Little longer, but not by much. XD


By 4am, I was all set to leave. My backpack was stuffed full of all my assorted textbooks, notebooks, sketchbooks (because I draw compulsively), pencils, pens and erasers that I needed. I swear, that bag weight 40lbs or something…or that could just be the towel I'd stuffed in to act as padding for my laptop.

I'd never actually gotten around to buying a padded bag specifically for laptop transportation. Procrastinated too long, then realized I was too lazy.

One less thing to carry, anyway.

"Keys…check. Sunglasses…check. Wallet…check." I ran through my pre-class checklist aloud to be sure I wouldn't forget anything. Nothing like driven 25 minutes and arriving 15 before class to realize you'd forgotten something important. Like your portfolio containing all your project supplies. Speaking of which…

"Portfolio…" I swung the flat black fabric folder over my shoulder. "Check." I pushed my full-coverage sunglasses up onto my head. I'm blind without my glasses, and I hate touching my eyes - with. A. Passion. - so the glasses never come off.

Perscription sunglasses were too expensive for my college budget, so I used the cheap, dollar store pair that fit over glasses. For only spending four bucks, I was getting a lot of milage out of them.

"Nunavut, your water bowl is full, and I've already fed you for the morning, since, technically, it is." No. Talking to your dog is not weird. "Tommy will be in to feed you around noon, and I'll be back at five." It paid off to know your super, didn't it?

"I'm a good four days ahead of schedule, so we can go to that park we found and play for a few hours." Nunavut barked and wagged his tail. The park was relatively small, but it was dog-friendly, and had a manmade pond in the middle. I'd just need to remember to bring a towel, else my car forever smell of 'wet Newfoundland'.

"But you have to be good." I added, waggling one finger. "Remember, we have neighbors below us, so try not to bark at the squirrels across the hall. They're being evicted by pest control this week, anyway, so the least you can do is be nice." Nunavut whined. "…okay fine. You can bark a little."

I straightened up and scratched my puppy's ears, unable to resist a quick eskimo kiss before running for the door. The last thing I grabbed was my photo ID - required to enter, exit, and generally travel anywhere in or on school grounds - from the doorknob. Without it, I could neither get into class nor print in the library. It was my key to life. It was my key to success. It was my key to not failing and retaking my class.

Even if that photo of me was worse than my freshman yearbook photo.

I unlocked the front door after my obligatory/paranoid check through the peephole (which short little me had to stand tippy toe to see through), and pulled it open, calling one last 'bye bye!' to Nunavut before closing the door behind me. I quickly sorted out my apartment key and relocked the door before turning and hustling down the concrete-and-steel steps to the ground floor.

Since it was, technically, four in the morning, the streetlights were still on. The sun wasn't due to rise for another two hours, and the only organisms up so early (aside from me, of course) were the possums and outdoor cats that wandered from parked car to parked car in their hunt for lizards and mice (mostly lizards). It was eerily quiet….but it made me feel like a ninja, dashing from shadow to shadow without being seen.

I usually got home after the general work rush, so I'd parked at least twenty spaces down from my apartment. Not very far in the daytime, but at night, it became an annoyingly far distance - especially for someone as paranoid as me. Students at my college were known as targets for theft, since we worked with and usually carried around a lot of expensive equipment. We weren't allowed to bring weapons onto campus (damn…) so there were times when we felt a little vulnerable.

Having freaked myself out with these thoughts, I dug my compass out of my portfolio (the art tool, not the navigation tool) and held it like a dagger. I continued my ninja-dodge technique down to my car - a little Honda, with five seats and four seat belts - and tossed my portfolio and backpack on the backseat. I jumped into the drivers seat, slammed the door, and immediately locked it.

I didn't relax until the key was in the ignition and NOTA was blaring from the stereo right where I'd left them.

Ahh….Puerto Rican a capella….

Moment of panic completed, I buckled up and headed off to school. Eight hours of drawing, erasing, painting, matte board-cutting, inside-joking and nerve-wracking project reviews later, I finally pulled back into my spot. I'd gotten lucky today - the prime parking spot right in front of the stairs, beneath the oak tree was mine! Feeling good and all self-confident, I hopped out of the car and grabbed my bags.

I was halfway up the stairs before I realized there was someone (and something) in front of my door. Someone in a UPS-esque uniform, and a little metal shield that read "F.M.B.E.". The man looked at me - ooh, cutie - and looked down at his clipboard.

"Delivery for….Miss Rhoads?"


Chapter two! What do you think?