Chapter 1

The bright sunshine drifted throughout the Manhattan apartment, hitting off every corner of every room until it finally rested across her face. Rose groaned and squeezed her eyes tighter before rolling over and pulling a pillow over her head.

"Just five more minutes" she thought to herself.

Before she knew it, the alarm on her night stand began ringing, letting off an extremely irritating sound. Rose slid her hand from under her head and felt around until it rested on top of the alarm trying to feel for the snooze button.

"wakey wakey!" Melissa, Rose's roommate yelled from the hallway. She knocked on the door before slowly opening it. Rose sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and running her fingers through her long red hair.

"Come on Rose, you're gonna be late for work if you don't get a move on" Rose smiled at her friend and nodded whilst throwing her legs out the side of the bed.

Rose Bukater and Melissa Jamieson had lived together since meeting each other at university. Their spacious apartment was situated in a well sought after area in midtown Manhattan. It drained a lot of their income to run but they both believed it was worth it. Melissa had recently got a job at a well known legal firm and was keen to climb her way up the corporate ladder to become a partner. She was a gorgeous girl. Rose could appreciate her beauty as she stood in front of the mirror trying to fix her hair. Melissa had pure blonde hair which cascaded down her back almost reaching her waist. Unfortunately, her looks made it extremely difficult for her colleagues to take her seriously. The office she worked in was mostly filled with men, and at first she had found it difficult to settle in. But Melissa was feisty. She knew she was good at her job, if not better than some of the men there. She believed in letting these men think she was a bit ditzy. She'd shock them one of these days.

Whilst Melissa was outspoken and brash, Rose was quieter. She wasn't keen on confrontation but she had fire within her. She would defend those she loved to the death if she needed to. Her passion was reflected in her gorgeous wavy hair. It was the colour of fire. A bright auburn colour which fell in loose curls down around her milky shoulders. Her bright green eyes popped from her face. She was a classic beauty, attracting attention wherever she went.

Rose worked at a local school as a teacher. She grew up always wanting to do something meaningful with her life and she got so much joy from teaching children to read and write, and learn skills that they would use in their lives. Although it wasn't the greatest paying job she could have done, it brought her a huge amount of satisfaction.

Melissa disappeared down the hall towards her room complaining about her hair not doing what she wanted it to. Rose was only half listening as she made her way to the bathroom to take a shower.

Afterwards, she towel dried her hair before sitting down in the kitchen to eat some breakfast that Melissa had made.

"I gotta go!" announced Melissa, kissing Rose on the cheek as she grabbed her bag and ran out the door.

Rose smiled as the apartment suddenly became eerily quiet. She enjoyed this time of the morning when she was on her own looking over the headlines on the day's paper.

"Art Festival being held today..."

Rose glanced over the article, contemplating going along after her classes. She had always had a soft spot for art and enjoyed looking at work by new and upcoming artists. New York was an amazing city, always something going on and something new to discover.

After sitting for fifteen minutes, Rose finally lifted herself from the chair and went through to her bedroom to get dressed. It was 8am and she knew she would have to hurry if she was to make it to the school for 8.45. Luckily she only lived 5 blocks away so didn't need to worry about rush hour traffic.

At 8.30am, she emerged from her home dressed in plain black pants and sky blue shirt with comfortable black pumps. She was glad she always left the house after Melissa. Rose knew she would never get out the door dressed like this. Melissa was forever glammed up and constantly tried to get Rose to dress up a bit more for work.

"Why?" Rose would complain. "I'm going to speak to a class full of pre schoolers, not appear on MTV"

Walking along the sidewalk, Rose breathed in the fresh air. It was a beautiful day and extremely warm considering it was only April.Before she knew it, she was standing outside the gates to her school. She watched as parents dropped their kids off, kissing and hugging them before letting them run to meet their friends to discuss their adventures of the weekend.

Rose wandered through the grounds to the main door before making her way to her classroom ready to face another day.