500 Roses

Chapter One

***Five Weeks Earlier***
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BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
I lazily roll over in my bed, my eyes opening as tiny slits.

5:45 shows up in large block red letters on my alarm clock as it screams at me to get out of bed. I momentarily debate hitting the snooze button, but quickly decide against that decision. I stretch out my short limbs while letting out a huge yawn. With a low grunt I extend my arm and turn the blaring alarm off before rolling out of bed onto my feet.

With my eyes still half shut, I slowly shuffle my way to the bathroom, somehow without tripping and falling on my face. Flipping the light switch, my eyes burn momentarily before they adjust to the brightness that now illuminated the room.

I grab a washcloth and towel before stripping off my snoopy pajamas and starting the shower water. After hopping in, the warm water greets me by slithering down my body. I automatically grab my body wash and scrub my entire body clean. Then I grab my strawberry mango shampoo, squirting some into my palm and massage it into my scalp. Finally, I rinse, condition, and rinse my hair again, making sure all of the soap has been thoroughly washed away. I wring out my hair and pull out my towel to dry myself off.

Once I got my body dry I jump out of the shower, reach for my hair dryer and begin to blow dry my short brown hair. Glancing at the clock, I moan slightly in agitation...

I took too long of a shower.

The clock reads 6:11

My school starts at 7:10 but it takes me thirty minutes to drive there. Not including the time it will take me to find a parking spot....
Wonderful Thea.
I'm going to be late on the first day of school!

Overdrive kicks in. Oh heck no I won't be!!!
It takes five minutes to completely dry my hair.

6:16.

I run to my closet at full speed, pull a bra and underwear out of my top drawer, quickly putting them on. My eyes wander the room for a brief moment before I decide to go with the light teal v-neck and ripped designer skinny jeans. Sliding black Tom's onto my petite feet, I zip out of my room, collecting my backpack as I make my way toward the kitchen.

A pink sticky note sits on the countertop.

"Have a great first day of senior year!!! You have to tell me all about it tonight.
Much love,
Mom :)
P.S. Dad and Keato wish you luck too."

My mom, DeeAnne, is the best! She works the early morning shifts as an ER doctor at Legacy Hospital so she leaves before I even wake up. I smile because I know I will follow in her footsteps someday.

Well... Sort of. I want to become an equine veterinarian.

I guess I got the love of animals from my dad, Jack. He works as police officer in the dog handling department and he is currently out of state working on a huge case. A 15 year old girl randomly went missing two weeks ago so now they have hundreds of officers out searching for the girl. He was called out four days ago with his partner Keato, who is a stunning belgian malinois. I hope they find the girl soon.

I shake the thoughts out of my head, turning my focus to getting ready in time. I drop an english muffin into the toaster and pour myself a tall glass of orange cranberry juice, quickly swigging it down. POP! The toaster launches my muffin out of the crevice so I can grab it to go. No time for butter or strawberry jelly. I frown.

I shove part of the english muffin into my mouth while I grab my keys and rush out the front door. Jumping into my 2004 blue Jeep Liberty, I jam the key into the ignition, twist it, and my car roars to life.