Thunderous clapping smote the environment as my name got called out. Startled, I stared around and wondered what I had done that was so amazing.

"Come here, best cook in the world, for your trophy and a one-billion-dollar cheque," Gordon Ramsey's voice resonated through the whole stadium. My large brown eyes widened in obvious disbelief. 

Gordon Ramsey telling me that I was the best cook? It was a dream come true! My parents would finally be proud of something I did. I could use the money to build them a better house or even buy them a fancy car. I just wanted to repay them for all they had done for me.

My heart beat frantically against my chest as I stepped onto the podium to receive my reward. Just as I was about to grasp the trophy, loud beeping cut through the air and everything started dissolving into darkness.

I jerked up with a start, looked at my alarm clock and mentally cursed it. Turning off the annoying sound, I groggily got out of bed and dragged myself to the shower. The warm droplets of water falling onto my body was the most relaxing thing ever.

Twenty minutes later, I stepped out of the bathroom and put on the clothes I had chosen the previous night. They were the best clothes that existed in my run-down closet. I looked at myself in the mirror to make sure they were good enough.

I wanted to make a good impression on the first day of school, right? A sigh escaped my lips as my eyes stayed glued to the mirror, watching the pathetic reflection that I didn't recognize as mine. Yeah... Make a good impression on people who had never noticed me for two years. Why did I even bother? The only people that were likely to notice my change of style were my parents and my best friend, Alice. Sad, I know.

I finally decided to change to an outfit that seemed more like me. Comfortable jeans and a black cotton shirt was enough. Wearing some dazzling dress seemed like a complete waste of my energy.

My feeble, lazy feet found their way down the ancient wooden staircase. Creeks emanated from it with each step. I had promised myself I would fix it once I started earning my own money; the whole house actually needed some work.

 Once I got to the bottom, my eyes scanned the kitchen and fell on my mother, beautiful as ever, preparing breakfast. The golden rays of the morning sun made her blonde hair shine - a beautiful effect that never failed to awe me. Her eyes would also glow golden brown each time the sun's rays hit them at the perfect angle. I could only wish I had her beauty.

"Hi, honey," she said, not looking up from the frying pan she was holding. The aroma of the eggs she was frying pulled me over to the kitchen. "Hi mom," I replied once I got to the kitchen counter.

Mom put the fried egg onto a plate then added some delicious-looking bacon onto it. A genuine smile crept onto my face as she pushed the plate towards me. Noticing my smile, she also smiled and poured me a cup of tea.

"The smile on your face is the purpose of my existence," she chuckled as she handed me the tea. 

An embarrassed flush coloured my cheeks. "Well, I've always told you that your cooking is a treasure you're hiding from the world," I stated, grabbing the plate with my other hand.

"That's nonsense. You are hiding your treasure from the world. Anyone who has tasted your food will testify. I'm way too old to chase fame for my food, anyway. I'll be banking on you to do all that I was too scared to do at your age," she said with a meaningful smile.

"Sure," I replied, smiling half-heartedly, "Bye." With that I turned around and stepped out of the kitchen. I could feel her worried gaze tearing into my back but there was nothing I could do to stop her from worrying. Her reasons for worrying weren't going to magically go away, anyway so it was best for me to ignore it.

My next stop was the dining table, where my father was reading a  copy of 'Realtime Newspaper' with his feet on the table. 

"Hey, kiddo," he said, turning to the next page. 

"Hey, dad. Anything interesting?" I asked, putting my food on the table and taking a seat across from him. 

"Nope, just increased corruption," he replied, sighing and shaking his head. I watched as his curly brown hair fell over his eyes. Why did these people have to have such perfect hair? The fact that I couldn't inherit any of their perfect features pained me.

I nodded to his response and refocused on my food. After wolfing it down with no manners whatsoever, I took the dishes to the kitchen, picked my bag up and blew my parents goodbye kisses before leaving. The bus was just arriving when I stepped out. Once I boarded it, I went to my usual spot, next to Alice.

She warmly greeted me and started telling me stories of how her summer was. Most of it was about how she visited foreign places like Paris and Venice. Her parents were stinking rich so they afforded all those trips while I spent my summer next to my bedroom window, reading super sappy novels.

Sometimes I wondered how it felt to be her. She had almost everything anyone could ask for: numerous friends, even more admirers, many clubs, a lot of money and to top it all off, everyone liked her. I actually don't know how we ended up being friends when she had billions of better people to hang out with.

Before Alice could finish telling me how some hot dude stopped her from falling into one of the water tunnels in Venice, we arrived in school. She immediately dropped the conversation and hurriedly climbed off the bus.

"Wow, okay," I mumbled as I slowly picked my bag and waited for everyone to get off before getting off by myself.

Since I was in no particular hurry, I looked around the familiar surroundings as I strolled across the yard. I couldn't believe I had two more years in that dump.

As I looked around, my eyes fell on Alex, one of the 'ABCD POWERHOUSE' members. He was signing items for a group of girls with his gang. They were next to the large notice-board that no-one seemed to pay attention to. Was it just me or were they one member short today? Meh, who was I to care?

Further ahead, I saw Alexis playing a guitar with her band next to the white fountain. They were playing a serene tune which seemed to pull me closer. The band was legit the only thing that seemed to suck me from reality in that school. I was only pulled back to reality by the bell.

I immediately went off in a sprint to my first class, not bearing the fact that I, Alexa Dandelion Rose, was about to be late for a class. It was hard running with a lot of people going in the opposite direction. I wondered whether anybody in that stampede was even going to my class. As if fate wasn't content with the amount of problems it had already given me, I bumped into someone and started falling.

Luckily, a strong hand caught hold of me, stabilized me and held me still so that I wouldn't fall again since my crappy legs hadn't realized that they were supposed to do their job now. My embarrassed face went up and my eyes met Cornor, one of the 'ABCD POWERHOUSE' gang. He was the one who was missing. He had ruffled, black hair, ocean blue eyes and the most beautiful smile.

"Hey there, cutie. Watch where you are going next time, okay? " he said in his melodious voice which brought me out of my checking-out session. Was I dreaming or did he really call me cutie? He was so close that I could feel his every breath. Our noses were almost touching, making me a bit uncomfortable. Before I could respond or even react, he had vanished. Poof! Gone into thin air, just like every guy that has ever noticed me, even for a second.

I was taken aback for a moment then I remembered that I was late for my first class. My heart thumping painfully fast onto my chest, I rushed to class at top speed before I missed too much.

The rest of the day was normal; just me carrying a bucket-load of books everywhere I went. In the evening, I bumped into Cornor again but this time he didn't catch me; he didn't even look at me. He just sped off without minding where he stepped. He seemed to be in a great hurry, so I didn't shout for him or whatever. As if I would have done that even if he were not in a hurry.

My books and papers had been spilled all over the place and the miserable being that I am spent so much time hunting down every one of them that I was left by the bus. How wonderful - I had to walk all the way home.

As I dragged my feet home with the heavy load on my back doing nothing but slowing me down, I noticed two guys in suits fighting in an alleyway. I stopped dead in my tracks and rubbed my eyes just to make sure I wasn't seeing my own things.

"Watch out!" a stern voice shouted. I noticed a black SUV coming my way but before I could react, an arm wrapped around my waist and up I went. Before I could understand what was happening, I was on a rooftop, looking down at a clear road. The car was nowhere to be found. Neither were the men in black suits.

A sardonic laugh escaped my lips as I turned to look at whoever had saved me. It was a tall fit guy in a ninja costume. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes which made me suspect that it was Connor.

Before I could air out my thoughts, he picked me up again and jumped off the roof. I squeezed my eyes shut and screamed like a banshee. My scream died out when my feet hit metal, which seemed to be levitating.

I opened my eyes and found that we were on a giant drone. That wasn't in any way, better. Out of fear, I held onto the ninja shutting my eyes once again. I could feel the ninja's body tense up but it relaxed a few seconds later. The drone slowly lowered and finally halted a few inches from the ground.

The guy put me down. Smiling, he said, "Stay safe," and suddenly disappeared. That experience totally rendered me speechless.

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Hey guys. Thanks for reading this. It's my first ever story and I hope you liked it.

Remember to vote if you actually liked it and all suggestions are welcome!