A/N: this is just one of my insignificant works (post-writers block) so, guys, please let me know what you think, okay? let me know what you expect from this and what you want to happen. it really plays a big part on how this whole story will pan out. and it helps me a whole lot, too. so, review, review and review!

Chapter 1:

"Mom, everything's under control. I'm fine." I insisted for probably the nth time already and still, she didn't actually get that. She'd still argue.

I never understood why some parents (well, just mine, actually) always thought they were right. They always liked to butt into things, which annoys me almost every time, but she claims it's for my own good. Whatever happened to living your own life and learning from mistakes?

"There is nothing fine about your dorm burning down in the middle of the night." she snapped over the phone.

So what if I didn't actually own anything anymore? So what if my belongings have burned to ashes together with that forsaken dorm? So what if I didn't have a place to stay for the night? I've actually gone camping quite a number of times and I know how to survive when you pretty much don't have a lot. (This will probably be the only time I'll ever say camping is beneficial.)

"Mom, please." I almost begged. Please don't be unreasonable.

"Kenzie, you'll have to come home."

"Mom, NO!" I practically screamed over the phone.

"Well, tell me where you're staying for the night." she said as if she was trying to make a point.

"I'll find a way." I replied, trying to sound assuring.

"It's almost midnight."

"So? It's the city, mom. People don't sleep early at all."

"Kenzie, I don't think it's going to be safe wandering around the city, looking for a place to stay at night."

"Mom, I'm 17." I replied bluntly. "And I won't be the only one."

There was a silence over the other line for a moment and I was rejoicing quietly thinking she was actually considering my plans.

"Hang on, hon." She finally said. "I'll call you back."

I sighed in relief. "By that time, mom, I'd be in a room." I said, being all smug.

"Just you wait. I'll get you a better place." And with that, the line went dead.

I frowned. What was that about?

So I start to walk down the street with all that I had. A few things was all I could grab before the fire crept up to our floor.

The fire, we heard, started from the kitchen in the mess hall on the first floor. Unfortunately, the first person to notice it was a girl I knew who lived on the floor right below mine. She came in drunk and didn't think to use the fire extinguisher in a better way than just throwing it into the flames, treating it like a bonfire. But really, I don't think it was the girl's fault. She was drunk (well, yeah, being drunk was her fault) but I think it was more of the dorm's fault for not replacing that dead fire detector in the kitchen. When people who were very much sober than the other girl finally noticed the burning, it was too late to put off the fire with just water. We were all asked to evacuate the building as they called the fire department. When the firemen had come, only half of the building was saved. To me, it was a lost cause.

I sighed as I sat down on a bench at the park. The park was peaceful at night, apart from the noisy and busy city. I was considering spending the night on that park bench. It seemed comfy enough. It wouldn't be the first night I would spend under the stars. Like I said, I have gone camping before. Multiple times, even.

As I was dozing off, my phone vibrated and rang endlessly.

I took it out of my pocket and answered, with only an eye open. "What?" I lazily asked.

"I do believe I have taught you better, Kenzie Dorrison, than to answer the phone that way."

"Mom!" I quickly sat up. What a way to wake me.

"I have found a place for you to stay in the meantime."

"Really?"

"Yes. And I'm sure it would be a place that would suit you."

"Great. Where is it?"

"Mrs. Wallace was gracious enough to allow you to bunk in with her son."

My jaw instantly dropped and my eyes grew wide. "What?" I snapped.

"You remember that nice boy who lived in that pretty little house down at the end of the road?"

You mean, the kid who lived in that mansion on top of the hill? Oh yeah, I remember him, alright.

Mason Charles Wallace IV.

Mac, he wanted everyone to call him. And yes, he had his share in the limelight—what with his money and fancy cars and looks that everyone thought could kill. And oh, do I have to mention how his ass never failed to top the hot lists?

But to me, apart from that whole façade, Mac Wallace was just a major jerk who depended a lot on his wealth. But who could blame him? I mean, I've seen the kid and I know him (we had the same classes all throughout high school ever since freshman year) so, for someone to know at such a young age that he was the heir to his daddy's booming multi-million dollar company, well, we can't really blame him for being big-headed about it. It's human nature to be that way. But despite this, I can't help but hate him for it.

So, I'm sorry, but I don't think I'd be able to live with him.

Besides, has my mother gone insane? Or was she just desperate? If she was desperate, then for what reason was it, really? For my non-existent love life or for me to have a place to live? I mean, my mother, you should know, is probably the most conservative person you would ever meet, which is precisely the reason why I think she doesn't belong in this century. She would never—even if I had no place to live—allow me to live with a boy, not without her in the house monitoring our every move.

But even though she is this way—conservative, I mean—she tries nonstop to make me hook up with other boys because she is fully aware of the absence of boyfriends in my teenage life, which she thinks, for some reason, is abnormal for me. But I guess she's just trying to make me mingle with other people since I usually prefer to stick with the people I know really well, like my best friend, whom I've known since I was four years old, Chelsea. But I don't think it's bad to be the way I am, right? I mean, there are other people who are worse than I am. That is, if I really am bad at being with other people.

So bunking in with Mac Wallace even if he lived in a high-end suite at a high-end pension house or even if it was 'for the meantime' until I find a place to live, well, that plan just barely made it to my agenda.

"No." I replied, frowning.

"Oh. Well, he was a very pleasing boy, Kenzie. He had nice green eyes and very brunette hair. I would think he is your type. He had a very good build. He used to drive very impressive cars. I don't think he was unnoticeable at all." Mom said.

"No, mom. I didn't mean that. I mean, I do remember him, I just don't want to bunk in with him." I said.

"Kenzie Dorrison, I will not allow you to stay at the park and sleep on a dirty park bench tonight, do you understand me?"

"Mom," I sighed, rolling my eyes. I was really getting tired of this. "Mom, I'm 17. I'm turning eighteen in five months." Sometimes I think my mother forgets how old I am. I think it's the widow's syndrome. I know for a fact that my mother fears being alone ever since my father died suddenly just over a couple of years ago. And now, with me in college, in the city, hours away from suburbia, she can't help but check in on me and treat me like a kid every now and then. I completely understand her, I do. It just gets exhausting after some time.

"He'll be fetching you. Expect him in half an hour."

"Mom!" I whined.

"Kenzie." She warned.

"Mom, I can handle this." I tried once more.

"You stay with him or I'm making you come back home."

She was being unreasonable and I hated that.

"Okay." I gave in after a couple of minutes of weighing the pros and cons of what I was getting myself into. The cons outweighed the pros because honestly, I couldn't think of any other pros except that it was a way for me to stay in college in the city. And the last thing I wanted to happen was to end up in that little bubble that I tried so hard to get out of. "Fine. I'll stay with him."

"Thank you, hon." She replied. "Now, you take care." And she clicks off the phone.

And I start thrashing about like an enraged two year old with a great amount of lack of sleep.

This was not healthy at all. And so is living with Mac Wallace.

"Get in." he said after he'd rolled his window down. I wondered how he found me. How would he have guessed I was at the park? And how would he have known it was me? I doubt he ever gave notice to me during high school.

I stared at him, not moving from the bench—the bench I so desperately wanted to live on instead of being at his place.

"Are you coming or what?" he asked, a tinge of impatience clear in his voice. I cocked my head back, astonished. How could he be so rude?

Two can play that game, I thought. I crossed my leg over the other and crossed my arms on my chest. I smiled, implying my being stubborn.

He exhaled deeply. He looked around the place and shrugged.

"Well, then, if you—Casey, was it?—want to stay here in this place, that's fine by me. I mean, I could care less about a loose ax murderer who could come here by any chance and—…well, I'll let you finish that story."

I frowned.

He chuckled, probably at my expression. "What? You didn't hear the news?"

"What news?" I muttered.

"About the ax murder that got loose!"

Was he pulling my leg?

"I wasn't born yesterday." I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

"Sure you weren't. But apparently, you just missed the news about some man out on the loose as dangerous as the chainsaw massacre!" he laughed. I didn't find it amusing at all.

"So, you're really staying here?" he asked, looking a bit impressed.

I looked around the park. It didn't look too scary. And what were the odds of that ax dude dropping by that night?

"Fine then." Winking, he revved up his engine, the engine of that sweet red hot vintage mustang of his.

A gust of cold wind blew over and the hair at the back of my neck stood. I froze, my mouth started to quiver.

He looked at me before backing up.

Then he snickered.

"You look terrified, my lady." He teased.

I swallowed hard.

He won. Undeniably, he had.

I stood up and opened the door of the passenger seat.

He smirked at me as I sat down.

I sighed irritably as he drove away. I couldn't let him get away with this. Next time, I was gonna win.

"It's Kenzie, by the way."