1 PROLOGUE TO A CRAZY RIDE

"Hey mom. Sorry I missed your call. I was in class so I couldn't exactly answer the phone" Jaehwa says with regret laced in her voice. "Oh! And if you called to remind me about coming home next week, I promise I haven't forgotten about it" she adds with a laugh, expecting to recieve a nagging from her mom but is pleasantly surprised when she has nothing but silence from the other end. "Mom?" she calls out with a timid voice. She's answered with the sound of glass shattering and the scratchy sound of her mother's voice floating in through the speaker "Shit! Jaehwa, I need you to get home as soon as possible, like right now". She stands in silence gaping at her phone " What? Mom, I can't just leave everything right now. I still have class!" she exclaims while throwing her hands in the air for emphasis like her mom can actually see her. " Listen to me Hwa, 'cause I can't afford to repeat myself again" her mother, Freya says "Get. Home. Now" she adds with a pause at every word. "Mom, what's going on?" Jaehwa asks, now genuinely concerned because One, she's never heard her mom sound so frazzled and two, Her mom never called her 'Hwa' anymore, at least not since she was 10. "Hwa, I can't explain everything right now, where I am currently isn't really ideal for discussing personal matters. Go home, I'll meet you there and I'll tell you everything, I promise" Her mom says. " Alright, let me just get a few things from my dor-" she's abruptly cut off by a lound scream "No! Do Not go back there,weren't you listening? . Get home!". Pulling the phone away to avoid shattering her eardrums, she replies "Okay, I won't. I'm coming home right now", worry and a bit of fear present in her tone as she walks through her school lobby and into the parking lot, not knowing the reason behind her moms urgent request and unaware of how that crazy phone call with her mom would change her life forever.