A Second Time Around

Chapter One

The annoying, beeping sound rang again.

Stacey groaned and pushed the button of her alarm clock for the umpteenth time this morning. Then she let her head sink deep into her pillow again and snuggled comfortably.

Just as she was about to get back to dreamland, something very cold and very wet landed on her face, drenching her.

She sat bolt upright from surprise. Water! She thought disbelievingly. How-?

"You're annoying alarm woke me up." Jessica, her new roommate said nastily. "Next time, if you don't intend to get up this early, don't set your alarm at all." With a hmp, she turned her head and padded her way back to her own bed.

Stacey groaned and reined in her temper. Ever since Jessica moved in her room, she has made Stacey's life a living hell. At first, she thought Jessica was a friendly girl, especially since she's fresh out of high school, and probably nervous at the thought of moving into a bigger city with bigger schools. Stacey remembered the first time she herself moved to New York. Everything was just so overwhelming, especially for a freshman. Now, thankfully, two years later, she is as used to the life of a New Yorker as a ... well, a New Yorker.

But apparently, her first impression about Jessica was wrong. She's a narcissistic, foolish mean girl who thinks she's above everyone else only because her mom is a famous stage actress. Stacey figured she must be one of the prom queens back in high school who only pretends to be nice to others when she needs them for something.

Oh, how she missed Diane! Sure, she's a pain in the ass sometimes, but Stacey has always regarded her as an older sister she never had. Unfortunately, she moved out of their dorm room after she graduated, and now she's stuck with the Queen of Mean, Jessica.

Now that she's fully awake and soaked to boot, she decided to get ready for school. Sighing, she glanced at her clock, then did a double-take. 7:15! Her first period begins at 7 am!

She scrambled out of bed, grabbed her towel from the clothes rack, then dashed into the bathroom. She took a shower in double-quick motion and hastily brushed her teeth. After she secured the towel around her, she ran back to the room, took out her shirt, jeans and undies from her closet, then proceeded back to the bathroom to put on her clothes.

After changing, she went back to her room while drying her still super-wet hair with the towel. Mentally, she ticked off the things she should bring. Homework, check. Textbooks, check. Notes, check. Pens, check. She has just about flew out of the room, when she doubled back. Shoot, I forgot my calcu! She face-palmed. She dashed back to her bed, frantically looking for her calculator. When she found it, she shoved it furiously into her backpack, muttering to herself. After making a last-minute check around her bed, she finally left the room.

Thank goodness, her dormitory is only a walking-distance away from the campus. Still, it'll be another ten minutes to reach her classroom, and she has already lost fifteen precious minutes getting ready.

She was running towards the campus building when someone yelled watch out! and almost immediately, someone crashed into her.

Stacey found herself lying spread-eagled on the ground. Her bulky backpack is making her feel uncomfortable, especially since her pencil case inside is digging on her back. The guy who collided with her scrambled to his feet and retrieved his bike helmet, which has flown a few yards away from them, and then he picked up his skateboard.

"I am so sorry. It was an accident." He said to Stacey, helping her to her feet. "I'm really late for class, that's why I was rushing, and-"

"Well, can you at least look at the path your rushing to?" Stacey said angrily. She adjusted her heavy backpack on, and righted her clothes.