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"My brown eyed girl"
Brown Eyed Girl ~ Van Morrison
It had been a long, and... off day. And Johanna didn't know why.
Nothing bad had happened. No nightmares came to haunt her. And, as far as she could recall, nothing could have triggered this weird feeling. So, it didn't help when Johanna woke up earlier that morning, and suddenly felt... different. And that feeling remained there, lingering, always making her question in the back of her mind, was something going to happen?
And, so far, nothing did. Because her normal, daily routine was just that —normal. She woke up and went to the gym, came back home and slept, got back up, went to her part-time shift at the library, and came back again; just in time to get ready for school.
Though, when she entered her Wednesday evening class, there he was. If only her regular professor had planned her vacation wisely, then, Johanna wouldn't have had to interact with whoever was behind the desk; sitting in Miss Rachel's seat.
The man had introduced himself as Mr. Hunter, and by the way he looked —scruffy, dark facial hair, hands and arms covered in tattoos, muscles ready to pop out of his tight sleeves at any moment— his name would fit him perfectly; if he had a more dangerous profession. But despite his name, and his creepy dark eyes, something about Johanna's substitute teacher rubbed her the wrong way.
Was it his greasy, long hair that seemed to look too moist, soaked with whatever cheap product he chose to use? No.
Was it his scar —a thin, pinkish mark that ran down from underneath his eyebrow and faded towards the end of his cheek; looking like it could've been given by a human, rather than an animal? Okay, that was a bit weird.
Or...
Was it the way he looked at Johanna? Almost like how a predator would look at its prey —constantly observing it. Waiting. Ready to attack when you least expect it. Eventually mauling the little gazelle, who only wanted a drink of water and—
Okay...
So, watching Animal Planet after dinner —and even before bed— had to stop. Because this wasn't the animal kingdom. This was community college for crying out loud! Where students, such as herself, could attend without judgement —despite one's age or how far back you graduated high school. And now, looking back, Johanna had no regrets for waiting this long. Because the money that could've gone to her classes, went straight to helping out with either the phone bill, the utilities, or any other little necessities that her mother needed to pay when they had lived together. Before she died. Which was three years ago. Three years since her mother, along with her roommate's parents, died from the virus that lasted from 2019 to 2022.
