What to wear. What to wear. Oh my gosh, I have no idea what to wear. This meeting isn't of importance, trust me I'm dreading it nevertheless I really don't want to be yelled at by my mother right now. I just can't handle her attitude at the moment. I'm already perturbed as it is. I don't need to hear her running her mouth about how much of a letdown I am on top of that.

As I'm searching through my closet I begin to think about my mystery girl again. Why is it so hard to get her off my mind? Every thought in some roundabout way brings me back to her.

Continuing to search through my closet I finally see a shirt that I might like. A blue frilly blouse with the bottom part of it crossing over to the other side. It’s not too fancy but enough to pretend that I tried. Next, I pull out a pair of black denim skinny jeans to match the shirt I found. Once I found my clothes I went to take a shower, wondering what the girl will be like this time.

I step out of the shower and grab my towel off of the rack to dry myself. It’s so fluffy and so soft. I step out of the bathroom with my towel wrapped around my center looking around my room.

My eyes pass over my pastel blue walls and black queen-sized bed before falling on the clock sitting on my matte white nightstand. Noticing the time I rush to put on my clothes and check the time again. It's 6:37 pm, meaning that I have about 23 minutes to get into my car and drive to the mansion before I get into trouble for being late.

I hopped down the stairs to my garage and into my blue 2020 Ferrari F8 Tributo. Yes, a Ferrari. I love sports cars. I like the looks but more importantly, I love the speed. Hopefully for me, that means I won’t be late and my mother won't yell at me for "embarrassing" her.

I click the remote hooked on the top of the interior in my car and wait until my garage door is completely open before taking off out of my driveway. I rush through the streets speeding past the traffic lights until I finally get to the gate of the mansion with a giant P on it. I'm honestly not fond of how big it is. Yes, I would like a nice house but I want something more like a condo, or just a smaller-sized mansion. Not this gigantic thing with rooms that’ll never be used.

Pulling up to the front of the gate I look over to Peter, the guy controlling the electric aspect of the gate, and wave at him letting him know to open the gates. While I'm waiting for the gate to open I decide to strike up a short conversation.

"Hey Peter, how are the Wife and kids?" I ask him politely, wanting to make sure his family has all they need. He has always been like family to me. I talk to him more than I talk to my mother.

I trust him more as well. He's never betrayed me or let me down. He and his wife are one of the reasons that I know how toxic my family truly is. The kindness and care that they’ve shown me has gradually given me a perspective on what a real happy family is like. Plus I'm 75% sure Peter’s the one who finally wore my mom down to let me finally move out of the house.

"They're doing fine, Miss. Although Alicia did get a random check of $5,000 and she has no idea where it came from. Do you have any ideas, young ms?" He asked me with a slight smirk on his face.

Okay so maybe I did send her the money. They're like a family to me. They are the first people to help me understand and connect the feeling of appreciation and happiness. And that is something that I’ll never forget. So yes, I sent the money. I had to give them enough money to survive without having to work themselves too hard.

I love Alicia like a mother. Or what I think you’d feel for a mother or a prominent maternal figure in your life. Someone who sincerely cares for me and I can't wait till I get to see her again.

"Okay so maybe I sent it. You know That I love to take care of you guys in any way that I can." I replied, reclining in my seat and smirking back at him. The gate finally finished opening and I waved to him one more time before driving past the gates and down the path for another 5 minutes. I then found a space to pull into and parked my car.

I check my watch to see that the time is 6:57. I just barely made it here on time. “Thank gosh for sports cars” I whisper to myself.

I can't wait for this to be over and it hasn't even started yet. I hopped out of the car and smoothed down my shirt before walking up the door and knocking on it, wanting to get this over with as soon as I can.

Not even five seconds later my mom opens the door rushing to pull me inside. She has dirty blonde hair, about shoulder length, and her height is around 5'8. We're nothing alike. Looks or personality-wise. It's peculiar if you think about it but family dynamics have always been irregular in our household.

She pushes me further into the house and straight towards the kitchen where I finally see the girl she wants me to meet. "Hi, my name's Ashley. Your mom has told me so much about you." She says with a small smile, giving me a look that I can’t make out. She seems nice I guess. A little too nice if you ask me.

Maybe that’s just because I’m skeptical of most new people I come across. I was never allowed any real interactions with people I didn’t know, not even other kids my age. But again I digress. I’m not used to a lot of social interaction so I just wouldn't be able to talk to her for long periods of time.

She seems like one of the people who are always in a good mood and talks a lot. Which is exactly why I don't understand why my mom chose her. She knows I don't like people with characteristics like that and yet she still chooses to set me up with them.

I'm starting to wonder increasingly how much my mother cares about me. Is she trying to put me in an arranged marriage for more wealth? She's obviously not doing it to get rid of me seeing as she won't let me out of her sight.

As I'm standing here pondering, mom calls my name pulling me out of my thoughts. "Well Thalia what do you think? She's a very beautiful girl isn't she?" She asks, trying to get me to compliment Ashley.

"I guess so." I say. My mom elbows me in the side nudging her head forward as if telling me to compliment her. "Yes mother, she's quite beautiful." I say, not wanting to be hit by my mother again. Gosh, why is she so violent?

That crap hurts. She elbows me and nudges her head again as if telling me to go on. "Yes Ashley, you're very beautiful. Anyone would be lucky to have this chance to marry you." I say turning my head slightly to look at my mother hoping that it was enough. She gave a small nod of her head signaling to me that I was off the hook. I let out a small sigh of relief as I looked back at Ashley.

Ashley isn't an ugly girl. That statement would most definitely be preposterous. She's about 5'7 with long black hair flowing down to her back. She has dark brown eyes and smooth milky skin. So no, it's not that she's ugly, she's just not HER. It may not even be possible for me to be attracted to someone who's not my mystery girl. It's a shame too. I may never get to be with her. Heck, I've been too afraid to even start a conversation with her, and yet I'm worried about never getting to be with her.

As I'm thinking of the mystery girl in the back of my mind I recognize the sound of constant but quiet beeping. However, I'm too caught up in my thoughts to actually contemplate what this sound could be.

We were all standing there, me stuck in my thoughts and my mom talking to Ashley when there was a loud boom. After the blast, all I could hear was a sharp ringing as I looked around and all that I could see was fire. It was blazing hot and the smoke was filling my lungs to the point that I couldn't breathe.

My eyes began to shut slowly as I saw Ashley walking towards me. I felt her pick me up and throw me over her shoulder before walking out of the house and into this large blue, purple, and red-colored three-dimensional circular thing. It was a very beautiful sight from what I could see, like something you’d find in a fantasy novel. But that was the last I saw before I completely blacked out.