Chapter 5: Opinions are difficult to understand sometimes

Anastasia watch Brooke gather her stuff up in a few bags, then slammed the door behind her. She sighed and sank to the ground, leaning against the counter. "Please, don't hate me." she whispered and sat there in silence for a while, scared to move. She remembered Hunter and those people, then grabbed her cell home.

Kyle was sitting beside their beds, staring at Lindy's face, which looked as if she was in pain. He felt his phone vibrate, then start to ring and saw it was Anastasia calling. "Hello?" "Hunter? Are they alright?" "Yeah, just banged up a bit." "Are you alright?" he paused, she seemed stressed and worn out by her voice. "Are you?" he heard her chuckle and felt himself smiling.

"I'm fine, just tired." Anastasia said, getting off the ground and sitting in a chair. "I just wanted to make sure they were alright, I'll let you go and we can talk tomorrow about you starting work." she didn't give him a chance to continue talking and hung up. She sighed, they were alright, she did a good job she thought.

There was a knock and she looked over to see Kendra and Tyler smiling at her. She tried to smile back, but it wasn't convincing. She let them in and they headed upstairs to her room. Tyler and Kendra plopped onto her bed, but she couldn't sit anymore, so she remained standing.

"Alright there Anna?" Tyler asked and eyed her close. "I'm fine Ty, just had a fight with Brooke, she's gone for good." Anastasia replied and looked out the window, thinking over the argument again. "Really? Is everything okay?" Kendra asked and stood up, moving away from Tyler to join her best friend.

"Now it is, tomorrow I'm going to get everything in my name, I'm claiming everything that she hid from me. I'll finally own my parents place." Anastasia explained and smiled up at the crescent moon in the sky. "How was your date?" Ana said, changing the subject to a hopefully happier one. Tyler and Kendra both gave a tiny smile and blush and Ana knew it was a success.

Kyle walked home in thought, he was torn between Lindy and Anastasia. Lindy was pretty for starter, but Anastasia was amazingly beautiful. Anastasia didn't like the real Kyle, she was rude to him until the curse, Lindy didn't seem afraid of him, but didn't really like his normal self either. Lindy was surprised to find out she had been rescued, but thought Kyle was the full savior.

Lindy was sitting the bed next to her dad, he was still knocked out, but otherwise fine. That guy saved them both, then brought them to hospital, she thanked him over and over until she saw his face. He had scars and marks all over, it was a lot to take in. His eyes showed that he was afraid of what she was going to say when she saw him. "Thank you." she whispered before hugging him.

Kyle was confused when she just hugged him, she thanked him one last time, whispering right before the hug. "Lindy-" "What's your name?" "Hunter." he said, then tried again to tell her that he didn't save them, but the doctor came back to check on them. Kyle left sometime after, letting the nurses take over, plus he needed to think.

Anastasia sat on her bed, Tyler and Kendra had left, he was giving her a ride home. She hoped everything went alright with the date, but she was so worn out and distracted by tonight's troubles that she just wanted to be alone. She sighed deeply, lying back against the smooth covers and feather pillows and closed her eyes. Her skylight was closed, but the moon shown through, lighting the room with a pale light.

Kyle was walking along the dark sidewalk when he realized where he was walking. He was standing in front of the store he was just at hours ago. He saw a ladder and decided against his better judgment, and started climbing. Once he was on the roof he noticed a skylight and once more, moved without thinking through it.

He froze when he saw her face, her face tense and stressed, her eyes closed, hiding the beautiful gems behind her lids. The moonlight gave her an eerie glow, but he couldn't look away. There was something about this girl that made him go against everything else. He wanted to smooth her hair out of her face, wanted to gently make those tense feelings disappear with his touch and his voice.

More than everything else in the world, he wanted his lips to fit perfectly to hers in a wonderful kiss that would leave them both wanting to never stop. He sighed and burned her smiling face, her cool green eyes shining, her soft lips, pink and full, into his mind and finally pulled himself away from her skylight.

He made it back to his place and fell onto the bed, staring at the ceiling but only seeing the pale red-haired green-eyed beauty that would always be in his dreams. He was sitting in a dark room, then soon realized that he was himself, Kyle again. He twirled in circles, happy to be normal and then froze when he saw her face.

He knew he should be horrified by her face, but she was smiling, but then it changed to fury. "I knew you would ruin everything. I hate you Kyle Kingson." her voice was harsh and her words were like acid, burning his flesh. he remembered that she liked Hunter, not Kyle. "You are ugly." her final words rang though his body and everything faded as her green eyes turned pale and lifeless.

Kyle shot up from his bed, waking from the nightmare. "Geez. What a nightmare." he mumbled as he rubbed his sweating forehead. It seemed so real, almost too real. He was torn with himself, he wanted to remain near Anastasia, but she hated Kyle, he wanted her to love his formal self, but his true soul after the change. He looked at the rising sun and sighed, another day of a cursed life he was beginning to like.

Anastasia got out of the warmth coming from the burning water and sighed, wrapping herself in the towel. She had a strange dream last night that kept her from getting the sleep she wanted. It was about Hunter and Kyle, they were both standing across from each other, she noticed their similarities. Both were the same height, same build, everything about them was the same.

She shook the thought of them being the same person and got dressed for the day. She fixed her hair and decided to brighten her face with makeup for the fact that Hunter might be coming over. Once she figured she could delay it any longer, she went downstairs to open the store for the day.

Kyle walked quickly to the store, not caring if he misses a tutoring session with the blind man his father hired. He saw her, turning the sign and then unlocking the door. Her eyes looked up and met his, then she smiled and opened the door. "Come on in." her voice was like silk, so perfect. He walked in, catching her scent on the breeze.

"How are you today Hunter?" she asked as she walked behind the counter and sat down. He shrugged. "I'm alright, school is a mess right now." "What school do you go to?" "I'm home schooled…for ya know." he mumbled and gestured to his face. "Oh." she replied and then smiled again. "That's dumb, you shouldn't hide your face like that, you're unique and beautiful in the best way."

"I bet people say that about you…except they are talking about your outer appearance." he said and looked into her eyes, she quickly looked away. "I don't care about looks." she mumbled and tuck some hair behind her ear. "Why not?" he asked, curious to why this beautiful girl would not care if she was beautiful or not.

"When I was younger, about 13 or so, guys noticed that I was pretty, but I didn't notice myself. I was asked out a lot, got a lot of attention. I noticed that a younger girl was picked on, she was an outcast." "Kendra?" her head snapped up. "How do you know her?" "I just seen her around." "Well yeah, but I saw no difference between us, so I became her friend."

"People tended to lay off me once I was always with Kendra, she is my greatest friend and I love her like a sister." she finished and he still didn't understand her.