Entangled (Entangled Trilogy #1) Read online

  Entangled

  ANIKA RAHMAN

  Copyright © 2015 Anika Rahman

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Published by Smash Words

  ISBN: 9781311243447

  Printed in USA

  First Edition

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  DEDICATION

  For my best friends Melina Mullan, Gissel Ramirez and Navdeep Salhan. Thank you three so much for your support and enthusiasm. I couldn’t have done it without you guys.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  There has been many people who made this book possible. I want to thank my friends and family for helping me along the way. I love you all so much. Thank you Melina Mullan, Gissel Ramirez and Navdeep Salhan for supporting me. You guys are the best. I really don’t know what I would do without you guys. Thank you so much for helping me along the way more than anyone else. I don’t know what I would do without you three in my life. Thank you, thank you, and thank you all so much. I was very nervous since it was my first book, but your encouragements helped me along the way.

  Prologue

  The Accident

  December 24, 2011:

  It gave the impression of a ruthless snowing season this monotonous December. Well, not so dull because this year, I won’t spend it sort of alone. The entire city looked like a colorless, pale land full of lumps of snow all over the place. Usually, you would expect a white winter to be very striking and look like a winter wonderland where Snow White would most likely live. But not this dreary winter. Living through this mind-numbing season was like wearing only glitzy pink or yellow for your entire life while being imprisoned in a large, inexpressive box with only one shade surrounding you for what seemed like forever. Everywhere you looked was white, snowy and . . . unadorned. On top of that, the weather had not been so neighborly either. The wind was so strong, people would be constantly afraid of being knocked off their feet. Well, that is your typical New York City winter.

  I bestowed a sideways glance at the curly haired boy sitting next to me in the car, driving. This was our first ever Christmas together so I was a bit zealous about it, despite the frigid month. I really, really love summer but for now, just for now, I love winter. I tried to appreciate every bit of it.

  For Christmas, I got him an instant taco maker since he loved tacos for Christmas. And in case he didn’t like that, I also got him a medieval sword set with each of the edges of the swords bordered with what looked like rhinestones making it easy to wound deep into any flesh because he also loved swords. I had once asked him what he likes and feels somewhat of a passionate link to. From what I heard, he noticeably doesn’t like anything that is safe or unhazardous.

  “Anything that could perhaps prod someone’s eye out or injure them enough without actually slaying them in certain cases,” he had said. I had tried to grasp all of that information, but it simply was impossible. It’s just really hard to get a guy some sort of a gift for any occasion.

  I wonder if he would even like any of the gifts I had gotten him. To be honest, I always have trouble getting gifts for people not matter what the occasion is. When I was ten years old, I had gotten my twelve year old brother a Barbie doll. Now, every time I think about it, I just laugh at myself, but hey, I was little with no common sense whatsoever. When I was fourteen and my brother was sixteen, I had gotten him a whole set of pretty dresses which he had eventually ended up returning back to me, telling me that it was my early birthday gift. I had cried for a whole month, thinking that he had hated my gift, but he reassured me that the gifts were not “macho” enough, but it’s the thought that counts.

  “What’s wrong, Roza?” he asked, unmistakable uneasiness coloring his deep, husky, British-accented voice. He shifted in his seat slightly, trying to appear casual, but failing at it. Sometimes, he looked as if he had forgotten how to do the world’s simplest of things. One morning, he had gotten up and asked me how to use the bathroom. Fortunately, Elliot helped him out with that. If you overlooked all of this weirdness, he was really a great guy.

  By the look on his face, I could tell that he had seen me moments ago toying with my charm bracelet, a gesture that mirrored my awkward mood. I always toyed with that bracelet every time I was nervous, upset, or even uneasy around something or someone. He was the one who had gotten me that bracelet the first time we met about ten months ago. I loved it and made it a permanent part of my mundane life, adding a little pizazz to my life.

  Even though he obviously knew my name was Rosemarie, he insisted on calling me Roza while most people called me Rose. He told me that he loved that name; it’s like an affectionate name for me and just for me. Since the first time we met, he had never ever called me anything else but Roza; unless he was uptight with me which was just once. I told him I was fine when I was really sick therefore, he got mad at me for a whole hour before finally giving up.

  “Nothing, really,” I shrugged. I really don’t know why he was so concerned about me all the time. I mean, hello, I’m not fading from your life at the moment or anything. Even though this sometimes perturbed me, I still found it really kind and romantic. He wouldn’t let anyone look at me or even touch me. He was a bit possessive of me and for some weird reason, I liked it. I don’t know why, but I just did.

  “Well . . . okay then. Let’s talk about our Christmas wishes. You first,” he said tensely, looking straight ahead, clearly not induced by my reply, but still unwavering to alter the topic of our conversation onto something else. If we were actually even having a conversation.

  I smiled at his attempt at trying to make small talk. Due to the dim lighting of the glum, freezing night, I couldn’t really make out his features as we rocketed past numerous streetlights. If I examined his face closely, which I did, I can see the auburn curls carelessly falling onto his forehead. He smiled, clearly sensing how admiringly I was watching him. My cheeks unexpectedly felt very warm, despite the subzero temperature outside, but I answered him at last, letting my gaze slip back to the road.

  “All I want for Christmas is to be able to spend the whole day with you. What about you?” I countered. My wish was probably thoughtless and very common, but at the moment, I didn’t really mind much.

  “Well, all I want for Christmas is you. Nothing else; just you,” he said, turning slightly to face me, smiling away. Even then, I couldn’t really see his face which frustrated me even more. I turned to face him and the last thing I remember seeing was his dimpled smile as a car zoomed past us and the pair of bright, unnervingly blue-green eyes staring straight into mine, trying to read me.

  And that is when it all came crashing down at that precise second when a car, deliberately, collided into ours and both cars went skidding across the slippery road, hitting a nearby tree.

  Both cars skidded to a halt and I fell out from my side because I was so stupid that I didn’t even buckle up. I guess it is true what they say. Avoid the worst, put safety first. I was unable to avoid the worst. My head came in contact with the rock solid pavement and all I could see for a few moments were dancing stars, all holding hands, probably playing Ring-Around-The-Rosie. Shuddering, I
tried to move my hand, only to encounter even more pain as it coursed through my body and sent more than necessary amount of blood flow to my brain. I could even smell the coppery fluid and taste the metallic flavor. For some reason, the accident seemed very premeditated to me.

  My whole body ached even more as I felt a pair of familiar, warm hands take my head onto his lap. In the coldness, in the middle of all the chaos going on, I could’ve sworn I heard a guy’s voice, probably in his early twenties, laughing and saying, “Good luck with that!”

  My vision began to slowly become indistinct as my eyes began to close.

  I could hear him urging me to keep breathing, hold onto my life and not close my eyes. I knew he was right above me, but for some peculiar reason, his voice sounded very distant.

  The last thing I remembered were those beautiful eyes of his, fear, love and dismay written in them. Holding onto that bit of memory, I smiled, knowing that he loved me and he was safe, and inhaled my last breath.

  Chapter 1

  high school without the musical

  Present-Day—September 12, 2012:

  I bolted upright in my bed, wheezing and breathing so hard, I thought that my lungs would burst. My hair felt very moist, plastered to my forehead similar to a starfish clinging to a rock. My lips felt arid and brackish, probably from the tears signifying that I had been crying in my sleep. That was a dreadful dream, to be honest. I really don’t know what is worse, living through your death again and again every night, in nightmare form, knowing you can’t do anything about it, or not having a single clue about the past eight months of your life, leaving you with only recollections of those hurtfully beautiful blue-green eyes that would stop you dead in my tracks and impel you into misplacing my time.

  I’ve had those weird dreams before, ever since the “accident” about nine- ten months ago and I have never been able to perceive the discussion between me and him. I just wish I could’ve been able to see his face properly. I’ve asked Elliot many times who he was, what he meant to me, only to encounter Elliot pressing his lips into a thin, inhumanly straight line, shaking his head at me and saying, “I don’t know. So, hey, how was school today?” in a cheery tone every single time even if he had asked me that question moments ago.

  Elliot had golden blond hair that had beautiful sandy blond highlights with it. He had royal blue eyes rimmed with a dark shade of blue. He had thin lips and a thin nose almost similar to my mom’s. His hair had a few vague red streaks that blended in with his hair perfectly, just like my mom’s hair. He is about six feet four and has a kind personality, again like my mom. It’s as if he is really Darla’s son and I am the adopted child. I tried not to think too much about it, but the thought just formed in my mind.

  Sure, Elliot was a heavenly older brother, my only brother and all and a little over overprotective sometimes but I couldn’t help thinking if he had anything to do with my accident. It’s very ironic that I’m questioning the person who is really like a parent to me but, I just desire some answers to the “accident.” I can’t remember anything, not even a little bit. Every time I tried to recall the dream, just so I can remember even a single detail of it, my mind is filled with darkness. I can’t recall anything. Whoever that guy is, I need to find him, soon.

  All I can remember is his unnervingly beautiful aquamarine eyes that would flash through my mind once in a while. His eyes were so blue-green; it was hard to tell if it was more blue or green. I was irrevocably in love with those eyes.

  I quickly shook my head, trying to get these thoughts out of my mind so that I wouldn’t seem crazy for dreaming about eyes. Or even falling in love with a pair of eyes.

  I did a double take as I glimpsed at the clock and groaned, reading the alarm clock by my bed that currently read 5:17 am. I had woken up way too early for school and now I had to sit on my bed, sulking about how life was cruel and unfair. I got up, despite the remonstrations my body was making and screaming “STOP!”, and retrieved my clothes before angling into the shower to warm up and unclog my mind off . . . well, everything.

  * * * * *

  After what felt like ages, I got out of the shower, all ready for school, slowly creeping out of my pale apricot colored room and making sure I didn’t wake Elliot up from his “beauty sleep”. Every time I got scared at night, I wouldn’t even dare to try and go to him otherwise, that would simply distract him from his sleep. Surely, at any moment, Maddie would arrive to pick me up for school like she did every day. I insisted each time that I had my own car and a driver’s license so I could drive to school myself, but all she would say was “Relax, Alice. I know that as a matter of fact. I just don’t want you to be in danger or anything.” It was almost as if she was my guardian angel which I had mentioned to her once. All she had done was let out an uneven laugh and reply to it by simply declaring, “You have no idea.”

  Madelienne Rebecca Meschter, famously known as Maddie, has been my best comrade since I could hark back to. I can’t even envision a world deprived of her. Elliot would constantly tease me about not spending an adequate amount of time with him and always hanging out with her, but I really didn’t notice. I have always called her Maddie and even M&M sometimes. On the other hand, she called me Alice, a moniker that betrayed my actual name. She had always told me that since my one of my middle names were Allison, a name Maddie had always wanted to be hers, she shortened it and called me Alice.

  Outside, a car honked, bringing me out of my reverie as I hassled out the door and locked it. Once I got out, first I saw her glossy black BMW and then the driver’s side of the car unbolted, illuminating a fine-looking girl with a head full of golden blonde hair that stretched midway between her shoulder and elbow. Her hair was usually straight from the top and nice and curly around the end, but today, it was all straight. She had a heart-shaped face with thin, pink lips and those pale-not-so-pale sapphire eyes with the irises rimmed with a shadowy shade of sapphire that maximum guys in the school seemed to fall for.

  I watched carefully as Maddie strode towards me and hugged me, smiling slightly enough to make me smile along with her. Even her smile was contagious.

  “Shall we?” she asked, sounding all jovial, but only I knew how hard it was for her to put on that cheery mask of hers because she absolutely loathed school. I nodded, following her into her car, our heels click-clacking against the stone pavement.

  “So . . . you excited for Biology today?” I asked curiously as the birds chirped peacefully outside.

  “No! Why would I?” Maddie said a bit harshly, her face masked with an unreadable, rigid expression. Looking at me once, her expression softened and she immediately said, “I’m sorry.”

  “Well, I thought Biology was your fav . . .,” I trailed off, not wanting to continue the sentence. She just seemed a bit exasperated today, her cheery face gone with the wind.

  When we arrived in school, I went inside to drop off my stuff in my locker while she parked her car. As I entered, I felt all my problems and my whole world slip away from me as I went to my blue locker. I could feel all the unpleasant, funny looks people were giving me. I’m what you may consider a nerd in school, always reading, getting high grades that seemed to piss off my peers.

  Although I fabricated not to notice, I always felt a sharp pang, prodding at my heart whenever they looked at me that way. If something good happened to me, they would seem surprised. Like that time I had gotten a boyfriend. Everyone would gawk at us, but none of my boyfriends lasted very long. I’ve only had about three of them and the longest any of them ever lasted was three weeks. Elliot would always demand to meet them and once he talks to them in private, he would tell me that the guy’s a bad influence and it’s not worth it. That clearly meant a whole “Hey! I hate this guy! He doesn’t know how to treat you so why don’t you two break-up and stop pretending to love each other.”

  Maddie had caught up with me as we arrived at biology class, our first period together on the Monday morning. I thought I heard Maddie sigh
heavily, unmistakably frustrated that we had to go through Biology on a Monday morning, but I pretended not to hear her as we both sat down at our assigned seats.

  Class had begun and what I expected to be a really fun class, turned out to be very wearisome. I tried to concentrate on what Mr. Moore was saying and found it a true challenge. I thought I felt someone staring at me throughout the whole period, so I kept glancing back over my shoulder, only to find everyone genuinely jaded and gawking off into space or something.

  “And that is why I decided that I will assign all of you a very collaborating activity,” Mr. Moore finished.

  “Wait, what?” a kid asked from the class, his voice all muzzy as if he just woke up from his sleep.

  “Since all of you are like ‘corporeal rivals’, your assignment will be to find out as much as you can about your biology partner and write a report based on him/her,” Mr. Moore replied and the whole room was filled with pleased chatters among their friends, already forecasting on how to write the report. I was so blissful that he assigned us that assignment because my biology partner was Maddie and I knew everything about her. I didn’t even know why he assigned this to us; it has nothing to do with biology.

  “SILENCE! Oh, okay. On top of that, I’ll be the one assigning each of you students a partner, making the reports very interesting,” Mr. Moore finished off. The smile from my face fell as the whole room filled with a simultaneous chorus of complaints.

  “Alright, alright, settle down. Here are the pairings: Mr. Matterazzi and Ms. Meschter.”

  As he announced Maddie’s partner, Maddie ascended from her seat and went off to sit next to Mark, a student from the football team who was really tall and had a head full of chocolate brown hair and a confident smirk on his face 24/7. Maddie waved a quick goodbye before leaving. As she left, I thought I heard her muttering something about senseless, big-headed guys and inadequate assignment.