+Chapter One+

“If I could, I would,
do it again, I’d do it again.
I wouldn’t change a thing.

We have love, and lose love,
and do it again, we do it again.
But that’s how we are…
We come back just- to throw it all away…

Tell me it’s over,
so we can do it all again.
I’m addicted to this elevator love.
Tell me you miss me,
and I will come back for one more day.
I’m addicted to this elevator love.
Elevator love…”

A stereo, sitting on a long, glass table, had music blaring from its speakers. Beside the table, which was sitting underneath a large verandah at the back of a mansion, was a large, blue, rectangular pool. A woman, looking to be in her early twenties, lay on an inflatable lilo in the pool, her long, blonde hair tied back into a high ponytail. Clad in only a pink and white bikini and with a pair of dark sunglasses over her eyes, she lay there quietly, not making a single sound.

“You know Kris, you could say something to me once in a while,” a feminine voice stated over the loud music, causing the blonde female to let out a sigh. “I am your best friend you know.”
Giving a smile, the woman known as Kris sat up on the inflatable, taking off her sunglasses as she did so. Sitting on the edge of the pool, with her feet in the water, was another blonde, clad only in a blue bikini.
“You didn’t have to come around, but I need you to cover for me,” Kris replied, watching as her blonde friend put a pair of sunglasses over her eyes.

“Right- this ‘top secret’ job we’re talking about,” the other woman replied, giving a smirk as she began to move her legs, causing water to fly. “But seriously Kristin… why don’t you just tell your dad about it? It’s a job for fuck’s sake.”
Kristin nodded her head in agreement, before letting out another sigh. “Well, Miss. Marissa Anne Bilson, you should know my dad by now. No mingling with the ‘poor’ people,” she replied, all the while climbing off the inflatable and landing in the water.

Marissa watched as her best friend waded through the water towards her, careful not to get her hair wet. Rolling her eyes, Marissa pulled herself to her feet and was joined by Kristin outside the pool and underneath the verandah.
“Well, your dad’s rules suck ass,” Marissa said finally, as the two women sat down at the table.
Kristin flicked a switch on the stereo, causing the music to stop and turn off. Looking over at her best friend, she made eye contact with her. “Believe me, I know,” she said, her hazel green eyes moving to look up at her house.

Marissa gave a smile, reaching forward and grabbing a can off the surface of the table. Being friends with Kristin since she moved over from Australia just before high school, the two had been inseparable, even all through high school. They knew everything about each other, and never kept secrets from the other, no matter how bad or how embarrassing it appeared to be.

“Remember the time when you asked Luke to go with you to the prom?” Marissa questioned, taking a sip of her drink as she looked over at Kristin, “and you ended up sneaking him into your room after the after party? You so thought your life was over when your parents found out.”

Kristin couldn’t help but smile at the memory, before she put her sunglasses back over her eyes. “Yeah, and I wasn’t allowed to see you outside of school for a month,” she answered, before the two women broke out into laughter.
“You know, your birthday’s coming up soon. Are you gonna have a party? 'cos if you do, I already have everything planned out- the theme and everything,” Marissa stated, leaning back into the chair she was sitting on.

“You’ve already planned my birthday?” Kristin asked somewhat surprised, as she looked over at her friend as she pulled the hair tie from her hair. “Riss… my birthday isn’t for another month. I don’t even know what I want.”

Marissa gave another laugh before taking another sip of her drink. “Well, think of something before you birthday comes up, because I’ve got a lot of invites to make and handout. It’ll be the party of the year.”
“Sure,” Kristin replied with sarcasm, just as a beeping sound was heard. Letting out a sigh, Kristin leaned over the table and grabbed her cell phone, which was the source of the sound. Flipping the lid up, she then pressed a button, causing the sound to stop.
“Is that a reminder?” asked Marissa, watching as her blonde hair friend rose to her feet.

Nodding her head in agreement, Kristin began to collect her belongings. “I have to get ready for work,” she stated, turning to Marissa as she also got to her feet. “All you have to do is tell my dad that I’m spending the day with you- as simple as that.”

.X.

Even though Kristin wasn’t allowed to get a job or mingle with ‘poor’ people as her father put it, she went against his wishes and still got one, working as a maid at the Long Beach Hotel. Without her father knowing, it was a good way for Kristin to not only be seen as a ‘normal’ person, but she also got to meet new people along the way, as well as be treated lower than what she usually would in the environment she experienced back at home.

Kristin entered the lobby of the hotel, having just changed from her usual attire of clothes and into a blue, button down dress, with a white apron tied around her waist. Even though it wasn’t the most fashionable or flattering, it gave Kristin an insight on what it was like to have a job. With a name tag pinned to her left breast, her long, blonde hair once again tied back into a high ponytail and wearing a pair of white shoes, Kristin was ready to tackle her job, which she only had to do three times a week. With that amount of time being spent on the job, none of her parents never got the idea of her getting up to no good, so it all worked out in the end for her.

Lucky for her, no new visitors were staying at the hotel, which meant she didn’t have to attend to odd jobs around the place. Pulling a pin from the single pocket on the side of her dress, Kristin placed it into her mouth all the while pulling a part of her hair back, before clipping it into place with the pin. Having been a maid at the hotel for almost six months or so, Kristin had managed to make a couple of friends with the other maids, as well as a few of the butlers. Lucky for her, none of her new friends knew about her life besides the one they saw her have, which was when she was working as a maid alongside them.

“Hey Suzie,” Kristin greeted happily, as she passed by a brunette on her way to the elevator on the other side of the lobby, “did you see Jordan the other night?”
“You betcha,” the brunette replied, giving the blonde woman a smile as she continued on her way in the opposing direction. “I’ll talk to ya latter Krissy!”
Smiling inwardly, Kristin stopped at the closed elevator doors and pressed the button pointing up, waiting patiently for it to arrive. Part of her early afternoon job was to clean up the rooms after the tenants, all the while trying to stay on time.

Waiting for only a couple of minutes, the elevator finally arrived, the two metal doors opening up. Stepping inside the elevator, Kristin then pressed the button for the third level of the hotel, causing the doors to close and the elevator to shift.

The only person in the world that knew about her job was her best friend Marissa Bilson, who Kristin had been best friends since she had moved with her family over from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Growing up, she remained with the Australian accent, and people could easily tell where she was from and that she was different. Not that she cared- she loved being different, and loved America as much as she loved Australia, except their way of life was different to her old way of life.

Feeling the elevator stop moving and hearing the ‘ding’ sound, Kristin watched as the two doors opened, revealing a long, red carpeted hallway beyond. Even though she was completely spoiled and got everything she ever wanted, Kristin hardly ever found happiness with whatever she got, and a lot of people saw it as: ‘trouble in paradise.’ Even though they were partially correct, Kristin never saw it that way. She just saw it as a way of learning new things about herself, hence why she began to rebel against her father’s wishes and got a job in the first place.

“What the hell are ya doing here Kristy?” a croaky voice asked, causing Kristin to break out of her thoughts and step out of the elevator, which closed behind her. A woman, looking to be in her forties, stood in the hallway in front of her, a lit cigarette in her fingers. She was leaning against a cart, which had a variety of items sitting on it. One of the main rules of the hotel was that it was a smoke-free zone, with the only place where people could smoke was downstairs where the maids got changed each day, or outside.

Kristin approached the woman, who only eyed her. “We swapped floors the other day,” she answered simply, her hazel green eyes watching the lady before her. “You’ve got the fifth floor today Marg.”

Marg placed the cigarette to her lips and inhaled, before letting out a puff of smoke, causing Kristin to scrunch her nose up in distaste. Kristin hated those who smoked, and the smell for that matter. She had ever since she had been a child, and everyone knew that she didn’t like it, even Marg. She only did it sometimes to piss Kristin off, even though they were good friends.

“I thought that was next week,” the older woman said eventually, taking another puff of her cigarette as she looked at Kristin, who was pulling things off the top of the cart that she was leaning against.

Kristin shook her head, making sure everything was there. And sure enough, everything was. Thank god for that. There was no way she was going to go back down to grab a duster or something like that. “You promised me this week, Marg, and I know you’re one of those people who can hold to their promise,” Kristin stated, glancing over her shoulder to look at Marg. “Besides which, there’s hardly anyone on my floor, so you’ll finish up early today.”

Marg cocked an eyebrow at Kristin. Why didn’t she want to finish up early? “Why don’t you wanna finish up early?” she asked, tossing her cigarette to the ground, before stepping on it. “I thought you, out of all people, would like to finish up early on a daily basis.”
Kristin gave a sigh as she turned around and looked Marg in the eyes. “I’m bored,” she said simply, shrugging her shoulders. “I wanna do something- I’m sick of having nothing to do all the time. I don’t care if I have to clean up after slobs- I just wanna be useful.”

Grabbing her cigarette butt off the floor, all Marg could do was shrug her shoulders. “Well, we did make a promise, so you can have this floor for the week. But seriously girl… you gotta do something with your life. You’re young and gorgeous. This is no way to spend your day when you’ve got your whole life ahead of you.”

With that being said, Kristin had the urge to roll her eyes and tell Marg that she was completely wrong about her, but she fought the actions back, knowing that something bad would happen if she let loose. She hated holding her tongue for any reason, and doing what she was doing now, she felt like she was living a lie, not telling those she worked with about her real life- the one she lived when she wasn’t working as a maid at the Long Beach Hotel.

“I’ll see ya later, okay sweety? Have fun while you still can- you probably won’t be done here until five o’clock tonight,” Marg continued, before she winked at the younger woman.
“Alright,” Kristin replied, watching as Marg began to head down the hallway and in the direction of the elevator. “Have fun on your break!” she continued, just as Marg stepped inside the elevator and the two metal doors closed in front of her.

With Marg now out of sight, Kristin let out a sigh of relief. Even though she was good friends with the older woman and appreciated her highly, Marg did have her moments where Kristin just wanted to knock her unconscious. But then again, she wouldn’t be where she was today with her job. It had been Marg who had helped her learn the basics, and then move on up, even though maids weren’t ranked or anything.

Turning around, Kristin grabbed the large handle on the cart, before she began to push it down the hallway. From what she could gather from where Marg had been standing, she had already cleaned up a few of the rooms, and was a quarter of her way through the rooms on the floor.
Stopping in front of a door marked 205, Kristin let go of the cart and left it standing on the other side of the hall, so then whoever had bought out the room could get in and out, and so then other people could pass through safely.

“Housekeeping,” Kristin stated, as she lifted her hand and rapped her knuckles against the wooden surface of the door. Not getting a response, Kristin pulled a key card from the pocket in her dress and swiped it through the lock, causing the door to unlock. Placing the card back into her pocket, Kristin then turned the handle and opened the door wide, before entering the room beyond.

She had to admit- the hotel was lovely and was built in the perfect spot. With beautiful views of the beach and shops below, it was simply perfect. Except, the hotel she now stood in wasn’t so perfect. Clothes were scattered everywhere from the floor to the furniture, and empty beer bottles sat on the table near the kitchenette. What a way to live.

Giving a sigh, Kristin closed the door behind her and moved into the kitchenette, where she opened the cupboard below the sink and pulled out two black garbage bags. Why couldn’t people simply put things in the bin and keep things neat and tidy? It wasn’t such a difficult thing to do.

Moving out of the kitchenette and approaching the table, Kristin grabbed the empty beer bottles and placed them inside one of the garbage bags, not caring if they broke or shattered inside the bag. Either way- they were going to go into the bin.
With all the bottles now in the garbage bag, Kristin tied the top of it into a large knot, before placing the bag against the wall beside the door, so then she could grab it on her way out. Next, she had to pick up all the clothes lying on the floor and get them washed, whether they were dirty or not.

Making her way around the room, Kristin began to pick up the discarded clothes and tossed them carelessly into the bag. There was no way she was going to damage them by tossing them into the bag, so it didn’t bother her if she was careful or not.

With all the clothes now picked up from the floor, Kristin tied the top of the bag off as well, before tossing it against the wall, alongside the bag full of empty beer bottles. All she had to do now was to make the bed, and check if the bathroom was in order. If the bathroom was clean, then Kristin could easily move onto the next room, without having to really worry about the hygiene of the room.

Moving in the direction of the king size bed on the other side of the hotel room, Kristin found that it was more messy than the entire room itself.
“For godsakes…” she said to herself, as she approached the side of the bed, before turning and opening the curtains, revealing a balcony on the other side, “people are such pigs…”

With that being said, Kristin heard the sound of a door closing behind her, which caused her to whirl around. A man, looking to be in his mid-twenties, now stood before her on the other side of the bed, in a pair of badly ripped and faded jeans and a white wifebeater, revealing tattoos on both his arms and upper body. The word ‘KING’ was written in large letters over the top of his chest, a star was on the inside of his right bicep, and a ring of thorns was around his left wrist. He had dark brown hair which was slightly curled at the back, and he had a slight fringe, with the bangs out of his eyes and was parted off to the right of his head. His chocolate brown eyes were set firmly on Kristin, and she felt like she was caught in a very strong grasp that she couldn’t escape from.

“You didn’t answer me when I knocked,” Kristin said finally, avoiding the man’s gaze as she moved away from the window, “so I just assumed no one was in here.”
“I didn’t think I had to answer,” the man replied, moving away from the door and in the direction of where Kristin had just come from. Moving into the kitchenette, he then pulled out a bottle of beer from the small fridge, before heading in the direction of the balcony away from the bed. He then sat down on the couch nearby, a large, widescreen television sitting in front of him.

“Well, it’d help if you answered,” Kristin continued, as she began to make the bed. “I could accidentally throw out something that means something to you.”
The man simply rolled his eyes at Kristin’s comment, before he turned to look at her, opening the bottle as he did so. “And who are you to tell me what to do?” he asked, watching as she placed the edges of the blankets underneath the mattress. “I’m the one who’s staying here.”

Kristin glanced over in the man’s direction. He did have a point. “It makes my job easier,” she said, placing pillows onto the bed. “But… some people like you don’t even bother to answer the door. We’re human beings too you know.”

The man watched as Kristin finished making the bed, before she turned to him. “You don’t have to get so worked up about it,” he stated simply, his eyes connecting with her own. There was a slight pause, before he changed the subject. “Have you finished yet?”

Kristin was now becoming annoyed with the man. “Does it look like it?” she asked, annoyance clearly obvious in her voice. This only caused the man to chuckle as Kristin disappeared inside the room he had walked out from.

Turning around, the man reached forward and grabbed the remote control off the coffee table in front of him, before turning on the television. With the television now on, he then put his feet up onto the table as if it were a foot rest, before taking a swig of his beer.
“You could show some respect when someone comes in to clean up your mess,” Kristin stated, as she re-entered the room. “You don’t see me choosing to do this.” Well, that wasn’t entirely the truth. Kristin had chosen to take up the job.

The man simply shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever.”
Kristin gave a sigh, not knowing what to say or do. “What’s your name?”
The man turned away from the television screen and looked up at Kristin, taking another swig of his beer. “Why do you need to know?” he asked, his eyes once again making contact with her own.
“My name’s Kristin,” Kristin introduced, completely ignoring the man’s question.

“I can read,” he replied simply, before he once again turned away from Kristin and turned back to the television. He then crossed his arms over his chest, before a couple of words left his mouth. “Chase Rischetelli.” He then looked up at Kristin. “And your last name?”

“Coletti,” Kristin answered, giving him a weak smile. Turning away, she then headed in the direction of the door, upon hearing a cell phone go off somewhere in the hotel room. Without saying a word, Kristin grabbed the two garbage bags leaning against the wall, before opening the door wide.

As soon as Kristin had disappeared out of the room and out of earshot, Chase ran a hand over his face, before leaning forward and placing the beer bottle down onto the coffee table in front of him.
“Fuck off,” he mumbled, taking his feet off the table before rising to his feet. Approaching the table where the empty beer bottles had been earlier, Chase picked up his cell phone, sliding it open and opening the text message he had just received.

Ur 1 fucked up bastard.
I want my money by noon 2moz.
U no wat happens if I dont get it.
meet me at the pier.

Chase slid his phone shut, cursing under his breath as he carelessly tossed his phone onto the couch upon turning around. Grabbing his bottle of beer and taking yet another swig, he ran his hand over his face once again, before leaving it over his mouth. Where the hell was he going to get two thousand bucks from in just over twelve hours? Who had that sort of money?

.X.

Kristin walked up the long drive of her house, a sportsbag slung over one of her shoulders. Having changed after finishing up for the day, Kristin had changed back into the clothes that she had worn there- a pair of blue short shorts, and a blue tank top, which had writing on the back. A pair of thongs were on her feet and her hair was sitting on her shoulders, stopping just below her breasts. No one would have guessed that she had been working, considering she fixed herself up before making the short journey home. The Long Beach Hotel was a good fifteen to twenty minute drive from her house, so it was unlikely if she ever saw her parents or siblings in the area.

Kristin moved onto the front porch, stopping to pull the keys from one of the pockets of her sportsbag. Withdrawing the keys from one of the pockets, Kristin looked up and watched as one of the glass, double doors opened wide, revealing a woman a couple of years older than herself. Clad in only a purple bikini top and a mini skirt, it was obvious the woman had been sunbaking or had been out the back somewhere.

“Hey Kris,” the woman greeted, stepping back, allowing Kristin to enter, “how’s Riss?”
Kristin shut the door behind her, locking it with the keys. “She’s good,” she replied, looking up at the brunette standing before her. “Where’s dad?”
The brunette simply shrugged her shoulders, before tying her hair up into a high ponytail. “Wouldn’t have a clue. He’s been out ever since you left with Marissa.”
Kristin cocked an eyebrow as she looked at the brunette with her hazel green eyes, just as a feminine voice echoed throughout the entire house.
“Jenna! You’ve got a phone call!”
The brunette standing in front of Kristin gave a sigh, before looking at her with her blue eyes. “I better get that. Can’t let whoever’s on the other end hang on for too long.”

With that being said, Kristin watched as Jenna turned around and continued on her way through the entrance hall, before walking down a hallway and entering a large beyond. From where Kristin was standing, she could see straight out the back, considering the hallway led straight to the kitchen and eating area, which was one of the many entrances to the back.

Shrugging her shoulders, Kristin pulled off her thongs before crossing the entrance hall, except on the other side, where she then ascended the stairs. Luckily for Kristin, Marissa had said that she’d wash her uniform so then her parents would never find out about her job. With Marissa doing that job, Kristin paid her ten bucks everytime the dress got a wash.

Arriving at the top of the stairs, Kristin now stood at the end of a long hallway, many doors and rooms leading off it. Upon moving to Long Beach from Melbourne, Australia, Kristin got the first choice of the rooms, and chose the room at the end of the hallway as her own.

Giving a sigh of relief, Kristin shouldered her bag before walking down the hallway, passing by both her sisters rooms, two bathrooms, two toilets and a closet. Once arriving at her room, Kristin opened up the door, the door hitting the wall as she entered. The door was on the right side of the room when you entered, with a large wardrobe to left of it, with sliding, mirrored doors.

Kristin’s room was huge, with a balcony overlooking the pool and backyard below, directly on the other side of the room of where the door was. In the centre of the room, against the wall, was a queen size bed, on the same side of where the wardrobe was.

In front of the door, at the end of Kristin’s bed, was a large desk, with a plasma screen sitting on it, as well as a stereo, DVD player, VCR and monitor of a computer. On the right side of Kristin’s bed, near the wardrobe, was a bedside table, with an alarm clock and lamp sitting on top of it. On the left of Kristin’s bed was a vanity, a mirror sitting above it. Jewellery and makeup was scattered across the vanity’s surface, as were bottles of perfume, hair products, deodorant and hair-ties.

Kristin knew that over time, her family would eventually become suspicious of where she was every Monday, Wednesday and Friday throughout the day. All they had to do was call Marissa’s home phone and ask if they could talk to Kristin or not. That would be hell for Kristin, considering she would be banned from doing a lot of things with Marissa, and on top of that, would be grounded for a very, very long time.

Dropping her bag to the floor, Kristin jumped onto her bed, grabbed a cordless phone off her beside table as she did so. Dialling a few numbers into it, she then held the phone up to her ear, waiting patiently for an answer.

“Hello?” a groggy, feminine voice on the other end of the line asked.
Kristin gave a smile upon hearing the voice. “Hey Riss,” she greeted her best friend, rolling onto her stomach and propping her face up with her hands, “did my parents ring up your place?”
Marissa gave a yawn, running a hand through her messy blonde hair. “Nah, I’ve been home all this time. How was work?”
Kristin couldn’t help but smile once again. So she had only met him once and only briefly, but hey- he had left an impression on her!
Not getting a reply, Marissa cocked an eyebrow, before giving another yawn. “As boring as every other week?”

Kristin shook her head. “As if!” she exclaimed, the smile still adorning her lips. “I was working on another floor today- I swapped with Marg for this week and oh my god… she never told me that this really hot guy was staying in one of the rooms she had to clean up!”

With this being said, Marissa fully woke up, and she felt almost as excited as Kristin did, even though she didn’t have a clue as to who she was talking about. “Really!? You so gotta spill Kris!” the other blonde exclaimed excitedly, as jumped up and down a couple of times on the couch she was sitting on. “Is he hot!?”

“Oh my god yes!” Kristin replied, sitting up as she said this. “Don’t ask me how long he’s staying here for- but seriously… he’s so hot!”
Marissa couldn’t help but give a smile on the other end of the phone, but as soon as something else came to mind, the smile immediately disappeared. “And what about Brady? Are you gonna tell him about this guy that you find oh-so hot?”

Brady Ablett was Kristin’s boyfriend- a keen surfer who she had met in high school. The two had been together since their second last year of high school, and they’d been together ever since, even though Brady had caused some problems for Kristin in the past.

Kristin simply shrugged her shoulders, not really caring what her boyfriend thought of it. “I’m not gonna to tell him about it,” she answered truthfully, rolling onto her back, her head hitting her pillow. “Why should it affect him anyway? It’s not like I have the hots for this guy- I’ve only seen him once, and I’m probably only gonna see him two more times before he leaves and goes elsewhere.”

Marissa let out a sigh, placing a hand on top of her head. “I dunno about that. Does this guy have tattoos and look like he’s Italian or something?” she asked, “and has really dark hair and stands at about six feet or something along those lines?”

Kristin cocked an eyebrow- he fitted her description almost perfectly! “Uh- yeah. Do you know who he is? I mean- I know his name and all, but do you what he does?”
Marissa once again shook her head. “I wouldn’t have a clue- but I’ve seen him hang around with Darc.”
“Darcy’s been hanging out with him?” Kristin asked, quite surprised.

Darcy Bennett was Marissa’s ex-boyfriend. Even though the two had broken up quite messily a few years back, the two, along with Kristin, had been best friends, and the three couldn’t be separated, along with another guy named Kayne Stewart.

“Yeah. Apparently that guy’s been here for almost over two months now,” Marissa continued, twirling a lock of her blonde hair around one of her fingers.
“And how do you know all this?” Kristin questioned, a little curious as to how her best friend knew all of this information.
Marissa simply shrugged her shoulders, before she looked at her fingernails. “I ran into Darcy the other day. Apparently the guy’s had a rough life.”

Kristin really didn’t know what to say to that. She could probably ask Chase a few things when she saw him on her next shift, which was in a couple of days from now. “I’ll probably ask him a couple of things when I see him on Wednesday,” she said finally, letting out a sigh.

Marissa nodded her head in agreement. “So…” she began, a smirk playing across her lips, “what’s this guy’s name?”
“Chase,” Kristin answered, a smirk also appearing on her own, “but anyway, can you do me a favour? Don’t tell Brady anything about Chase- he’ll go to any length to stop me seeing him- even though I’ll probably only see him two more times in my entire life.”

Marissa nodded her head once again. “Sure- are you still up to going down to the beach tomorrow? You know, me, you, Brady, Darcy, Kayne and the others?”
Kristin gave a smile. “You know I will you idiot!” she exclaimed jokingly. Marissa and Kristin always called each other names, even though they never meant any of it.
“Good. I’ll see ya then, okay? I’ve gotta do a few things before I go out tonight. See ya tomorrow Kristy.”

With that being said, Marissa hung up on Kristin, not giving the blonde time to say goodbye. Marissa had been like that almost her entire life. Whenever she was on the phone to someone, she was always the first to end a conversation and hang up. She despised conversation that drawled on and went too long. Kristin, on the other hand, could never get off the phone. Sometimes she spent two to three hours at one time.

Kristin tossed the cordless phone in front of her, where it landed on the end of her bed. There was something about Chase that intrigued her- maybe it was because he was the exact opposite of the males in Long Beach- and also her boyfriend. Even though she had only met the man once, and for only an hour or less, there was just something about him.

“Kristin!” a voice called, causing the blonde haired woman to snap out of her thoughts. “We’re going out for dinner at seven thirty! Hurry up and get ready so then we can get there on time!”

Kristin was one of those people who took forever to get dressed- she loved to make herself look almost perfect, even though there was no such thing as perfection. She always wanted to make herself look presentable, no matter where she went. And another thing- it was the first time in six months that her older sister Jenna was home from Miami.

“Okay!” Kristin called back, before she grabbed the pillow sitting beside her, and placed it over her face. From now on, she knew her life was just about to get a lot more harder.

.X.

Chase let out a groan, sunlight hitting him square in the face through the windows. He then placed his arm over his eyes, even though he was now waking up when he didn’t want to. Rolling over and onto his side, he watched as the digital clock sitting on the bedside table switched over. 10:30am. Why did he have to be up so early? He rolled over onto his back, the sheets falling from his naked upper body and resting on his hips. When he had been younger, he used to run away from home, and somehow became fascinated with getting tattoos- and now it was more of a hobby. At this current moment in time, he had five- the word KING being written on his upper chest, and just below his collarbones. A star was on the inside of his right bicep, a ring of thorns was around his left wrist, a small pair of wings were in the middle of his upper back, and a dragon was on the back of his right shoulder blade, beside the set of wings.

Of course he planned on getting more tattoos, but he didn’t know where to put the next one- he just didn’t want the artwork to look crowded. Maybe the next one would be on his foot or something.

Letting out another groan, Chase sat up, before holding his head in his hands, thinking of what the new day would bring him. He didn’t have to wonder- he knew what was going to happen. He owed someone money, and he knew he’d be in trouble for not having in an hour and half. All he could really do now was meet with the guy, hold his own and then somehow try and get his money as soon as possible.

Chase pulled his head from his hands, and looked up, his chocolate brown eyes looking out the balcony window. His brief moment of silence was soon interrupted by the sound of his cell phone ringing, but he couldn’t be bothered to get up and answer it. He didn’t have to wonder who it was- his guess would probably be ninety nine percent correct. “Son of a bitch…” he mumbled, as he waited for his phone to stop ringing. From this moment on, he knew that his life was about to get a lot more harder.