Chapter 1

Elise's POV

"Come on E, you're 21 now, it's time to get yourself out there. It's time to mingle with the fish." Whined my bestest of friends, Claire.

"I know, I guess I'm just not ready yet, besides fish can give you diseases." I mumbled.

"You've been saying that for how many years now?" Claire raised an eyebrow in disapproval, clearly not brushing off my last comment," E, you're 21, soon you'll be who knows how old and still single. Elli, I'm worried about you here."

"But there's nothing to be worried about. Claire, I'm only 21 not 90. I still have a lot of time." I tried to convince her with a smile of reassurance, notice the keyword, 'tried'.

"Uh-huh." Claire hummed, not even trying to hide the boredom from her flawless, pale features and tone." Okay, how about this, try out the new dating App, I mean there's nothing to lose, right? Besides, I've heard that it's been successful for many people out there. Even my colleague got herself a hunk of a man."

"I don't know." I nervously admitted.

I've never been much of a fan of dating apps, actually dating in general. I don't know where I'd even start if I were to start dating.

"Come on E, pretty please? I mean the app's a hit. It's only been on the web for what? two months, and it's already famous, it's off the roof. The ratings and reviews are insane. I'll be honest, I entered it today too. I just couldn't resist." Claire excitedly gushed, her words flowing from her tongue like water from how fast she was speaking.

"Let me think about it, okay?" I sighed in defeat.

"Great!" She happily squealed in victory, ignoring the fact that I'd said I'd think about it, not that I'd do it." You won't regret it, Boo. I promise." She said in a singsong voice, her excitement quite apparent and a bit overwhelming.

"Airy, I have to go. We'll talk later or tomorrow, okay?" I asked, taking a quick glimpse of my almost low battery.

"You're not trying to run away from me, are you?" She asked, playfully squinting her eyes at me accusingly.

I rolled my eyes at her in amusement, playfully sticking my tongue out at her words.

"As if I could, you'd manage to find me in minutes." I playfully scoffed.

"True. I'm that good." She praised herself, smirking at me with a wink to emphasize her point.

I couldn't help but to roll my eyes again at her antics before my eyes caught glimpse of my phone's battery life again that flashed an angry red as the percentage read three percent at the side.

"Well, I'm gonna jet. Later." I waved at the camera.

Claire smiled at me before her hand also appeared on my phone's screen as she waved at me. She blew me a Bluetooth kiss before the call ended and I was back to our W******p chatting page.

With a sigh, I plucked my phone back into the charger where it resided before Claire's unexpected call.

Claire and I have been friends since tenth Grade, but to how we became friends is beyond me. I was always in class for my lunch breaks until she entered my school. She was consequently enrolled into my class and I was asked to help her catch up because she got in during second term. She was and still is the cheerful and talkative type whereas I was and still am the quiet and shy type, that is until Claire came into the picture. She always talked my ears off during breaks until we finally hit it off and became the best of friends.

She started dating in tenth grade but respected my decision of not wanting to date that is until I turned eighteen. I was finished with school then and had applied for a learnership so Claire insisted that I start dating but of course I didn't. She became more persistent from then on and it only got worse after my 21st birthday last week. I know that I'm old enough to date but I don't exactly know what's holding me from doing so.

I grabbed my phone from where it comfortably laid as it charged and unlocked it. What greeted me made me gasp and had me almost dialling Claire's phone number to talk her ear off.

The girl had already downloaded the dating app into my phone, without my permission is the worst part. I need to change my password because she's really starting to make me regret telling her.

Having this app on my phone is unsettling. It's unnerving. Last I checked, the app was not approved, which is a bit strange because it's already hit 100 000 downloads in the last two months, but I guess that's just how people are. They don't mind taking risks whereas I do. I don't want to find myself in trouble that I could have easily avoided and this app might be one of those troubles that I could easily avoid.

I groaned in conflict with myself as I let myself fall back into my comfy, fluffy mountain of pillows. My back was met with a soft surface that made me sigh in content before I turned to face my cappuccino coloured stuffed teddy bear that I named Nova.

"Nova, what should I do?" I quietly murmured to my stuffed toy which just stared at me with lifeless, chocolate brown orbs. I sighed as I grabbed it and stuffed my face into its soft, gold, fluffy coat that never failed to comfort me. The scent of flowers and home immediately invading my senses which I greedily and gratefully found myself sniffing. It filled me with calmness as it always did. I only washed Nova yesterday so the scent was still fairly strong which I was very grateful for at the moment. I found myself starting to feel drowsy as my nerves calmed down and my brain turned into mush. An hour long nap never hurt anybody, right?

~"~"~"~"

A soft voice cut through my sleep clouded mind as hands gently shook my arms, shaking my sleepy lumb of a body. I weakly raised my hand and swatted wherever it was, hoping that it would go away and leave me to my sweet sleep. Instead a light chuckle of amusement echoed throughout the walls of my room and into my numb, sleepy mind.

"Go away." I sleepily mumbled, trying to get rid of the pest of a being that was insistent on breaking me out of my sleep like I'm sleeping beauty except unlike her, I was enjoying my sleep and I most certainly didn't want to end it anytime soon.

"Elli, Hon it's time for dinner." My mom's soft, coaxing voice entered my stubborn brain, unfortunately only coaxing me to sleep more rather than waking me.

"I no wanna." I sleepily complained, taking my continental pillow and pulling it over my head.

"Elli," My mom's warning, stern voice came through my ears and into my foggy brain, leaving no room for arguments. "You already missed lunch, you can't miss dinner too so up up with you."

"But Mom." I sleepily whined as she gently pulled away the pillow, making the bright light from my bedroom light bulb threaten to go through my closed eyelids before peeling off my cover welcoming the air to my warm and now uncovered body. I moaned in disagreement but slowly opened my eyes to be greeted by my piercing, orange light just for me to shut them to protect them from the now foreign brightness. I slowly opened them again to try and get them accustomed to the light again even as it mercilessly pierced my already sleep filled aching orbs.

"Good, be down in 10, will you?" She grinned, gently tapping my bare thigh before getting off my bed and walking to my white, wooden bedroom door.

I closed my eyes and threw my arm over my closed eyelids to try and get rid of the stubborn sleep that I so loved. Knowing that this method would only be futile, I groaned as I got off my bed until my bare feet were greeted by my rough, dark grey carpeted floor. Using my feet, I located my sandals and slipped my feet into them before standing up and trudging my way to my adjoined bathroom. I quickly rinsed my mouth and threw some cold water onto my face as a last effort to get rid of my sleep.

I grabbed my bathing cloth and wiped away the lingering drops on my face before relieving my bladder and washing my hands, my sleep now a bit less, thankfully.

Feeling more refreshed, I made my way to the kitchen where I knew my parents were dining. I entered the kitchen to be greeted by the slightly spicy smell of food. My stomach immediately rumbled, announcing it's long awaited craving and need for food. My mouth already threatening to water as the smell mercilessly invaded my nose before my eyes landed on the already cut lasagna on the counter in the white casserole dish.

"And there you are. Your mom almost marched down there to try and wake you up again." Chuckled my dad as his eyes twinkled with happiness and undeniable amusement.

I lightly giggled, knowing the length of truth in his statement.

"I wouldn't be surprised." I admitted, turning towards my mom who smiled at me with a shrug.

"Now, shall we dig in. I'm famished." Asked Dad, licking his lips to emphasize his hunger.

"Let's eat." Smiled Mom, giving us the permission and the encouragement we needed to dig into the scrumptious, delicious looking food and boy did I agree with Dad, I needed food in my stomach and fast.