A/N: sorry it took so long to update. I had writer's block, and then I started High School. So, here's a new chapter for you!
Disclaimer: I ONLY own Alyssa. Well, Alyssa IS my best friend, but I own this one! RENT, sadly, I do NOT own.
Alyssa POV
I was just walking down the street, and I saw this really hot guy. He was a rocker, with a leather jacket and short spiked blonde hair. He didn't have that confident swagger that other rockers have, though. I could see the sadness in his eyes, like he had recently gone through a personal tragedy. I wondered if he was like me. I had just lost my husband to AIDS last month, and it killed me inside. Had he lost his lover, too, perhaps? He came up to me, looking sad but shy.
"Hey, what's your name?" he asked me.
"Alyssa," I replied.
"Alyssa," he repeated. "I'm Roger Davis."
"Nice too meet you, Roger," I said, gazing up at him. He was considerably taller than I was, maybe a head or so. I would fit perfectly into his chest…
"Where do you live?" Roger asked me, distracting me from my thoughts.
"The Lower East Side, Avenue B" I said. Oh god, he was cute.
"Me too," Roger said. "I wonder why I haven't seen you around before?"
"I…just moved here…" I said. Ok, so I lied. But I couldn't tell him the truth.
"Oh," he said. "Well, I live with my best friend, Mark Cohen. We've known each other since we were kids."
"That sounds nice. I live alone," I said lamely.
"Yeah. Well, I was wondering if maybe….you and I could go out sometime? Maybe to the Life Café, or we could just hang out at my place." Wow…he asked me out? He seems like a really nice guy, so…
"Yeah, I'd love that! I'd love to meet your friends or something. Maybe this Saturday?" I said.
"Saturday it is! I'll meet you at the Life, ok? 7:00 good?"
"Sure," I replied. "See you there."
He walked off in the other direction, as I headed home. He asked me out! Maybe I was wrong about his wife dying. Perhaps he just saw a sad movie or something. He was really cute anyway, and a nice name, too. Roger Davis.
Of course, I know where the Life Café is, as I've lived in NYC my whole life. I wonder why Roger and I never met? Then again, I never got out much as a child. My father abused me, and it ended up being so bad that I ran away at age 17. That was right after he…raped me, late one night. I can't tell Roger that. It's a time in my life that I never want to go back to again. I wish I had someone like Roger to take away my pain and suffering then.
Now, I do. I mean, I loved my husband, Toby, to death. I was heartbroken when he died. I was almost sure that I would never love like that again. In fact, I almost committed suicide. Luckily, my friend stopped me just in time. That was the second lowest point of my life. I doubt Roger is able to relate to this. He's probably had a bunch of girlfriends in the past. He just has that kind of bad-boy image. But then again, not all rocker guys are like that.
Roger doesn't seem to be. He seems really nice. Maybe I will love like that again.
I rounded the corner to my apartment, and walked upstairs. I really do live alone. I got my diary off the nightstand by my bed, and looked at the entries I had written in the past year.
I re-lived the memories. Starting with when Toby and I got married. Our first time together. My pregnancy. I had lost our child at 5 months. Toby being hospitalized. His last days. The funeral. My attempted suicide. I began to write a new entry about the day I'd had. Then, I got up, and started counting down the days until I saw Roger on Saturday.
A/N: so, what do you think? A little of Alyssa's background. She sounds a lot like Roger, huh? I think this might be my best chapter so far, but I'm not sure. There is one way I can tell, and that's if y'all review me! And yes, I did change my pen-name from amandasparks to gothic-bunny-rabbit, in case you older reviewers were curious or confused. To all new readers, welcome to the story! Hope you like it! There will be a few more chapters, with an optimistic ending for Roger and April. Happy reading, and remember-gothic bunnies are our enemy!