Hey guys...I changed the first part up a bit because I found it was much harder to write a story in third person...so I changed it all to first person. Sorry. Send reviews!! Thank you!

Her Life Before Hell

Chapter 2

I walked up on the Warhill High School stage, in front of the future cast of the play I was auditioning for. I took in a deep breath.

"I'm Irina Frost, and I will be acting out a monologue called Grandma's House".

Then I began, thinking of becoming my character, and remembering this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Acting was my only hope. It was my mother's dream for me to become a phenomenal actress and someday be a star. She was sick with cancer, and I wanted to do anything to get her spirits up and make her happy.

Not like I was THAT good. I only imagined that would ever happen to me.

Everyone clapped when I was finished. I sighed and walked down the steps towards the seats, hearing "Great job!" along the way. I didn't quite know what to expect; I mean, these were High Schoolers I was up against…and I didn't stand a chance.

As I thanked Mr. Canaan, I walked out of the auditorium with my friend Melanie, and we started talking about this guy named Chris at school.

"So…I hear this rumor about you liking Chris." Melanie muttered.

"Um…n-no where'd you h-hear that?" I stuttered, and Melanie knew by now that whenever I lied, I would get strands of sweat on my forehead and stutter uncontrollably.

"Ok then Irina…here's a tissue to whip your forehead off with, and oh, by the way…it's ok to like him." Darn, she had me all figured out.

"But I don't…at all. I t-told you that I'm taking a br-reak from liking any guys what-tsoever. I'm not interested a-anymore."

"Yeah, ok." She said as her mom pulled into the parking lot.

We started walking over to her mom's car, not saying anything to each other. I whipped my forehead with the tissue Melanie gave me, and jumped into the backseat.

"Hey Irina…hey Mel!" Mrs. Fisher was such a nice woman. She'd always been there for me, ever since my mom got sick.

"Hey Mrs. Fisher." I said.

"Mom, can Irina spend the night this Friday?" Melanie asked.

"No Hun, we're going camping this weekend with your cousins." Mrs. Fisher reminded her.

"Ugh…" Melanie moaned. She hated her cousins, the only ones she had. They were a couple years younger than she was, and they always followed her around seeking attention. She often had to run away from them whenever they came over so that they wouldn't chase her around.

In a couple of minutes, we were parked in my driveway. My house was pretty big; it was white, with light green shutters, and a big porch. My dad was sitting out on it, reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee.

I gathered all my books and said a quick goodbye to Melanie and Mrs. Fisher as I climbed out of their car. I started walking up to the porch.

"Hey daddy…how was your day?" I asked.

"Oh it was fine, you better go inside and say hey to your mom, and she isn't feeling that great today." He said; there was sadness in his voice.

I walked into the house, passing him, and saw my mom lying on the couch watching T.V. A bunch of pills were laying beside her on the coffee table. I quickly walked up to her and sat by her feet on the couch. She was covered in blankets, and looked at me slowly.

"Hey baby, how was your day?" She asked; her throat was soar.

"It was fine, I did pretty good on my auditions. Are you feeling alright?"

"Hanging in there…" She sounded upset, like there was something that she didn't want to say to me. "The doctor stopped by today, and gave me some news.

I didn't want to hear it. My eyes started to slowly water. I could predict what she was going to say, for she had a glitter in her eye, and her face was burning with sadness.

"What mom?" I asked, trying to control the squeaking in my voice.

"It's not good sweetie. The doctor said that the cancer is growing in my cells, and that I might not have very long to live."

There was a very long moment of silence after what she said. My tears escaped my eyes, and bent down to put my face in my hands. I started shaking uncontrollably…as she watched me with tears in her eyes as well.

"Mom…no!" I said through my tears.

"Baby, he said that it wasn't for sure, but there's still a chance for me. Don't give up on me here!" She said.

I walked up and gave her a kiss on the cheek, and a very long lasting hug.

"It'll be O.K. baby…shhh." She tried comforting me. As if I needed that…she should be the one I was comforting. But I couldn't help myself. She was the only one who ever really knew me. My dad was always there for me…but who was going to be able to help during a girly situation, or take me shopping? Ever girl needs a mother, and I was going to lose mine before I even got into college. My life was spinning into a dark spiral, and by this time, I had nothing to hold on to anymore.