Diadem's Birthright

Chapter 2: A New Beginning

I was running late!

I quickly pulled on my shoes and rushed out, praying desperately I would make it in time.

I have started attending a few classes the three weeks I'd spent here and had been exhausted after my class today. I had decided to take a short nap before I had to turn up for work, but I ended up sleeping through my alarm.

If Ashley had been here she would've woken me up, but she would only arrive tomorrow. I was glad she was finally coming, I'd at least have someone familiar to talk to. The city was completely different from little Sun valley. It hadn't been easy for me to find a part time job especially with the competition, I couldn't afford to be late on my first day. It was a bit difficult to adjust to the fast pace and noise of the city having lived in quiet Sun valley my whole life, but I gradually grew accustomed to it. It was a whole new experience. The bakery in which I'd gotten a job was quite close to my apartment, which also happened to be close to the university so I was pretty sure I'd be able to make it to work on time. Albeit not as early as I would have liked.

It was a fine sunny day, perfect for a stroll but I was walking at a brisk pace too preoccupied to notice the cloudless sky.

It happened as I was crossing the street. I saw the bike approaching me and I froze, just stared in confusion. I didn't realise the implication of it heading my way until it had actually hit me. Of course the driver swerved to avoid me but I still got knocked down. And today just happened to be the day I was wearing knee-high jeans, so my legs couldn't avoid the impact.

I looked down at them in dismay. Both legs were scraped but my left leg was worse and it was bleeding a little. Hissing in pain, I tried to get up but a hand on my upper arm halted me. It was the man who had knocked me down.

"You're hurt." He helped me up, still holding onto my arm.

"It'll be fine once I clean and disinfect it. I really have somewhere to be right now." I knew I was certainly late to work now but I could still minimise the damage if it was just for a few minutes.

"I'll take you to the hospital."

I tried to argue but he wouldn't let go of me and I had no choice but to follow.

I only managed to catch a glimpse of his face after we'd arrived at the hospital when he finally took off his helmet. He had chestnut hair and auburn eyes which would have looked dazzling glowing bright, but were cold instead. He was tall with a powerful build from what I could see, but I was quickly ushered away by the nurses to have my wound cleaned and bandaged.

I looked for him after they were done dressing my wound but I couldn't find him.

"Excuse me please, do you know where the man I came with is?" I asked the lady at the reception.

"The tall guy?" I nodded in reply " He has left." She told me

"Then the hospital bill..?"

"The man paid before leaving, but he seemed to be in a hurry, he didn't even leave his name behind."

I thanked her and left, wondering how I was gonna thank my mystery rescuer. Well he was the reason I got injured in the first place. Still he didn't have to take me to the hospital, but he did. He might've looked cold but I was sure he was actually a caring person.

I headed to work, though I was almost an hour late for my shift. I was probably going to get fired.

The place looked busy when I arrived, everyone bustling about. The girl at the counter glared at me when I passed by. She was the one whose shift I was supposed to have taken over, so I didn't really blame her. I smiled in apology then walked straight in to find the owner.

I was a bit nervous while explaining to her why I was late, but she was totally nice about it and even insisted I go back home to rest. I stayed till the end of my shift before going back to the apartment.

Tomorrow I wouldn't be alone anymore, I thought as I lay in bed. Though I had already started attending classes, I didn't have anyone to talk to. I had always found it difficult to make friends, I was more of an introvert with Ashley being the outgoing one. Even in the orphanage I had few friends and we weren't exactly close. They were people I lived together with so we were friendly with each other. But school wasn't that bad actually, it just would be better with Ashley there.

I eventually drifted off to sleep whilst lost in thought.

........

The next day was pretty uneventful, I just had one class which I was currently in, but I was just counting down the hours to Ashley's arrival. It wasn't that the class was particularly boring, but I just couldn't bring myself to concentrate. My mind was elsewhere.

"That's it for today class. Any questions?" Our professor asked.

When nobody spoke, he dismissed the class and we all got up to leave.

Unlike yesterday, the sky wasn't clear and it looked like it was going to rain any moment now. I'd better hurry home. I started walking, but because I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings I bumped into someone. Looking up to apologize to the person, I spotted a person in front who suspiciously looked like my mystery rescuer. Apologizing to the person I'd bumped into, I rushed after my mystery rescuer but I was too far away and eventually lost him in the crowd.

So he also attends this university, I thought. It would be easier to find him, actually no it wouldn't be. The university was so huge and I didn't even know what his name was. The only way I could find him was to coincidentally bump into him again like today and I highly doubted that would happen. I didn't know why exactly I was so fixated on my mystery rescuer, but I wanted to know what he was like as a person. And of course to also thank him, not many people would have done what he did.

I headed home, internally groaning at the number of hours I still had to wait for Ashley to arrive.

Unknown to me, there was a big surprise waiting for me back there.