Safeguard

Chapter 7

BTW I included a picture of the actress that I imagine looks the most like Mary Jane (her name is Zoey Deutch)! Except imagine her with slightly short hair because Mary Jane's hair is currently shorter than this :)

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Kali bent over to lace up her grey running shoes, yawning quietly for the third time since she had been woken up bright and early by her phone alarm. The blonde had a lot of difficulty falling asleep because understandably she had a lot on her mind about the unexpected arrival of her ex-boyfriend, and when she started feeling herself getting out of control of her thoughts or anxieties the one tactic that she knew always worked was running. Coincidentally, it had been Jason himself that had introduced her to the idea and got her hooked on the stress-relieving activity to help her deal with her worst emotions and sometimes over-bearing thoughts, but even after he left the coping mechanism stuck. She hadn't run since before summer break, however, so she was feeling very tried and out of practice at the moment. No matter, she would push herself through it, Kali thought to herself.

She finished tying her shoes and looked down to assess her running outfit one last time. She chose to wear simple blue running shorts with a white tank top and a black sports bra peaking through. Her long, blonde hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, and she had stuck her phone and key card into the little arm band she wears when she goes out running for convenience.

Just as the blonde grabbed for the door handle to leave the dorm, she heard her best friend's quiet voice come to life behind her.

"Kali?" Mary Jane muttered, sleep still coating her voice.

"Hey MJ, I'm just going to go for a run around campus. I'll be back in about 30 minutes." Kali promised, turning around so she could show Mary Jane that she was being sincere.

The brunette peered one eye open at her cousin, but when she deduced that the blonde was telling the truth she closed both of her eyes again and turned to go back to sleep.

"Ok, be safe." Were her mumbled departing words. With that, Kali was leaving the safety of their dorm room and quietly making her way out of the dorm buildings and onto the sidewalk of the campus. It was about 7 in the morning, so she hadn't run into anyone yet as all of her classmates were still taking refuge inside of their dorm rooms.

Once Kali was officially outside, she immediately started jogging down the sidewalk towards the main part of campus. Other than the dorm buildings, the cafeteria, the school buildings and the apartments for the staff, the vampire-owned property also had lots of greenery and small parks surrounding the outskirts of the school that were perfect for taking a walk or going jogging. The teen preferred to run without music because it helped her feel safer, and the peaceful silence was soothing to her currently overexcited nerves.

If someone were to ask Kali if having Jason back on campus was going to affect her, the blonde would insist on responding negatively. It was true that she had been near-distraught when the break-up occurred and he left after his graduation and Kali's sophomore year. But after that painful 3 months of summer, Kali vowed to never talk about it or him again, and she had kept her promise to herself. If anyone asked her or brought it up once she got back to school, a loud growl and mean scowl would usually nip that in the bud immediately. She didn't want to be remembered or labeled as the girl who got broken up with, or the girl who was heartbroken over her ex-boyfriend – even if both of those statements would be true. Yes, Jason had been her first love and she had been blindsided by his decision to call it quits. But at the end of the day, there was nothing she could do about how it all went down except move on and try to do better next time.