1 Chapter 1

It had taken a thousand years, perhaps, but the day had come. From that one little corner of her room she was still under her blankets, the winter peeping its way through the aftermath week of thanksgiving. Sleep had never felt this satisfying to the point that she went ahead to sleep into the hours that she needed to prepare herself for school. Her last day of school.

"Elena!" some woman voice called outside her room. "Elena get up you're gonna be late for school!"

Eyes popped wide. Mouth opened up in agape. Her drowsy sleep episode was over even before her mind knew it and she was already on the way to the bathroom before the floor registered her presence once again.

She was out even before the sun had moved another one degree, too hasty in her objectives. Too much to do, too little of time available. Her midnight hair wasn't brushed well today, therefore she opted to let it curl naturally above her chest. Either way, her black eyes always matched perfectly with her hair, no matter what the mess it would be. She heard a rumble of a motorcycle engine outside her bedroom window and she took time to see whether her fears were correct. And they were! He was here! Already! As he had been for the last whole month. Fear turned to panic and the floor beneath suffered her massive and incognito steps. Time was of the essence.

She came downstairs one minute later, dressed in tight blue jeans, a black hoodie and grey sneakers. On her shoulder was her handbag. Black. She liked it that way. Perhaps it was because the way it matched with her brown skin. She reached for her phone where she left it yester night while she watched a movie till sleep took over. Not counting her steps, she found her way to the kitchen. She almost bumped into her mother who was busy preparing herself for work.

"Mom I'll be going now."

"You aren't eating anything?"

"No." She clenched her teeth, eyebrows raised. "My test starts in thirty minutes, I have to go now if I'm to make it."

"Fine. Go." Dear mom told her. "But if I may ask, how are you asleep till one in the afternoon?"

"It's a long story…"

"More like a long night movie." Her mother answered with a soft chuckle in the end. "Hurry. He's been waiting for you outside for over ten minutes now."

"Oh... sure. Bye."

"Bye."

Without much of another word, she turned and headed for the door. Stomp, stomp, stomp her feet went on. The wooden floor was hammered mercilessly. When she opened the door, she saw him seated on his Mercedes motorcycle, a helmet suspended on his brown hair, another held out to her at arms stretch. And his face… he had a playful crooked smile, his eyes closed.

"Not even a hey, good morning?" She asked as she took the blue helmet.

"Why would I tell you that? You literally wasted fifteen minutes of our time." He told her as he started the engine once again.

"Ethan, don't be such a baby." She cried out, pouting. "Yesterday's How I Met Your Mother marathon was a no miss. I had to watch it."

"Wait. So you didn't study for today's test?"

"Yes."

"Why?" He asked as he turned to look at her while she adjusted herself behind him on the bike. His green eyes toured her face, while his hands brushed his hair.

"I know everything there is to know about Chemical Engineering. I'm gonna ace that test if I'm correct."

"That's what they all said." Ethan muttered as he drove away from the house.

The busy streets of Lower Queen Anne, Seattle were even busier today as people moved around, minding their business. She had his hands wrapped around his waist, her eyes moving all around and about, as she breathed in the cold air. University of Washington was where they studied, and as they had been at it for the past one month, they were heading to finish the last papers of their final semesters. It had been a whooping six years since they started studying here, after they came from the same high school. Basically Ethan and Elena were back door neighbors and had been friends for a long, long time.

"Ha! Ha! You know what? I am going to beat your sorry ass in the final exams," squeaked Elena when she came down the bike after her companion had parked it in the students' parking lot. "All nine units. I'll be victorious!"

"I don't think so!" replied Ethan as he stroked his hair. "Law is pretty easy in comparison to chemical engineering, Elena."

"And I'm saying that I'll still beat you." She cohered her earlier statement, eyebrows raised. They were now standing side by side, as their eyes locked onto each other.

"As long as I'm taller Elena, I'll always be on the upper hand."

"Your height doesn't count Ethan, after all we are still the same age." Her black eyes had grabbed him attention as usual, like a fish to a hook. Elena was pretty of course, seeming to have broken the rule of feminism where a girl couldn't have it all. Looks and brains at once! At least that's what the social media bozos thought. She had an hour glass body, a firm chest, and a blessed behind to say the least. Were it not for her overprotective dad she would have been married like eons ago because that other gender well, they never stopped trying to make a 'thing' with her, but of course to no avail. She was solid as they came even for Ethan himself who saw her as a potential companion for life. All in all, twenty six years looked nice on her.

"Come on, Elena. That's enough fooling around." He told her with a slight chuckle. "We need to go now. Those papers aren't going to fill themselves. And well, they walked into the tuition block area as they embarked to finish that one last test like they'd been doing for the past one month.

Just then, walked Lance towards them. He was also sitting for his last paper in the same university. Six years had taken all of the three to reach at this far in terms of their academics. Time heals pain, they say… but Ethan's and Lance's had a different tale to tell. Some things root deep inside people that not even time can come to the rescue.

"Hey Elena," he began as he embraced her in a hug.

"Hey Lance." She responded. When he had pulled away from her, his eyes did the talking for a while. They were searching Ethan's face over and over again.

"So what's up?" Inquired Lance looking at Ethan. His eyebrows were drawn closer, his eyes constantly shifting to Elena now and then.

"Nothing much." Replied Ethan in a rather rudely manner. Elena noticed this sudden mood and decided to cut them short. It never ended nicely whenever these two met.

"Umm...guys my paper begins in about five minutes. So I'll catch up with you two later. She walked away into the hallway and into a certain hall.

"Hmm..." startled Lance, "best of luck."

"Oh yeah, yeah, you too Lance. May you find the answers to the quest—"

"I meant to see who wins Elena first." Lance cut him short. He smirked a little bit and walked away, after he ensured that he knocked himself against his latter's shoulder. Ethan watched him walk away, his teeth dancing to the rage tune playing in his mind. His eyes were locked onto him, fingers turned to a fist. Some mates had surrounded the yellow haired boy and they were guffawing as they walked down the hall, seeming like he had forgotten what he had done to him. And he hated it! How does the world like someone like him! Ethan thought. How! His mind came back to him moments later and he found his way to the exam hall to sit for his final paper.