THIS IS FATE

CHAPTER ONE ARIA’S POV “How did I get here?” The last thing I know, I was leaving a club after getting into an awful fight with my friend Ophelia and now I’m in an empty corridor,alone. Everything is still and eerily quiet. If it wasn’t for the sound of the rain pouring outside,you’d think I had stepped into another dimension. There’s a door at the end of the hallway. I feel compelled to reach ,I can’t explain,it’s like my body is seeking something my mind doesn’t yet comprehend. I slip inside a dark quiet room dimly lit by the moon which casts a soft ethereal glow through the large bay window. My eyes slowly adjust to the darkness and I realize I am standing in a bedroom with high ceilings and wooden floors,and there in the bed lies a man half covered by a tank mess of sheets,his chest bare and rising gently with each breath. Even in sleep,there’s a strength in him,his features cast in the soft lunar light revealing a rugged handsomeness that feels similar yet utterly captivating. “Who’s this man, what is he doing here,wait! more importantly,what I’m I doing here? Shouldn’t I do a sensible thing and leave?” Something holds me in place and I find myself walking towards the bed instead,heart racing as I try to make out the man’s features throughout the darkness. When I do,I can’t believe my eyes. “I know this man” Infact I loathe him with every fiber of my being. He is the most conceited,demeaning kind of gorgeous, but nevertheless,self satisfied jerk I’ve ever met in my entire life and this is coming from someone whose father left when she was 5. Never have I been so humiliated than on the day we had met. His name is Kael Luca and he’s my college Professor. We met on a cold but sunny winter morning,I was just recently back on campus from my holiday break when I met up with my friend Ophelia. “Did you have a nice time with your family Aria?” She asked as were heading into our college main building. “I mean I’m sure I would have if I had one” I replied dismissively. “I’m sorry are you guys not close?” Ophelia’s big blue eyes filled with a compassion I didn’t want. “Stop that, I don’t feel sorry for myself and neither should you. The question is,why do you look so chipper Ophelia,didn’t you spend your holidays with that i***t marked face?” Idiot marked face is Ophelia’s boyfriend. He has a name mind you but since I make a point out of keeping useless information out of my head,I couldn’t tell you what it was for the life of me. “I really wished you tried to know him better,I know he’s not your cup of tea but…” I snorted at that . He was the type of guy who believed women couldn’t do anything on their own especially not Ophelia whom he saw as his property. I had no idea what she was doing with him when it was so obvious the guy made her miserable. “I told you Aria,Maverick and I are destined to be together,he’s my…” “Yeah,your soulmate. I know you’ve said that over and over again.” We entered the college building,i blissfully unaware that I was seconds away from losing my dignity and Ophelia focused her whole soulmate Voodoo thing. In her mind,she had no choice but to be with the person who keeps hurting her because it’s supposedly and I quote “meant to be”. I didn’t know how to argue my case after hearing that crap. “ I just don’t see how the universe could pick someone like that for you Ophelia,you deserve to be happy,you’re…” I stopped mid sentence as I was handed back the term paper I had submitted before break by a course mate. “an F?” I gasped in horror. There must be some kind of mistake. “Maybe the lecturer figured out you copied your paper from Ted” said Ophelia. I rolled my eyes. “Please Ophelia,Dr Harry is so old he instantly forgets what he reads. I’m going to give him a piece of my mind,this is an outrage….” “About that Aria,” Ophelia cuts in, “I think Dr Harry is not …” “Don’t move,I won’t be long” I interrupted,running off. “Wait Aria” Ophelia called,I didn’t listen and ran off towards Dr Harry’s office prepared to unleash a tie rate on that fossilized pelic. He was known to be a very easy grater which was why I decided to enrol in his class in the first place. Why else would I ever sit through lectures about archaeology? I banged on his door in an effort to assert myself. “Come in” A stern voice echoed through the door. Focused on building up my arguments,I didn’t notice it sounded nothing like Dr Harry’s and I barged into his office freezing in my tracks when I realized it wasn’t him sitting behind the desk. Instead of a receding white beard, I found myself staring at the light brown hair and well-defined jawline of a 30 something year old young man I’d never seen before in my life. “Yes” the stranger asked without looking up from the mess of papers on his desk. “You are?” “You re not Dr Harry” I stammered rather accusingly “An astute observer. He had to take a sudden leave due to health issues. I’m Dr Kael Luca,I’ll be substituting for the remainder of the year”. He said. “Oh!” I replied feeling rather dumbfounded. He finally decided to look up from his stack of papers. His thundering gray eyes locking into mine. For a brief moment,I forgot the purpose of my visit struck by the effortless authority that seemed to radiate from him. “And you are?” He asked raising an expectant eyebrows. I hurried towards him with renewed purpose. “Aria Pierce” I answered handing him my term paper. “I’m here because there’s been a mistake with my last grade”. “Was there?” Dr Luca sounded highly dubious. His tone threw me off a little . Well,his tone and the mocking look he was sending me got me so I scratched my throat before bravely trudging on. “Yes” I continued “Dr Harry must have made a mistake because…” “Arrhh” Dr Luca interrupted grabbing my copy out of my hands to give it a disdainful glance. “You are the student who cheated” “I didn’t cheat”, I exclaimed outraged. “Well,seeing how you handed in the exact same work as a Miss Ted Davis,I would say one of you definitely cheated, wouldn’t you?” Dr Luca continued. I gasped like a fish at a loss for words as Dr Luca continued. “As of now,you’ve both got fails,however, should the person who copied come forward,I would be willing to rectify the original papers grade”. He seemed sincere with the opportunity he was presenting me with. Someone could get away with a better grade here,really there was only one thing left for me to do. “Right,it was Ted. Ted totally copied me”. Dr Luca couldn’t have looked less impressed. “No he didn’t “ he scoffed,giving me my paper back. “You’re dismissed “. “Dismissed? What about my grade?” I protested waving my paper around. This is significantly going to lower my GPA. “There is a rather easy way you could improve your grade Ella” Dr Luca sank back in his chair. A ghost of a smirk playing on his lips as if he found my predicament amusing. “It’s Aria” I snapped crossing my arms “and wait,what do you mean by an easy way to improve my grades?” “I would think that’s rather obvious” continued Dr Luca “don’t you?” The air between us grew heavy,his gaze laden with implication caught mine and I was at a loss for words for a moment. Surely he had not meant what I thought he meant. He wouldn’t make a pass at me would he? But then again,his words were inviting,his tone downright suggestive and seeing the way he was looking at me like he was inches away from pulling me onto his lap and make me pay for my impertinence,my breath caught in my throat as my mind began to race. I wondered what he had in store for me exactly. Would he content himself with just a kiss? The idea of his lips crashing unto mine ran a shiver down my spine but he didn’t seem like the type of man who would be satisfied with a simple kiss. He would probably pin me to his desk and… “Miss?” Dr Luca asked looking somewhat confused.