Life Before You

Chapter 1

Ring ring ring, that's the alarm telling me it's already 5 am, and I don't feel like getting up at all. 

I roll over a bit on my bed and sigh; this is just another day. But I decide to get up because my hours are ticking away. 

I rush into the bathroom, brush my teeth, take a shower, and put on a pair of blue jeans and a black shirt with my sneakers.

 My parents are already sitting at the table having breakfast with toasted bread and coffee. 

"Good morning, Mom, good morning, Dad, did you sleep well?" I ask. 

"Good morning, Meliah," they both respond, sounding a bit tired and with my mom mentioning some lower back pain. 

My parents are hard workers; they work tirelessly, and they deserve some recognition or a salary raise because they even work when they're not feeling well, they never stay home. 

"Mom, take a day off to rest; you'll feel better," I suggest. 

"No, my child, I'm fine, don't worry about me. I'll take a couple of pills, and you'll see, I'll feel better. 

"Meliah, don't forget your bread and your coffee; you need to catch the bus," my mom says, wanting me to leave quickly so we won't discuss her health or her needing a day off. 

"Okay, Mom, but when I come back in the afternoon, we'll talk about that back pain," I insist.

 Mom gives a reassuring nod, and I grab my bread and my coffee, then head to the bus stop. 

On my way to the bus stop, I usually have breakfast by eating my bread and drinking my coffee. 

The bus stop is not too far; it's about a 15-minute walk from where I live. 

The bus arrives every day at 5:45 am, and I usually get to school before it starts.

I'm in my senior year at a public school . At school, I'm not very social. I'm quite shy and don't like to chat with the kids in my class. 

I don't want to tell them where I live or why I go to this school here when there's a much better school where I live. 

During breaks, I sit alone and try to get a head start on my homework to have less to do after school.

 On the bus ride back home, I try to read or study whatever I can since it's a one-hour journey. 

After I arrive back at The Gates, I head to my job at the pet shop, just inside the gates.

 As soon as I arrive, I need to take over from my colleague Lisa so she can go home. 

"Good afternoon, Lisa. 

What's on the agenda for today?" I ask. 

"Hi, Meliah. Well, let me see... I'm almost done with all the morning appointments. The last dog to be picked up is Donuts. In about 10 minutes, they'll bring Munchies" 

"Thanks, Lisa, I try to say before she leaves. She always rushes off to pick up her little son at daycare. 

I stop with my thoughts and go play with Donuts. His fur is so soft, like a fluffy white cloud. Lisa gave him a beautiful trim. I imagine they called him Donuts because he looks like a white donut with frosting. 

Haha, I have to stop thinking such silly things.

"thinggg, thinggg," the doorbell rings.

 "Good afternoon, " a young man says. 

"Good afternoon, Munchies!" I respond with excitement

. And Munchies goes wild for me, wagging his tail and barking.

 I grab a toy to play with him.

"Thanks for bringing him. You can come pick him up at 6:30. 

I'll give him a bath and trim his nails." 

I don't hear any response from the young man. No one answered me, I lifted my head to see if he was still there.

 He was looking at me strangely, lost in thought.

 I began to feel uncomfortable. 

I took Munchies and went back to my work.

 I hear the doorbell ringing. He is gone. 

That was definitely strange. 

Why did he have to look at me like that? 

I've never seen this guy bring Munchies before. 

Is he the new dogsitter for the Gates? 

Strange...........................................