Out Of The Zone

Friends Without Benefits

Tori

Thud!

I shifted in bed. Not noticing the sound. 

Thud!

It happened again. I turned on my back under the silk comforter, this time ignoring it.

Thud! Thud! THUD!

My eyes flew open. Is someone trying to break in?

Finally rolling out of my medium-sized bed, I walked curiously to the window. Opening it, I became slightly nervous that something was wrong outside. I stuck my head out into the cool morning air, feeling it touch my warm skin as I examined my surroundings.

"Thy beauty awakens!" My best friend, James, called from the house next to mine. 

Oh, you've gotta be kidding me...

"That was you?" I said, exasperatedly. I should've known better. Of course it was him. "What do you want at 7am?"

He raised an eyebrow, leaning forwards on the window sill. "Have you forgotten what today is, Kendall?"

I frowned, too tired to think straight. I only got a few hours of sleep last night. Which only made James's little stunt this morning more irritating. 

"No. What's today?" I rubbed my eyes.

He took a playful dramatic pause. 

"Moving day." He said, giving me a mischievous smirk.

It didn't process for a moment. Then I glanced at the calendar hung over my desk just a few feet away...

"Holy shit!" I screamed. "It is moving day!" 

The pure excitement of coming to that realization filled my body with adrenaline. Suddenly, my exhaustion was gone. A spike of overwhelming energy replaced it. I stuck my head back out the window.

"How did I forget?" I mused. James laughed on the other side, putting his hands on the bottom of his bedroom window. 

"Meet me outside when you're almost done packing."

~~A few hours later~~

My Mom and I stood on the porch steps, watching Dad tape up another box of my items. 

This was it. It was really happening.

I was going to University. West Brook University, to be exact. It's been my dream to go there since I was thirteen. And now, 4 years of high school and a two exceptional SAT scores later, my dream was becoming a reality. Even more so that I'm going to my choice college with my best and only friend, James Acosta. 

We had made a pack freshman year that we'd do whatever we could to ensure we'd both go to the same college when we graduated. Now, all of the work's paid off and we're officially entering WBU together as freshmen. Even though I had jotted this date down on the calendar, had the official WBU school brochure, and was watching my father finish off a box to load for my dorm...

I still felt like I was going to wake up any second.

My mother, Vivian, put her arm around my shoulders proudly. "My only daughter is going to college! Oh, how the time has passed! I remember when you were still a little girl stealing cookies from the cabinets at night."