Peyton D. 9th Grade
Thrown Around and Upside Down
If you had a second chance at life, a chance to start over, would you take it? If you got the chance at a second try would you leave your old one happily? Or would you be angry at everything like I was? My name is Evangeline Hunter and this is my story of my second chance at life… and at love.
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“Evangeline! Slow down, please!” My best friend Melody and I were running in the park on a Saturday morning. Actually, I was running and she was panting along behind me. “Evie!” I laughed and called back to her, “There is a bench just up ahead. You can rest there.” A groan sounded behind me. Melody ran to the bench, just to crumple in the seat with exhaustion. Another groan came from her mouth.
“Water…,” she begged, “Must have water.” I held out a cold water bottle to her. She slowly sat up and grabbed he bottle. After chugging half, she smiled and flipped her long blonde ponytail behind her. “I don’t see how you aren’t breaking a sweat,” she complained.
“I don’t see why you’re so tired,” I retorted.
“It’s not fair that you play soccer and run track,” she muttered.
“Well, you dance, so you should have the stamina to keep up the pace.” She rolled her eyes, but she knew I was right. Mel had been dancing for fifteen years.
"You know what you need. You need sushi,” I said with a knowing glint in my eye. Melody loved sushi; she could never say no to it. “We could invite Austin and Brad.” Bradley O’Conner was Melody’s boyfriend, and Austin Rich was mine. They
both stood at 6 foot 2 inches with blue eyes and tanned skin, but Brad had wavy, brown hair while Austin had shaggy, blonde hair. Mel’s eyes brightened. “Let’s go!” she said, before she was up and running to the car. She could never resist
sushi. I followed her to my Jaguar and got in. Melody was bouncing in her seat. Again, I laughed. “Hang on. I gotta go home and grab another shirt. Then we can go. She rolled her eyes but nodded. Shifting the car in to gear, I pulled out of my parking spot.
A few minutes later, we pulled through the black gates leading up to my house. As we pulled up, my butler Jeeves walked out. Yes, I said butler. My family was very wealthy, but we didn’t flaunt it much. Usually my parents were gone on business trips, so it was just Jeeves and I. “Ma’am, can I park the car in the car in the garage for you?” he asked.
“Thanks J,” I said with a smile,” but I’m about to leave anyways.” He nodded. I ran upstairs to grab another shirt, and I was a down a minute later. Mel’s eyes still shone. Wow. She really likes sushi.
As we drove, Melody pulled out her cell and started to dial. I figured she was calling Brad, so I whipped out my cell phone and dialed Austin’s number. He picked up on the first ring. “Hey babe.”
I rolled my eyes, “Hey. Melody wants to go get some sushi. You wanna come?”
“Sure.” I heard a loud shout it the background. “Brad says he’s coming too.”
“Okay. See you…” Suddenly, a huge truck came around the corner at a fast speed. It slammed into the driver’s side door, and the small sports car flipped and started rolling down the hill. Over and over again we fell. My head hit the roof of the car, and I started to see spots. As the car rested upside down, my vision started to get blurry. I heard Melody’s voice calling to me, and she was calling someone on the phone at the same time. Finally she hung up. Mel crawled over to me and cradled my head in her lap. My eyes started to close my eyes again, and Mel screamed at me to keep my eyes open.
I forced my eyes to open again. Melody was crying and she had blood running down her arm. She looked fine, until I saw her leg. It was bent at an odd angle, and it took me a minute to realize it was broken. My eyes shifted back up to her face. Tears streamed down her face. Suddenly, her face brightened. “I hear sirens Evie. We’re going to be okay.” I was confused; I couldn’t hear them. Words tried to form on my tongue, but I could barely speak. Quietly, I said to Melody, “Okay,” and I started to shut my eyes. Melody screamed at me to wake up, but I was so tired. They tried opening again, but it was useless. I was so tired. Finally, my eyes closed for the final time, and I slipped into empty blackness.
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When I awoke, I was in black, but not as in a black room. The blackness surrounding me was supporting my weight. My body shivered, and I felt goose bumps crawl up my arms. It was so cold. However, a light started to shine. It was small, but it created warmth and light. My feet started it towards it, but I heard someone call my name. The voice sounded so familiar, yet I couldn’t place the name. I wanted to go towards it, but it was coming from the cold blackness. I shook my head. There was no way I was going towards it. Slowly, I continued towards the light. I stopped as the voice called me again. Whoever it was, they sounded so broken and sad. Involuntarily, my feet turned around, but, as I walked towards the voice, it started to get colder. Sighing, I turned around again. Right before I finally reached the door of light, I felt a tug in my gut and heard the voice again. The voice held so much pain; I just turned around and started running towards the voice. It got colder, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was healing the voice’s pain.
As the voice got louder, I reached a door. Unlike the door of light, this door was dark and cold. Fear coursed through me, and, for a second, I considered going back to the light door. I turned around, but I couldn’t see the light anymore. Another voice spoke to me, but it was different from the first. This voice was warm and inviting, yet hard and commanding at the same time. “Go my child,” the voice said, “don’t fear the unknown. Go through the door. It is not your time yet.” With a deep breath, I turned the knob under my hand, and I stepped through. Immediately, I started falling. Another light was at the bottom. As I rushed towards it, the voice spoke to me, “Follow your heart,” it said, as I was consumed by light.
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A very annoying beeping sound woke me up, along with a strong antiseptic smell. I opened my eyes. The room around me was a sterile white, except for a few gray chairs, and it took me a minute to realize I was in the hospital. Suddenly, the memories of the crash came back to me. I started bawling. My heart monitor, the source of the annoying beeping, started to beep crazily. A nurse ran in and tried to calm me down. After a few minutes, I was okay. The tears had subsided, and I was calm enough to ask one question. “Is Melody Freeman okay?” The nurse nodded. “Yes. She only suffered a broken leg and a minor concussion.” My heart soared, but her next words sent my heart plummeting to my feet. “Poor thing, though. She watched her friend die in her arms.” Why was she talking about me like I’m not in the room?
“Can I go to the bathroom please? I feel like I’m going to be sick.” She nodded and helped me out of bed. Stumbling, I slowly made my way to the bathroom, but as I reached towards the doorknob, I looked at my hand. Frightened by what I saw, I quickly opened the door.
When I made it inside, I looked at my hand again. Instead of my long pale fingers with bright red nail polish, I had shorter fingers with dark blue polish, and my skin was a little bit tanner. The wristband on my arm caught my eye. Looking at it, I noticed it read Sydney Rose. My heart dropped to my feet again. My head shot up, and I ran to the mirror. Gone was my kinky bright red hair and my green eyes. Long, sleek black hair and dark blue eyes took their place. My pale lips were gone, and, in their place, were a pair of soft red lips. The heart that I thought was at my feet dropped further, sinking through the ground. My face turned ghostly white. This cannot be happening, I thought. I look exactly like Sydney Rose. A thought struck me. “No, no, no, no. This cannot be happening.” I started to hyperventilate. I am in Sydney’s body. Hurling myself at the toilet, I started to throw up.
After heaving for a couple minutes, I washed my face, exited the bathroom, and climbed back into bed. I sat there thinking while I was waiting for the nurse. The words “Follow your heart,” echoed in my brain, and I fully believed God had said them. Well God, you gave me this second chance. I guess I need to take it. Right at that moment, the nurse walked in. “Hello. Are you feeling a bit better now?” I nodded. “Well then. I am going to ask a few questions, just to see what you remember.” I nodded again. She started with easy questions, like my name and birthday. The name I defiantly had, but I had to sneak a peek at my wristband to get the birthday. I think the nurse saw though because she shook her head slightly. After the easy questions, she gave me harder questions about Sydney. I could answer none of these.
She stepped outside after asking me questions to talk with someone in the hallway. I could hear words like brain hemorrhage and memory loss. Sydney had had a brain hemorrhage? The door opened, breaking me out of my thoughts. My nurse walked in, followed by two people. The first was a woman. She walked into the room like she was the queen. Her hair was long and black like Sydney’s, but her eyes were a hard brown color. Immediately, I didn’t like her.
“Darling, you’re better!” she exclaimed. “Oh, I was so worried about you.” I gave her a look of confusion. “Don’t you remember me sweetheart? I’m your mother Violet. My head shook. Great, she’s my new mom. Movement in the corner caught my eye. A man was standing there. He looked to be about 20, with dark black hair, but his eyes were what drew me in. They were a gorgeous green, but they held sadness and worry in them. When he caught me looking, he gave a half-hearted smirk and walked over. The chair that was by my bedside was pulled over, and he sat down in it. Unlike Violet, this man gave me warm feelings all throughout my body.
“Hey Syd,” he said, “Do you remember me?” I shook my head, but then soon regretted it because the pain in his eyes almost doubled. His back tensed, and he looked like he was holding back tears. “I’m your best friend, Gabriel Ross.” He stuck out his hand, a small smirk appearing on his face again. With my right hand, I grabbed it and shook it. “Hi. I’m Eva… Sydney,” I said quickly with a small grimace. I really needed to work on that.
Thankfully, the nurse spoke up. “Well, all signs of your hemorrhage are gone, so you can go as soon as you sign the papers. You are going to have to stay with someone because of your memory which should return in a few weeks. “Ok," I said. She handed the papers to my mother waiting to sign them. “So she won’t remember anything for a few weeks? And I have to deal with her?” The disgust was evident in her voice.
I don’t know what encouraged me to speak up, but I did. “Fine then. I don’t want to live with you anyways. I will live with Gabriel then.” I turned to him. “You have your own place right.” He nodded. His green eyes held worry and confusion, but they also held hope… and something I couldn’t tell what it was. My mother shrieked. “You want to go live with him? Instead of me?” I nodded. “Fine.” With a final huff, she up and out of the room. I chuckled.
Gabriel checked me out of the hospital, and we got into his car. As we started driving towards his apartment, I played 20 questions with him about my life. I learned I was 18, worked three part time jobs and my family was somewhat poor. It was only Violet and I, since my father walked out years ago. Also, I learned I like mint chip ice cream and hated horror films. Gabriel on the other hand was 22. He had an apartment with two bedrooms, and a steady job.
After we got to his home, I asked if I could go to bed. He nodded and showed me where I was going to be staying. I thanked him, and crawled straight in bed.
A few hours later, I woke up disoriented. Then I remembered where I was and who I am, but it hit me hard. Oh God. I’m in the body of Sydney Rose.
Sydney was the most hated girl at my college. Her “I’m so much better than you attitude” annoyed multiple people and had caused many fights, especially with my boyfriend Austin. She had sought me out and had had a personal vendetta against me. Why, I don’t know. Also, many people thought she was into some shady business, such as dealing drugs. Now I was stuck in her body for the remainder of my life, I assumed. At least we know God had a sense of humor.
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I lived as Sydney for a couple of months. I grew closer to Gabriel, and I learned more about myself. We still lived together, since my "memory" had still not returned, but I enjoyed every moment of it. On the other hand, my friends and family from my other life disappeared. Many times before I had tried telling them what had happened, but they thought I was crazy and just walked away. Austin had called the cops.
My new life was hectic. I continuously worked 3 part time jobs, and kept up with my college work. Soon, I felt sorry for Sydney and what everyone had thought about her, she wasn’t that cold-hearted.
As Gabriel and I became closer, I went more places with him. We were soon the best of friends. Life was pretty great, except for one thing. I was being stalked. It had started a week after I was released from the hospital. I would get phone calls in the middle of the night from an unknown number, but I could hear nothing aside from some heaving breathing. Then, cars started to follow me, and I could feel eyes follow me as I walked. Gabe called the cops, but without proof, there was nothing they could do. I was frightened out of my mind.
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About five months later, I was waiting for Gabe to come pick me up from an appointment when a black car sped around the corner. Two burly guys jumped out, grabbed my arms and threw me into the car. Panicked, I tried to fight, but they held a sweet smelling rag over my face that caused me to black out.
When I came to, I was in a large warehouse, strapped to a metal chair. I looked around frantically, and my heart froze when I saw someone standing in the shadows. “Who are you?” I called my voice stronger than I would have thought possible. The man chucked, and stepped into the light. “Austin?” I gasped.
“Hello, Sydney,” he breathed, “so nice to see you again.” I tried to speak but the words were stuck in my throat. “I’m sure you are wondering why you’re here. Well, a few years ago, a man killed the leader of the largest drug ring in the country. He ran, and the ring could never find him, but they did track down his daughter. That man was your father, and my father was killed. A life for a life is how I see it. Now, you need to make a choice, your life, or his.”
Steel gray doors opened, and two men dragged in Gabriel. His face was bloodied and beaten. “Mine,” I said immediately. Austin looked surprised, “Why?”
“Because… I love him,” I said surprising myself. Gabe’s head shot up, and there were tears in his eyes. “Oh, Syd. I love you too. Always have, always will.” I smiled.
“Fine,” Austin chuckled and pulled a gun out, but instead of pointing it at me, he turned it to Gabe. “No!” I screamed. A gun shot went off, but it wasn’t Austin’s gun. Police burst into the room. Austin was shot. Gabe ran to me and untied my hands. Weeping, I fell into his arms.
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Austin was taken away by the police and was sentenced to life in prison. Gabriel and I dated for a year, after which he proposed to me. Eventually, I told him who I really was, but he didn’t care. He loved me for me. Every once in a while, I wondered where Sydney’s soul was, but that my friends is a story for another day.
If you had a second chance at life, a chance to start over, would you take it? If you got the chance at a second try would you leave your old one happily? Or would you be angry at everything like I was? My name is Evangeline Hunter and this is my story of my second chance at life… and at love.
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“Evangeline! Slow down, please!” My best friend Melody and I were running in the park on a Saturday morning. Actually, I was running and she was panting along behind me. “Evie!” I laughed and called back to her, “There is a bench just up ahead. You can rest there.” A groan sounded behind me. Melody ran to the bench, just to crumple in the seat with exhaustion. Another groan came from her mouth.
“Water…,” she begged, “Must have water.” I held out a cold water bottle to her. She slowly sat up and grabbed he bottle. After chugging half, she smiled and flipped her long blonde ponytail behind her. “I don’t see how you aren’t breaking a sweat,” she complained.
“I don’t see why you’re so tired,” I retorted.
“It’s not fair that you play soccer and run track,” she muttered.
“Well, you dance, so you should have the stamina to keep up the pace.” She rolled her eyes, but she knew I was right. Mel had been dancing for fifteen years.
"You know what you need. You need sushi,” I said with a knowing glint in my eye. Melody loved sushi; she could never say no to it. “We could invite Austin and Brad.” Bradley O’Conner was Melody’s boyfriend, and Austin Rich was mine. They
both stood at 6 foot 2 inches with blue eyes and tanned skin, but Brad had wavy, brown hair while Austin had shaggy, blonde hair. Mel’s eyes brightened. “Let’s go!” she said, before she was up and running to the car. She could never resist
sushi. I followed her to my Jaguar and got in. Melody was bouncing in her seat. Again, I laughed. “Hang on. I gotta go home and grab another shirt. Then we can go. She rolled her eyes but nodded. Shifting the car in to gear, I pulled out of my parking spot.
A few minutes later, we pulled through the black gates leading up to my house. As we pulled up, my butler Jeeves walked out. Yes, I said butler. My family was very wealthy, but we didn’t flaunt it much. Usually my parents were gone on business trips, so it was just Jeeves and I. “Ma’am, can I park the car in the car in the garage for you?” he asked.
“Thanks J,” I said with a smile,” but I’m about to leave anyways.” He nodded. I ran upstairs to grab another shirt, and I was a down a minute later. Mel’s eyes still shone. Wow. She really likes sushi.
As we drove, Melody pulled out her cell and started to dial. I figured she was calling Brad, so I whipped out my cell phone and dialed Austin’s number. He picked up on the first ring. “Hey babe.”
I rolled my eyes, “Hey. Melody wants to go get some sushi. You wanna come?”
“Sure.” I heard a loud shout it the background. “Brad says he’s coming too.”
“Okay. See you…” Suddenly, a huge truck came around the corner at a fast speed. It slammed into the driver’s side door, and the small sports car flipped and started rolling down the hill. Over and over again we fell. My head hit the roof of the car, and I started to see spots. As the car rested upside down, my vision started to get blurry. I heard Melody’s voice calling to me, and she was calling someone on the phone at the same time. Finally she hung up. Mel crawled over to me and cradled my head in her lap. My eyes started to close my eyes again, and Mel screamed at me to keep my eyes open.
I forced my eyes to open again. Melody was crying and she had blood running down her arm. She looked fine, until I saw her leg. It was bent at an odd angle, and it took me a minute to realize it was broken. My eyes shifted back up to her face. Tears streamed down her face. Suddenly, her face brightened. “I hear sirens Evie. We’re going to be okay.” I was confused; I couldn’t hear them. Words tried to form on my tongue, but I could barely speak. Quietly, I said to Melody, “Okay,” and I started to shut my eyes. Melody screamed at me to wake up, but I was so tired. They tried opening again, but it was useless. I was so tired. Finally, my eyes closed for the final time, and I slipped into empty blackness.
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When I awoke, I was in black, but not as in a black room. The blackness surrounding me was supporting my weight. My body shivered, and I felt goose bumps crawl up my arms. It was so cold. However, a light started to shine. It was small, but it created warmth and light. My feet started it towards it, but I heard someone call my name. The voice sounded so familiar, yet I couldn’t place the name. I wanted to go towards it, but it was coming from the cold blackness. I shook my head. There was no way I was going towards it. Slowly, I continued towards the light. I stopped as the voice called me again. Whoever it was, they sounded so broken and sad. Involuntarily, my feet turned around, but, as I walked towards the voice, it started to get colder. Sighing, I turned around again. Right before I finally reached the door of light, I felt a tug in my gut and heard the voice again. The voice held so much pain; I just turned around and started running towards the voice. It got colder, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was healing the voice’s pain.
As the voice got louder, I reached a door. Unlike the door of light, this door was dark and cold. Fear coursed through me, and, for a second, I considered going back to the light door. I turned around, but I couldn’t see the light anymore. Another voice spoke to me, but it was different from the first. This voice was warm and inviting, yet hard and commanding at the same time. “Go my child,” the voice said, “don’t fear the unknown. Go through the door. It is not your time yet.” With a deep breath, I turned the knob under my hand, and I stepped through. Immediately, I started falling. Another light was at the bottom. As I rushed towards it, the voice spoke to me, “Follow your heart,” it said, as I was consumed by light.
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A very annoying beeping sound woke me up, along with a strong antiseptic smell. I opened my eyes. The room around me was a sterile white, except for a few gray chairs, and it took me a minute to realize I was in the hospital. Suddenly, the memories of the crash came back to me. I started bawling. My heart monitor, the source of the annoying beeping, started to beep crazily. A nurse ran in and tried to calm me down. After a few minutes, I was okay. The tears had subsided, and I was calm enough to ask one question. “Is Melody Freeman okay?” The nurse nodded. “Yes. She only suffered a broken leg and a minor concussion.” My heart soared, but her next words sent my heart plummeting to my feet. “Poor thing, though. She watched her friend die in her arms.” Why was she talking about me like I’m not in the room?
“Can I go to the bathroom please? I feel like I’m going to be sick.” She nodded and helped me out of bed. Stumbling, I slowly made my way to the bathroom, but as I reached towards the doorknob, I looked at my hand. Frightened by what I saw, I quickly opened the door.
When I made it inside, I looked at my hand again. Instead of my long pale fingers with bright red nail polish, I had shorter fingers with dark blue polish, and my skin was a little bit tanner. The wristband on my arm caught my eye. Looking at it, I noticed it read Sydney Rose. My heart dropped to my feet again. My head shot up, and I ran to the mirror. Gone was my kinky bright red hair and my green eyes. Long, sleek black hair and dark blue eyes took their place. My pale lips were gone, and, in their place, were a pair of soft red lips. The heart that I thought was at my feet dropped further, sinking through the ground. My face turned ghostly white. This cannot be happening, I thought. I look exactly like Sydney Rose. A thought struck me. “No, no, no, no. This cannot be happening.” I started to hyperventilate. I am in Sydney’s body. Hurling myself at the toilet, I started to throw up.
After heaving for a couple minutes, I washed my face, exited the bathroom, and climbed back into bed. I sat there thinking while I was waiting for the nurse. The words “Follow your heart,” echoed in my brain, and I fully believed God had said them. Well God, you gave me this second chance. I guess I need to take it. Right at that moment, the nurse walked in. “Hello. Are you feeling a bit better now?” I nodded. “Well then. I am going to ask a few questions, just to see what you remember.” I nodded again. She started with easy questions, like my name and birthday. The name I defiantly had, but I had to sneak a peek at my wristband to get the birthday. I think the nurse saw though because she shook her head slightly. After the easy questions, she gave me harder questions about Sydney. I could answer none of these.
She stepped outside after asking me questions to talk with someone in the hallway. I could hear words like brain hemorrhage and memory loss. Sydney had had a brain hemorrhage? The door opened, breaking me out of my thoughts. My nurse walked in, followed by two people. The first was a woman. She walked into the room like she was the queen. Her hair was long and black like Sydney’s, but her eyes were a hard brown color. Immediately, I didn’t like her.
“Darling, you’re better!” she exclaimed. “Oh, I was so worried about you.” I gave her a look of confusion. “Don’t you remember me sweetheart? I’m your mother Violet. My head shook. Great, she’s my new mom. Movement in the corner caught my eye. A man was standing there. He looked to be about 20, with dark black hair, but his eyes were what drew me in. They were a gorgeous green, but they held sadness and worry in them. When he caught me looking, he gave a half-hearted smirk and walked over. The chair that was by my bedside was pulled over, and he sat down in it. Unlike Violet, this man gave me warm feelings all throughout my body.
“Hey Syd,” he said, “Do you remember me?” I shook my head, but then soon regretted it because the pain in his eyes almost doubled. His back tensed, and he looked like he was holding back tears. “I’m your best friend, Gabriel Ross.” He stuck out his hand, a small smirk appearing on his face again. With my right hand, I grabbed it and shook it. “Hi. I’m Eva… Sydney,” I said quickly with a small grimace. I really needed to work on that.
Thankfully, the nurse spoke up. “Well, all signs of your hemorrhage are gone, so you can go as soon as you sign the papers. You are going to have to stay with someone because of your memory which should return in a few weeks. “Ok," I said. She handed the papers to my mother waiting to sign them. “So she won’t remember anything for a few weeks? And I have to deal with her?” The disgust was evident in her voice.
I don’t know what encouraged me to speak up, but I did. “Fine then. I don’t want to live with you anyways. I will live with Gabriel then.” I turned to him. “You have your own place right.” He nodded. His green eyes held worry and confusion, but they also held hope… and something I couldn’t tell what it was. My mother shrieked. “You want to go live with him? Instead of me?” I nodded. “Fine.” With a final huff, she up and out of the room. I chuckled.
Gabriel checked me out of the hospital, and we got into his car. As we started driving towards his apartment, I played 20 questions with him about my life. I learned I was 18, worked three part time jobs and my family was somewhat poor. It was only Violet and I, since my father walked out years ago. Also, I learned I like mint chip ice cream and hated horror films. Gabriel on the other hand was 22. He had an apartment with two bedrooms, and a steady job.
After we got to his home, I asked if I could go to bed. He nodded and showed me where I was going to be staying. I thanked him, and crawled straight in bed.
A few hours later, I woke up disoriented. Then I remembered where I was and who I am, but it hit me hard. Oh God. I’m in the body of Sydney Rose.
Sydney was the most hated girl at my college. Her “I’m so much better than you attitude” annoyed multiple people and had caused many fights, especially with my boyfriend Austin. She had sought me out and had had a personal vendetta against me. Why, I don’t know. Also, many people thought she was into some shady business, such as dealing drugs. Now I was stuck in her body for the remainder of my life, I assumed. At least we know God had a sense of humor.
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I lived as Sydney for a couple of months. I grew closer to Gabriel, and I learned more about myself. We still lived together, since my "memory" had still not returned, but I enjoyed every moment of it. On the other hand, my friends and family from my other life disappeared. Many times before I had tried telling them what had happened, but they thought I was crazy and just walked away. Austin had called the cops.
My new life was hectic. I continuously worked 3 part time jobs, and kept up with my college work. Soon, I felt sorry for Sydney and what everyone had thought about her, she wasn’t that cold-hearted.
As Gabriel and I became closer, I went more places with him. We were soon the best of friends. Life was pretty great, except for one thing. I was being stalked. It had started a week after I was released from the hospital. I would get phone calls in the middle of the night from an unknown number, but I could hear nothing aside from some heaving breathing. Then, cars started to follow me, and I could feel eyes follow me as I walked. Gabe called the cops, but without proof, there was nothing they could do. I was frightened out of my mind.
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About five months later, I was waiting for Gabe to come pick me up from an appointment when a black car sped around the corner. Two burly guys jumped out, grabbed my arms and threw me into the car. Panicked, I tried to fight, but they held a sweet smelling rag over my face that caused me to black out.
When I came to, I was in a large warehouse, strapped to a metal chair. I looked around frantically, and my heart froze when I saw someone standing in the shadows. “Who are you?” I called my voice stronger than I would have thought possible. The man chucked, and stepped into the light. “Austin?” I gasped.
“Hello, Sydney,” he breathed, “so nice to see you again.” I tried to speak but the words were stuck in my throat. “I’m sure you are wondering why you’re here. Well, a few years ago, a man killed the leader of the largest drug ring in the country. He ran, and the ring could never find him, but they did track down his daughter. That man was your father, and my father was killed. A life for a life is how I see it. Now, you need to make a choice, your life, or his.”
Steel gray doors opened, and two men dragged in Gabriel. His face was bloodied and beaten. “Mine,” I said immediately. Austin looked surprised, “Why?”
“Because… I love him,” I said surprising myself. Gabe’s head shot up, and there were tears in his eyes. “Oh, Syd. I love you too. Always have, always will.” I smiled.
“Fine,” Austin chuckled and pulled a gun out, but instead of pointing it at me, he turned it to Gabe. “No!” I screamed. A gun shot went off, but it wasn’t Austin’s gun. Police burst into the room. Austin was shot. Gabe ran to me and untied my hands. Weeping, I fell into his arms.
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Austin was taken away by the police and was sentenced to life in prison. Gabriel and I dated for a year, after which he proposed to me. Eventually, I told him who I really was, but he didn’t care. He loved me for me. Every once in a while, I wondered where Sydney’s soul was, but that my friends is a story for another day.