Chapter 1: Graduation

"My dearest friends." Says Ian Shenning. "These four years with all of you were some of the best in my life. We've loved, we've hurt, we've laughed, we've cried, we've yelled, we've lied. But no matter what, we've been there for each other, and now, seeing each one of you guys smiling up at me. I know that I will miss and be missed but we will see each other again. I know it. I am so pleased to have met each and every one of you. Happy graduation."

. . .
"Hey, how'd you like it?" Ian walks up to a girl with purple and orange hair. She smiles up at him.
"Gorgeous speech Ian! You were so good." Cassie Loving says, then she turns to me. "What did you think of it, Em?"
I sigh. "It kind of made me cry" Eliza says before I can say anything. I roll my eyes. That's a shocker. Pretty much anything makes Eliza Bonning cry. "What about you, Emma?"
I shrug. "It was okay." I say. "I'm just glad to finally be leaving."
Cassie chuckles. "Oh Em," She says. "You've never really liked this school, have you?"
I shake my head. "It's not that," I begin. "It's just…" I trail off, having spotted Sage Miller.
"Miller." Ian scoffs. "I see what you mean Em."
"Is he STILL stalking you Emma?" Eliza asks, eyes wide.
I sigh, nodding slightly. "He just won't leave me alone. I'm kind of tired of it."
"Hey!" I groan then turn around to face Mr. Gorgeous Stalker. I stop dead before I can say anything. Because standing right next to him is,
"Ohmigod!" Cassie gasps "Nick!" Nicholas Sterning was standing right next to Sage.
Words escape me. There was one boy in my life and one boy only. His name was Nick Sterning. He was in my class. I had known him forever. We had been IN-LOVE! We had been going out for about five years when one day he just… Dissappeared. We searched everywhere. Nobody could find him. I guess I just kind of gave up on life after that.
"What the hell?" My brother, says. "But you were missing. Where have you been, man?"
"Dude," Sage says, glaring at him. "Stop giving him such a hard time. He doesn't remember ANYTHING."
"Nothing?" Cassie asks, glancing at me. He looks at me, too. Then back at her, eyes narrowed.
"Nothing." He agrees. I start to feel lightheaded and sit down on a bench. This cannot be happening. Ian sits down beside me, and holds my hand.
"It'll be okay, sis. Everything will be okay." He whispers in my ear.
I look up to see Nick gazing at me with a strange expression. It's like he thinks he knows me but he doesn't know where from. Ian stands up and walks over to Nick. He holds out his hand.
"Hi I'm Ian." He says as the other boy hesitantly takes his hand.
"Have we met?" It's the first time he's talked since he got here.
"Oh yes, many times, you were my best friend." Ian laughs. "Plus, you were in-love with my sister."
Nick stares at him. "I was?" He asks.
"Oh definitely." Ian laughs. "At first I wasn't very pleased about my best friend being in-love with my twin sister but you guys were together for so long after a while that I could't imagine it any differently."
"Who's your sister?" Nick asks, still looking confused. Oh-no, here it comes. Ian looks back at me. "That's your sister??" Nick stares at me. Ian nods.
"That's her alright." He grins at his old best friend. "You know, I'm glad to have you back, man." He claps him on the back then walks off to join the rest while Nick continues to stare at me, dumbstruck. He finally comes over and sits next to me. I gaze down at my feet.
"I thought I recognized you." He says. I look up into his eyes.
"Hi Nick." I say, slightly smiling at him. But it's hard to smile at the love of your life when they've forgotten about you.
"Hi um," He seems to be trying to remember something.
"Emma." I say, offering him my hand. "Emma Shenning."
"Emma." He whispers as if trying to insert it into his memory. "Is it true? What your brother said? That you were my-" He searches for the word.
"Girlfriend?" I offer. He nods. "Yes, it is. Actually people told me that it was like we were more than that. I guess 'cause we were always together."
"And did you like being my girlfriend?" He asks.
I laugh. "Like? I LOVED it! I'm guessing you don't really remember what being in-love is like."
"Is it when you see someone and can't look away from them or stop thinking about them?" He asks, watching me.
I look at him suspiciously but nod. "Have you ever been in-love before?" I ask.
He shakes his head. "No, not that I can remember. But I think I'm starting to get back my memories."
"Your memories of what?" I ask.
"Of you."

. . .
I could feel my heart lift as I saw Nick walk out of his house later that night. We had driven him home earlier to reunite with his family. Even though he didn't remember them that well. But he had wanted to meet with me later that evening so I agreed to it. Because even though I hadn't seen him for a few years I couldn't stop how my heart always raced whenever I saw him. I had still been in-love with Nick Sterning when he disappeared and I'm falling even more in-love with him.
"Hey." He says, walking towards me, hands in his pockets. I look up at him and smile.
"Hi." I say. "What did you want to meet up for?"
He sits down next to me, and smiles. "I wanted to see you."
"You do realize it's only been five hours since you saw me last, right?" I say, laughing.
He shrugs. "I don't care. Unless," He looks down at me and I can see some sort of fear and pain in his eyes. "Unless you don't want me to be here."
"No." I say, feeling ashamed that I had joked about that. "I just thought you'd want to be with your family for a little while. They seemed really happy when they saw you."
"It was nice seeing them even though I hardly remember them. But I wanted to see you more. I think I'm starting to remember more about us." He looks at me, his eyes soft. "And I know that I'm falling more and more in-love with you."
That shocks me. I did NOT see that coming.
"Are you sure?" I ask him. "I mean 'cause your feelings might have changed. A lot." He squints at me, seeming to not quite understand. "I mean it's just that it's been about 4 years since you last saw me. Your feelings could have easily changed in 4 years."
"Have your feelings for me changed?" He asks, studying me.
I turn red. "No," I say. "But that's besides the point."
"Then what IS the point?" He asks, eyes narrowing.
"The point is," I can't think of a point. Why is my brain doing this to me right now? Think Emma, think!
"Okay, let's get the point that there is no point. I feel like your just trying to avoid me. Why are you making up excuses?" He asks, his eyes looking hurt.
"I'm not!" I cry, standing up. Then I hear a girl calling,
"Nick! It's me! Leslie! Nick," We both look up to see a beautiful girl in a pink summer dress walking down toward us. Her beautiful blond hair shining in the sun. "There you are. Your mother told me you would be down here." She smiles at him.
"Who are you?" I ask, feeling panicked. She seems to notice me for the first time. She looks me up and down then says,
"Oh hi! I'm Leslie Thorn, Nick's girlfriend." She smiles at me. My heart sinks. "Oh, you must be Emma! Poor thing. I hear you took the breakup really badly. Is that why your here right now?"
I stare at her. "What are you talking bout? What breakup?"

"Um, The Breakup. The Big B. The one where he broke your heart in-front of the whole cafeteria? Is your brain working right, sweetie?"
"Nick?" I ask, turning to him, tears in my eyes. "Did you really say that?"
He looks away and sighs. "I'm so sorry Emma. I never meant for this to happen. I loved you and I just wanted everything to be perfect. But it wasn't perfect, nothing was perfect. My parents wanted us to move, they weren't getting along always fighting and everything. My life at school wasn't so good either. My best friend was hanging out with other people a lot more. People didn't much care for.me. My grades weren't going so well either. I was having a lot of anger issues too. My parents would send me to a psychiatrist but it didn't help much. The only good thing in my life was you, and I was so sure that I corrupted everything around me. I didn't want to corrupt you too. So I decided to disappear for a while. I wanted to get my act together before I returned here. Then I met Leslie. She helped me with everything. She helped me become a better person, and in return I pretended I was in-love with her."
"So you lied to me?" Leslie screeches. "After all I've done for you? You lied?"
He nods then looks at her. "I'm sorry Leslie. I didn't mean to hurt you. I thought if you believed I loved you back you'd be happy. But that's when you turned on me. That's when you erased my memory and tried to plant a different story in my head. You tried to make me live a lie. The next night I escaped."
"I was doing it for you!" She says, hysterically. "I was doing it for us! You never seemed happy and I could tell that you were in-love with someone else. I thought that if you forgot her, if you forgot everything, I would be-"
"The only thing on his mind." I muttered, finally understanding.
She turned to me. "But then YOU went and ruined everything!"
"How could I have ruined everything? I wasn't even there." I say, shocked at her accusation.
"He was pulled towards you. You know that's the funny thing about soul mates. But," She leans in closer to me. "Sometimes someone has more than one soul mate."
"What do you mean, soul mates?" I ask her, shocked.
"Emma," Nick whispers. "I learned something while I was gone. You know anything about reincarnation?"
I nod. "I've heard stories."
"Well It's real. We've lived other lives, and I mean MANY other lives! And so has Leslie." He says, finally looking at me.
"What do you mean, we've lived many other lives? You sound insane, Nick."
He nods. "I know you don't believe me now but please, come with me. I need to show you something."
I look at him, uneasily. Why should I trust him anymore? He cheated on me.
"Please." He pleads with me, holding out his hand. I hesitate but finally take it.

. . .
"Where are we?" I ask, looking around. We were in a cavern, it's dark and cold. I shiver. Nick squeezes my hand.
"Here." He says, pulling me to where there's a river. I'd say it was just a regular river but it's different. I can't explain it. "Look in the water." He tells me. I look at him, unsure. Is he planning on throwing me into the water or something? He squeezes my hand again. "Please Emma. I swear, I won't let anything hurt you." I take a deep breath then nod. I trust him. I creep over to the edge and peer into the water. At first, nothing happens but then I feel dizzy and faint.

. . .
I'm standing on the top of a mountain with the other girls from my school. We are taking a school trip to Mount Peters. I go to the Santana All Girls Academy. My parents are very rich people and you have to be the richest to be able to go to this school. We're all laughing when we spot a group of young men walking towards us.
"Hello Ladies." Says a very handsome young man. He has longish black hair and is wearing all black. He has a nice smile and seems to have taken a liking to me.
"Ah, Sir William." Says Trisha, giving him her most fascinating smile. "It's so nice to see you again."
"You too, Miss Trisha." He says, bowing down to kiss her hand but he keeps his eyes on me. "And who are your friends?"
"Oh yes. This is Rose and Madeline." She gestures to me and Maddie. "Girls, this is William Morangue."
"Pleasure to meet you." He says, kissing our hands. He kisses mine a little longer. I can feel the heat run up to my cheeks.
"Hello Sir William." I say, curtsying to him.
"What are three beautiful ladies like yourselves doing in a place like this?" He asks, smiling at me.
"School." Trisha says, looking completely swept away by him.
For the first time I noticed the boys with him. None of them were particularly as good-looking as him but they did seem to be gentlemen. Then I notice a boy leaning against the mountain, watching us. When his eyes met mine he gave me a smile that took my breath away. William seemed to notice him too.
"That is Alexander Foster." He explained to me. "He's the bad boy in school. You don't want to go seeking his acquaintance." He assures me. I nod. But there's something about the boy. Something familiar.
"Excuse me for a moment." I say.
"Rose." Trisha warns me but I've already walked away.
"Hello." He says smiling at me as I approach.
"Do I know you?" I ask.
"Not in this life." He says, smiling at me.
"Rose!" I hear from behind me.
"One minute!" I yell back to them.
"So you know William Morangue?" He asks me.
I shake my head. "My friend does. I just met him. Are you sure we've never met?"
He laughs. "I think I'd remember. But just because we haven't met in this life doesn't mean we haven't met before. Have you ever heard of reincarnation, Rose?"
I shrug. "I've heard legends."
"Well they're true." He looked me in the eyes. I can't help getting lost in those gorgeous brown eyes. "I have had more lives than I can count. And so have you."
I stare at him. "How do you know?"
"Because you're my soul mate." He tells me.
"Soul mate? How am I your SOUL MATE?" I can't believe what he's saying.
"We have known each other for MANY years, Rose. I know you better than you know yourself." He told me, smiling as I took a step towards him. I was being drawn to this boy that I barely even know. At least in this life.
"Rose! It's time to go! Hurry!" Trisha yells, frantically. I stare at Alex.
"Will I ever see you again?" I ask him. He smiles and nods.
"We will meet very soon, Rose." Before I know what I'm doing I kiss him on the cheek then turn and run off to join the girls. I look back to see that he was gone. Was he just my imagination?

. . .
A few days later I was walking home from the store when I see a young man surrounded by a few boys I recognize.
"William?" I ask, approaching them. I realize that the young man in the middle is Alex. I gasp. "What are you doing to him?" I rush toward them, worried. What if he was telling the truth? What if he really IS my soul mate? I'm not gonna let them harm him! "Leave him alone!"
"Rose." William looks at me. "What are you doing here?"
"More like "What are YOU doing here? And what are you doing to HIM?" I practically scream.
"Mr. Foster owes me a little bit of… Shall we say pride?" He laughs.
"He took away your pride?" I laugh. "That is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard!"
He looks hurt and I feel a bit bad but I don't care. "Leave him alone." I growl.
William smiles at me. "What ever you'd like milady." He bows then nods at the others. "If you'll excuse me, I must get going. It was a pleasure to see you again, Miss Rose. I hope we shall meet again soon." He leaves. I run to Alex.
"Alex!" I cry, trying to lift him up as he crumples to the ground. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"
He smiles up at me. "No." Then he laughs. "I told you that we'd meet again, Rose."
"I'm sorry." I whisper as he buries his head in my hair. "I love you."
"I know. I love you too." He tells me then he pulls away and looks at me. He stands up, smiling as he pulls me to my feet, then pulls me into his arms. "I knew I'd find you again, Isabella." He whispers as he kisses me. He pulls me closer against him as his lips meet mine. His lips are moist and they taste like, I don't know, like everything. He buries his hands in my hair and I kiss him back, wrapping my arms around his waist. He pulls me tightly against his body. Opening my mouth with his. My hands slide up his waist and over his shoulders as he lifts me up and I wrap my legs around his waist. When we finally pull away, my breathing is really rough and my legs are still around his waist. He smiles at me and pushes a lock of hair back from my face. "You don't know how long I've been wanting to do that." He whispers, his forehead pressed against mine. I just smile and thank the world that I found him.

. . .
I open my eyes to find myself laying on the cavern floor. I look up to see Nick leaning against the wall. He steps towards me when our eyes meet.
"You were Alex." I say, seeing the same boy in him. He nods. "Then, it is true? I really was Rose?" He nods again. "What happened after that?" He nods to the river. Why isn't he speaking? I think. I look over at the river than back at him.
"Go ahead." He tells me. "Remember that I love you. No matter who or what you see."
I nod. "I love you too." I tell him then approach the water again. I look in it then collapse again.

. . .
I look around. I'm in a beautiful dress in a huge mansion. Surrounded by young and beautiful women and men. Dancing and talking.
"Isn't it beautiful?" I look to my right to see Trisha, Madison, Madeline and Gwendolyn.
I ignore her. My thoughts elsewhere. My thoughts were in a garden with the man I love. My soul mate, my lover, my ETERNAL lover.
"Are you still thinking about Alex?" Trisha asks me. I nod. "Well I for one am sure that he'd hate if you don't enjoy this fabulous party. We're gonna go dance. You sure you don't want to come?"
I shake my head. "I'm fine." I say. "I'll stay here, you girls go have fun." They leave. I stare out into the night sky, wishing that Alex was here.
"Are you not enjoying the party?" Says a voice by my ear. I look to see that it is William Morangue standing behind me.
"No it's a beautiful party, it's just not" I trail off
"Your kind of thing?" He offers. I nod. "I know that you would much rather be roaming the forest than stuck up here in a big puffy dress. Perhaps we could go wander the woods sometime. Together." He smiles at me. I nod.
"Maybe." I mutter but my thoughts are far away from here.
"Would you like me to show you a secret passage out of here?" He asks. I stare at him.
"You'd do that? For me?" I'm both shocked and pleased.
"Why yes, Rose. I seem to be quite taken with you." He smiles as if waiting for me to say I feel the same. I sigh, hating to break the man's heart but I just can't lead him on.
"I'm so sorry, Will but I have feelings for someone else."
He nods. "I know that, Rose. Why else do you think I haven't told you yet? And I also know that you are in-love with Alexander Foster. But he won't return your love. Alex doesn't love anyone but himself. He couldn't love you like I do."
I shake my head. "I'm sorry Will but you're wrong. Alex loves me more than anything."
He nods. "I knew you'd say that. I want to help you but I also want you to be happy. You may go. Nobody will even find out."
I nod. "Thank you." I lean in and kiss his cheek.

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 04.07.2012

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