Tormented Love

Chapter 1: A Christmas Miracle

"Annalise, we need to leave or you are going to be late for school!" My mother called upstairs. I took one more look at my outfit then grabbed my phone on my way out of my room.

My mom was waiting for me in the car. It was quiet for the first minute of our drive until mom broke the silence. "Ready for your last day of school before winter break?"

I nodded quietly as I watched my mom drive. She was still in her scrubs from working the night shift at the hospital. My mom yawned and I noticed the dark rings around her eyes. Her long brown hair was in it's usual messy bun, however, after a long night, it was starting to fall out. Everything about me resembles my mother. Same brown hair and light pink lips. The only thing that was different between us was our eyes. My mom's eyes were a deep blue color, but mine were golden hazel.

When I was a few months old, my father died when he got hit by a drunk teenager going ninety on the highway. The teenager survived with a lot of broken bones and a concussion, but my father wasn't as lucky. The coroner said that he died on impact and didn't suffer.

I used to ask my mom to tell me about him. Every time she would get a sad smile on her face and say that he was a good and hard-working man. She would wipe a tear from her cheek and say, "Your eyes are almost identical to your father's. My favorite thing about his eyes is that, when they caught the sunlight just right, you could see specks of gold reflecting back. Your eyes, my dear Annalise, do the same thing. When they do, I catch a glimpse of your father and remember how good he was to us."

We pulled up to the high school and I spotted Blare waiting for me at our usual meet-up spot. I wished my mom well and waved her off as she drove away.

"My parents are still going out of town this weekend, are you still coming over to stay the night?" Blare asked as we walked into the school.

"Yep," I grinned and lowered my voice, "Is your boyfriend still bringing over the alcohol?"

Blare nodded, her smile growing bigger. After a beat, her smile dropped and she rolled her as she admitted, "However, Noah will be staying at the house for Christmas, so we will just have to keep the alcohol hidden in my room. So, he shouldn't bother us too much. Anyways, I looked up different holiday themed cocktails for us..."

As Blare continued talking about this weekend, all I could focus on was Noah. My heart jumped at the thought of seeing for the first time in seven months.

"Why?" I interrupted, stopping outside the classroom.

Blare stopped talking and looked at me confused, "Why what?"

"Why will Noah be at the house for Christmas? I mean, I thought he was going to his girlfriend's parents' house for the holidays."

"Oh, his girlfriend broke up with him last minute, so he decided to come home and see the family," Blare shrugged. Oh, I thought, what an interesting turn of events.

"When is he supposed to be here?" I asked, trying not to show how giddy I was at the thought of seeing him.

"He actually rolled in this morning. He wanted to get here early enough to go see the candle lighting ceremony in the courtsquare tonight."

As we walked into our classroom, Blare rambled on about some drama that she had overheard. However, I couldn't focus on her. The only thing I can think about is how I would get to see Noah tonight. I would get to see Noah for Christmas. It was a Christmas wish come true.