TWICE GIVEN, TWICE LOVED

FIRST DAY OF COLLEGE

So, that’s how it all unfolded.

It was a winsome Wednesday morning. Or was it Thursday? I couldn’t recollect. I was not up to par when it came to remembering days. The only day I loved was Saturday. The reason was obvious: it’s a holiday, and the day after it is also a day off. Hence, an entire relaxation day with no care about returning to routine life the next day.

“I’m gonna be late! Oh, I’m gonna be late!” My feet hopped on the ground as my hands struggled to put my boots on. It was the first day of college, and I was going to be late.

My five fingers grabbed a slice of toast, shoving it into my mouth a few seconds later. A jacket was flung over my shoulder while one hand gripped my bag tightly, and the other held the keys to my apartment and my car.

Closing the door of my apartment, I locked it and ran to my car. Within a few minutes, I was at my college. I was sure one day I would end up behind bars for my fantabulous driving skills. Peering in the mirror, I groaned. My hair was in disarray, and I looked like a new experiment from an insane fashion show designer.

I still had fifteen minutes to sort out my appearance. Combing my hair, I reapplied my makeup, put on my black jacket, and fixed my white knee-length sundress underneath it. My new exorbitant black knee-length boots looked amazing.

Ufffff, money speaks, baby.

“Amelia, get ready soon. Stop thinking about money at this time too.” Sofia, my wolf, snapped at me in my mind.

I was not a werewolf. Both my parents were human. But still, I had a wolf. Confused, right? I was too when I came into this world.

Aviva—

The world where only humans exist. No other species involved—no werewolves, no vampires, no hunters, no witches and wizards, no fairies, no phoenixes, no mermaids or mermen—absolutely nothing. This world is boring compared to the other six worlds but is still a lot more peaceful.

My fingers ran through my long platinum silver hair as I looked out of the car window at the clear blue sky.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m getting ready. Don’t be so restless.” I sped up my movements.

Currently, I was in my second life. I died in my first life when I was a werewolf. Then I was reborn into another world.

Everything about me changed: my appearance, my identity, my status, my personality. But two things stayed with me and followed me here.

First, my memories. The horrible ones, the terrifying ones, the sweet ones, and the most heartbreaking ones. From the day I was born in that world to this present day, every single one of them was stored in my brain.

I didn’t want them. But who cared when the Gods wanted to play a sick joke on you?

Second was my wolf, Sofia. I adored her the most in my entire existence. She was the best wolf anyone could get. But how did she follow me into this world? I didn’t know, and neither did Sofia.

I accepted that I was born to be abnormal.

Finishing off the retouch, a satisfied sigh escaped my lips. I looked presentable now. I was never a natural beauty who didn’t need makeup at all, but a little bit of makeup helped me ace it. Needless to say, not too much of it. It made me look ready for Halloween on a regular day.

Yeah, I had tried everything with makeup in my teenage years when I was absolutely obsessed with dressing up and doing makeup. Some looks were really not something to be proud of; they were totally cringeworthy.

Red Alert! Only five minutes were left. No, not for reporting. Exiting the car, I inhaled a deep breath. Many students were there—some with their lovers, while some were with their friends. Where was my lover?

Some students passed by me, offering smiles or saying hellos. I recalled they attended the same high school as I did. Some seniors greeted me as well. Quite honestly, I couldn’t recollect most of their names.

Just as I wondered about it, my hands landed on the hood of the car as I barely managed to save my engaging and charming face from banging into it. “Ughh…” A certain crazy person had jumped on my back.

“Amelia, I missed you!” the blonde on top of me shouted in my ear.

“Devil! My eardrums! Get off me, Crystal.”

She huffed and let me go. I patted my chest dramatically, then turned around to gape at her. We both squealed loudly and hugged each other again.

“It’s been so long,” we both hollered. Not really. We just met the day before yesterday.

We broke our hug after a moment. My eyes traveled around, noticing how everyone was gazing at us. Not literally everyone—some were busy making out or lost in their own world. But most of them had their attention on us. As usual, wherever we went, we garnered attention without even doing anything. Or maybe we did, but we never noticed.

Ignoring everyone, I looked at my best friend. “Let’s go; we only have fifteen minutes to report.” Yup, I had too much time on my hands earlier to get ready peacefully and report on time, but now I had no time to meet my bestie and hold everyone’s attention. Well, we relished attention, and no one could really judge us for that.

She held my hand and dragged me to the gate. “Yesss, let’s go.” Sometimes, I wondered how much sugar Aunt ate when she was pregnant with Crystal.

Her cheerful, bubbly personality was like the first rays of sunlight falling on flowers laden with morning dew. That’s what I liked about her. She was someone who could change other people’s bad moods to good just by her presence.

Her strawberry blonde hair bounced as she continued her rabbit hop to our destination. The leaves rustled as birds chirped around. The sun shone brightly in the sky with no dark clouds in sight. A soft breeze flowed calmly. In conclusion, the weather was good—too good that I started doubting it. How could my day be going so smoothly on such a beautiful day? That never happened before. Guess today was an exception.

Just as we were about to set our foot in the castle-like brick-red building through the gates, my hand left Crystal’s, and I bumped into a hard chest. Rubbing my head, I stretched my neck upward, my steel grey eyes meeting a pair of dark blue orbs.

Spoke too soon.

Out of everyone, it just had to be one person. Just my freakin’ bad luck. The person in front of me was—

Nicholas Rossi.

My high school senior and now my college senior. How could I forget about him? He was in the junior year of college while I was a freshman.

His long, veiny arms wrapped around my waist to prevent me from falling. “Hello, principessa. Long time no see.” His deep voice was low yet venomous, with a hint of danger.

I rolled my eyes. “No, unfortunately, it’s not a long time. You see me daily.” His penthouse was just in front of mine for hell’s sake.

He pulled me closer to his body while my hands rested on his chest. He smirked, leaning down to whisper in my ear. “I meant I hadn’t seen you since yesterday evening. I was waiting for this day for so many days, you see, when you would join this college, and I would be able to see you whenever I wanted.”

Stalker. An unhinged and demented one.

“Umm… hot,” Sofia moaned in my mind.

“Stop distracting me, Sofia!” I screeched, annoyed at her for behaving so frantically at this time.

I flinched as he kissed my ear, dragging his lips to my cheek and biting it lightly. My hands pushed against his chest as I glared at him. “Are you a dog? Why are you biting me?” I screeched in rage.

I could hear some gasps behind me and students gossiping about us. But, I cared the least. I was used to it now, just because of this damn man in front of me. He was one of the reasons why I was always in the spotlight.

Nicholas Rossi belonged to a very rich family and was sinfully handsome, tempting others to fall into his honey trap every time. We met when I shifted in front of his penthouse in the same building during my freshman year in high school, and since then, he hadn’t stopped bothering, teasing, and fighting with me.

For some unearthly reasons, he fancied picking fights with me and arguing with me. An uncanny obsession you could say. And no, he didn’t love me. How did I know that? I had known him for years now, and I knew for a fact that he didn’t love me. What bothered others was just why he couldn’t find a girl for himself. Not that he hated girls, but he rarely interacted with them. Weirdo.

He chuckled as I shoved him away from me. “Stay away from me.” Saying that, I stormed off into the building, flicking my hair back for some added dramatic effect.

Crystal ran after me, catching up and breathing heavily. “Woah, what was that? You two still argue and fight like you used to in high school?”

My feet stopped, and my eyes glared at her. “I don’t fight with him. He comes to pick a fight. He starts it.”

Crystal raised her hands, shrugging her shoulders. “Yeah, yeah. I meant that only.”

Taking a deep breath, I calmed down and continued down the hall to the office with Crystal. A polite-looking woman sat behind the desk as she peered at us with her doe-like eyes. She looked like an innocent angel.

“How can I help you, pretty girls?” she beamed at us. Seeing her smile, my mind cooled down.

“We want our schedules and locker keys,” I told her, smiling back.

“Ahh, I see. Your names, please.” She fixed her glasses, peering at the computer screen in front of her.

“It’s Amelia Rodriguez and Crystal Moretti.”

Her eyebrows raised as she gazed at us. “The precious young misses of the Rodriguez and Moretti families, I see.”

My smile faltered as I clenched my fists.

Why do I have such bad judgment skills when it comes to reading people at first glance?