The Unchosen life

By Danka V.

People believe that every soul has its other half somewhere in the world. A soul mate or so I’ve been told, and they spend a lifetime seeking that other half, hoping to find it... I don’t need to hope anymore because mine found me... And tried to take my life! Today, twenty-four years since I was born, I finally do believe that there is a true love in life and that somewhere out there, there is that other one who will, once they show up, complete your own soul. But I learned much too late that they are not the same thing! My name is Elena Wolchek and this is my story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Danka V.
• Release date: Aug 29, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466118881

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The Unchosen life

By Danka V.

Published by Danka V. at Smashwords

Copyright 2011 Danka V.

Smaswords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

To Davor and Maja, the only true soul mates I know…

Natasa, the best sister in the world…

The one who put up with me all this time…

Prologue

Somewhere I read:

Why is it that we are in such a hurry to grow up and then, once we finally do, we wish we were children again? Why do we ruin our health trying to make money and then spend that money trying to recover our health? Thinking about the future we forget the present, thus living in neither of them.

God took my hand and said: you must learn that you can’t force anyone to love you. All you can do is love them. Know that the one who has the most is not the richest; it is he who needs the least. It might take only one second to hurt the one you love but it takes forever to heal. Learn how to forgive yourself and forgive others. There are people who love most but do not know how to express that. You must learn that money can buy you anything except for happiness. Acknowledge that a true friend is the one who knows everything about you and still loves you and that, eventually, people will forget the things you said or did , but the feelings you woke up in them they will never forget!

There are moments of true happiness in life and those are truly rare. Sometimes we are so happy that we get carried away thinking our life is a never-ending fairytale. Once I lived in a fairytale…It is said that it is better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all. It is wrong. Trust me. I know.

People believe that every soul has its other half somewhere in the world. A soul mate or so I’ve been told, and they spend a lifetime seeking that other half, hoping to find it… I am looking for my other half too... determined to find him… and put an end to either his or my own life. Today, twenty-four years since I was born, I finally do believe that there is the right one for me and that my other half exists somewhere in the world, waiting for me. Unfortunately, they are not the same person.

I took one last look at the grave and laid a white rose on it. With hatred in my eyes, leaving my heart there, I walked away. My name is Elena Wolchek and this is my story.

Chapter One

I’ve known my entire life that I was different and it wasn’t without reason. Some things about me were unusual from the very day I was born. Small things, I thought, though my parents thought otherwise. They believed something was seriously wrong with me.

One of those things was the fact that I never cried, not even when I was a baby. One might think that, because of that, my parents would have considered themselves as the luckiest parents on the planet, but they didn’t. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Once, I even heard my mother crying ant telling my father that nothing could make her happier than a tear in my eye.

The second one was a bit annoying, at least it was to my parents. It was my intelligence. Well, too much of it, to be precise. Every night when the time for a bedtime story came, they argued, claiming that it was the other one’s turn to read to me. Not that they weren’t eager to do that. No, it wasn’t like that. They didn’t want to do it, period. You see, by the time I was three years old, I had every aspect of every story that was ever read to me memorized to the smallest detail. That’s what the annoying part was all about. If they skipped as much as a word while reading, I would correct them immediately. In addition, I always had a question that needed to be asked. If I was being read the story of a Little Red Riding Hood, I simply couldn’t swallow how stupid that girl was.

But mom, he is a wolf, not human, I would say interrupting her reading.

I know honey, but she is just a little girl, she doesn’t know, my mother would try to explain me softly.

But mom, I am a three-year-old child and I would have seen the difference between my grandmother and a wolf, I complained again not satisfied with her answer.

Of course you would, honey, I have no doubt about that. But this is just a story.

But mom, does anyone actually believes in that?

Normal kids do, honey.

But mom... I would try again but she would just kiss me and explain calmly that I cannot ask any more questions because it was time for me to sleep. Both of them really had patience with me but they were so worried about what was it that was wrong with me that they took me to all kinds of doctors, but the answer was always the same. Physically, I was a normal three-year-old child and there was nothing wrong with me.

One time, they took me to some famous child specialist who refused to believe that a child that does not cry exists and you wouldn’t believe what the old man did just to prove that he was right. He pinched me! And he did it so hard that he left me a bruise! Some specialist, right?! And that’s exactly what I said to him.

Ouch! Are you sane? Who gave you the medical license? Doctors are supposed to ease pain, not inflict it! Do you want me to pinch you just to see if you will cry? I shouted at him.

Normal reaction, you would say. And it would have been if it weren’t for the fact that I was still a three-year-old child in that moment. I guess a normal three-year-old would have run to her mother and started crying. But not me. I made my point and unconditionally demanded to leave that office at once.

That was the last time my parents made me visit a doctor. After that, they made peace with the fact I was just different. Brighter than other kids, they consoled themselves, but I think they were actually thankful for the fact that I was at least physically normal, you know, one head, two eyes, five fingers on each hand...

There was also one more thing about me, which, compared to the stuff I mentioned, seemed ordinary. It was my birthmark. Lighter than the rest of my skin, about half an inch long, in a shape of a lightening, it stood on the left side of my neck from the day I was born.

Apart from these things, my childhood was pretty much normal. There were four of us living in our house in Sparks, Nevada; my forever understanding parents, my brother David, seven years my senior, and of course, me.

With my brother was an altogether different story. We were always at each other’s throats. Don’t get me wrong, we loved each other very much but there always seemed to be a reason for an argument. The way I saw it, it was because he hadn’t expected my parents to have another child, especially not one like me. He was used to the fact that he was the only one but then I came and spoiled everything for him.

Naturally, the fact that I was an annoying baby sister only made things worse. I used to do so many stupid things, kids’ stuff, just to irritate him and believe me, if I were him, I would have punched myself every time there were no witnesses. David did try to ignore me most of the time and even to be understanding of my age and of my ‘little differences’. But you wouldn’t believe how unyielding I was.

However, there was one day in a year when the two of us got along quite well and when I was just as ordinary as other children of my age. It was the day of our spring picnic. There was a place on the nearby mountain that we went to, a small meadow no one else came to. We loved its privacy. We would arrive early in the morning and spend the entire day there. My father would play ball with us and then we would eat the sandwiches my mother had made. They were nowhere near being tasty, probably because too many pickles will always be too many pickles. Nevertheless, we ate them with such pleasure as if they were coming from McDonald’s. David and I never fought on that day. Come to think of it, it was the only day in the year when there was a truce between us. I was pretty sure my parents enjoyed that day mostly because of that fact. Those were the best memories I have about them.

We were a happy family. And then, they died. They were coming home from work, and the other driver was drunk and... You know how that ends. I was eleven and my brother was eighteen.

Our relationship changed a lot after that day, and so did we. In spite of the fact that our parents left us money, David wanted to find a job. He wanted to be responsible, which he definitely was. I think he grew up the day of their funeral. One day he was my older brother who annoyed me all the time and the other, he was my entire life. We never fought again.

David cried himself to sleep every night, thinking I couldn’t hear him. I guess he didn’t want me to see him like that, week and scared. Every second of every day, I wondered why life had to be so unfair, our parents were good people, they did not deserve that and neither did we. Every Christmas there was a burdening feeling of emptiness when we looked at the presents under the tree that David continued buying for them, every Thanksgiving Day silent looks were exchanged when two extra plates were removed unused from the table, every New Years Eve wishes were left unspoken when we hugged only each other...

It was a hard time for the two of us but I think it was harder for him. After all, he was the one who had to take care of me. But slowly, day by day and even though it seemed like it never would, time passed and things became easier. We got used to the fact that we were alone and we were grateful that we at least had each other.

Chapter Two

And just like that, I was in high school.

I had two best friends there. Mara, whom I had known since always, and Daniel who moved to our town the year before high school started.

Mara was the kind of person that one could only wish for a best friend. She was compassionate, there was always a smile on her face and she knew how to give a good advice. We did everything together; I think she spent more time with my brother and me than she did with her own parents. Although, I have to admit, our friendship was not the only reason for her wanting to be near me. She had a crush on my brother. She made me swear not to tell him anything about that and I never did, respecting her wishes. She used to laugh at all his not-so-funny jokes, agree with him on everything, talk about how cute he was, smart, special… Personally, I thought it was ridiculous! I mean, it was David! My brother David! But I never said anything to her.

Daniel… well, she was the pretty one. She was a tall blue-eyed blonde, completely into that ‘I am a princess’ stuff, entirely different from Mara. To be honest, brainpower wasn’t her best side. She was actually one of those people who deliver ‘intellectual’ statements such as ‘the best way to not is to not, duh’. But even though she was not very bright, she was nice to be around.

As for me… I was in the middle. I was tall for my age but not too tall. I had long straight black hair and extremely dark eyes. I wasn’t as popular as Daniel, but guys did think I was good looking.

When it comes to my personality, I must say that I was not a bad person but I was no angel, either. Let’s say I was like most of the people - sometimes good, sometimes… well… not that good. I knew what it was like to get drunk, I knew what it was like to be in a fight (I knew that quite well, actually), but I also knew how to listen to people and hear them, and I always helped. I was constantly debating with the teachers when I thought they were wrong and crusading to protect someone’s rights. I never tolerated injustice and I was forever trying to make things right. Sometimes I had the feeling that I don’t belong anywhere.

Like in every high school, there was a guy and he was the most popular guy in the school. He was a jock but not of that stupid kind you get to see in the movies. Actually, if I want to be honest, he was pretty smart. He played volleyball and was really good at it. His name was Damon Philips.

All the girls in our school thought he was gorgeous and when I say all the girls, I include myself. I mean, what was there not to like? He had everything a girl could ever want… Tall, with black hair, beautiful green eyes, stunning body, adorable smile... However, since there is no such thing as perfection, Damon, like all of us, had a flaw. A big one. He was an idiot. Or at least he behaved like one.

In the beginning of my knowing him, he used to irritate me so much that I was (at least three times a day) thinking about strangling him. He was well aware of the fact that he was good looking and he played that card a lot. Convinced he was irresistible, he thought he could have any girl in our school. And they were confirming him that belief.

He was never single, without a girlfriend. He always had a thing going on with one girl and three more waiting in reserve. And there was no need for him to chase them or make any kind of effort. All he had to do was to approach them and smile.

The procedure was always the same. He smiles and pulls a stupid line on them and then they say how they are not interested, but the smile on their faces proves them wrong. Damon then smiles again and after a second, they are drooling all over each other. I called it ‘a dumb girl procedure’ and sometimes it was really disgusting to watch. Once I even saw him kissing one girl in the morning and then, after the classes, he was sticking his tongue down another’s throat. Like I said, disgusting! But somehow, none of them seemed to be bothered by that.

One day, I guess, the time came for me to be ‘charmed’. It was Monday morning and I was running late for my class. Damon was standing at the classroom door and when he saw me, he put his arm on the doorframe trying to block my way in.

Would you please be kind enough to move, I suggested politely, looking at his arm.

And what if I don’t? he asked mysteriously trying to… Actually, I don’t know what he was trying to accomplish.

Move, I said lifting my eyes from his hand and giving him the ‘I mean business’ look. I don’t have time for your games.

He was starting to get on my nerves. I stayed up late the night before watching a movie with David and I didn’t get much sleep, so I was already quite pissed off before he started making it even worse.

But, Damon being Damon, just stood there showing no intention of moving.

Well, it appears that your look isn’t going to be enough, I thought reaching for his arm in order to move it myself.

Suddenly, he grabbed my wrists and pushed me in the classroom, trapping me between him and the wall.

You have beautiful eyes, he pulled a stupid line on me smiling in my face.

He was trying to charm me, but it wasn’t working. I was not being charmed, I was being aggravated. I couldn’t believe that he thought I was that brainless. By that time, everyone in the classroom was looking in our direction eagerly waiting for the outcome.

Get off me, was the only thing I could say and, trust me, there was no smile on my face telling him something different. I was staring at him piercingly trying to show him how serious I was but he just pushed me harder against the wall.

But you really do! I could lose myself looking in them, he said having that stupid smile again, the one saying ‘you are almost mine’.

Then it hit me and I burst out laughing! The procedure I had seen him perform so many times had begun. The dumb girl procedure. I saw the audience cheer and it made me extremely angry. And all I could think of in that moment was slapping that smile off his face!

You are so full of crap, Damon! I exclaimed, surprised that he actually thought I would fall for such a line.

Have you just heard yourself? ‘I could lose myself in them’? Have you noticed how moronic that is? Because the rest of the class has, including me! I pointed out with a mocking smile.

And you actually thought I would fall for that?! That I am that thick? I feel so sorry for you. I put my hand on his shoulder and gave him one of those sympathetic looks.

And to be honest, I didn’t expect anything smart from you. After all, you are just a jock. But I must admit I wasn’t prepared for something that stupid either. You just keep surprising me.

He blinked, completely taken aback with my reaction. He was really expecting me to fall for that ‘you have beautiful eyes’ nonsense. He didn’t move, he just stood there with his jaw to the ground. But at least he wasn’t smiling anymore.

Our audience was so amused that I even got an applause. I grew bigger, so I arrogantly pushed him with both of my hands, passed by him and then turned theatrically to face him.

"And if you ever touch me again, I won’t feel so sorry for you and I