Everleigh Marie Woods had the perfect family: a loving little brother and two incredibly supportive parents who would do anything for their kids.

I cut through the water as fast as I can, getting closer and closer to the buoy.

"Elaine! What are you doing?" I hear a voice yell. I reluctantly turn my head around to see a confused Stacey staring at me.

Ugh.

There's no way I can swim to the middle of the ocean while she's watching me. I turn back and swim towards the shore.

"Hey Stacey," I try not to look annoyed.

"You're all wet," She states.

"Yes, that tends to happen when you go for a swim," I say sarcastically. "What are you doing here, Stace?"

"I followed you," she admits. "The way you ran out of class, I was worried."

"Really?" I ask, surprised. 

"Of course!"

"I guess I was just having a bad day," I shrug. I feel touched. Maybe I'm too harsh on my friends. Maybe they really do care.

"Wanna talk about it?" She offers.

"Ye-" I get cut off by her loud iPhone ringtone.

"Hold that thought," she says to me and turns around. "Darcy, darling! What's going on, girl?"

I sigh and wait, squeezing the water out of my hair.

"Oh, honey, that's awful! I'm so sorry for your loss," She says sympathetically. "Her maid quit her job," She tells me, moving the phone away while Darcy talks.

"Oh my, how tragic," I roll my eyes.

Stacey ignores my little comment and steps away, talking about how it eventually gets better.

"Yeah, I just left class. It was so boring. Don't worry, hun, you'll find a maid that's even better! Besides, didn't Miguela wash your cashmere sweater with that cheap detergent last week? Good riddance! You can do better!"

I jump back into the water and swim as fast as I can, before Stacey notices. I reach the buoy quickly and move to the other side.

The white light blinds me like it did the last time and the next thing I see is Roque Lake Beach. It looks the same as it did a week ago.

It worked!

I swim to the shore and get out of the water, trying not to sink into the sand as I walk straight to Everleigh's mansion.

I stand on her porch, soaking wet, as I see her sitting on the swing with Derek, caught up in a steamy make-out session.

I clear my throat to get her attention.

"You're back!" Everleigh exclaims and stands up.

"Whoa, dude, you're filled with water and sand," Derek widens his eyes at me.

"Yes Derek, I know."

"Derek, honey, can we continue this later?" Everleigh kisses him goodbye and he leaves.

"Come on in," Everleigh commands. "You need a shower."

She hands me a tank top and a pair of sweatpants that I take into her bathroom with me. I quickly rinse and dry myself and then put the clothes on.

"Wow, that was quick," she observes.

"I can't believe I'm back!" I exclaim excitedly.

"I'm so glad you are! I missed you." She hugs me.

"I missed you too." I notice that her hair and eyes are exactly the same as they were. So I can't make any changes. Interesting.

I suddenly realise that this means I can't help Stellan either.

"What's wrong?" Everleigh asks, noticing the drop in my expression.

"How's Stellan?" I ask.

"He's good," she shrugs. "Why?"

"Just curious."

"What went down between the two of you at his party?"

"We just talked," I say. "He's a good guy."

"I suppose he is. He's a bit of a douche though," she chuckles.

"Are you planning to go for his party tonight?" I ask.

"Oh, there's no party today." She informs me.

"How come?" I ask, confused. Stellan always has parties on Saturdays.

"I think his father is in town," Everleigh says.

My face suddenly turns pale as I gasp.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Everleigh questions, looking worried.

"Stellan's father," I say. "He's not a good man."

"But you've never even met him," she points out. "Mr Astor is great! My dad does business with him and he's very generous."

"Everleigh, you don't understand," I panic. "Stellan's father hits him."

"What?" She gasps, shocked, and I feel plagued by guilt when I realise that I just revealed something that Stellan wouldn't want anyone to know. 

"Yeah,"

"How do you know this?" She asks.

"He told me at the party," I say. 

"Derek has never mentioned anything about this," She furrows her eyebrows.

"Maybe he doesn't know," I suggest.

"That's not possible," She shakes her head. "They're extremely close."

"I shouldn't have said anything. He obviously didn't want anyone to know," I say. "Either way, I think we should go check on him." I say.

"You just wanna go see him, don't you?" she chuckles. "Someone has a thing for the Astor boy!"

"Whaaaat? No!" I protest.

"Oh, come on, Paris," she smirks. "I saw your face when he kissed you."

"I just think he's a good guy, okay?" I continue.

"Okay, okay! You should go. I need to catch up with Derek anyway."

"You think I should go alone?" I ask, surprised.

"Yeah, he told only you about it after all."

"Okay, I guess." I shrug.

"Come on, let's go!"

We head downstairs and I almost walk into a little boy who looks like he's around 12 years old.

"Whoa, sorry!" I apologise.

"Paris, this is my brother, Ezra," Everleigh introduces. "Ezra, this is my friend Paris."

"Hey Ezra," I give him a little wave.

"Hey," he says awkwardly and runs to his room.

"Cute kid." I chuckle.

"He's kinda shy." she tells me what I already know. I don't think I can ever get used to seeing my characters alive, right in front of me.

We step out of her house and she goes next door to Derek's and I walk further to the Astor mansion.

I take a deep breath as I stand on Stellan's door step. I feel extremely nervous and I can't explain why.

I hold my breath as I ring the doorbell.

The door flings open and a surprised Stellan Astor stands in front of me, looking captivating as ever.

...

A/N

What happens when Paris sees Stellan again? Find out in the next chapter!

I know it's been ages since I've updated this book! I've been so busy with school and working on Frisson.

I've been receiving quite a bit of negative feedback on the first chapter that really demotivated me. I almost unpublished this book.

I want you guys to know that I'm going to be updating this book though. It might take a while but I definitely won't abandon it.

A special thanks to lise_05 for convincing me not to give up on it!

Thanks for reading and don't forget to vote and comment! x