile crept across the Latina's face as she stopped twirling. "Hi." The bubbly Latina finally said as she looked into the blonde's ocean blue eyes.

Brittany, getting lost by the other girl's beauty, took back her hand and tried to form another sentence, but before she could the Latina had vanished. She searched behind trees and called out for the girl, but nothing. As she made her way out into the field, the blonde circled around trying to find the Latina.

"That was weird. I don't understand how she could disappear that fast." Being confused, she went back to the place she was originally. Just as she laid down, she heard a faint whisper that spoke her name.

The blonde then jolted up, taking in her surroundings before realizing she was in her apartment again. Running her fingers through her hair and hastily looking around the livingroom, she got up to check the time.

"Crap! I'm gonna be late!" The blonde ran upstairs to gather her books before heading to her class.