𝘎𝘏𝘖𝘚𝘛𝘉𝘜𝘚𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘎𝘐𝘙𝘓 || ₚₕₒₑbₑ ₛₚₑₙgₗₑᵣ

chapter 1

"Cheyenne? You okay?"

Dana calls my name again. I ignore her. Not on purpose, I just need a minute to myself.

I push open the bathroom door. I lean forward, catching myself on the sink, my chin dipping to my collarbone. I take a few shaky breaths, feeling wave after wave of nausea breaking over me. My hands white-knuckle the sink until the feeling passes.

I splash my face with water, then grab a few paper towels off the rack. I dab my face dry, then tie my hair back, into a half-up half-down ponytail.

I remind myself I only have half an hour to go. Thirty more minutes, Cheyenne. You can do this.

"Hey, hey, whoa, slow down," Dana says as I walk briskly past the snack stand, "Where did you go? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I was in the bathroom."

"Pooping?"

"Ha. No, just...having a rough day."

"Mmm," she nods sagely. A snotty little kid comes up to the stand, wiping his nose while demanding a soft pretzel. Dana cuts him off, holding her finger up to him.

"Your shift ends at seven, right, Chey?"

"Yup."

"So that's only, like..." She glances down at her phone, "Twenty-seven minutes from now! Cheyenne, that's, like, nothing!"

"Yeah. I gotta go. See ya."

"Stay strong, soldier!" She calls, being her typical corny self as I speed-walk away.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

I'm out of breath by the time I make it back to the skate rental.

"Okay, sorry about that. You said you were a...size eight, right?"

The girl I ran out on crosses her arms, loudly chewing a wad of gum. "Um, yeah, I did say that. Where the hell did you go?"

"Bathroom," I say, going over to the shelves, scanning them for a size-eight pair of skates, "I'm ovulating like crazy right now."

"Um, ew." Her upper lip curls in disgust. "Maybe keep that to yourself."

I set the skates down on the counter, forcing the corners of my mouth upright, forming a tight smile.

"You're all set. Enjoy yourself. And oh, by the way, there's no gum allowed on the rink. It's a safety hazard."

"You're kidding."

"I am not."

The girl begrudgingly spits her gum into her hand, then sticks it to the counter out of spite. "There. Happy now?" Not even waiting for a response, she storms off with her skates.

I sigh, taking the next customer. Another great day at the roller rink.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

It's 6:46. In fourteen minutes, I'll be free. This makes my current job, which is cleaning up vomit, a little more tolerable.

I get down on my hands and knees, scrubbing the puke out of the carpet. I'm just about finished when I hear someone behind me say, "Oh my gosh, hi again!"

Before I can even lift my head, I feel something cold running down my back. I look up. The girl from earlier, this time surrounded by her friends, is standing above me, holding an empty paper cup over my head.

I press my hand to the back of my neck. Blue liquid sticks to my fingers. That's when it really hits home; she just dumped her slushy down the back of my shirt.