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I jolt awake. Wow, that sure was a weird dream. I don’t know anyone named Brianna. Never have.
I slap my alarm clock into silence and then pick it up to peer into its face. In the dark of my room I barely make out the numbers “8:05″.
“Shit,” I curse, swinging my legs out of bed and nearly jogging to the bathroom. I must have hit the snooze button without realizing. I’m gonna be fucking late again.
I zip through my morning routine, making sure to kiss my girlfriend on the cheek before running out the door. Gray clouds loom overhead, but my classes today are close by the apartment so I decide not to take the car. Besides, I’m practically a champion speed-walker; there’s a chance I can get there faster by foot if I take the right short-cuts.
Securing my backpack over both shoulders, I shift into a gentle sprint, shuffling along the sidewalk at a pace that should require me to bend my knees a lot more. I cut through the alley by the taco shack, jay-walk across Main Street, and am turning to circumvent the low brick wall at the edge of campus (construction by the university’s entrance means the school’s main thoroughfare is constantly getting clogged with students who end up being late to all their classes and I know that if I cut through the library via the back entrance I can come out ahead of the crowd) when I catch a glimpse of something that makes me stop in my tracks.
A shadowy figure, one that retreats as soon as I whip around to face it. I stare at the clump of trees next to the crosswalk. I could’ve sworn…
Oh well, no time for this.
I kick it into overdrive, pumping my arms but still not quite running in a way that makes me feel ridiculous, but this is one of those desperate times. I fly in and out of the library, elbow my way through a throng of aimless freshman, and throw myself up the stairs of my class building. Panting and sweaty, I slide into a seat at the back of the classroom just as the professor passes the attendance sheet to a girl at near his desk to be handed around.
Thank god.
