Change (11/14)

     It had been a long day at work. Anything that could've broken down did, and more. Normal tasks that should've taken mere minutes exceeded half hours making the day wholly unproductive. The "maintenance" man only seemed to be making things worse, causing a domino effect of broken appliances. I slid the key into the lock imagining the way my feather comforter would envelope my body when I plopped down on my bed for at least twelve hours. I opened my door and walked in a zombie like state to my bedroom. Just before throwing my body down on my bed I realized that it had been replaced with a large pool table. My bedside table had been swapped for a gaudy Orange bean bag chair. I quickly back tracked into my living room, only then noticing my brown, suede sectional couch was no where in sight, but there as a clear half sphere chair hanging from the ceiling.. right next to a multi colored disco ball. At this point my temple were starting to throb, and the Orange bean bag chair was looking more and more appealing. Warily, I walked into my guest bedroom which turned out to be the worst. Animal print, everywhere. I didn't despise anything as much as I did animal print. It was creepy and it convinced people that it was acceptable to wear black and brown at the same time. Not to mention the fact that it was no different than walking around in a human skin jacket because it was appealing to your visual senses. The zebra rug in the center of my floor seemed to spin in my brain suddenly making my stomach turn. I ran to the bathroom to toss my cookies, and the neon green and orange walls proved to induce more projectile vomit. When I was finished, I rinsed out my mouth and placed a cool rag on my forehead. I went to my kitchen, opened my fridge- ignoring the elephant tusk handle- and pulled out a cup of applesauce then went to lay on that God awful bean bag. Before I fell asleep flashes of my mother played on the inside of my eyelids. Her wild, red hair acted as the agents that were squeezing my brain and soul at the same time. The tight coils of hair squeezed my head until my eyes felt they were going to pop out of my head. I know she'd done this to my house. I had never agreed with her eccentric ways, however amusing they may be. I hadn't giver her a key to my apartment, so I contemplated the ways as I fell asleep having a sneaking suspicion Id have to replace a window.

Last day of school

     I looked at the picture of me and my best friend Hailey I kept in my locker. It was from freshman year and the two girls in the picture were smiling brightly at the camera, clearly eager for what they only knew to be the "best years of their lives". Their was a familiar screech from the halfway down the hall, and I turned just in time to see Hailey sprinting down the hallway at me.

    I grabbed her by the shoulder before she crashed headfirst in to the lockers, "Jesus Hailey is the building on fire?" I asked raising my eyebrows at her.

     "You have to come with me right now, it's a matter of life and death!" Hailey exclaimed looking terrified.

     Hailey was usually a bit dramatic, but something about the look on her face told me I should follow her instead of teasing and continuing to question her.

     She partially dragged me to the cafeteria where there was a multitude of men and women in uniform. I would've assumed it was just a recruiters fair if they weren't pushing around students and their hands weren't unconsciously hovering close to their service pistols.

"Hailey I really think we should get out of here," I said nervously grabbing her arm. Before I could get her to turn around and follow me to the parking lot there was a scream from across the cafeteria as a teenage boy was struck over the back of the head with the butt of a gun.

     "STOP!" Hailey yelled and I then realized it was her brother who they had apprehended.

     I snatched Hailey's arm and dragged her down the hall and out the nearest door before one of the soldiers noticed who had cried out.

     "We can't just leave my brother," she said starting to cry.

    "We aren't going to leave him, but what help are we going to be if we're in the same position he's in, we're going to my car and we are going to follow them wherever they are taking everyone to break your brother out," I explained, wiping the tears from her face, nodding at her comfortingly.

     "Ok ok fine let's go," she said walking to my car with determination.

     For once I was glad my Dad hadn't bought me the flashy Camaro that I had begged him for, my '99 Mitsubishi would be much less noticeable following the hoard of cars the soldiers had driven to the school.

     It seemed anyone left in the school had been rounded up and put into the back of the soldier's cars. When they started to file out one by one I told Hailey to keep her eye on the car that her brother was in while I followed the pack of cars without being detected.

     We drove for about an hour until we were at Fort Lee. I couldn't just drive my car in without being questioned, so I parked at a nearby grocery store and jogged with Hailey to the base. It wasn't difficult to sneak on base, and it was even easier to blend in with our civilian clothes with all the teenagers around. There seemed to be increased security, so Hailey and I followed a little behind all of the teens to make it seem like we were with them and just walking slow. When the soldiers led them into a large steel door, we ducked behind a building to figure out our next move.

     We hadn't known what to expect on the drive over, so we were kind of just making this up as we went along.

     When it seemed no one was watching we snuck into the building where all of our classmates had been taken. They were all in there looking terrified and staring at some screen that was rolling a slide show of some sort.

     "What do you two think you're doing?" A voice barked from behind us. I turned to see a brick wall of a man unconsciously flexing his biceps and clenching his jaw.

     "We, um, I, uhh-" I started to try and think of an excuse as to why we would be here.

    "Get in there now!" He yelled opening the door and pushing us in.

     "Found some stragglers Thomas," The guy who pushed us said to a soldier in the back of a room full of terrified people.

     The images on the screen were violent battle scenes come to life and I began to get nauseous. It only took a few minutes to figure out what was happening. The United States was entering another World War and we were the forced participants. .

15 year Secret/ Cafe (11/7)

I walked down fifth avenue in hunt of a new coffee shop. The one I frequented had gone bankrupt and had to close. I needed to find a new one soon that wouldn't be swarming with overly caffeinated work freaks. I needed a little laid back place where I could wind down after work and wouldn't make me late for work in the morning.
     As I was about to duck into 'Joe Beans' I noticed my best friend Lorry sitting in a shaded booth with a man I'd never seen. I would've continued on with my audit of the new coffee place if I didn't know Lorry was supposed to be at work. The fact that she was dating my brother and her little meeting seemed a little intimate didn't help curb my interest either.

    I pulled out my phone, texting Lorry asking where she was. I watched her look at her phone and text me back quickly. I heard my phone chime and looked down to see what she said.

    "Work," with a frowny face was her reply.

    Now I knew she was hiding something. I made my way across the street and pretended like I was going into the boutique so conveniently placed behind the table where Lorry and mystery man sat.

     As I was entering the little shop I 'noticed' Lorry.

    "Oh hi Lorry! I thought you were working today," I said with a wry smile before walking into the store.

    She quickly followed me and grabbed my arm.

     "It's not what it looks like," she said with pleading eyes.

     "Funny cause it looks like you're cheating on my brother- it's ok though I'll ask him and see if I'm wrong," I said curling my lip at her.

     "Look Angela I can't explain, but I love your brother,"


     "This is exactly why I didn't want you guys to date- I KNEW you'd hurt him!" I yelled pointing an accusatory finger at Lorry.

     At this point she was crying, but I didn't care. I would've taken her side over literally EVERYONE except my brother, and of course that's who she had to be screwing over at the moment. She was so damn selfish it made me sick.

     "Please don't tell him Angela, I love him and I'm not cheating on him, but I'm not ready to tell him yet!" she bawled grabbing at my hands. I jerked my hands out from her reach and sneered at her.

     "Why should I believe a word you say? The only reason I know you aren't at work is because I CAUGHT you in a lie," I said crossing my arms across my chest.

     "Just give me a day ok, not even a whole day, I'll come over tonight and explain everything," she promised.

     "Give you a day to come up with a convincing lie? No way, meet me in our usual cafe in an hour and a half," I said before stalking off.

     Although Lorry had completely ruined my mood, I still needed to find my new coffee shop by the morning. I crossed the street and made my way back into 'Joe Beans' hoping this was the one because I'd liked the atmosphere. After trying their chai tea latte I knew this would be the place to frequent. I put a ten dollar tip in the jar and walked back outside only to notice Lorry was gone, but the mystery man was still there. I probably shouldn't have, but I walked over to him glaring at him the whole way.

     "I don't know who you are, but leave Lorry alone- she's happy with my brother," I said matter-of-factly.

     "Leave who alone? ohh yeah, right, Lorry, ok chick whatever you say," he said before getting up leaving an excessive tip on the able, and walking away from me.

     Well that surely was strange, If they were really having an affair I think he would've put up more of a fight, and probably know her name too. I guess I should go hear this girl out and see what kind of trouble she'd gotten herself into.

    I shivered in disgust as I walked into Starbucks to meet Lorry. I had no clue why she liked this place- it was so overrated. I immediately saw her at our usual table at the back. I decided not to tell her I'd talked to the man after she had left.

     "Start talking," I said sitting down across from her.

     "Ok.. don't be mad I haven't told you this before, but I'm not supposed to be telling you now either. I just love your brother too much to lose him over a misunderstanding,"

     "I hear a lot of words that aren't telling me who that man was," I said. I knew I was being childish and petty, but I didn't care.

     "I'm in the witness protection program; I have been since we met in sixth grade," she admitted in a whispered rush.

      "So that man was..?"

     "My case worker- when I was younger my biological father was the leader of a gang. They ended up killing  my mother and I testified against them because I watched the whole thing happen- if they knew I was alive now I'd be in so much more danger. They think I died in a car crash 18 years ago," she said wiping a stray tear from her cheek.

    I quickly moved to the other side of the table to comfort her, I'm so sorry I doubted you,"

     "This is the first time I've really been happy- having you and your brother in my life,"

George

Beep, beep, beep. The alarm went off at 4:37 am just like every other morning. George rolled out of bed, rubbed his sleepy eyes and put his jogging clothes on. He checked his email to get the days workout from his trainer. When he'd committed it to memory he started the mile and a half jog to the track by his house. After a grueling three hour workout including sprints, stairs, and hurdles, George dragged his aching body home at a light jog. George sat in an ice bath for fifteen minutes before standing up to wash the sticky sweat off of the rest of his body. He got dressed and made himself a protein shake before heading out for school.

When he got to school it seemed everyone around him was whispering. When he got to his locker he saw his friend Jahmon waiting on him. Jahmon ran the 100m and 200m dash and was the state title holder. George had no doubt that he'd be successful at defending his title this year.

“It's bad George,” Jahmon said.

“What's happened?” George responded quickly.

“You remember Marquel Cartwright right?”

“How could I not? He won states in Cali last year the kid is a beast- no one can beat him. Their only hope racing him is not to get embarrassed,” George said in clear adoration.

“He just transferred here,”

George didn't even want to show his face at practice that day.

It was the longest practice ever to George despite being let out thirty minutes early.

“Pretty cold in Marquel's shadow huh George?” One of his teammates jeered.

George considered giving up his training al together, but the thought of it made him sick. He decided to work even harder. He didn't care if Marquel had never been beaten, he would be the first to do it.  

Fired

 He played the scene back in his head wondering how this had happened to him. It seemed like a nightmare he had been unable to control. He felt like he'd been watching his own life play out before him instead of actually being in his body.

Tim flinched as his boss screamed his name for the fifth time this hour. He hurriedly got up to see what the monster wanted.

“Yes, sir?” he asked politely containing the hatred in his voice.

“I need those RFP's on my desk NOW!” he barked at Tim.

Tim nodded and tried to explain that they were in his car and not due for another week.

“Five minutes Tom, FIVE minutes!

“Tim..not Tom..” Tim muttered.

“What was that Tom?”

“I'll go get them right now sir,” Tim said shaking his head and going to the elevator.

He'd already gotten to the parking deck when he realized he'd forgotten his keys.

Desperate and running out of time, Tim used his elbow to smash through the passenger window of his car. He grabbed the manila folder his boss had given to him at the end of the day yesterday and made his way back to the floor where his office was located. As soon as he stepped off of the elevator he was surrounded by a security team.

“We're going to need you to come with us, sir,” said a rather large man with a shining bald head and bulging biceps.

“I can't right now,” Tim said trying to shove passed the guards into his office. The guards each grabbed him lifting him off the ground. Tim began flailing around trying to hit one of the guards or get them to drop him, but their grip was like a vice.

In his struggle Tim accidentally dropped the folder and began to scream obscenities at the guards.

A few extra men had come around the corner and were now picking up the envelope and opening it.

“What in here is so important that you had to break into someone's car, sir?” Asked a bulky man with a blonde goatee.

“That was MY car!” Tim yelled with pleading eyes, finally calming down enough to be allowed to stand on his own.

“Likely story,” Goatee man said dumping the contents of the folder into his hand.

Tim was surprised to see two small plastic bags fall into the man's hand. One was filled with white powder and one was clearly full of weed.

“You've got to be fucking kidding me, that isn't even mine it's my bosses!” Tim exclaimed.

Speaking of Tim's boss, he picked then to come around the corner asking what was going on.

A security guard quickly told him about the drugs and accusation.

“That's preposterous- I always knew something was off with Tom- I should have never hired him- You're fired.”

Tim looked at the floor as officers came in to arrest him, wondering how he was going to explain this whole ordeal to his wife.