Chapter 1-The day she found hope

Catherine wakes up to the smell of bacon and the sound of ninety's music. She turns to look at the alarm clock with the hope of having a few more minutes to sleep and that is when realizes she didn't set it at all and she is late. It took her nothing more a minute to get ready. She had never been late for school before and was hell burnt on never getting a bad note on her record.

The walk down the stairs was a little nostalgic. It reminded her of how things used to be when her mother was still around. On times like these she tries her best not to make things awkward but sometimes his silence and the look he makes when he drifts off in thought doesn't help. Today was quite different, his cooking was actually very good and they actually had a simple conversation. Too bad though, Catherine had barely eaten a few bites when she heard the horn from Nelly's car." I have to go dad" Catherine blatantly muttered even though she knew he was really appreciating the moment. Catherine's father tried to object but at that point she was already at the door so all he did was silently whisper to himself "but today is going so well".

And there she was, the person she had been waiting all weekend to see. Behind the tinted windows of this black range rover sat the best friend Catherine could ever ask for. And in this person laid the reason why is she is ever able to keep it together. She walked up to the car and opened it with in the most unusual way. She tried to open the car door with a frog pose and yet keeping a mystifying smile as if that make it look better. Nelly saw Catherine and her face lit up with a smile. Smiles like that make Catherine feel precious because nobody else gets smiles from Nelly and people don't even bother to try anymore. Catherine is predominantly Nelly's only attempt at socialization. Sometimes it is very evident that she doesn't want anyone close to her and sometimes she is very talkative-this only happens when she is high which is always either by herself or with Catherine.

The story of their friendship didn't start like any other. It started in third grade during recess. Davis their grade's bully had a run in with Catherine and she being new had no chance. Davis had Catherine pinned against the wall demanding an apology for calling him a midget. The memory of that moment is a little blurry in the mind of Catherine but highlight of that day remains engraved on her brain and lives in her head rent free. Catherine is never one to resist pride and even in third grade she was no different. She was hell burnt on never apologizing to him and that was when her angel or devil depending on the perspective fell from the sky with a chair in her hand. That minute found Davis on the floor with a bloodied shirt screaming and found Nelly the empowerment she never wanted and her life changed forever.

On this day two people found each other and bonded with a promise only few people keep. They promised they will always be there for each other and they have kept this promise to high school. And today will be no different, they walked into school together and there he was. The boy who use to be this short bully is now the tall emo kid. Davis never worried any of them since that day. They walked pass him and he said nothing to them, he didn't even shoot them a glance which was his normal routine with everyone except Robert. "Sometimes I think we broke him" Catherine said joking to Nelly. The silence Nelly gave scared Catherine because of the conversation they had on the phone yesterday. Nelly believes Catherine to be heartless sometimes when it is unnecessary and Catherine knows its true. Catherine tried to save it by implying it to be a joke and it seems to be that it worked because Nelly shot her one of those smiles again and they separated to class.