Centering

hungover, the main character heads to her friends house to recenter and sleep before heading home and then work.

Chapter 2

I have driven to Midway countless times. Drive down from the house until you reach main street. Turn right and make a left when you reach Verizon. Keep going until you go around a turn then take your first left. Take your first right. Go to the other side of the roundabout then around the second until you reach the street directly to the left of the last one you are on. Drive till you reach the apartment on the left with a red door and on the edge of the building. It has frog decorations to the right of the stairs in the woodchips. A wreath sits on the door for Christmas. I park in the edge parking space to the right of the designated space for Nicole’s mom and brother. I turn off the car, shoving my keys into my bag that hang from a lanyard and is mixed into countless keychains. I hurry out of the car and head up the three stairs to the door. I open it slowly in order to avoid her mother from hearing me, which is doubtful. I breathe heavy because of the hurry and tiptoe quickly. I take my shoes off, leaving them by the door and go up the short stairs that are behind the wall I face. The stairs are short then reach a platform, then the next set goes the opposite way to the next level. Nicole’s room is on the right behind a closed door. I quickly, but quietly go through the door and close it behind me. Setting my purse on the floor at the end of her bed that sits in the right top corner against the wall taking up the majority of the room. I flop on the bed exhausted and whisper, “Nicole, Nicooole…NICO!!!” She lays on her side facing the left wall, she. slowly turns to face me with her eyes hardly open and her light brown hair in a high messy bun. “what the hell, Rose, you’re going to get me into trouble.”

She reaches above her and grabs her phone off of the windowsill, pushing the home button and staring at the screen blankly before looking at me and saying, “It’s like eight-o- clock in the f*****g morning.” I look at her smiling and let out a slight giggle,

 “I know that, but I needed my bestest friend to take care of me.” I smile big with my teeth and my eyes hardly open, cheesy as f**k. “But I mean it’s your mom, why would she even care anyways, just say I came to wake you up and visit or whatever, I didn’t wake her up, so there is no reason to be upset.”

Nicole grunts,” gaaah, whatever.” She then goes to work answering her boyfriend’s million messages and turning on music. I lay there…. exhausted. I had hardly slept last night, like every weekend. It was around three in the morning when I decided to leave. The party had died down and I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep with everyone around me. I could drown it out for small periods before my eyes would open and I was no longer comfortable in Grayson’s arms. He had wanted to come with me, but…it was my place and I didn’t want to welcome someone in so they could disturb the peace. Plus, I didn’t want to be responsible for getting him home since he couldn’t drive and Kinzy drove him to the party so I was sure that he could get a ride from her or someone else.

I wasn’t completely sober when I left, but the house was somewhat close by and I took backroads as an extra precaution. I drove out of the trailer park to the left and went straight for a long while, it seemed to never end. Soon it curved and I took the right turn that swooped into the road leading to main street. I went straight across main street and drove straight until I came upon the house on my right. A tree in front and a little dirt patch between the abandoned house and Tiffany’s house’ driveway. I parked there so that cops would assume that I was parking at her house and there would be no need to check within the house.

In the window, papers were taped explaining that the house was owned by the bank and to stay off of the property. I walked in through the fence to the left of the front of the house, turned right and found the door up against the house around the corner. It had been broken into several times. New locks get added in order to attempt to keep kids out, they just get broken too. I entered the garage in the pitch black and pulled out my phone to use as a light source. I headed through the garage that heads toward the front of the house. I passed the small room meant for storage on my right and entered the door on my left to the kitchen. I closed all of the drawer’s cabinets and appliances then went straight to bed in the neighboring room.

That was four hours before, I tell Nicole to wake me by eleven forty-five so I can head home and get ready for work. I have to be there at twelve thirty.

Author's Note

Any advice welcome