Destiny

Chapter 5

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

I jumped half out of bed. I was in a fog and when I finally started to focus, I saw my entire family in my room.

Mom and Dad, Kingston, Aidan, Lucas, Emma, and Owen, Nana Maggie and Papa Doc. Man, I have a big family.

I looked over at the clock and it was only 5AM. “Why so early?”

“I said the same thing.” Lucas chimed in as he crawled into bed and pulled the covers over himself.

“We have a full day planned and we have to get ready to go or we will miss the flight.” My mother said.

I sat straight up in bed. “What flight?”

My father chuckled. “We are going to Virginia. They have an amazing art program at Virginia Commonwealth University and I thought.,”

Before he could finish, I jumped into his arms. “Dad, they are like number 4 in the US for the Art program!”

“I know honey and your brother said you talk about them all the time.”

I looked over at King as he blushed. I have the best twin in the world.

“Come on guys.” My mom said, gesturing to the door. “Give your sister a chance to get ready and we will leave right away.”

I watched as my family left the room except King.

“Hey, I have something for you.”

I hadn’t even noticed him holding two boxes.

“This one is from me.”

I quickly opened the box. He got me new paint, but not just any paint. Crazy expensive paint.

“King this is too much.”

“Nah you need this….”

I jumped up and grabbed a box from under my bed and forced it into his hands.

I watch as he opens it up. I knew he needed some new controllers for his gaming system but didn’t want to drop the money on it.

“This is awesome Lil.” He said as he wrapped me in a huge hug.

“I’m going to get a quick shower.”

“Wait, I have something for you from Chase.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. My first birthday without him. I felt the tears burn in my eyes.

I turned around and took the box King was holding. I quickly opened it to find a white gold locket. Inside is a picture of me and Chase.

“It’s beautiful,” I whispered.

"Yeah he did a good job,” King says, smiling. “Go get ready, we need to get going.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before I knew it, we were landing and getting into a rental car on our way to VCU. I was so excited. My family had scheduled a private tour of the campus.

As soon as we arrived, we headed right to the art building. My Mom did all the talking while I stood by the side with my family.

In just a few minutes, one of the most handsome men I have ever laid eyes on walked out and shook my mother’s hand and she pointed toward my family.

He was tall and tan. You hear people say all the time he looked like a Greek God. Well, I finally understood the saying. He almost reminded me of my favorite actor, Jason Mamoa.

His muscles were pulling the shirt tight across his chest and his jeans sat low on his hips but fight him just right.

“Close your mouth, sis, you’re making it really obvious,” King said, giving me a sharp elbow to the side.

I glared at him and quickly composed myself, shifting my bag to the other shoulder as they closed the gap to us.

“This is Lillian. She will be the reason for our tour today.” My mom said, placing her hand on my shoulder.

“Hi Lillian, my name is Broc and I will be giving you a tour of VCU.” His voice was deeper than I expected. He reached out his hand to shake mine.

He was quickly introduced to the rest of the family. “You have the option to join us on the tour or there is a rec hall to your right.”

It took my family no time to head to the race center, leaving me with Broc. Despite him being one of the most perfect humans I had ever laid eyes on, all I could think about was Chase. I wish he had been there with me.

Half way through the tour, Broc sat down on a bench and patted the bench next to him. I sat down and then it dawned on me how beautiful the scene was in front of us.

“Wow, I was so focused on our next stop I didn’t even notice how gorgeous it is here.”

He chuckled. “Lots of people miss it here because they are so focused on the next stop. I love to come here to draw.”

I didn’t respond, I just kept looking around.

“Can I see some of your drawings?” He asked, snapping me back to reality.

“Oh Yeah.” I quickly dug into my bag and grabbed my sketch book and handed it to him.

He was really quiet and I could feel my nerves start to push forward. Moments like this, Chase was always there to calm me down.

Finally, Broc looked back at me. “How old are you?”

“15.”

“Are you a freshman?”

“No, I'm a sophomore but I am trying to graduate early.” I couldn’t tell him about wolves. We have a school on pack land that is really advanced. Most wolves graduate at 17 and sometimes 16. I am going to try and do double work this year so I can graduate sooner and start my life with Chase.

“These are amazing. I haven’t seen somebody draw like this at your age ever. Do you do anything else?”

“I like charcoal but my dad doesn’t like the mess and loves painting more than I love drawing. I don’t use watercolor much.” I flipped out my phone and showed him a few photos I had of my paintings.

“Wow, these are….. just wow. You have more talent as a child than most do as adults.”

As a kid, it was the only thing I heard. I was so tired of everybody thinking I was just a kid. Chase even felt like I was just a kid and that’s why he left.

Had I been his age, he would have waited for me or taken me with him.

“Where to next?” I said, sounding frustrated as I stood.