Chapter 1

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I opened my eyes. 6:12 am.

I pulled my blanket higher. Sleep. Very important. Wait I think I was suppose to remember something.

But sleep. Important I tell you.

"Autumn get your ass up. You're late. This is the fourth time I've come in. You sleep like a dead person."

It's early. What's happening. Why so loud. Wait did April just say fourth time. Why don't I have a memory of these other three.

My brain does not turn on in mornings. It's not my best quality.

"Autumn!!!!"

Why's she yelling? Wait oh shoot....work. Today. Need to be there by seven. Half hour drive. What time is it....6:24 am.

I'm out of bed scrambling to pull on clothes as fast as possible.

Jeans. Check.
Shirt. Check.
Bra. Check.
Boots. Check.

I ran into the bathroom. 6:26 am.

Brush teeth.

Meanwhile I looked into the mirror. Damn. No fixing this. My mom used to tell me I looked like Medusa first thing in the morning. She sometimes brings valid points to the table.

Hat seems like best option at this point.

Make up isn't even a thought. It's not my best skill and any attempt would be too much at this point.

I sprint back into my room grab my hat and put it into my bag and run to the common room. 6:29 am.

"Here take this." April stood there with a to go mug. "We need your brain working before you get behind the wheel. I don't want any deaths on my conscience."

"I'm not that bad." I grabbed the mug of life. Seriously coffee is an elixir that brings me to life in the mornings. Necessary if you want me to be able to put together a sentence before noon. I grabbed my sweatshirt I left on the couch last night and headed to the door.

"I'm videoing my attempts at rising you from the dead one of these days. Should I mention your hair?"

"Nope. Bye April." I closed the door and headed to the stairs.

We lived in an apartment building that had an elevator but it broke during move in. Luckily after we fully moved in. Apparently another resident overloaded it. Now there's a part on back order.

I'd like to know who this resident is. I have words I'd like to share.

We live on the tenth floor. I've walked more stairs this semester than I believe in my whole life. Ok maybe slight exaggeration, but I hate stairs.

Now I'm sprinting down them. At least it's down not up? My legs should look well toned after all these stairs. At least that's what I tell myself as I carry the groceries up. Cursing my roommates for anything heavier than a feather. Ok that's everything. Maybe not marshmallows. We could live off marshmallows right?

Out the front door. 6:41 am.

Luckily I managed to get a close spot. April's doing. She bought mine and hers. She insisted she just liked having a driver she trusted parking next to her, but I know she knew parking here is expensive and rent is already pushing my budget.

I met April freshman year. We lived on the same floor. Neither of us bonded with our roommates. We both went to an event put on by our RA. We bonded over our names. When people here names like Autumn and April they have similar reactions.

We soon discovered, we had even more in common. The next year we got a dorm room together. Then the following year we moved to this apartment with two other girls, Sophia and Fiona. We liked the apartment so much we stayed for our senior year.

My car started no problems. (It is a few years old, so it could happen.) I backed out and headed towards the orchard. 6:43 am.

As I pulled up to the first stop light. I sipped at my coffee while internally flipping out. This is not a good look for day one.

Luckily the other stop lights along my route cooperated...just kidding. This day wasn't looking up.

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