Disclaimer: I don't own any character but the OC, Adelynn Jae Christoph.

Enjoy. Please comment/ criticize. Snide comments cherished and laughed at. ^^

Part One - Falling

The unrelenting buzz of the fluorescent lights overhead annoyed me to no end. Why did they pick today of all days to make the lights buzz so damn loud? I tapped my foot in a steady beat and took a deep breath. The one person desk I was sitting at creaked angrily as I bent over the large stack of papers resting on top of it. The title on the first page was, "To-Oh University Entrance Exam" and I was already working on the last two pages in the booklet, with forty five minutes of the exam left. The other students taking the test were all fidgeting restlessly and glancing around the room, like I was. Sitting to my right was a girl in a bright blue sweater and red pants, who was half asleep and drooling mindlessly all over her answer booklet.

To my right was a young man in a dark green sweater, and directly in front of him was another man sitting in a very awkward and painful-looking position; legs tucked underneath him and hands resting on his knees, with a very noticeable slouch. His raven black hair covered most of his face as he bowed his head over his papers, scribbling things very slowly and patiently. He seemed like the only one who wasn't as keen to get out of the room as everyone else was. Every couple of minutes he'd put his pencil down, stare straight ahead of him at the back of another student, think something through, then very slowly he'd pick up his pencil again and resume writing. Hideki Ryuuga, I think his name was.

As I watched him go through this process once more, he turned his head in my direction and our eyes met. I held his gaze for a moment, but then turned back to my unfinished test. Unsure of whether or not he was still looking over at me, I shot a quick glance to my right and saw that he was nibbling on the eraser of his pencil, concentrating on the paper in front of him. I followed his lead and began writing my response to the next question on my test.

As I got nearer to the last question, the phone rang, startling me and many others out of our dreamlike state. The shrill ringing went twice more until one of the chaperoning professors reached it. The professor, a woman with deep black hair and thick-rimmed glasses, muttered an irritated greeting, and then shot a glance in my direction. "Yes." I heard her answer curtly, then with her back to me and the rest of the students, "Yes. Of course. Right away. Good-bye."

She turned on her heel and walked briskly in my direction, an indescribable expression on her face. She stopped as she got to the right of my desk and muttered, "Ms. Christoph?"

I nodded once, and she replied, "Please step out into the hallway. Your test will be collected and you can make up the questions you missed at a later date." I just stared at her dumbly for a moment, and then sighed.

"Do you know what for?" The question probably seemed rude, but at the moment I didn't care. I'd been preparing for this test the whole entire year, devoted almost every single night to studying for it. There was no way I was going to be lead away from it so easily. The professor's eyes were pleading, sad, a hidden message in them as she looked at me.

"The police are out there waiting for you."

That wasn't the reply I'd been expecting, and I'm sure my shock was plainly etched on my face. I nodded slowly, an anxious suspense rising within me. I got up nervously to my feet and grabbed my black messenger bag up off the floor. I looked around, and almost every pair of eyes was on me. I glanced to my right, behind the professor, and Hideki was staring right at me, calculating, a look of intense concentration and puzzlement on his pale face. I flushed red, took a deep breath, and began my journey to the front door, slipping in-between desks and muttering half-hearted apologies as my book bag hit a few choice people in the head.

I'd remember everything about that day, from the way my dark brown hair kept falling over my blue eyes to the way my plaid black and red skirt swished on my way to the door. That was the day everything would change, but I didn't know that much yet.

As I drew closer to the door, there was an outbreak of muttering, wild guesses as to what I'd done to land myself in trouble. Through the large window on the front door leading to the hallway, I saw two policemen in black uniforms standing there, hats off. I was confused by this; by the way they looked so solemn and uncomfortable.

I reached the door, twisted the knob and stepped out into the hall, shutting it quietly behind me. I stood right in front of the door and faced the two officers, a nervous look on my face. It was silent and the tension was unbearable. Finally, a rather short, stocky officer said in a squeaky and rushed voice, "We are very sorry to inform you that your mother and grandmother were shot and fatally wounded on their way home from the grocer's-"

I didn't hear any more, at the words 'fatally wounded', my brain shut off and I felt nothing but numb shock. I backed up against the door and slid down it slowly, my mind in a comatose state. Then everything went black, and I heard no more.

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A/N: So... what do you think? This is my first fanfic, ever, and so I'm anxious to see what everyone thinks! Please don't be afraid to harshly criticize, it'll help me write and get things up here faster! Thanks - Sydney