College. A new start. A new beginning. Or so Kyla Stewart was told. College didn't change her life that much. Instead of the jeers and insults that followed her through out high school it was isolation and whispers that passed from mouth to mouth as she walked through the campus.

Kyla was in her third year of Culinary Arts and she still felt that same passion as she did three years ago. Since she didn't have many friends, and she lived alone Kyla was able to concentrate on her course work, every assignment was handed up on time and every presentation was made with perfection.

She was sat in the lecture hall scribbling furiously on her note pad as her lecturer spoke. Empty seats were on either sides of her and small, scrunched up pieces of paper littered the floor beneath her chair. Twenty minutes into the lecture there was a knock at the door and it swung open revealing... Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Not. Instead, there was a tall male stood in the doorway. He walked into the hall and an audible gasp ran through the room as the entire female population of it sat to attention, all except Kyla.

She barely glanced up before resuming her writing. "My apologies Professor. I'm new here, I've just transferred from the next state over. I was taking the same course so I've covered the same material too." The professor smiles and directs the newcomer to one of the seats beside Kyla.

His heavy footsteps thread towards her row and she looks up briefly before rolling her eyes. Tall, dark hair and undeniably handsome. There was something about him that screamed 'Bad Boy'. Maybe it was the several piercings that adorned his ears and nose. Or maybe, it was the dark swirls of ink that were visible from beneath his tee-shirt and sprawling all over his hands.

Now, Kyla herself was no stranger to tattoos and piercings having some herself but this guy took it to a whole other level. After her cursory glance she turned and looked back towards the front, ignoring the whispers and most of all the alluring presence beside her.

She heard him sit down and could practically feel the holes boring into the side of her face. Once the bell rang she packed up her things and stood to leave, waiting for the new guy to push in his chair. After standing for what felt like ten minutes but was surely only seconds her patience began to wear thin until eventually she snapped. "Can you please get the hell out of my way!"

He looked at her and arched a perfect dark brow before lazily standing and walking away, leaving his chair in the middle of the aisle. With a loud huff she shoved his chair back against his table and was out the door ahead of him so she could get her favorite seat in the library.

The library was quiet, as one should expect really. Students sat in little groups, the low hum of conversation lulling Kyla into a comfortable trance as she stared at the pages before her. She turned a page every so often as she looked at the page without really reading anything. The words contained within the hardback covers just blurred and bled into one. An unintelligible mess.

Usually she would be lost within the words, roaming another imaginative realm or learning another recipe. But today, she just couldn't concentrate, her mind couldn't focus on the words, their meaning just slipping out of her mental grasp. The one thing that kept coming into her head was "the new guy". She didn't know his name at all, just his face kept popping into her head, the distant closed off look in his eye when she snapped at him. That was a look that was all too familiar to Kyla.

She wondered why he had to transfer. There's always a story behind a transfer, especially in the third year of a course. Growing impatient with the book in front of her she slams it shut and puts it in her bag before standing up. She looks out of the library window and smiles at the bright blue sky that's outside. "Pretty," she mused.

Opening the front door of the library building she quickly makes her way down the steps, the slight spring breeze ruffling her hair. Tightening the straps of her backpack she begins her walk home.

Kyla lives by herself, has done for the past 3 years. Ever since she was 18 she lived by herself, her parents weren't around anymore. Not that she could blame them if she was being honest. Having a child that constantly came home with bruises and having to deal with teachers giving out at parent teacher conferences would do that to a parent she guessed.

After about 10 minutes of walking she arrived home, a small one bedroom apartment over the top of a tattoo parlour. It was small and poky, she often felt like Harry Potter under the stairs but it was her own place and she didn't have to depend on anyone. She set down her bag and began to tidy up some of the clutter that occupied her counter space.

One thing Kyla couldn't live with was mess in the kitchen. At all. She hated it with a passion, it was always something she despised. Even at the kitchen where she worked everything was in its place. Nothing out of order was tolerated in her station. Speaking of work, seeing as it was Friday she was off for the rest of the evening before she had to spend the majority of her weekend slaving away. Slaving isn't really the term Kyla would use to describe working because she loved her job. It filled her with passion and she had a drive like nothing else when in the kitchen.

Cooking took Kyla's mind off of everything. College, her lack of friendships, her lack of family. Everything was erased when she got into a kitchen. She took a glance at her watch and began to prepare her dinner. A simple vegetable risotto with Parmesan shavings.

Being a culinary student she knew how to prepare meals that were cost effective but that kept her full for as much time as possible. Therefore, she was nearly always eating carbs. Maybe not the healthiest option, but Kyla doesn't believe in having to be healthy. She eats what she wants, everything in moderation. She hummed along to the music that was coming out of her speaker as she worked, settling into her same routine.

Kyla was comfortable with the routine she had established for herself. Wake up, college, home, cook, work, shower and sleep. She wasn't happy but she was comfortable. And that was one thing she was glad for.

Later that night after she was sat with her college work surrounding her she could hear the soft lull of the tattoo gun downstairs. She smiled slightly and continued with her work. Her favourite thing about her apartment was the fact that it was just above the tattoo parlour. She had been getting tattoos since she turned 17 and had a small collection of them decorating her skin.

Piercings and tattoos always made her feel confident in her body. It was nice to have something adorning your skin that wasn't self inflicted. Thinking that, she glanced down at her arms and shook her head slightly. Sometimes things got too much and this was her new way of dealing with it. Before she moved into this apartment she would hurt herself but now, living here she only resorted to that if she was in a very bad state of mind. It hadn't happened in awhile but she wasn't holding her breath. Sometimes, days were darker than others.

She smiled as she caught sight of the tattoo that graced the inside of her wrist. A winged red apple, with the date 11•07•09. Her first tattoo, in memory of her great grandfather. That was the one that had fueled the fire for her. In the space of about 9 months she had accumulated 5 tattoos. Each one had a meaning for her, each varying in both size and colour.

She put down her pen and looked at the door, biting her lip in thought. She grins and puts her stuff away before grabbing her phone, purse and keys heading out the door and downstairs.

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Okay, Hi guys. I'm Kj, and I'm just going to let you guys know a couple of things. This book and its main character is based on real life. It does contain some distressing topics and I really don't recommend it if you don't want to be made upset.

Thank you so much for giving this book a chance, I hope you remain around and help me see this book out till the end. As for my publishing routine, there won't be one made up for now. I will publish chapters as often as I can but please keep in mind that I am in college and I am a student.

Thank you guys ❤️