I didn't wait for the end of my shift. I grabbed my bag from my locker and bolted out the store, straight passed Terry who was shouting at me to get back to work. I flashed him the finger (another development of the last 1000 years, vulgar hand gestures) and carried on; right out the front door and down the street. I could hear Terry calling after me, shouting that if I didn't come back immediately I wouldn't have a job to come back at all. I shouted back that I didn't care. And I didn't, I really couldn't care less, I just had to get home, now! I had to talk to Mathias, my world was collapsing around me and I needed the only person who would ever understand.
I ran as fast as my feet could take me, ran faster than I'd had to in a long time. Moving passed people who looked like nothing more than a blur of colour, moving faster than any human should ever be able to move. I no longer cared that my abilities weren't supposed to be seen by society. Fear burnt in the back of my throat, and tears stung at my eyes, and my breathing began to become uneven as I fought back sobs.
I ran straight through the door of the flat and headed straight for Mathias' door. I flung it open to fine him in bed with yet a different girl.
"Seriously?!" I let the sobs tear through my throat and the tears roll as I turned and sprinted for the bathroom. I slammed the door shut and emptied my stomach into the toilet. I hadn't been physically sick since I was a child. My heart raced as I sat on the cold black tiles, leant back onto the side of the bathtub. Hot tears rolled down my face as my stomach twisted over itself, my head span like it had been put on a record player, and my stone heart shattered. I screamed out in anguish. More tears fell, and for the first time since my father died, I let them. I wanted the world to turn to dust and suffocate me, wanted the ground open and swallow my whole, wanted to disappear completely. My entire life was turning into my own personal hell.
There were three precise thuds on the door.
"Nina, come on let me in."
"Go back to whoever is in your bed Mathias! Clearly you're more interested in your next conquest! Just leave me alone!"
"Little Red." I stood up and threw the door open. Mathias stood there in nothing but his boxers.
"Don't you dare 'Little Red' me! I'm not coming out of here until whoever that was is gone and you actually start taking things seriously." I smacked the door and it slammed shut in his face. I took a deep breath and wiped away the fallen tears. "And you can apologise too. Sincerely!" I shouted through the door, which he kicked from the other side. I kicked it back before turning to the bath and turned on the taps.
I didn't know how long I'd been sat in there and I didn't particularly care. Being locked in here meant that I didn't have to deal with whoever Mathias had brought in.
There was a small tap on the door.
"Go away. I'm in the bath." I called through the door.
"No you're not Nina. We both know your sat with your feet in six inches of soapy water, that's probably gone cold. Besides I made you soup."
He was right of course. I had a habit of shutting myself away in the bathroom when I was upset or angry with Mathias, and every time I would fill the bathtub with six inches of water, roll up water trousers I was wearing, and sit with my feet in the water until I calmed down.
"I don't want soup."
"Fine, but you're still gonna have to come out. The guy for fixing the shower is here."
"Ugh, fine." I stood up and pulled the plug out of the drain. I stepped out in the bath and unlocked the door, not bothering to dry my feet.
True to his word, Mathias had made soup and now stood just beyond he bathroom threshold with a steaming bowl. My stomach gurgled as I watched the steam dance over the ceramic bowl.
