Awakening - The Last Science #1

Interlude I - A Year in the Life of Hailey Winscombe - I

I.

A warm evening in May at Hailey Winscombe's apartment in Rallsburg.

  Hailey Winscombe hurried to the table just as a knock came at the door. She swapped the positions of the corn chips and the punch bowl. The chips had been too far from the dip—their natural partner. It would have made the snacks much more annoying to pick up and enjoy. Everything needed to be right for this party. It was a special occasion, after all. She had a new roommate to introduce to her tightest circle of friends, and she was determined that everything would be just perfect.

  A second knock sent her scurrying upstairs to the door.

  "Come in!" Hailey announced, beaming out onto the walkway of the apartment complex. At the door were her four closest friends, chatting away the evening as they trooped in and followed her back downstairs to the living room. Ian, the funny one, already with the group in stitches at a joke he'd told just before she'd opened the door. Jessica, the smart one, wide glasses affixed permanently to her face, a hood covering her hair and a thin smile on her lips. Hugo, the talented athlete, punching Ian in the arm, jostling his best friend good-naturedly.

  Weston, the yang to her yin, always cool and detached. Her polar opposite, her worst enemy and her constant irritation. Her boyfriend.

  She threw her arms around Weston and planted a kiss on his lips. He smiled, but gently pushed her away. "Hey."

  "You're not getting away with one-word answers around my new roommate, Wessy," Hailey admonished, wagging a finger at him. He grinned.

  "Where is the new meat anyway?" Hugo asked, plopping himself down on the couch with the bowl of chips. Hailey tsked at the dissolution of her perfectly arranged table of snacks.

  "She's been up in her room all afternoon buried in a book. Studying, I think." Hailey looked up at the second floor of her apartment, frowning. "Hey! Gang's all here! You promised you'd come say hello!"

  There was no response.

  Ian raised his eyebrows in exaggerated shock. "Shyer than Jessica? That's a new record."

  Jessica blushed pink behind her thick glasses and burrowed deeper into her jacket.

  Hailey shook her head. "No, she's cool. I don't know what's up. She's the nicest, she's just a bit of a bookworm."

  "Shy and a bookworm? Jessie, you've got competition."

  "At least we'll finally have someone smart besides her in the group," Hugo quipped. Ian chucked one of Hailey's many pillows at him, which he deftly caught and sent sailing right back into Ian's chest with a thump.

  "She's cool," Weston chimed in.

  "The king and queen have spoken!" Ian declared with a flourish. "Come down, yonder maiden!"

  They all looked expectantly at the staircase, but still no response came back. Not even a shuffle of movement. Hailey was starting to worry.

  "Guys, wait here a sec?" She started up the staircase, two steps at a time.

  "Don't take too long, I can only stand Ian for ten minutes at a time," said Hugo.

  "Ten minutes longer than you could stand Nikki Parsons," Ian shot back.

  "We had a difference of opinions."

  "I heard she kicked you out because you threw up on the sofa," Jessica interjected quietly.