Leandrea's POV

I began the first day of 2018 by waking up the melodious sound of Christmas Carols on a perfectly white morning. Everything was covered with snow and I was too comfortable in my pajamas to get my butt out of bed.

Just kidding.

I woke up on the 1st of January 2018 with a killer headache followed by the sound of someone yelling in my ears. I was about to pull my bedsheet above my head when it was taken away from me, revealing my bare skin to the cold winter air.

"Let this child sleep," I grunted turning on my back. I tried to curl my legs under me to keep me warm, but a think fabric was preventing me from doing so. Pissed off, I kicked my foot against the wall and heard a sharp rip.

What a wonderful beginning to a wonderful year! :)

I sat up in bed and saw Marlene sitting on my bedroom floor, catching her sides in laughter.

"What?!" I asked clearly annoyed.

"Look at yourself Leah," she managed to say through giggles.

My eyes fell on the gown I was wearing, which now had a tear along the middle. I winced as my head gave a sudden throb of pain.

My dress. My head.

My life.

"What happened?" I asked warily placing my feet on the floor, only to discover I was still wearing those disastrous heels. "Marlene stop laughing your ass off and be a good twin. What the hell happened to me?"

"Happy New Year Leah!" She chimed, cheerfully hugging me. I winced at her high pitched voice. "Take a shower and come down for breakfast okay?"

"But what happened to me?" I asked again. But the only answer I got was my bedroom door slamming shut in my face.

One shower, three cups of coffee and six pancakes later I still had no recollection of what happened on New Year's Eve.

The last thing I remembered was standing outside townhall with the snow falling in my hair, watching my Mysterious Mr. Perfect drive away.

It hurt how perfect our moment was, and how quickly it had ended. We hadn't spoken nor seen each other but we'd connected in a way I knew wasn't normal.

I just hope he felt the same.

Yeah, call me a child with a wild imagination and tell me I'm an idiot. But if you felt what I did, you would fight to find this man, just like I planned on doing.

"You owe me a huge explanation," Marlene said settling down on the couch next to me, with her own cup of coffee. "And your welcome for getting your drunk ass into bed."

"Drunk?"

"Yeah," She sighed pulling her jacket tighter around her thin frame. "Caleb dropped you home last night. He said that you ran out after the countdown and when you got back you sat at the bar and drank yourself senseless."

I couldn't believe what she was saying. Did I really do that? Had my interaction with Mysterious Mr. Perfect taken such a big toll on me?

"Now I know that isn't anything like you," she said, concern evident in her eyes. "But you were living proof that Caleb wasn't lying. You even called me Leandrea for Christ's sake!"

Damn I was really drunk.

"So ya," she continued. "I want an explanation."

"Uhh," I said not sure how to begin.

What if she laughs at me? Calls me stupid?

Tells me that he was just a stupid ass and this isn't going to work out?

Well Marlene is my twin. She has to support me. She literally signed up for this in the womb. I told her everything.

"Wait," she said after I was done. "So Mysterious Mr. Perfect - as you call him- gave you the best kiss of your life on New Year's and then got away before telling you who he was or anything?"

"In short yeah."

"Wow," Marlene said awkwardly side hugging me. "No wonder you were that drunk."

"So you're not gonna taunt me for being stupid?" I asked.

"Of course not!" She said keeping her mug on the coffee table and taking my hands in hers. "Why would I ever do that?"

"Well cause it's a pretty stupid thing to believe that someone so random is the one for me," I shrugged.

"Hey I know exactly what you mean when you say he was perfect," she said with a smile. "And we're going to find him Leah or he'll come to you. If he came to you yesterday, he'll come back again. That's how irresistible you are."

"Awwee thanks," I said feeling much better. "Enough about my sad New Year's Eve. How was yours with Ryden? Did you guys do it?"

"We've done it before," she said blankly. "Many times since the first night in freshman year but I don't think you need to know that. I told you he went to the ball. Didn't you meet him?"

"Uh no," I said ignoring the little feeling that tugged at my heart at hearing her previous words. "He wasn't there. He texted Dylan said he was heading here, to you."

"Well Ryden did come here," Marlene said. "He dropped in for about 10 minutes to check on me and then headed to the ball. He even made me take pictures of him in his tux."

"But I didn't see him," I said. I would've definately noticied him. Ryden was pretty hard to miss.

"You were probably too drunk to notice," she teased. "Okay we need to get the place ready. Everyone's coming over for dinner later."

"Let's just watch something first," I yawned. "My head still hurts."

"I downloaded Pitch Perfect 3 yesterday," Marlene said hauling her laptop from the table. "I was hoping we could watch it together."

"Oh my God you literally read my mind," I cheered. "I've been dying to watch it. I'm running out of Fat Amy quotes."

"Same!"

"Have you heard from Mom and Dad recently?" I asked.

"No," she said tensing up. "The movie is starting."

I diverted my eyes to Marlene's laptop screen as the credits rolled in but I wasn't absorbing a single thing.

Don't you think it's weird that your parents don't call you up on New Year's Day? Especially if you have a cancerous kid at home who's in her last stage?

Yeah I knew they were in New York only so they can get the money of Marlene's treatment but a short phone call everyday would be nice, right?

With them gone, Marlene was my responsibility. Not that I minded taking care of her, but sometimes I found the process too overwhelming.

I tried not to show it but I had to hide my tears every single time I was around her, only to give her hope and to keep her going on. It was pure torture.

I just hope Mom and Dad came home soon. I missed them and if anything happened to Marlene in their absence, I would probably go insane with guilt.

I was already going insane with all this pressure. I was starting to find the burden on my shoulders too strong.

When we're young and new to this place we call our home, we're made to believe in fairy tales. In stories where a prince will finally come and save us and ride with us into the sunset to a happily ever after. But these stories were only threaded together to create a curtain to hide the evil in this world from us. We're made to believe that our lives are as perfect as those princesses and that each new day will bring a brighter tomorrow.

But as we grow older and the stories start to fade, the real picture comes into focus, the real world with it's ugly scars and harsh truths and it's now too late to escape into a happily ever after. We're all trapped in the bad side of the same fairy tale we thought we would hero in.

That's what I felt like-

Trapped.

Unable to get myself out of this mess, sinking deeper and deeper into the very sea I cried.

I could see the sun shinning through the hazy waters, but the weight of my scars was too heavy to let me reach it.

I was trapped in a state I once would have called paradise, only to watch it rot and decay before my eyes forever.

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