A Twist of Fate: Chapter 6
Alexa tries to start a new chapter of her life, but things get weird pretty quick.
A note from the Author: Hello hello! I'm absolutely loving this beautiful weather outside so I just took the time to type out a few more chapters of this story. I hope you guys like it so far. Leave some lovely comments so I know how you guys feel about it! Thanks! ~Emalie
***
Graduation was finally a memory to the senior class. Alexa, eager to leave behind her past, could not wait to be out of Connecticut and off to college. She chose a small college in Pennsylvania, about fifty miles from Lake Erie. A change of scenery and faces would do her some good after the emotional roller coaster of a year she experienced. It took her almost a year to do it, but she had finally moved on from Nick. Kourtnie helped a lot with the process. In fact, she and Kourtnie were both going to the same college, and were living in the same dorm building.
Heath loaded the last box into the U-Haul. Today, Alexa would be flying to her future on her own at college. Her parents spent their last minutes with her in the airport hugging and crying. Ephram placed the ruby necklace around his daughter’s neck for luck. She walked through the terminal gate, stopping to take one last look at her parents. Through the hustle and bustle of the crowd, she thought she saw a familiar radiant pale man staring back at her. Her eyes widened as she took a second glance: nobody was there. She must be imagining things, she assumed, and continued down the gate and onto the plane.
~~~
The alarm buzzed violently in Alexa’s ear. Ugh, class. She drudged herself out of bed and rubbed her eyes. Two months into school and it still hasn’t gotten any easier.
Her roommate, Hilary Faust, was already showered and straightening her long honey blonde hair. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead," she sang in her raspy and adorably squeaky voice.
Their room looked like a Barbie version of Martha Stewart threw up, courtesy of Hil: pink shag carpet, white and pink-polka dot love seats, cheer posters everywhere, and pink towels, etc. Basically, it was the epitome of girl-zone. Alexa stood and walked to the full length mirror hanging from the door. Her appearance hadn’t changed much since high school: same toned body and height. She trimmed her hair three inches before she started school, but it quickly grew back. Her eyes remained the odd brown and gold-ringed color and she chalked up her talent for sensing things to women’s intuition. Alexa grabbed her shower caddy and towel. "I don’t want to go to classes today."
Hilary smiled. "Cheer up, chica. It’s Friday. We can party and just drink our problems away."
Alexa laughed at her roommate’s strange optimism and went to the showers. She lived on a single-sex floor of all girls, the benefits being an extremely fresh and clean bathroom and cleaner showers. She passed the frosted windows that could not be seen through and chose the second shower stall, as she always did. When she finished, Alexa walked to the sinks to brush her teeth. The mirrors were fogged up and a message had been written in it: "I have been waiting for you."
She spun around, expecting to find someone behind her. Nobody. The message had to have been left for her to read because no one else was in the bathroom with her. Alexa finished up and hurried to her room, locking the door. Hilary had already gone to her class. Alexa took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Don’t lose your cool, she told herself. It was probably some stupid prank.
To get her mind on track, she dressed in a brown and crème striped sweater dress, brown leggings, and brown Ugg boots. Her hair fell past her shoulder in its natural wavy loose curls. She grabbed her things for class and left her room, making sure the door was locked.
…
At lunch, Alexa spotted junior Asher Jameson, the Resident Advisor of the all-male freshmen dorm, Bryant Hall. She had been secretly sleeping with him from time to time. She lost some of her dignity after her last year in high school and this was how she filled that void. He glanced at her with no indication he cared that she was there. That was their relationship: sex with no ties. As soon as he left, she received a text from him.
‘Want to come over tonight?’
Alexa looked up at Kourtnie, who frowned back at her. "You shouldn’t go over there, Lex. You’re only hurting yourself."
"Kourt, you’re making me regret telling you in the first place. Can we please just drop it?" Alexa was tired of her best friend judging her. She could never understand.
"Fine." Kourtnie pursed her lips together, still disapproving Alexa’s desires. She regretted ever taking her to Maura’s apartment two summers ago. Alexa would have never met Nick and maybe she’d still have her best friend and not this slutty bitch. She did not feel like being around Alexa right now.
Alexa sensed a shift in Kourtnie’s emotions. "Go ahead and leave then. No one’s forcing you to stay."
Kourtnie’s mouth dropped, shocked that Alexa knew she wanted to leave and disgusted that she’d say something like that to her. "What is your problem? I didn’t say anything."
"It’s not like your thoughts weren’t obvious. Clearly you want to go. Just go," she said irritably.
"You know what, Alexa? I am sick and tired of the way you’ve been acting and how you treat me…"
Alexa had been listening to Kourtnie’s continuing tirade when electrical chills shot through her spine. Her attention directed to the window where she could have sworn she saw a woman in all white with long wavy black hair and glowing gold eyes…she thought she saw herself outside. Alexa blinked and looked again; the woman was gone. She realized Kourtnie was still talking, but she missed everything except for her first statement. "Umm, I have to go. Can we finish this talk later?"
Kourtnie scoffed and hastily grabbed her belongings. "Whatever, knock yourself out...literally." She left quickly.
Still out of it, Alexa left the cafeteria and began walking back to her room. What is happening to me? Am I going crazy? She tried to think of explanations why she would see herself standing outside the cafeteria, especially in that white gown. She reached her room and went to insert her key only to find that her door was already unlocked. Alexa’s heart began to race as the fear consumed her. She entered the room cautiously and saw her jewelry box overturned on her bed. "What the hell!" she shouted angrily. She checked for any missing pieces and saw that her ruby necklace was gone. Somebody broke into her room and only stole the one thing that meant the most to her. However, Alexa was more freaked out than upset. She pulled out Hilary’s bottle of vodka from the fridge and poured herself a shot. I just need to forget this day, she thought. Alexa got her cell phone, wrote a text and paused. She briefly contemplated her life and drank the shot of vodka. She looked back to her cell and hit ‘Send,’ on her message to Asher:
‘I’ll be there at midnight.’
…
Later that night around midnight after hitting up a few parties with Hilary, Alexa walked through the upper level of Bryant Hall, mildly intoxicated. Something within her burned as she walked down the steps to Asher’s level. She saw shadows and heard voices at the bottom of the short flight of stairs, one she knew belonged to Asher. The other was familiar, but she couldn’t put a face to it. She descended slowly to the lower level and the two men were now visible. Asher leaned against his door frame, staring at Alexa with a strange look. Alexa never laid eyes on Asher; she was frozen in place by the sight of the man next to him. Dressed in jeans, a white button down shirt, and a black blazer, Nick hadn’t aged a day since she last saw him, not that she had expected him to.
Nicolaus smiled sweetly at her. "You look as though you’d seen a ghost, Alexa."
Alexa snapped out of her trance quickly as rage pumped through her veins. "The chances of me seeing a ghost here instead of you would have been greater, Nick."
"And I thought you would be thrilled to see me," Nicolaus said with a sly grin on his face.
She scoffed at his ridiculous remark. "That ship sailed long ago and it’s not making a return trip."
Asher, who had been watching the two exchange sarcastic comments, finally spoke. "I take it you two know each other?"
"Hardly," Alexa spat sourly.
Nicolaus ignored her statement and turned to Asher. "We’re engaged," he clarified.
Asher’s eyebrows rose. "Engaged?"
Alexa almost choked at the comment. "You must be mistaken. Engaged couples don’t abandon each other without any explanation. I don’t even have that stupid ring anymore."
"I know," Nicolaus said as he pulled out a ring box. "I wish you wouldn’t have thrown it into that lake."
A smug smirk grew across Alexa’s face. "I’m glad you enjoyed looking for it."
Nicolaus’ patience was wearing thin. "Is this what you’ve grown up to be, Alexa? A callous brat?"
"Don’t you like what you created? You ruined my life. As far as I am concerned, I’m better off without you." She angrily replied.
"Are you? Do you find this new behavior of yours remotely attractive or becoming?" Nicolaus subtly nodded his head towards Asher. "Cause I’ve heard some interesting things that you have been doing since my absence."
He read Asher’s mind and now he’s using it against me, she thought. "You have no right to pry into my life anymore. You’re not a part of it and you chose that fate," Alexa declared.
"I had good reason to leave, Alexa. Which I would like to discuss in privacy, if you don’t mind."
She shook her head. "I do mind actually. I’m not going anywhere with you."
Nicolaus was done being reasonable. Alexa clearly was not going to cooperate. "Why don’t you stop being so difficult and stubborn? You’re not fooling anyone with this charade."
Alexa was heated. "Charade? I have every right to be as angry and as stubborn as I want towards you! Do you want to know how life was after you left?" Alexa let all the memories of sleepless nights spent crying and endless days of barely existing, rush back and fill her mind. She watched Nick read her mind and see her pain.
"Stop it," Nicolaus muttered as the picture of Alexa curled up in the corner of her room weeping on the floor, played through his mind.
"Why? Is the truth too much for you?"
An oblivious Asher listened and watched Nick and Alexa fight about something he’d never understand.
"We need to talk, Alexa. I am not leaving until we do." Nicolaus affirmed assertively.
Alexa looked towards the door, down the hall, behind Nick.
He didn’t need to read her mind. "I’d catch you. You know you cannot outrun me." He heard her wish she’d never met him in the first place. "I promise I will leave after I explain everything, if then that is what you still want."
She nodded her head hesitantly. "Fine." Alexa walked in the direction of the door.
"I have my car. We can drive over," Nicolaus offered amicably.
"Thanks, but no thanks. I could use the fresh air." Alexa continued and walked out of the dorm building. She held it together as she passed the gym complex and crossed the street. As soon as she reached the steps beside the campus information building, she sat down and began to panic. The hurt she believed she erased, returned at full force. She took a few minutes to control her breathing before she continued to her dorm. Nick’s Aston Martin Vanquish stuck out like a sore thumb; especially in the quiet small town the college was located. She called Hilary.
"Hey girlie. What’s up?" she answered in her usual cheery tone.
"Hi Hil. I have a visitor over right now, but it won’t be for long. Could you wait a while before you come back to the room?" Alexa asked.
"Sure, that’s no problem. Just let me know when he’s gone. Bye babe." Hilary hung up.
Alexa realized Hilary assumed it was a guy. What had she grown up to become? She shook the question from her head and went up to her dorm room, locking the door behind her. She sensed Nick shimmer into the room behind her. "You wanted to talk, so talk," Alexa said as she still faced the door.
"You can still sense me. At least that much of you has stayed the same," Nicolaus stated with relief.
Alexa spun rapidly to face him. "Nick, I don’t have time for this. Just say whatever you came to tell me."
Nicolaus moved slowly toward her. "I believe that what happened to you that day was greater than you or I could imagine, and I think my parents know. But they ordered me to stay away from you, even though every part of my being wanted to be with you. No, needed to be with you. The day you discovered that I was gone, I felt your pain. It ripped my insides apart. And each day after that, your pain tortured me. Even a few moments ago, I sensed your hurt." He was so dangerously close to her. "Alexa, I apologize for causing you to suffer from the pain of my absence. I am truly sorry for leaving you without any warning. But I’m not going to apologize for doing what I thought was best for you."
Tears had formed in Alexa’s eyes as Nicolaus’ blue ones gazed intently into hers. "Nick…" she barely managed to utter. He embraced her, stealing her breath as his lips caressed hers fervently in a kiss.
She managed to tear away from his grasp. "I can’t. I’m sorry."
"Alexa—"
"Just go, Nicolaus!" Alexa shouted, tears streaming down her face. "You shouldn’t have left! And maybe…maybe you shouldn’t have come back."
Nicolaus receded a step from her. "Do you mean that, Alexa? Do you really want me gone forever?" Her silence irritated him. "Is that what you want?!"
Alexa snapped at his outburst. "What do you want me to say? ‘Oh, it’s alright, Nick. I don’t mind that you disappeared the day after you proposed or that I spent my senior year in tears. Let’s get married.’ It’s not as simple as that."
A growl escaped Nicolaus’ throat of mixed anger and frustration. "Damn it, Alexa, must you be so dense! Let me try to get this through your thick skull. If staying with me meant that you would be the cause of my death, would you stay?" She remained speechless, but he continued speaking. "Think about it and maybe you might understand an inkling of the dilemma in which I was placed." He shimmered out of her room, leaving Alexa standing against the door, drained. She heard a squeal of tires and then a car sped off.
Alexa sat on her bed, replaying the random sequence of events from tonight. If she was in Nick’s position, would she leave him? Essentially it came down to leaving to keep her alive or staying with her dead. She thought about his question, ‘Do you really want me gone forever?’ When Nick had left, she believed that she’d never see him again. But now that he was back and explained why he had gone in the first place, did she want him to leave again?
***
Graduation was finally a memory to the senior class. Alexa, eager to leave behind her past, could not wait to be out of Connecticut and off to college. She chose a small college in Pennsylvania, about fifty miles from Lake Erie. A change of scenery and faces would do her some good after the emotional roller coaster of a year she experienced. It took her almost a year to do it, but she had finally moved on from Nick. Kourtnie helped a lot with the process. In fact, she and Kourtnie were both going to the same college, and were living in the same dorm building.
Heath loaded the last box into the U-Haul. Today, Alexa would be flying to her future on her own at college. Her parents spent their last minutes with her in the airport hugging and crying. Ephram placed the ruby necklace around his daughter’s neck for luck. She walked through the terminal gate, stopping to take one last look at her parents. Through the hustle and bustle of the crowd, she thought she saw a familiar radiant pale man staring back at her. Her eyes widened as she took a second glance: nobody was there. She must be imagining things, she assumed, and continued down the gate and onto the plane.
~~~
The alarm buzzed violently in Alexa’s ear. Ugh, class. She drudged herself out of bed and rubbed her eyes. Two months into school and it still hasn’t gotten any easier.
Her roommate, Hilary Faust, was already showered and straightening her long honey blonde hair. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead," she sang in her raspy and adorably squeaky voice.
Their room looked like a Barbie version of Martha Stewart threw up, courtesy of Hil: pink shag carpet, white and pink-polka dot love seats, cheer posters everywhere, and pink towels, etc. Basically, it was the epitome of girl-zone. Alexa stood and walked to the full length mirror hanging from the door. Her appearance hadn’t changed much since high school: same toned body and height. She trimmed her hair three inches before she started school, but it quickly grew back. Her eyes remained the odd brown and gold-ringed color and she chalked up her talent for sensing things to women’s intuition. Alexa grabbed her shower caddy and towel. "I don’t want to go to classes today."
Hilary smiled. "Cheer up, chica. It’s Friday. We can party and just drink our problems away."
Alexa laughed at her roommate’s strange optimism and went to the showers. She lived on a single-sex floor of all girls, the benefits being an extremely fresh and clean bathroom and cleaner showers. She passed the frosted windows that could not be seen through and chose the second shower stall, as she always did. When she finished, Alexa walked to the sinks to brush her teeth. The mirrors were fogged up and a message had been written in it: "I have been waiting for you."
She spun around, expecting to find someone behind her. Nobody. The message had to have been left for her to read because no one else was in the bathroom with her. Alexa finished up and hurried to her room, locking the door. Hilary had already gone to her class. Alexa took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Don’t lose your cool, she told herself. It was probably some stupid prank.
To get her mind on track, she dressed in a brown and crème striped sweater dress, brown leggings, and brown Ugg boots. Her hair fell past her shoulder in its natural wavy loose curls. She grabbed her things for class and left her room, making sure the door was locked.
…
At lunch, Alexa spotted junior Asher Jameson, the Resident Advisor of the all-male freshmen dorm, Bryant Hall. She had been secretly sleeping with him from time to time. She lost some of her dignity after her last year in high school and this was how she filled that void. He glanced at her with no indication he cared that she was there. That was their relationship: sex with no ties. As soon as he left, she received a text from him.
‘Want to come over tonight?’
Alexa looked up at Kourtnie, who frowned back at her. "You shouldn’t go over there, Lex. You’re only hurting yourself."
"Kourt, you’re making me regret telling you in the first place. Can we please just drop it?" Alexa was tired of her best friend judging her. She could never understand.
"Fine." Kourtnie pursed her lips together, still disapproving Alexa’s desires. She regretted ever taking her to Maura’s apartment two summers ago. Alexa would have never met Nick and maybe she’d still have her best friend and not this slutty bitch. She did not feel like being around Alexa right now.
Alexa sensed a shift in Kourtnie’s emotions. "Go ahead and leave then. No one’s forcing you to stay."
Kourtnie’s mouth dropped, shocked that Alexa knew she wanted to leave and disgusted that she’d say something like that to her. "What is your problem? I didn’t say anything."
"It’s not like your thoughts weren’t obvious. Clearly you want to go. Just go," she said irritably.
"You know what, Alexa? I am sick and tired of the way you’ve been acting and how you treat me…"
Alexa had been listening to Kourtnie’s continuing tirade when electrical chills shot through her spine. Her attention directed to the window where she could have sworn she saw a woman in all white with long wavy black hair and glowing gold eyes…she thought she saw herself outside. Alexa blinked and looked again; the woman was gone. She realized Kourtnie was still talking, but she missed everything except for her first statement. "Umm, I have to go. Can we finish this talk later?"
Kourtnie scoffed and hastily grabbed her belongings. "Whatever, knock yourself out...literally." She left quickly.
Still out of it, Alexa left the cafeteria and began walking back to her room. What is happening to me? Am I going crazy? She tried to think of explanations why she would see herself standing outside the cafeteria, especially in that white gown. She reached her room and went to insert her key only to find that her door was already unlocked. Alexa’s heart began to race as the fear consumed her. She entered the room cautiously and saw her jewelry box overturned on her bed. "What the hell!" she shouted angrily. She checked for any missing pieces and saw that her ruby necklace was gone. Somebody broke into her room and only stole the one thing that meant the most to her. However, Alexa was more freaked out than upset. She pulled out Hilary’s bottle of vodka from the fridge and poured herself a shot. I just need to forget this day, she thought. Alexa got her cell phone, wrote a text and paused. She briefly contemplated her life and drank the shot of vodka. She looked back to her cell and hit ‘Send,’ on her message to Asher:
‘I’ll be there at midnight.’
…
Later that night around midnight after hitting up a few parties with Hilary, Alexa walked through the upper level of Bryant Hall, mildly intoxicated. Something within her burned as she walked down the steps to Asher’s level. She saw shadows and heard voices at the bottom of the short flight of stairs, one she knew belonged to Asher. The other was familiar, but she couldn’t put a face to it. She descended slowly to the lower level and the two men were now visible. Asher leaned against his door frame, staring at Alexa with a strange look. Alexa never laid eyes on Asher; she was frozen in place by the sight of the man next to him. Dressed in jeans, a white button down shirt, and a black blazer, Nick hadn’t aged a day since she last saw him, not that she had expected him to.
Nicolaus smiled sweetly at her. "You look as though you’d seen a ghost, Alexa."
Alexa snapped out of her trance quickly as rage pumped through her veins. "The chances of me seeing a ghost here instead of you would have been greater, Nick."
"And I thought you would be thrilled to see me," Nicolaus said with a sly grin on his face.
She scoffed at his ridiculous remark. "That ship sailed long ago and it’s not making a return trip."
Asher, who had been watching the two exchange sarcastic comments, finally spoke. "I take it you two know each other?"
"Hardly," Alexa spat sourly.
Nicolaus ignored her statement and turned to Asher. "We’re engaged," he clarified.
Asher’s eyebrows rose. "Engaged?"
Alexa almost choked at the comment. "You must be mistaken. Engaged couples don’t abandon each other without any explanation. I don’t even have that stupid ring anymore."
"I know," Nicolaus said as he pulled out a ring box. "I wish you wouldn’t have thrown it into that lake."
A smug smirk grew across Alexa’s face. "I’m glad you enjoyed looking for it."
Nicolaus’ patience was wearing thin. "Is this what you’ve grown up to be, Alexa? A callous brat?"
"Don’t you like what you created? You ruined my life. As far as I am concerned, I’m better off without you." She angrily replied.
"Are you? Do you find this new behavior of yours remotely attractive or becoming?" Nicolaus subtly nodded his head towards Asher. "Cause I’ve heard some interesting things that you have been doing since my absence."
He read Asher’s mind and now he’s using it against me, she thought. "You have no right to pry into my life anymore. You’re not a part of it and you chose that fate," Alexa declared.
"I had good reason to leave, Alexa. Which I would like to discuss in privacy, if you don’t mind."
She shook her head. "I do mind actually. I’m not going anywhere with you."
Nicolaus was done being reasonable. Alexa clearly was not going to cooperate. "Why don’t you stop being so difficult and stubborn? You’re not fooling anyone with this charade."
Alexa was heated. "Charade? I have every right to be as angry and as stubborn as I want towards you! Do you want to know how life was after you left?" Alexa let all the memories of sleepless nights spent crying and endless days of barely existing, rush back and fill her mind. She watched Nick read her mind and see her pain.
"Stop it," Nicolaus muttered as the picture of Alexa curled up in the corner of her room weeping on the floor, played through his mind.
"Why? Is the truth too much for you?"
An oblivious Asher listened and watched Nick and Alexa fight about something he’d never understand.
"We need to talk, Alexa. I am not leaving until we do." Nicolaus affirmed assertively.
Alexa looked towards the door, down the hall, behind Nick.
He didn’t need to read her mind. "I’d catch you. You know you cannot outrun me." He heard her wish she’d never met him in the first place. "I promise I will leave after I explain everything, if then that is what you still want."
She nodded her head hesitantly. "Fine." Alexa walked in the direction of the door.
"I have my car. We can drive over," Nicolaus offered amicably.
"Thanks, but no thanks. I could use the fresh air." Alexa continued and walked out of the dorm building. She held it together as she passed the gym complex and crossed the street. As soon as she reached the steps beside the campus information building, she sat down and began to panic. The hurt she believed she erased, returned at full force. She took a few minutes to control her breathing before she continued to her dorm. Nick’s Aston Martin Vanquish stuck out like a sore thumb; especially in the quiet small town the college was located. She called Hilary.
"Hey girlie. What’s up?" she answered in her usual cheery tone.
"Hi Hil. I have a visitor over right now, but it won’t be for long. Could you wait a while before you come back to the room?" Alexa asked.
"Sure, that’s no problem. Just let me know when he’s gone. Bye babe." Hilary hung up.
Alexa realized Hilary assumed it was a guy. What had she grown up to become? She shook the question from her head and went up to her dorm room, locking the door behind her. She sensed Nick shimmer into the room behind her. "You wanted to talk, so talk," Alexa said as she still faced the door.
"You can still sense me. At least that much of you has stayed the same," Nicolaus stated with relief.
Alexa spun rapidly to face him. "Nick, I don’t have time for this. Just say whatever you came to tell me."
Nicolaus moved slowly toward her. "I believe that what happened to you that day was greater than you or I could imagine, and I think my parents know. But they ordered me to stay away from you, even though every part of my being wanted to be with you. No, needed to be with you. The day you discovered that I was gone, I felt your pain. It ripped my insides apart. And each day after that, your pain tortured me. Even a few moments ago, I sensed your hurt." He was so dangerously close to her. "Alexa, I apologize for causing you to suffer from the pain of my absence. I am truly sorry for leaving you without any warning. But I’m not going to apologize for doing what I thought was best for you."
Tears had formed in Alexa’s eyes as Nicolaus’ blue ones gazed intently into hers. "Nick…" she barely managed to utter. He embraced her, stealing her breath as his lips caressed hers fervently in a kiss.
She managed to tear away from his grasp. "I can’t. I’m sorry."
"Alexa—"
"Just go, Nicolaus!" Alexa shouted, tears streaming down her face. "You shouldn’t have left! And maybe…maybe you shouldn’t have come back."
Nicolaus receded a step from her. "Do you mean that, Alexa? Do you really want me gone forever?" Her silence irritated him. "Is that what you want?!"
Alexa snapped at his outburst. "What do you want me to say? ‘Oh, it’s alright, Nick. I don’t mind that you disappeared the day after you proposed or that I spent my senior year in tears. Let’s get married.’ It’s not as simple as that."
A growl escaped Nicolaus’ throat of mixed anger and frustration. "Damn it, Alexa, must you be so dense! Let me try to get this through your thick skull. If staying with me meant that you would be the cause of my death, would you stay?" She remained speechless, but he continued speaking. "Think about it and maybe you might understand an inkling of the dilemma in which I was placed." He shimmered out of her room, leaving Alexa standing against the door, drained. She heard a squeal of tires and then a car sped off.
Alexa sat on her bed, replaying the random sequence of events from tonight. If she was in Nick’s position, would she leave him? Essentially it came down to leaving to keep her alive or staying with her dead. She thought about his question, ‘Do you really want me gone forever?’ When Nick had left, she believed that she’d never see him again. But now that he was back and explained why he had gone in the first place, did she want him to leave again?
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