Chapter 1: Jess
“Morning Liz, you want some toast with your coffee?” I sing as I enter the kitchen.
“Is there some super-hot guy back there or something?” she asks, eyeing me skeptically over her shoulder.
“What! No! Why would you ask that?”
“Uh, because you’re coherent…in the morning…before coffee.”
“I’m just in a good mood, I can’t explain it, but the vibes I’m getting today...they are making me feel invincible.”
“Would you mind keeping your good vibes to yourself? At least until I’ve had my first cup of coffee,” she says making her way into the living room.
I smirk at her while loading up the toaster and grabbing a mug from the cabinet. Liz and I have been friends since our freshman year of college. We have suffered through demanding professors, cram sessions and unpaid internships. Naturally, after college we decided to live together, hoping to conquer adulthood as a team too.
“Hey Eager Beaver,” she calls from her spot on the sofa in between slow sips from her mug, “don’t forget, my brother is coming up for the weekend.”
“Brother, weekend, gotcha,” I reply as I grab my toast and coffee and head to my bedroom. Something magical is going to happen today, I can feel it. I rush through my morning routine, maybe I was a little too relaxed this morning. Once dressed, I grab my work bag and race down the hallway. Hand on the knob, I call a quick goodbye to Liz.
“Hey!” she yells stopping me dead in my tracks “come say hi to Jamison.”
“What? Who’s Jamison?” I ask.
“My brother, he got here earlier than planned.”
I backtrack, stepping distractedly into the living room, while fumbling through my bag for my car keys.
“Hey, sorry, I’m running a little late today. I’m Jess. It’s nice to...“all I can do is stand there; feet rooted to the carpet. This cannot be happening.
“Nice to meet you, Jess.” That voice. It’s the one that haunts both my nightmares and my sweetest dreams.
“Jess, you, okay?” Liz asks.
“Yeah, sorry, I’m fine; I need to get going though, I’m really late.”
“I guess your vibes of invincibility were a little off” she jokes.
“Yeah, I guess so,” I say, with as much enthusiasm as I can muster. All the while I can feel his eyes burning a hole through me.
There’s things Liz doesn’t know about me; things I doubt she knows about her brother either. I flee our apartment and head toward my little Honda Civic hatchback. Once safely inside I rest my head against the steering wheel.
“Fuck!”
How can this be happening? I left the past behind me.
