Icy A

Chapter 1

Sometimes all it takes is one single decision to change one's destiny.

Kelly had woken up that morning at half past six, and then hurried to take a shower before her brother could beat her to it. Tyler always took his sweet time showering, shaving his nonexistent beard, and putting gel on his hair. And no matter how furiously she knocked on the door, urging him, he would remain inside until he was finished with his morning routine – if anything,her knocking only made him want to unnerve her more by prolonging the wait.

As the hot water soothed away the stiffness of her muscles, she could feel herself starting to relax. She had been through rough times lately. Indeed, Tyler had gotten himself in a fight that put him on the verge of losing his life. He had even gone into coma. The doctors hadn't given her family much hope but he had somehow survived, and even gotten out of the hospital faster than any of the white-bloused ever thought possible.

“It's a miracle,” one had told them the day he woke up.

He had been nothing but a big jerk since the beginning of the year. And it all started when he became a member of the soccer team. He had cheated on Maria, her best friend, without feeling any remorse whatsoever. He also had become cold towards her, his own sister. Nevertheless, she – they, actually; both Maria and she – had been sick with worry when he had been stabbed. At the end of the day, he was still her twin.

Having had none of his precious teammates visit him at the hospital, and none of the slutty cheerleaders even ask about him, it was safe to say Tyler was back to his old self. He had been released the day before, in the morning, and she couldn't have been happier to have him around. When she called Maria to tell her the news, she didn't answer her phone. Her step-mother had told her when she had woken up at hers, and failed to find her, that she had gone to Blake's – Blake being her boyfriend and previous French teacher.

Kelly had just shrugged it off and sent her a text.

As she stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel and started to dry herself, she couldn't help but smirk at the idea of seeing her at school and asking her about all the juicy details. Maria and Blake had been dating for a little while, and despite their obvious desire for each other, they had yet to seal the deal. Kelly could only hope her friend had grown bold enough to finally ask for what she had been wanting all along. They had to have done it since she hadn't shown up, called or even responded to the text she had sent her.

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Once at school, Kelly was greeted by a round smiling face and twinkling blue eyes – Dan. He was her boyfriend ever since that oh-so-talked-about starter party. They got along perfectly, and she couldn't help but think she might actually be falling for him.

She eyed the white shirt covering his chest, wishing it would vanish in thin air and reveal the toned muscles she knew were hiding behind. Her stare then moved down to the dark jeans that hung low on his hips but not too low. She had to admit she liked his casual style.

“Good morning, honey,” her eyes snapped to his at that.

“Good morning,” a sheepish smile made its way on her face, and she was sure a blush did as well. She had been caught staring, but not innocently staring. She then dismissed the vivid images invading her thoughts with a mental face-palm.

He kissed her lightly on the lips, a smile still stretching his, and she could hear her brother making some gagging noises from beside her.

“Shut up!” The tone of her voice didn't come off as strict as she wanted it to be if his eye-roll and unhurried retreat was any indication.

Deciding to just ignore his antics, Kelly grabbed Dan's hand, a playful smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, before dragging him along with her to her locker. Dan was such a sweet guy, she could barely believe her lucky stars sometimes. He was understanding and funny, romantic but not overly so, protective but not possessive… In short, he was the ideal boyfriend.

They kept chatting, teasing each other until they went their separate ways. She was extremely happy to be reunited with him. She had after all been absent for three days due to her twin's little problem – major problem really – and had asked him not to come see her at the hospital or elsewhere, until it all settled down at least.

Despite the happiness filling Kelly, there was a voice that kept nagging at her in the back of her mind. A few minutes into her first class, and she realized she had yet to see Maria or even hear from her. She was not one to skip school all that much, and she never failed to call back or answer a text.

Kelly wondered what might have happened to her friend to go MIA like that, and sent her yet another text, her third in the last couple of days.

Receiving no response, she started to seriously worry about Maria.

When the lunch break finally came, she could no longer bear not to know what was going on. She stealthily moved down the hallways and made a beeline, making sure to go unnoticed, to the outside world. She'd be damned if she let those petty high-school walls keep her from checking up on her best friend. She was never one to like school all that much – who did really? – so missing a class or two came way too easy to her.

She was driving to her friend's house when it suddenly occurred to her that she might still be at Blake's. She therefore made a U-turn, her guts somehow telling her she had it right.

The short drive only made her worry increase with each passing minute, second even. And though she was going over the speed limit, she couldn't bring herself to care. She just wished Maria was okay.

As soon as the house came into view, she noticed two cars she was unfamiliar with in the driveway. Maybe Blake had guests over?

Who cares? She inwardly snapped at herself for her curiosity. She only came to make sure Maria was okay. After what had occurred to Tyler, she couldn't bear the thought of something bad happening to her friend too.

She turned off the engine, hopped out of the car, not bothering to lock its doors – the house was at a remote place anyway – and took small albeit hasty steps towards the house. Her heart was drumming in her ears, and her hand all but shook from worry as it rose to knock.

She patiently waited all of five seconds before knocking again, more forcefully, her insides churning.

I'm making a big deal out of nothing, I'm sure, she tried to reassure herself while nervously rearranging some of her blonde locks.

A moment later, the door opened to reveal the beautiful redhead that was Felicity glaring at some dark-haired guy who was standing right next to her. “I know her!” She heard her hiss at him.

He wordlessly squeezed his eyes shut in resignation, making Kelly shake her head at his weird behavior before going in. She hugged Fey, and then in a tone that was most worried, asked her about what she so desperately wanted to know, “Is Maria here?”

She nodded positively at her, a seemingly hesitant smile on her face.

“You can't see her now though.”

Kelly's head snapped around to face the dark-haired guy. What did he just say? She narrowed her eyes at him without voicing out her thought. His voice had been apologetic, his dark brown eyes told her nothing really – she wasn't really good at the reading-people's-emotions-through-their-eyes thing – and she could only hope she had misheard him. He was not only making her even more worried than she was, but also impossibly suspicious of the whole situation. Why would a mere guest want to open the door with Felicity anyways?

She fought with her inner self for all of ten seconds before spitting out a, “Why the hell not?”

Who was he anyways?

“Blake would kill me first if anything were to happen.” Strangely enough, it didn't sound like he was kidding. He was serious, awfully serious even, and she couldn't even begin to understand what he meant. What could possibly happen? What was he expecting?

“Charlie!” Felicity called out in a reproaching tone of sorts, “she's our friend.”

He ignored her and went to grab Kelly when some guy, she had failed to see arrive, called out his name, stopping him.

“Kelly!” She was startled by Maria's voice coming from behind her. As she turned towards her and took her in, she breathed out a relieved sigh. She looked fine. Okay, her beautiful chocolate-brown eyes were bloodshot and tired but, other than that, she looked fine. She was standing at the door of the living room, flanked by a man and a woman who had strikingly similar blue eyes and dark hair.

“Maria,” Kelly sighed, relief washing over her, that Charlie dude and the one addressing him in a hushed tone long since forgotten, “I was so worried about you!” She exclaimed before hastily going to her, in her attempt to engulf her friend in a hug, failing as Charlie and another dark-haired blue-eyed guy blocked her.

“What the…?” she started angrily.

Kelly thought she felt eyes boring into her back but shrugged it off, thinking it must have been her imagination. It was only upon hearing an emotionless voice speak up that she shifted her eyes from the human barrier keeping her from her friend. “Who are you?” They had said.

“I thought you might have died from an SOD!” Kelly giggled, her eyes twinkling with mischief, ignoring the question and who had formulated it, and even the guys preventing her from going to Maria.

Maria's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion, “An S.O… what?”

“An S.O.D” she repeated, making sure to articulate before explaining, her face breaking into a teasing smirk, “A s*x Over Dose.”

Red tinted her best friend's cheeks and Kelly couldn't help but giggle again at that. She was so relieved she was fine. Okay, she might have been crying but surely it couldn't be that big of a deal. She was sure to know it soon enough anyways.

“Who are you?” The question was repeated in the same unnervingly devoid-of-emotions voice, and she could no longer pretend she had not heard it.

Kelly turned around, her eyes searching for the source and soon locking with the most beautiful gray eyes she had ever seen. She, however, didn't allow herself to be mesmerized by his good looks and snapped at him, “I could ask you the same question.” Then in a more controlled voice, “I'm Kelly, her best friend. Who are you?” Her eyebrow rose in question just as she put unnecessary emphasis on the last word.

“The name's Andreas,” was all she got as a response.

She narrowed her eyes at him before ignoring his cold demeanor and following Maria into the living-room.

That day, Kelly’s worry had made her come find her friend. As a result, she had met a man whom she wouldn't have ever crossed roads with otherwise. Said man was to change her view on life and her very existence… She just didn't know that yet.