chapter two.
"why the hell are you up so early?" i snapped as i sat up in my bed. morning person would not be a term to describe me at all. ella's annoying phone alarm blasted from the speakers next to her bed. she rolled over and swung her feet over the side of her bed and onto the wood floor.
"lovely morning to you as well, angie," ella chirped. i turned my head and glared at her, brushing my hair up into a ponytail with my fingers.
"angie isn't my name."
"whatever. same difference," she responded and stood, walking over to her drawers. americans. i got up as well and stumbled towards my nightstand. my phones time read six thirty-four.
"why are you up so early?" i repeated, this time a little less harsh, and sat back down on my bed. my eyes returned to ella, who had changed into a sports bra, tank top, shorts, and bright pink running shoes.
"i run," she said simply in return and brushed her hair into a ponytail. "want to come?" she added. i shook my head and laughed shortly and quietly.
"i'm good," i responded and rubbed my sleep-deprived eyes.
"well have fun sitting here and doing nothing. if you change your mind, i'll be running on the trail through the park. endurance, not speed. you could catch up if you wanted to," ella rambled on and plugged in her earbuds as she closed the door behind her. i put on a pair of blue jeans and a faded red t-shirt that i "borrowed" from my dad. slipping my shoes on, i walked out the dorm door. it was rare when i cared what i looked like. i didn't even bother to fix my hair or put on makeup rather than the mascara and concealer that i had swiped on in the meantime. my hair didn't even look decent. whatever.
now it was about eight in the morning and i was still exploring campus. the place was damn close to never ending. i found myself on a stone path through the park of campus. soon, i approached a tall, thin building. a sign read sampson's in bright red letters. i pulled the door open and stepped inside. dozens of students sat at tables with their friends or on their laptops. i approached the counter and bought a coffee and a bagel. not many tables seemed to be available, but i was lucky enough to spot one in the back of the room. taking a small sip of the blazing hot latte-type thing (which clearly wasn't a real latte. i mean, let's be real, it tasted like shit), i took a seat at the table. my phone had been bombarded with texts. as i unlocked it, i received a few more. they were all from my younger brother, alexander. my eyes scanned over a few of them and a small grin formed on my face.
from: alex
ANGELA WAKE UP.
HELLO?
ARE THERE ANY HOT GIRLS??
AAAANNNNGGGGEEEELLLLAAAA.
most of the texts looked something similar to those.
to: alex
i am awake, as you may be pleased to know. i am a girl, alex. i'm not going to define other girls as hot. you are sixteen and you don't need to know this information, anyway. go play with some hot wheels or something.
about half an hour later, i was still sitting there. my coffee was mostly gone and cold. alex hadn't responded yet. he had probably gone back to bed since it was just about 8:00 in the morning back in adelaide, half an hour behind us. the restaurant-like place, where i remained, had cleared out. there were only about six or seven people in there other than me. mostly everyone looked up when the door creaked opened. it was an unfamiliar sound now that all of the earlybirds had left. other students weren't awake yet. around noon is when it would flood with the breakfast-skippers and late-sleepers.
