Find Her, Keep Her (CFTM Sequel)

Chapter 7 (Part 2)

*Note: Click the Youtube link above to listen to the Audiobook Version of this chapter voiced by Kristen Maglonzo featuring music by Ok Go, The 1975, The Dangerous Summer, Hidden In Plain View, and Alex & Sierra.

Alex

First alarm. 8:00 AM. Snooze.

Second alarm 8:30. Snooze.

Third Alarm. 9:00 AM. Snooze

Fourth Alarm. 9:30. Snooze--

--wait a minute.

My first class starts at 9:30.

Crap on a popsicle!

Ladies and Gentlemen of the universe,

Crack open Webster's dictionary, flip to the letter "f" and you'll probably find Alexandra Summers written in BOLD next to the definition of failure.

Why?

Because that, my friends, is exactly what I'm doing this morning.

Today might as well be the most important day of my collegiate life, and I'm late for it. LATE. Like-kiss-your-academic-career-goodbye-level-late.

And I can't find my jeans. Or any of my semi-decent clothes for that matter, because apparently spending last night eating Campbells's soup with my boyfriend was more important to me than unpacking.

I jolt out of bed and ransack the nearest suitcase for anything other than pajamas to put on. I pull out the first thing I find and dress myself faster than Flash Gordon.

Outfit Item #1: Pink short-shorts. Weird, but they'll have to do.

Outfit Item #2: Neon yellow work-out tank top--hideous, but my fashion options went out the window when I decided to smash my snooze button into a coma.

Runway ready or not, I have to go. I should've been gone twenty minutes ago, but Sleepy Depressed Alex decided to put an end to all that. I swallow down the sting of my impending lateness, and stumble across the jungle of boxes and books littered across my side of the floor.

My half of our lovely little dorm room looks like a bomb went off while Indigo's side is the picture of...hippy OCD? 

If the giant tie-dyed sarong masquerading as a wall decoration didn't give away her 1970's obsession at first sight, her mini-Jim Morrison shrine sure did. 

Not only that, but she keeps all her weird little trinkets immaculately organized. The only thing that isn't confined to a pre-assigned space is her incense.

The whole room reeks of it, and she kept it burning all night long which isn't the worst thing the world, but after eight hours of sleeping in it, I'm gonna smell like a flower child. 

I have a three-hour, eight-person seminar, this morning and I'm pretty sure the guy or girl assigned to sit next to me is gonna regret their decision.

I scamper over to the bathroom and gasp at my puffy ghost face of a reflection before tying my hair up into a ratty bun. Thank God Kai left last night. If I didn't give him a hundred reasons to abandon our relationship yesterday at Enzo's, the state of my face this morning would've sealed the deal.

I'm so grody right now there isn't even time to brush my teeth so I grab my travel-sized bottle of Listerine and swash more than the recommended dose around my mouth till everything burns. I spit in the sink, dash back outside, and swipe my books and my lap top off the desk.

My 9:45 warning alarm sounds off in my pocket, and I sprint for the door until reality stops me dead.

I'm not in New Jersey anymore.