1. When I first met him

One event can't completely change the course of your life. That's what I used to think. 

I can hear my mother's muffled sobs as she picks up the call from an unknown number. I can see the horror in her eyes as she glances at me. I take off my birthday hat and wait. Waiting, that's the only thing I've done today. 

Kristina swayed her feet back and forth, waiting for her mother to hang up. 

To change the course of your life, you need a series of events. However, no one can predict the exact point of no return. 

My mother, Millen, remarried after my father's tragic death in a car accident. At that time, I was about seven years old.

Millen trapped Kristina in an embrace without a word. She sobbed on Kristina's little shoulder. 

"What's wrong, mom? Where's dad?" Kristina asked sweetly.

Millen tightened her grip as if her daughter would slip away to the afterlife as well if she let go. 

"He won't be coming home, sweetheart," Millen forced out.

Explaining the concept of death to a child isn't hard. Children can sense when something is amiss, yet sometimes, they choose to be oblivious to the obvious. 

The death of night provided little to no light to this tragedy. That night, I realized that maybe I was the reason he died. I could only imagine my father in a wrecked car in the middle of the road with my flashy birthday cake in the back. 

My eyelashes flutter open before the bloody image of my father can form.

"We're here, sweetheart," Millen opens the back door.

Kristina got out of the car. She saw a big house near a forest. It was a sunny summer day, flowers were blooming like this was their only chance to shine, and birds chirped silly songs. An image cut straight from a fairy tale.

Millen took Kristina's hand. The time of nightmares and silly dreams was over. 

"Let's go in, sweetie."

I can't remember how I felt when we arrived at that house. The only thing stuck in my mind is the image of a little boy hiding behind Henry. 

Henry was an old-school gentleman who resembled my deceased father. He was tall, and his height was slightly intimidating.

Henry squatted so he was now at Kristina's eye level.

"Nice to meet you, little princess. I heard a lot about you from your mother." He shook her hand with a kind smile.

"Mum, who's this man?" Kristina asked, pulling her hand away.

"That's Henry, sweetie. I told you about him, don't you remember?"

I knew who this man was - someone who was going to replace my father, someone whom my mother married a few months after my father's death. He was an intruder to our peaceful life. He was a bandaid on the sorrow of my mother.

I glanced at the little boy hiding behind Henry. 

"Dad, why did Millen bring this kid?" He shot a glare at Kristina. 

I frown. Some boys are eye candy, but that's as far as their charm goes.

"I'm Kristina, not some kid."

"Alec, behave. Kristina is going to stay with us for a while." 

Adults lie all the time. I don't know why I chose to believe Henry when he said I'd stay with them only for a while. The said while prolonged from weeks to months. 

"Go play elsewhere, Kristina," Alec shoved Kristina outside and locked the door.

It was autumn. Kristina realized that they were not leaving. The wind was chilly, playing with the fallen colorful leaves. Her dad passed away on a calm autumn evening. The driver who hit him and made him crash drove off, afraid of the consequences. When someone finally noticed his car and called an ambulance, they only confirmed his death and notified my mom of his passing.

Kristina hugs herself as she stands on tiptoes to reach the window. She didn't mind being locked out, left outside, in this chilly weather. The only thing that bothered her was the bright smile plastered on Alec's face as he played with his friends. She let her heels touch the ground before Alec could notice her.

And that's how she met him. The one who is going to play with the strings of her fate. The one who is going to change the course of her life forever. The plague to her happiness. The one she'll despise to the very end - Alec.