Chapter 1

                                    

                                          
''You know, you guys really didn't have to come.'' 
                          
''We know we didn't have to, Nar,'' Isabella responds immediately. ''We wanted to.''
                          
''Speak for yourself,'' Soyana mutters from the sideline.
                          
''Would you stop being such a grouch?'' Ivana calls out at her.
                          
''Yeah, literally,'' Jenn adds, scratching behind the little ears of the pup that's currently on her lap. ''Look how fucking cute they are.''
                          
''My idea of cute isn't a little ball of fur that smells like a farm animal.'' She retorts, still refusing to come any closer.
                          
''No, your idea of cute fur are the ones you wear.'' Isabella snickers.
                          
Soyana gasps, aghast. ''I only do faux!''
                          
''Sweetie,'' I interrupt before we make a scene in the middle of the shelter. ''why don't you come sit by the cats? You like cats. Look at that white Pers little one. So adorable.''
                          
She sighs. ''I do like cats.''
                          
I know she does.
                          
See, when you've been friends with the same group of girls for over twelve years, you tend to know more about them than an average person should. Would it be cheesy to say these girls are like my sisters? Because that's exactly how it feels with the five of us. You know, the whole I can't stand them but I also can't imagine life without them. 
                          
We went through a pretty rough patch recently. It all started with Isabella getting into a relationship with Kayden Dominguez- one of the richest, most eligible bachelors in the state of California. He, his father, and mother own the biggest label company in all of Hollywood so you can only imagine what status that man holds. Joshua-Kayden's and our best friend- introduced the two of them on a random afternoon last summer, and after Kayden chasing Isabella like a lovestruck puppy for weeks on end, she finally put her hesitation aside and got into a relationship with him.
                          
For months, they seemed happier than any person I've ever known, and me and the girls couldn't have been more ecstatic for our best friend. After everything she went through before her twenties, there was no one that deserved that joy more. Kayden treated her like a goddamn queen. But little did she know he'd been hiding his dark past that had suddenly come back, lurking in the bushes and threatening the lives of the ones they both cared about.
                          
Kayden, being the hardheaded male he was, thought he got a handle on everything on his own and didn't seek help from anyone other than Joshua. And even that was occasionally because of how fucked up it all was. 
                          
Long story short; Isabella found out about everything, confronted him, and was left pretty heartbroken, so she decided to take some time out of the relationship to reflect. The universe, unfortunately, had other plans, because while she was driving away from him after the altercation, she got into a horrible car crash. Apparently, Isabella was being tailgated and the driver- who is now incarcerated- wouldn't stop until her brand new Tesla (a Christmas gift from Kayden) was rammed up against anything that'd make the car go up in flames. In her case, it was a tree.
                          
After that night, she not only needed the time for herself to reflect and think the past few months of her life through, but she also needed them to heal. Not only physically, but also mentally. She was a mess. She had cracked limbs, broken bones, clattered ribs, severely injured brain, and on top of that, she suffered from depression. There were various reasons for that. Her brain had been so deeply impacted at the crash, she'd been diagnosed with a moderate TBI and post-concussion syndrome. But she also felt like she lost the love of her life- the man that made her happier than she ever thought she could be. So naturally, she thoughts she'd never have that again.