THE CALL

Chapter 1

FIRST LOOK

When Soraya would walk back home after class, she usually liked listening to a podcast. However, today's walk wasn't going according to plan as one of her earphones wasn't working properly. Having been sleep deprived for several days, she hadn't noticed that her earphones had fallen from her bag. Grabbing her bag and shoving her jacket on, she felt lightheaded, exhausted and overworked. Her long hair got caught in one of her tote straps when she shouldered it, and as she moved to the left at the same time as her head motion, she heard a distinctive crack and felt pressure under her foot. She swore loudly — catching the attention of a few of her classmates — when she realized her mistake.

Now, she could only listen to the intro music from her right ear, not really paying attention to the path in front of her. She knew the way back home as she had lived in that area for several months. She did, however, also have the bad habit of not looking in front of her, her overconfidence almost leading her to get hit on several occasions. Her roommates would constantly scold her for it, but she would just wait for them on the other side of the street, smiling and waving playfully. She didn't mind the roads, as back home, over 7,800 kilometers away and a whole ocean's worth of swimming, people would jaywalk like it was no one's business. She knew that in this country, people got fined for her cultural behavior, but being this tired, she cared even less than usual, especially given that she was only half-hearing her favorite podcast.

Classes had just been dismissed university-wide and so she swept in and out of people's way, right into the area of houses right outside of campus. The crowds thinned, as most of her underclassmen lived in dorms. That only encouraged her to cross, even though the light was green, as she knew the car had some time before arriving to where she was. She yawned and momentarily closed her eyes, only to stumbled into the sidewalk and trip on the crooked pathway. She stopped, balancing herself, and pocketed her phone. By now, she was almost home, the trees lined the path while the road was to her left, the big houses on her right. She was planning what she was going to make herself for dinner, when she was interrupted by loud screeching.

She barely had time to turn her head left before a car had abruptly halted in the middle of the ongoing traffic. Milliseconds later, it got aggressively hit from behind, causing it to be pushed forward by the impact. She yelped and heard gasps and shouts from around as her neighbors and rogue students also witnessed the crash. There were several other screeches from behind the other cars, but thankfully, there were no more collisions. Angry honking blasted out tun response to the newly formed jam. Soraya moved forward, to see if the first car's driver was alright. As she got around to where it was, she noticed the driver get out of the car, clutching his forehead, his back turned to her.

"Hey, are you alright, man?" a pedestrian called out from next to her. The driver turned around, but instead of looking at the pedestrian, he stared directly into Soraya's eyes. She shivered at his intense eye contact, unable to break from it. Whether it was because of her fatigue or from witnessing this incident, she stayed frozen, aware that she was obviously checking out the man in front of her. The driver was certainly tall, and she could notice he was fit underneath his black t-shirt. He had bronze skin, almost a Mediterranean complexion, and cute brown eyes. He let go of his head and she saw a couple of strands of light brown hair fall unto his forehead.

Both of them snapped out of their trance, when the man standing next to her repeated his question. The driver turned his head briefly to him and when his attention was back on Soraya, he nodded his head. His intense gaze made her very self-conscious as she definitely looked exhausted, pale and greasy. Moreover, the outfit she was wearing was not complimenting her form, tight-fitted against her fat rolls and look in other areas, only making it seem like she was thicker. She had rushed that morning to put anything, as she was running late to class, and proudly only made it 2 minutes late. The driver started walking in her direction when a figure stepped in front of him. The other car's driver was screaming angrily at him, asking him if he was out of his mind for stopping his car so abruptly. His attention then turned to the aggressive driver and he was completely blocked from Soraya's view.