As she put things in their place, she hummed and thought back.
Not just on the last week spent with Steve, but the two years before it.
How well their relationship was progressing, and how happy she was to be with such a great guy.
She finished putting everything away, and as her mind started descending back to Earth, she began to hear that throbbing, pounding music again.
She looked at the clock.
It read eleven in the morning.
She had been there for an hour already putting things away, and yet her roommate still had not even left her room.
She began to grow concerned and walked slowly, but nervously, to her roommate’s room.
She reached for the doorknob, turned it, and slowly pushed the door open.
Jen, her roommate, was always a tomboy.
Always hanging out with boys,
watching sports with them,
drinking beer,
and she just recently started smoking cigarettes.
Jen had never been what Kate would consider a proper girl.
The two were still what you could consider “friends”…
At least… In the way that two girls who don’t fight usually are.
Kate had met Jen when she moved in-state for college.
Jen was originally from Ohio.
Jen had needed a place to stay, since her on-campus living arrangements had fallen through.
She had always said that she was going to go to school to be a vet, since she loved animals.
She was doing really well at school until just recently.
The night, as Kate knew it, even took a toll on her.
Jen had just turned 21, and her parents were in town to help celebrate.
Jen always noted that as she walked into the establishment, she saw a motorbike outside that she really liked.
After they had finished eating, Jen had pasta, they walked outside.
Instead of seeing her parents walk to their car, she saw them begin to walk towards the motorcycle.
Needless to say, she was confused.
As she reached the motorcycle, her parents began to say that it was hers.
She was ecstatic.
She had always wanted one and now… She had one.
She jumped up and down, and gave each of her parents a huge hug, and a wet kiss.
She then remembered that there was a basketball game on at eight, both she and her dad wanted to see it, so she asked if they would like to meet back at her place.
They said yes, and so she got on the motorcycle,
turned right out of the parking lot,
and drove through a stop light,
she noted that it turned yellow just as she passed through,
so it would probably turn red for her parents.
It did, and her parents stopped at the light.
After Jen reached her apartment complex, she went inside, and climbed up the stairs that led to the second floor.
She slowly drudged to Apartment 7, and walked in.
She saw her roommate, Kate, making popcorn. Kate said something about how everything is better if you watch it with popcorn.
Jen never really knew how to handle Kate’s overbearing “motherly” nature.
As Jen sat down, she turned on the game, and began to watch, starting to wonder where her parents were.
Five minutes passed, and Kate walked over with a bowl of popcorn and set it down, she then began to play with Jen’s hair a bit.
Kate always talked about how wonderful Jen’s hair was,
it was shoulder-length,
slightly curly,
and dark brown.
Jen swatted away Kate’s hands,
unable to handle any stimulation,
due to her increasing nervousness about her parents.
Jen said she was worried about them, and that she was going to drive over and find out what was going on.
As Jen left, she had a hollow feeling in her stomach;
she knew something terrible had happened.
She didn’t even take notice of the sirens until she saw the ambulance and police cars, sitting in the middle of the intersection, near a dark black car.
She slowly began to walk towards it,
after parking her bike, immediately blocking out anything else around her.
When she got closer, she began to realize that it was her parents’ car.
She saw the two mangled–
She couldn’t handle anymore,
she already knew what had happened.
She whirled around and saw the slime that had hit her parents and his truck through her blurred, teary vision
. She began to stalk over to him, feeling more hate for this man than she had ever felt in her life.
As Jen walked up to him, fist clenched, ready to hit him; a police officer saw her and restrained her.
The police officer began to ask what Jen was doing there, who she was, what her name was, it felt like 50 questions asked at once.
She had no clue what was going on, so she said what she could through her tears and sobs.
The police officer must have decoded enough that he knew who she was.
He embraced her and told her he was sorry.
He helped her to the front seat of his car, and drove her home…