September 30th, 7:09 AM-
Magdalena had a wonderful sense of direction. Lucky for her, because she often found herself walking to her first class from whoever's house she happened to fall asleep at. This particular morning she awoke with the sunlight, and her bedmate's arm both across her face. Nice. Skillfully, she managed to wriggle herself out from under the man's arm, scouting around his room in order to gather up her clothes.
Also luckily for her, Magdalena was terrific at layering. Not only did it keep her prepared for unpredictable weather, but it made it substantially less noticeable if she happened to be wearing the same clothes to class as the day before. No one ever had to know, and besides if she changed half way through the day then it wasn't actually dirty. To mix it up, she ditched the belt from yesterday and instead wore her cardigan tied around her waist. Yesterday's hair was an updo, so today she would just comb through it, fishing a brush out of her purse and untangling any knots that may have arose from the previous night's festivities.
As she brushed through her long wavy tresses with a careful eye on the bathroom mirror, the man asleep in the next room began to stir.
"Hey, where are you going baby?" Finally satisfied with the level of tousle her hair had, Magdalena came back to his room, leaning casually against the doorframe.
"I have class hun. We can't all be lazy bachelors now, can we?"
"Well why don't you just skip class? And stay here a little while longer? Please, Maggie?" he coaxed, sitting up in bed and attempting a pout. Magdalena raised an incredulous brow at the suggestion, pursing her lips in disapproval.
"I'm paying to go to school, and while my night with you was delightful that was on unpaid time and frankly, it wouldn't be worth the money for me to stay," she replied with a wry smile, stepping into the room to grab her shoes and kiss the man on the forehead. "Feel free to call me again sometime on unpaid time, but you'd better not call me 'Maggie' if you ever expect me to come back here."
September 30th, 8:00 AM-
Morning stretches were always a welcome way to start the day, especially after a rather uncomfortable night on a cheap lumpy mattress with someone's arm unceremoniously slung across her face. Sitting on the floor of the studio she took luxuriously long inhale, pulling her heels close to her body and arching her back, lowering her chest to the floor on her exhale. The deep breathing helped her find her center, and slowly but surely all her muscles began to loosen up from the stiffness of her uncomfortable sleep. Shifting her posture from arched to concave she slowly rolled her spine until she sat upright once again, stretching her arms high above her head. Surely this was one of the prime benefits of being a dance major. She got to stay in shape, and get school credit for it. Not to mention doing what she loved every day. Strategic planning made it so that her jazz technique class started off her mornings, which proved to be the perfect way to wake her up.
If she had one complaint, it was that despite being a dance major, most of her classes ended up being academic and dull as all hell. Why on earth should a dance major be required to take a chemistry lab anyway? Everyone always said college would give her so much more freedom to pick the things she wanted to study, but so far that freedom seemed pretty limited. When her dance class came to an end she pulled on her jacket and left for the chemistry lab, her heart sinking a little bit and her mood souring just a tad.
Not that the chemistry lab was completely void of anything interesting. Her usual lab partner sat at their usual table with his usual ear to ear smile. Mateo was an incredibly boistrous and endlessly sassy man two years her senior. If it hadn't been for Mateo, she might not have been able to survive such dry material. If warmups and stretches were her favorite part of the morning, the surely Mateo was her favorite part of the afternoon.
"Magdalena! How was the party last night?" he asked enthusiastically, the rest of the students in the lab peering over their shoulders at him. Surely they should have gotten used it it by now. Mateo had a strong presence in any class, which of course came with a short trial period for people to warm up to his antics.
"Eh, it was pretty fun. The music and the drinks were pretty mediocre though, I'm sure if you were there It would've been ten times better," she assured him, taking a seat at their lab station with a smirk.
"Of course it would have! Oh my god I would not allow anyone to play mediocre music, not a chance! And I would have found you the best guys let me tell you, I know how to spot the ones who are fantastic in bed. I swear its a gift. You and I need to start going out together more, back each other up! We'd be unstoppable!"
Magdalena had to laugh. His enthusiasm proved nearly as contagious as his smile, and the audacity of the music major was unparalleled. "Well I heard about another house party this Saturday that seems pretty promising. I'm sure I could get you in, I'll just have my roommate come along too or something."
"You know I'd love to! Just give me the time, the place, and the theme and you know I'll be there. You don't need to bother your roommate about it either, I have my own gaggle of girls that will surely get me into any party," he assured her with knowing smirk. "You know how good I am with the ladies."
He was a confident son of a bitch, she had to give him that. Then again, so was she, and Magdalena had a feeling that was why the two of them got along so well.
September 30th, 12:00 PM-
Once they suffered through their science lab, the intrepid duo headed off to lunch. Magdalena wrinkled her nose as they entered, wandering through the different offerings without much looking particularly appealing. She wasn't usually too fond of the dining hall, but she already paid for it with her room and board fees so she might as well use it. They tended to have pastas that weren't half bad, so the dancer made her way towards the pasta line while her companion went straight for the hamburgers and french fries.
"So, are you coming to the drag show this Friday?" Mateo asked once the pair rejoined at an empty table. Magdalena responded with a dramatic sigh. Increasing the average dramatic flair in those around him was yet another of Mateo's skills.
"I will come because I want to support you. But do you have any idea how hard it is for me to find a date who is willing to go with me to a drag show?" she whined, punctuating her words with dramatic flourishes of her spaghetti laden fork. Mateo grinned, shifting his half chewed bite of hamburger to one side of his mouth to speak.
"Honey, if you manage to find a guy you're looking to settle down with, that had better be the final test. Tall, handsome, charming, good in bed, and willing to go to drag shows with you. That is how you'll know you've found yourself a keeper hun." She had to laugh at this comment, wondering if perhaps her friend was more invested in her romantic life than she was. At this point in her life, finding someone who qualified as 'a keeper' wasn't too high up on her list of priorities.
"I wasn't aware any prospective suitors of mine had to be judged by Margarita Maravilla before I could consider settling down with him," she remarked, raising an inquisitive brow as she sipped her lemonade, eyes locked over the edge of her glass with the man across from her.
"What can I say? I'm here for you cariñita. Just say the word and I'll be there."
Magdalena's face softened. For as loud and bombastic as he could be, the guy knew how to be touching when he really wanted to. She could see how he managed to get people to flock to him, and she was fairly smug about her status as his best friend.
September 30th, 12:50 PM-
After lunch ended, the time for the two to part ways finally arrived. Mateo headed off to his music theory class while Magdalena had the misfortune of slumping her way over to a comparative politics class. It wasn't as though she didn't care what was going on around the world. The problem she had with the class was the manner in which the material was presented, that being a laundry list of things that were wrong and needed to be fixed. It overwhelmed her. After all, they were the new minds for the new world, as the professor frequently reminded them, and therefore the responsibility fell on them to make sure everything didn't fall to shit.
Magdalena couldn't be too surprised when the professor took time out of the lecture to speak on the matter again today. Whenever he did, she never really included herself in that group. Those types of things weren't meant for people like her. She had high hopes for her future sure, but they certainly didn't entail saving the world by any stretch of the imagination. All she wanted was a simple life, a chance to dance, and enough downtime to recharge.
Surely those more extravagant matters could be left in the hands of the unusually gifted of her generation, people like Elvis Blackwood, though a name change would probably need to happen for her to ever be taken seriously in politics. That, and doing away with all those facial piercings and the blue hair. The punky looking academic was the unofficial teaching assistant for the course, though she herself was only a sophomore in her undergraduate degree. Magdalena never would have believed the girl knew much of anything just by looking at her.
The teaching assistant by proxy never dressed nicely for class though the professor often did, dressing in shorts and loose tees even on days she assisted with lecture. Multiple piercings dotted her ears and face, easily visible to all given how the sides of her head were shaved, and Magdalena didn't even want to consider the possibility that she likely had more elsewhere. The girl also had multiple tattoos that she usually kept on display, including a lizard wrapped around her thigh that looked as though it had just crawled out of her nether regions. Combined with a bright blue mohawk and a know it all demeanor, there was something about Elvis that just rubbed her the wrong way.
September 30th, 2:45 PM-
Unfortunately for Magdalena, it didn't matter much what she thought of Elvis, she proved to be an invaluable resource. Magdalena wasn't at school to mess around, despite what the other students may have thought at the small, gossip-ridden school, and there was no way she was going to pass this class without a little extra help. Mateo was a music major, and though he had taken an obligatory government based class as well, he had proven to be of little to no help for studying.
Because of this, after completing the portions of the homework that she could reasonably do alone, the dancer packed up all of her politics notes and assignments and took them to a small tutoring session Elvis held twice weekly for the students in the class. The room's size was entirely inadequate for the amount of students that attended, and the small space quickly grew stuffy with body heat and sweat and stress that churned in the air. Magdalena made it a point to arrive early to sit at the edge of the desks near the door so she could pop out for a quick breather, if necessary.
Disliking Elvis in person was harder, especially considering she helped out everyone free of charge. Generally she carried herself in a very gentlemanly way, and there wasn't a doubt in Magdalena's mind that she knew the source material better than everyone except maybe the professor. The trouble came when she wasn't able to explain a concept to a particular person. A student left in tears the week prior due to Elvis' frank irritation with what she called his "inability to follow a logical chain of events". One thing was certain, no one would ever dare ask any questions about the events leading to Putin's presidency ever again.
"The, after Vargas was ousted in 1945, we move onto what is known as the Second Republic which lasted from approximately 1946 to 1964. Important figures to remember for this section are Dutra, Vargas, Lubitschek, Quadros, and Goulart. Does everyone remember who they are? Because they will definitely be on the midterm which is coming up soon." Everyone in the group nodded, and Magdalena flipped quickly through her notes to ensure she actually did write something about each of the names, and starred them for later review.
"Alright then. That is the end of today's session then. If you have any questions you can email me any time and I will respond when I can." As everyone began to put away their things and file out of the room, Magdalena noticed Elvis' eyes lock onto her, immediately making her tense. Slowly the tutor crossed the room and put a hand on her desk.
"Magdalena. Can I ask you a question?"
She pursed her lips slightly, but she nodded anyway. "Sure, go ahead."
"You dance at the recreation center, correct?" The question surprised Magdalena, whose concern shifted from worrying over what she was in trouble for, to worrying over how she knew that.
"I do, I teach a dance class. It's a children's class though, I'm sorry," she said hesitantly, standing up from her seat and holding her bag in front of her as Elvis took one step too close.
"That is fine. I only wanted to know if you could tell me the fastest way to get there. I saw that they are offering a new art class and I'm rather keen on it."
"Oh…well if you just go over to the edge of campus and follow Wilson until you get to South Coldwell, that's the way I usually go." Elvis seemed to light up, and hurried over to her place at the front of the room and began putting things in her bag.
"Are you leaving now? Then we could walk there together."
Magdalena hesitated, nibbling uncertainly on her lip and casting her gaze to the floor. Maybe she shouldn't have told her the way she went. Going there together would be awkward as hell.
"Ah, uh, I don't think so, sorry. I have to go change anyway, and then I usually ride my bike over. I'm sorry. See you later, though!"
September 30th, 4:15 PM-
Maybe she stretched the truth a little bit, but there was no way Magdalena would admit it was an outright lie. She truly did need to go home and change into something she could wear to work, she justified to herself. And even though she didn't usually ride her bike to work, today she would, though mostly because she would be taking a longer route to avoid running into her tutor.
Running into her room she found her roommate sitting at her desk, and the girl smiled slightly in greeting. The two rarely saw much of one another, after all Magdalena hadn't spent enough time in the room for it to even feel like a home.
"Hey, how's it going?"
"Hey," Magdalena replied quickly, crossing to her closet and quickly swapping out her clothes for a sports bra, tank top and sweatpants before power walking back to the door. "See ya."
Flying back out the door and to the bike rack outside the dorm room she unchained her simple silver bike and took off down the road for the rec center. Riding her bike would be good, she convinced herself as she attempted to shake off the guilt. There was dance team practice that night, so she'd be able to get home faster afterwards.
Due to the slight detour, the young dance instructor ended up slightly late for her class, but only a few of her kids had already arrived. The group she taught on these days were six to ten year olds for beginners jazz, and Magdalena positively adored each and every one of them. She got the cream of the crop when it came to students, as far as she was concerned, and she seriously considered challenging another group of kids at the rec to a dance competition with her little performers. Unfortunately, her competitive spirit wasn't exactly welcomed by the other rec center staff. Probably because they were afraid, she thought smugly.
"Sorry I'm late! Everyone find a spot and let's get started with some warm ups!"
The group had scarcely began their stretching routine when the mirrored wall behind Magdalena began to rattle, setting some of the kids on edge. She looked over her shoulder, rising to her feet and placing her hands on the mirror curiously. The whole thing vibrated, and soon the floor underneath them began to shake as well. Maybe there was some kind of generator under this room that had never kicked on during class before?
Poking her head out the door, it became clear that the whole facility was shaking, the hall littered with confused staff and patrons alike. She opened her mouth to call out to them when a loud sound brought her attention back into her room, a large crack twisting its thin tendrils across the mirror. Her youngest student began to cry.
"I want Sissy!" she wailed, her cries beginning to spike the fear in other students as Magdalena scurried over and rested a hand on the girl's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. As the tremors increased in strength she darted for the emergency exit, swinging the door open that lead out to the fields.
"I need everyone to go outside now!" This only frightened the children more, some of them toppling over as they tried to walk for the door. "Crawl on your hands and knees so you don't fall!" Nearly falling over herself, she braced herself inside the the doorway as her students obeyed, beginning to crawl out of the room weepy and frightened.
"Eva! Come on now sweetie we need to get outside," she pleaded with the strawberry blonde girl still crying for her sister, immobile on the floor. Carefully she made her way back into the dance room for the girl, keeping her knees bent a she tried to remain stable on the unsteady ground. As soon as she reached the girl the mirror behind them shattered, and immediately Magdalena wrapped the girl in her arms, attempting to shield her from any glass shards and keeping her eyes screwed shut.
If she kept her eyes shut, all the problems would go away.