The Trench

Chapter 19 - Curfew

A week passes without interest; school work piling up with projects, presentations, and essays due. It is now October.

After our date last week, Austin and I see each other at school and in the hall once in a while, however with us both being busy at the campus we haven't had a moment to sit down and have a conversation. I need to get his phone number but I don't know how to ask, I'm not one to be shy about what I want with the male population. But seeming as though he is my professor, this is new territory for me as I've mentioned before.

Last week when he brought me up to the apartment he told me goodnight and gave me a kiss on the forehead before leaving. I just stood there and grinned as he walked away, looking back I wish I would have made a move and kissed him the right way. After the phone call he missed he seemed distracted, so I had decided not to push it.

"Damn traffic." I mutter to myself as I'm practically running down the hall, my boots echoing off the empty walls.

Some elderly lady had rear ended another elderly lady at the intersection, causing traffic to be backed up. I was already running late when I left the barn and that didn't help at all, and class started officially 2 minutes ago.

I reach for the door handle and twist down as I push, still almost running, and slam into the door. Hard.

"Ahh shit!" I curse out loud.

I rub my wrist and my nose where it made contact with the wooden door; I jiggle the door handle again to find out its locked. I take a step back to look at the door number even though I know I'm in the right spot and try the handle again.

As I reach for the handle the door swings open and Professor Michaels stands in the doorway.

"Ah, Miss Littleton. Nice of you to join us today." He says loudly and smirks, opening the door and moving aside so I can walk to my seat.

"I hope you didn't hit your hand with that collision you had there, we have lots of notes to take today." He grins and faces the whiteboard as several students laugh at my expense.

"Jerk." I mumble under my breath as I take my seat between Mae and Aimee. Aimee has her hands over her face looking the opposite direction of me, but by the way her shoulders are shaking I know she's trying not to openly laugh at me and I swat her arm anyways.

Professor Michaels turns and looks at the class once more. "Before we start there are some things the board wanted the teachers to go over with the students today." His face looks grim as he looks over the students, a vast change from his joking appearance a few moments ago.

"Thanks to Miss Littleton's tardiness, you now all know we have started locking the doors when class is in session. This is a practice that us, the teachers and staff here, were directed to follow by the Administration."

He paces the floor in front of the stadium seating while tinkering with a dry erase marker. His eyes looked worried and he seemed tense, I glance at Mae to gauge her reaction but I don't think she's even listening.

"This is due to the increased crime rates in the city recently. The Administration feels as if this is a safer practice, so make sure you're on time." He says as he looks at me sternly and I defiantly roll my eyes.

"The Mayor has also issued a city-wide curfew. This is a loosely based curfew and is more of a guideline than a law. They recommend staying indoors anytime between 9pm and 5am, if you have to be out make sure at least one person knows where you're going and if possible use the buddy system. Have someone with you at all times until this blows over and they catch the assailants."

"Now, who want's to learn Physics?" He grins at the moans of despair like he feeds off the negative energy and turns towards the board and starts writing.

I take a moment to really take a look at what Mae was wearing. Normally she's in a cute dress or skirt. Today she's donning grey worn sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt with her hair thrown up in what is supposed to be a bun, and no make-up. Her eyes are heavy and she looks tired, her usual pale skin tone looks two shades lighter than normal and dark circles plague her under eyes.

"Jesus Mae, you look like Hell." I blurt out and cover my mouth.

Damn filter.

I expected her to stick her tongue out at me, roll her eyes, anything. But instead she ignored me, doodling nonsense in her notebook absentmindedly.

"Mae." I speak a little louder trying to get her attention, but still nothing. I look over my shoulder at Aimee who is watching Mae with her brows furrowed together in confusion and concern.

I reach over and nudge her notebook making her pen draw a rouge line on her doodle and she looks up and glares at me.

"Was that necessary?" She hisses while she smacks her notebook shut and shoves it in her backpack.

"Settle down, I couldn't get your attention. What's wrong with you?" My tone comes out harsh and I sit back observing Mae, who is now staring at the wall to her left. Deliberately not looking at me.

I turn back to face the front and Professor Michaels is sitting at his desk, staring at Mae with a blank expression. I glance around and the class is all writing, I guess I missed what's happening while trying to talk to Mae.

"The fucks wrong with her?" Aimee leans over and whispers to me and I just shrug, giving her a confused look.

I glance at Mae again who hasn't moved and I decide not to push it.

The rest of the day went by normally, every class we attended the teachers started out with the same lecture.

"Be home by 9. Use the buddy system. Lock your doors. Blah, blah, blah."

Today is my first day at my new job at Daisy's Boutique, the one I applied at when I first moved here. Took them long enough to call me back, but I can't complain as long as I have a job.

"You can't actually ring anything up yet since you aren't in the system, but I'll start teaching you everything else." Aimee smiles energetically at me and waves her hand signaling me to follow her around the counter.

"The basics for the floor is to make your rounds at least once an hour to make sure everything is hung up correctly, in it's designated spot, and to make sure the stuff on the shelves is still folded and not just thrown up there."

The store is relatively small. It has white tile on the floor and the two side walls were covered in fake stone, making it look like a cave wall. Racks with shelves line the walls with jeans, leggings, hats, and accessories. Mannequins are set up on top showing off different items from the store with a spot light coming from the ceiling. Circle racks and tables are setup in the middle and the counter is at the very back against a white wall.

Just as Aimee was showing me how to arrange the perfumes at the front we hear the door ding indicating a customer.

I turn around with a bright smile and a welcome on my lips before stopping, my greeting hanging unsaid in the air.

Mae was storming towards us, and she looked pissed.