Chapter 1
I’ve never been in school this late and it’s freaking me out. I’m not usually the adventurous type so this is way out of my comfort zone. But if I want my marks, I have to do this.
It’s so quiet and creepy but oddly calming.
Without the buzzing of students on campus, being out in the hall actually feels bearable. I make my way out of the classroom I’ve been studying in and head towards the boys’ locker room. Against my will of course.
I’m studying public health and I had the displeasure of being assigned the topic; ‘Hygiene Behaviors and Surface Contamination in Collegiate Athletic Locker Rooms.’
An absolute mouthful if you ask me. While I’m usually eager to learn and explore, this is one of those lessons I could have lived without exploring but my professor obviously doesn’t care about that.
I have crippling anxiety and couldn’t be caught dead in most social gatherings, let alone a locker room full of shirtless, sweaty hockey players with no sense of personal space, hence why I’m sneaking into their locker room by ten pm when I’m sure they’ve all gone home and I can conduct my research in peace.
Although I’m a little frightened, it’s the price I have to pay for being scared of literal people.
I arrive at the locker room and take a huge, maybe dramatic, breath before I turn the knob and release the breath. I heard that the locker room is usually open but I was a bit skeptical, I guess they were right. I slowly walk in, it’s dead quiet and there are only two flickering lights on. It’s not exactly bright in here but it’s not pitch black also so that’s fine.
The air is surprisingly cool but it smells like a mix of sweat and deodorant, primarily Axe, the one my brother uses. It’s not unbearable but it’s not exactly a bouquet of roses also.
I look around briefly and spot the usual, benches, towels hanging around, most likely from those who stayed late, hockey sticks, water bottles and some random personal items here and there. It’s not totally messy, I’m guessing this is clean for them. As I walk in deeper, I catch a subtle whiff of cleaning solution.
I don’t want to waste any unnecessary time here so I set my bag on one of the benches and start taking out the contents. I pull out my clipboard and pen, temperature monitor, swabs and sample containers, gloves, hand sanitizer and sticky notes. I put my hair in a messy bun and brace myself mentally.
The first part of this is purely observational so I basically have to walk around and note down things like the state of things, where everything is, what surfaces are greasy and what not.
I begin because I intend to leave before midnight. I get immersed in the task and instantly, get lost in my thoughts as I note down my findings.
I check the time on my phone and realize that about forty minutes have gone by. You would think that observation would take ten minutes but the survey is annoyingly thorough. Once I’m done writing, I put down my clipboard and pick up the temperature monitor. I’m supposed to record the temperature of the room in general, the bathroom stall and one of the lockers. I look around and note that some of the lockers aren’t even locked, ironic.
I go into one of the stalls, once the monitor beeps, I go back to put down my findings. I take a general read on the entire room before moving to a locker at the top level because apparently, I need to note the temperature of both the highest and lowest locker.
I’m not exactly the tallest so I manage to get it open after like four jumps but I can’t reach inside to take a reading and all the benches are either nailed to the ground or too heavy to move.
I know hockey players are freakishly huge but this is just inconsiderate!
I’m standing on my tip toes and trying to get my monitor into the locker when I hear a deep, icy and definitely angry voice behind me,
“What the fuck are you doing in my locker?” The voice booms and I startle and stumble and fall to the ground. I look up and freeze.
AUTHORS NOTE: Hi guysss, Tiffany here. Just checking in to see if you like the book so far. If you haven't read my first book, Claimed : The Professors Obsession then I think you should really check it out. I'm so excited to be writing this short story and I look forward to your comments and reviews. Happy Reading!
