She woke up that morning with a bad feeling in her gut. Knowing she couldn't miss today, she shoved the feeling to the back of her mind. She rolled out of bed, pulled her nightgown over her head and headed to the kitchen. She pressed the power button on the coffee maker then headed to the bathroom. Just like every other day she put her deodorant on and brushed her hair. She smiled as she saw how clean her hair was and how soft it felt. She walked back to the kitchen, trying to avoid stepping on the two cats meowing non-stop at her.
"Watch out. I don't want to step on you." She looked down at the girl, Harley. The cat just meowed back at her. The girl shook her head as she made herself a bagel for breakfast. As the coffee finished brewing, she poured herself a cup. Three spoons of sugar and some creamer. She brought her breakfast to the table, hitting the power button to her laptop in the process. As it booted up she sipped her coffee. She had heard her sister come in earlier that morning but she hadn't wanted to ask her why she was home. Her sister had told her she was going to stay the night at a dude's house.
Her lock screen picture popped up on her laptop, telling her it was ready to be used. She smiled at the picture she had made of her and her siblings. She was so use to typing in her password that her fingers just guided themselves across the keyboard. Her background showed an old picture of her little brother from their first ever convention they went to. This made her smile wider. She opened her browser, and typed Netflix into the url bar. Queuing up the next episode of the anime she was watching, she kept an eye on the time. She picked away at her bagel and coffee. The clock on her laptop showed 8:20. She got up, put her cup in the sink and went to brush her teeth.
She skipped into her bedroom and pulled on jeans, her TMNT shirt and her green Old Navy sweater. Grabbing some socks and her camo boots, she went back to the kitchen table to finish her episode. She checked her bus app to see when the next bus was coming. 9:00 am. When it was ten to, she slipped her purse over her shoulder, clipped her water bottle to it and put her jacket on. Making sure she had her bus pass, she left the apartment, put her headphones in and headed to the bus stop just across the street. The bus ride was quiet like normal. Jumping off the bus a few blocks from her program, she walked the rest of the way. She restrained her urge to dance on the way there.
She makes it to the building by 9:30. The feeling from this morning came back, but stronger. Her first thought was to text her family to make sure they were all okay. They were all having a good day. So it wasn't them. Her thoughts wandered to what could possibly be making her feel like this. The morning went by fast. Her small group was going out for lunch today. As lunch went by the feeling only got worse. Though she hid it well. As they were heading back to the classroom, some called to her. She stopped dead in her tracks. She turned towards the voice. There was the person who called her name, the man she really didn't want to see ever again.
"What are you doing here?" He asked.
"Sorry. I can't speak right now," she turned and sped walked to the room. She slipped into her chair and started her mantra. Repeating the names of people who really matter to her. The teacher began the next part of their lesson. She was trying so hard to pay attention that she didn't hear someone come into the room. She didn't even notice everyone else looking behind her until someone grabbed her hair and yanked her backwards. She yelped as she tried to get her footing before falling to the ground. She twisted around to see her attacker. Her eye's went wide even though in some way she knew it was him.
"How dare you walk away from me when I try to talk to you!" He spat.
"Please let go. You don't have to do this," she kept her voice even, though on the inside she was screaming. She spotted his hunting knife clipped to his belt. She knew if he didn't let go, which was a big possibility, she would have to cut her hair. To her surprise, he let go. Only to grab her arm instead. His grip got stronger the longer he stared at her.
