Disclaimer: All of the characters and places in this story have been made up from my own ideas, so if any of these places or people exist it is not to my knowledge and therefore is not in reference to any of them.

Enjoy!

Chapter One: Pilot

A swift, fall breeze brushed Alex Jameson’s long, brown hair against her gentle skin. She could feel the coolness of the cement porch seeping through her jeans, and watched as a few snowflakes began to fall towards the brown grass. Her head was perched in her hands with her elbows on her knees, awaiting her expected visitor. Her eyes were unusually green, and they were glistening with anticipation.

It was her fourteenth birthday, and her best friend in the entire world was going to come see her. His name was Tomas Fischer, and she had known him since the fifth grade. She had been an outcast, and still was, but Tom could see beyond what everyone else thought, and befriended her the moment he set eyes on her.

Tom was a year older and even though he began junior high school before her, they still saw each other daily as their schools were only ten blocks away. Now she was in eighth grade and he ninth, but at the beginning of the school year Tom’s father had gotten a new job so he had to move away from her.

“Lexi, I know I’m moving, but I promise nothing will come between our relationship,” Tom had promised her the day he left for his new home.

"Nothing?" Alexis asked, a tear forming in her eye.

"Nothing, Lexi." Tom gently stroked her face with a comforting assurance that he was always going to be there for her. Then he embraced her in a tight hug, a hug so comforting that she knew nothing could ever harm her while she was in his arms. Alexis knew that she was only thirteen and he, fifteen, but it was safe to say that she was in love with him. There was just something she felt, something that told her they would never be apart. But she was wrong.

Today she was turning fourteen, and the night before when she spoke to Thomas on the phone he told her that he had a very special gift for her, but he wouldn't give any clues to what it was. Alexis wasn't sure if she was more excited to receive the gift or to just see his charming face smiling down upon her. That was one thing that always out-did Tom over all the other boys, was his smile that could lift her off her feet, even when she was feeling the heaviest of burdens.

She couldn’t wait until he turned sixteen and got a driver’s license so that he could come visit her every week. They had only seen each other once in the last three months due to the two hour drive, and that was much too long to be away from your best friend, she thought.

She could just see it now – her parents were going to return and pull up into the driveway with Tom in the back, and he would hop out of the car and Alex would run to meet him. His dark brown curly hair would bounce up and down as he walked, and he would gaze at her with his chocolate eyes. He would embrace her with his gentle arms and whisper “Happy Birthday” in her ear. The whole weekend. He was going to be here the whole weekend. She had to bite her lower lip in order to refrain from becoming giddy with excitement.

Suddenly, a cold shiver ran up and down Alex’s spine. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms while considering whether or not she should run inside to grab a sweater. The air felt suddenly crisp and icy, and she did not like it. She glanced at her watch after realizing that the sun was about to set, and she grabbed the hem of her shirt with her right hand and unconsciously began to wrap the material between her fingers, something that she only did when she was extremely nervous or anxious.

Where were they? Her parents had left seven hours ago. They wouldn’t have stayed at Tom’s house for more than a half hour unless they called, so what could they have been doing for two and a half hours?

Alex was startled by the front door being swiftly open. She twisted around to see her Uncle Hank standing in the doorway, the cordless phone held loosely in his hand, and his head hung down with his left hand over his face.

“Alexis,” he began quietly, his voice trembling. Alex’s heart skipped a beat. Hank never called her by her full name. Something inside of her already knew what he was going to tell her, but she didn’t want to believe it. “Your parents…and your friend…they…there was an – an ice storm on their way back…they…” Hank removed his hand from his face and looked up at her, tears spilling out of his eyes. “Alex, they are dead.”

Alex felt something inside of her die. But it didn’t just die, it screamed, it thrashed at her heart, and it suffered all within a moment. She couldn’t even stand up – she had become paralyzed. Her brilliant green eyes had now changed into a dull emptiness. She sat for what seemed like hours in shock, then it all came down on her. Her eyes welled up and long, hard sobs interrupted her breathing. Her uncle dropped the phone, bent over, and wrapped his arms around her chest from behind. There they wept. And it would be the last time that she wept, and the last time that she loved, until her life changed.

FIVE YEARS LATER

After graciously thanking the driver, Alex stepped off of the bus onto the sidewalk that belonged to her new home, Willerton University. She took a deep breath and yanked her red luggage carriers out from the bus compartment. It was a lot for her to carry, although it really wasn’t much for a year’s worth of schooling. Reaching into the front pocket of her smallest bag, she pulled out a folded piece of paper that she opened up.

“Well, here goes nothing,” she said to herself with a sigh after reading the paper, and then placing it in the back pocket of her jeans. “I just hope this ‘Christina’ girl is a tolerable person.” Even though she wasn’t big on socializing, Alex dreaded the thought of being an outcast again, after already putting up with it since kindergarten. Shrugging off her thoughts, she picked up her bags and headed towards the twelve-story brown building, where a new life would await her.

There was a loud “thump” as Alex dropped her luggage on the floor and reached into her rear pocket for her key card. She fumbled as she fitted the card into the slot, still breathing heavily from the long trip up to the eighth floor. There were too many students in the elevator for her to have patience, so she had decided to get a bit of extra exercise. Now all she wanted to do was to go inside and flop down on her new bed.

Alex’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor upon opening the door. There, on what was obviously her bed, was her roommate making out with a boy. Not only were they making out, but Christina’s hands were about as far down his pants as they could get without ripping them off. What a fantastic start.

Apparently, Alex’s entering the room wasn’t enough to interrupt the two from sucking on each other’s faces.

“Ahem,” Alex grumbled quietly. No response. How fabulous. “A-HEM!” The two suddenly jumped away from each other like popcorn, as if they might be able to pretend that they hadn’t been seen. Alex only stood there with her hands on her hips, waiting for her new busty roommate to respond.

“I…uh…” mumbled the boy. He wasn’t bad looking, even Alex could admit to that. He had blonde, wavy hair and eyes as blue as the sea. It was obvious that he worked out or at least played some type of sport, as his body was well toned. She could tell that he knew it, too, as his navy blue muscle tee showed off his arms. But no matter, Alex was certain that he was just like all of the pretty-haired, perfect-body boys that she knew in high school…a fourteen karat jerk.

Her new roommate, Christina, didn’t seem to be far from the sort. She was blonde as well, or rather her hair was bleached, and it reached down to her waist. Her breasts were obviously fake, since they were two sizes to big for the rest of her body, but she appeared to be proud of it. Her tube-top shirt was so low that Alex swore if the poor girl jumped a bit too high, her breasts might just pop out and hit someone in the face.

“Okay, so who are you then, and why are you still in here?” Alex asked the boy after a moment’s pause. He glanced at Christina, then back at Alex.

“Why I’m here is my own business. And why might you be hanging around?”

“Well, considering I just sat cramped on a bus for five hours next to a sweaty, smelly man that was so fat I could have popped him with a pin, I think I would like to relax in my own dorm room.” A confused look came across the boy’s face, and he motioned for Christina to leave. Now Alex was a bit confused, why would some random guy make her roommate leave?

“Are you sure you have the right room?”

“No, actually, I just like walking in on people ‘getting it on’ and then kicking them out so I can steal their rooms.” The boy gave her a strange look. Was he actually taking her seriously? “Of course I have the right room! I’m not an idiot! I’m in Beatty Hall, and this is room 815, is it not?”

“Yeah.”

“Well then, I think it’s time for you to leave.”

“Why don’t you say that to my roommate when he shows up.”

“Oh and who might that be?” Alex crossed her arms. This was the last thing she needed on her first day at college.

“Alex Jameson.”