1 Our Perfect Little World

"Rose!" My roommate, Mindy yells through the bathroom door. "I'm not gonna be late because of you!" She begins to jiggle the knob and bang. "For Christ's sake! Wait a minute Mindy!" I reply, a hint of irritation in my tone. I hear Mindy groan, of course aggravated. "What are you doing in there that's taking so looooong?!" she asks. I look down at the message from my younger sister saying her father (my stepfather) is drunk. I need to improvise... "Um... checking a pregnancy test?" I ask more than assure her. "Whaaaaaat!!!" I can hear her freaking out... "What's it say?!" She yells, excitedly. That's super surprising... "Um... negative..." I say pretending I'm disappointed. "Awww, I'm sorry Rosey Posey." She whines. I roll my eyes and stand up from the side of the bathtub. I then walk over to the toilet and flush. "Thank the LORD!!!" Mindy cries and as soon as I open the door, she zips past me to take a shower and do whatever Mindy does best. I on the other hand grabbed my brush from the dresser and started to comb through my short dark brown hair. I had cut it awhile back since my stepfather, when drunk, liked to grab me by the hair during attacks. Mom never listened when I tried to persuade her to ditch him. In the end whenever I went swimming or some place highly populated everyone thought I was a dude and picked on me for having large breasts. People who knew me just sat there saying it was a cute style. I set the brush on my neatly made bed and looked into the mirror, as always I squished my stomach. My friends always tell me that I'm not fat, I'm actually thicc, a thicc Mexican. But, I have light brown skin and it almost makes me look white. I lean in to look at my teeth and eyes. Black, the color of my eyes, I would have been much more grateful if I were given green, hazel, blue, or light brown... But, I was cursed with black.

"Hey, Rose do you mind giving Mrs. Stones my report? I don't think I'll make it to her before she leaves on that trip in time." Mindy interupts my thinking. "No, I can't I've actually gotta be somewhere in five minutes." I holler then grab my wallet with some leftover money and slam the dorm door shut. I can hear her whine again before, I walk down the hall to the lobby.

I joined this academy in my 10th grade year, and now I was finally graduating this Spring. I only came for one reason though, my family. I needed to study hard and get the best job, with the highest amount of money possible, so that I could help my siblings. there's eight of us, there used to be nine, however the oldest... She abandoned us at the age of fourteen, everyone was in on it. Our cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, even our friends. It ruined me. It completely destroyed me to the point where I was depressed and starting self harm. I began to have panic attacks, and started to call myself a different name, Rose, my real name however, is Rocio. Anytime someone says it I completely shut off. They say that I'm like a mindless walking robot. I can never remember though.

But, now I'm stuck in this world a piece of me, gone.

I wait by the bus stop for the first bus home when I notice a woman, she's crowded by men and obviously uncomfortable. I walk over and stand next to her to try and reassure her she's going to be alright. She gives me a thin, tight, white, smile. Thirty minutes go by, until finally a bus arrives. Me and the lady silently nod to each other and get on the bus. As I walk down the aisle I feel a squeeze on my ass. I turn around and slap the person behind me as hard as I could, my hand stinging. A tall bald man with a pepper and salt scruffy beard shrivels back. "Touch my ass again I dare you!" I yell. He licks a streak of blood from his lip, pulls out a gun, grabs me into a chokehold, and pulls me close to him. I don't panic, since this isn't as terrifying as it seems. The passengers on the other hand went into chaos, screams filled the air as I calmly wait for the right moment to strike. I then elbow him in his "soft spot" as hard as I can, he cries out in pain, drops the gun and reaches for his groin. I take advantage of this, grab the gun and have him at gunpoint until the authorities arrive. The passengers on the bus are all amazed and cheer me on. The lady from earlier gives me another one of her white smiles. But, I decide to take a cab instead, since the bus was too much drama.

"How far am I takin' ya'?" asks the driver.

"As far as possible, as long as it's in the direction of Newebron." I reply.

He nods and starts the engine, I stare out the window watching trees and houses pass by.

1 hour later

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. I wake up to noises of cars honking their horns. "What's wrong?" I asked the driver to which he replies with your ordinary "I'm just the driver I don't fucking know" shrug. I roll my eyes give him the money and get out of the cab. The line of traffic looks like it goes on for fourteen miles straight. "Ugh, dammit!" I hit the side of the cab to which the driver honks HIS horn. I roll my eyes and sigh. "Sorry." I apologize and start walking up the highway. I walk about five miles before I hear screams come from up ahead. I try to get a closer look but nothing... Then all of a sudden cars are trying to drive backwards. "Hey watch it!" I say as A Pick-up truck reverses into me. I then climb into the trunk and onto the roof. What I see ahead... looks just like the cliche zombie films...