Bird-Dogging: an Academy Fan Fiction [on hold indefinitely]

Chapter Eighteen

          Raven had thrown my bicycle in the back of his truck and told me he was driving me home. I didn't argue. I was tired from being on my feet all night and dancing. Plus Raven said I looked too tempting to set me loose on the college campus with "hormone ridden males." I could have corrected him, but ridden and riddled were close enough.

          Gabriel had told me he'd meet me at my dorm to get me ready for tomorrow. I'd argued that Tess could help me, but he flat out insisted. I'd caved and told him my address.

          When I got inside my dorm and threw my keys in the bowl, I noted that Tess wasn't home yet. It was almost two, so I figured I'd check-in a bit early and then crash. I sent off the text and got a quick response.

          Tess: Coming up the stairs now.

          I nodded to myself then went to my bathroom to wash my face. As I was patting my face dry, I heard the door open and close, and not one, but two voices in the common room. I rolled my eyes and shut my bedroom door. I didn't want to exchange awkward pleasantries with her one night stand, and I was almost positive that they didn't want to spend their time chatting with me. I went straight to my bedside table and pulled a pair of earplugs out of the drawer. Best gift Tess ever gave me!

          I tried to plug my phone into the charger, bending it and twisting it in every way that I could to try and get it to charge. After a valiant effort, I conceded victory to Technology once again. I thought of Victor and his superpowers. Would it be majorly tacky of me to ask him for help with my phone after all he'd already done for me? Hmm. It won't hurt to ask.

          I had one bar left, and I needed to make it last as long as I could, so I powered my phone down and went to sleep.

*****

          I dreamed that I was dancing with a pack of dogs when my hair started changing colors and falling out.

          I sat up in bed, rubbing at my eyes. The sun was still low on the horizon. I yawned, but knew it would be too hard to get back to sleep. I considered pulling my earplugs out to see if it was safe, but I'd become acquainted with morning sex about two months ago when Tess had an overnighter with a very vocal guy named James. She had screamed his name so loud, and so many times, that there was no way that I'd ever mix him up with another one of her dates, like I'd done before. In my defense, there were a lot of them to keep track of. Anyway, the earplugs had been waiting for me when I got home from work that night. I decided it was better to be safe than sorry.

          After checking my underwear drawer and finding it was still bare, I threw on my grungiest clothes and pulled my hair up into a high ponytail. I'd left the twisties that Gabriel had put in my hair last night, so my quick ponytail ended up looking pretty nice still. The pink was still in, and I made a mental note to make extra time to wash it twice tonight before heading to the club, since I wouldn't have time to wash it after Nevermore. I grabbed my phone and pocketed it before cautiously peeking out into the common room.

          The coast is clear! I was still unwilling to remove the earplugs though. I went to the kitchen and grabbed a banana and a glass of milk. I sat down in the dim morning light at the table and started my breakfast. With everything going on in my life, I was grateful to be spending the morning at the animal shelter working with animals. They were unpredictable, but in predictable ways.

          While taking a drink of my milk, I saw movement from the corner of my eye. I looked over through the darkness at the tall figure tiptoeing out of Tess's room toward the fridge. It was too dim in the room to make out much. He looked over his shoulder toward my door, and I assumed he was trying to be quiet for my sake. Very kind of you, stranger. He opened the fridge door and ducked behind it before I could see him in the light, but when he stood up with the jug of milk, I screamed.