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Chapter One - Carrie
The rain wasn’t messing around the last couple of days. No sun, just endless rain; something I thought really suited my mood. Nothing was exciting about my life. I’d go back and forth from home to school — nowhere else. I spent most of my days studying and watching the latest TV show on Netflix and turning down the numerous requests from boys who wanted to take me out.
The thing was, I was extremely shy. I always had been. Ever since I could remember, I didn’t talk with boys at all. I mean, I was a 21-year-old virgin in college! How lame was that?
I didn’t have time for boys. I had enough to worry about, like making my parents proud and getting my college degree. Okay, I must admit that that was just a silly excuse I gave myself for basically not having a life. But I didn’t know what to do to change things.
However, change came on its own.
On that particular day, I had to rush from the lecture hall to the parking lot, having left my umbrella at my apartment. By the time I got to the car and managed to locate my keys from the jungle that was my purse, I was already soaked. I saw Ben, a guy from class, walking fast towards his car, which was right next to mine. He had an umbrella and his keys in his hands.
Organized, lucky bustard, I thought to myself.
I shoved myself into the car and drove off fast. I didn’t want any interaction with him. He had asked me out a week before, and I told him that I would think about it. And of course, I didn’t think about it because I wasn’t planning on going out with him. But at the same time, I didn’t want to disappoint him by saying no. He was generally a sweet, respectful guy. I was the one with the problem.
So, I drove a little faster than usual. My goal was to get home as quickly as possible, just to lay on the couch with some snacks. Yeah, some goal. I was only a couple of miles out when I heard some weird sounds coming from my car’s undercarriage. I had no idea what was wrong at that moment. I just hoped that whatever it was, it would wait until I got home.
My car suddenly stopped. Whatever was breaking had finally given in. I got out and saw a lot of smoke coming out from the hood. I stood in the rain staring at my car for a couple of minutes, then decided to walk home. My car problems weren’t going to be resolved anytime soon. I had no money to get my car fixed, so I decided to deal with one problem at a time. The problem ahead of me was getting to my warm apartment. I would deal with the car issue the following morning.
The rain seemed to be increasing with every step I took. I thought about my umbrella. My beautiful umbrella at my tiny apartment. Why was I so poor? I hated not having money. By the time I got to my apartment’s doorstep, I knew I had to find a quick way to make some cash.
I took out my house keys from my bag and opened the door. I could feel water dripping from every part of my body, so I stood on the mat at the doorway for a little while to let the water completely drip off. I didn’t want to trace water all over our apartment.
“Gina?” I called out to my roommate. I knew she was around the apartment somewhere because I could smell the herbal tea she loved to make. At first, I was bothered by the smell, but I had to admit that the tea had grown on me a little.
“In the kitchen!” she responded.
Gina had a hoarse voice, which I found very soothing. She was a short girl. A few more inches off of her, and she would be considered tiny. Her hair was dark and always tied in a knot on top of her head to keep it out of the painting she was continually doing. She wanted to be a famous artist someday. My roommate generally had a geeky, quirky, weird vibe, and we got along so well.
I stared at myself in the mirror in the hallway then found my way to my bedroom. Gina and I lived in a two-bedroom apartment in the not-so-safe side of town. That’s what we could afford now, and even though I had heard crazy stories about our neighborhood, I hadn’t witnessed anything terrible so far.
“Oh my God, were you rained on?” Gina asked when she saw me.
“I hate that stupid car. Sometimes I wonder why I have a car in the first place!” I started to vent.
