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Chapter 1

How It All Began

HAVE YOU EVER HAD one of those days where it seems like absolutely nothing goes right?

Yeah. Me too.

It all started when my alarm didn’t go off and I was late for class. I didn’t like being late for anything, but I especially hated it when a whole classroom of eyes leered at me as I tried to find a seat. Oh, and P.S., the only open seats were in the middle of the classroom. Which, of course, required me to climb over a bunch of people who met me with annoyed sighs and eye rolls.

When I finally got seated, I reached into my backpack for my laptop, only it wasn’t there. I had a moment of complete panic before it dawned on me…rushing out of the apartment in a frenzy after the whole no-alarm bullshit, I’d left my laptop plugged in and charging next to my bed. I closed my eyes as a whole string of expletives ran through my head. No way was I going to climb back over everyone to get out of the classroom. I rummaged around in my backpack until I found an old flyer, an empty envelope, and a grocery store receipt to take notes on. No one sitting around me even offered to give me a piece of paper, but they did give me sideways glares as they passive-aggressively cleared their throats while I rummaged through my backpack. Screw them and the craptastic start to my day.

After class, I stopped at my favorite on-campus cafe for a much-needed coffee. It was going to be the perfect way to forget the shitshow of a morning and transition into a much better afternoon. Before I could savor the first delicious sip, some asshat ran into me, spilling my extra-large coffee all down the front of my sweater. The jerkoff didn’t even stop to apologize as I stood in the middle of the cafe covered in hot coffee, with my mouth gaping open, and an empty cup in my hand.

Some people just suck.

My terrible day didn’t stop there. In fact, the hits just kept coming. That afternoon, I was sitting in class reeking of coffee and about to pass out from heatstroke. I was wearing my tan wool winter coat buttoned up over my coffee-stained sweater in an attempt to hide the fact it looked like I’d not yet mastered the art of drinking hot liquid out of a cup. I was also trying to draw attention away from the fact I was the reason for the coffee-scented classroom that was causing people to stop and sniff the air as they walked to their seats.

Sarah walked over and settled into the seat next to me. She looked me up and down with a puzzled expression on her face before asking, “Anna, what’s wrong with you? Why are you still wearing your coat inside? It’s like a million degrees in here.”

Sarah was one of my best friends. She and I shared an on-campus apartment with Bree, the third member of our trio. We’d been friends since freshman year when we found ourselves living in the same dorm together.

“I had an accident,” I whispered back quietly so as not to draw any unnecessary attention. We were in our usual back-row seats and class hadn’t started yet, which meant everyone around us was already having their own conversations. Chances of anyone actually hearing us and caring what we were whispering about were slim, but it still wasn’t something I wanted to deal with. Especially not with the day I’d been having.

“Like, what kind of an accident?” Sarah leaned in and whispered to me, pressing for more information. I should’ve known she’d want details. “Are we talking about a ‘Whoops, I accidentally wore my hot pink bra under my see-through white T-shirt’ type of accident? Or is this more of a ‘You’re never going to believe this, but I laughed so hard I peed myself’ kind of accident?”

“Really? Those are the two options you go with?” I loved Sarah dearly, but even though we’d been close friends for three years, sometimes the stuff that came out of her mouth still shocked me. Sarah just stared at me like I was the one who’d lost my damn mind.

I sighed and realized there was no way I was getting out of the conversation. “Some asshat ran into me and I spilled an entire cup of coffee down the front of my sweater. My cream sweater now has a giant brown stain on it…and I smell like coffee.”

Sarah slowly nodded her head as if in silent contemplation about the situation. She looked at me and whispered, “That would explain why I’m suddenly having an intense craving for Starbucks. It’s not your brand-new sweater, is it?”

“Of course it is,” I snapped back harsher than I intended. “Why would I spill an entire extra-large coffee on something that wasn’t brand new?”

“Oh, shit!” Sarah exclaimed sympathetically as the professor walked into class.

“Yeah,” I replied with a sigh as I reached for my backpack. As I shoved my hand into the empty bag, I was reminded my laptop was still in my bedroom.

“Do you have any paper?” I whispered to Sarah as she pulled out her laptop.

She gave a confused look as she reached into her bag. “Where’s your computer?” Sarah asked as she handed me a spiral-bound notebook. Sarah was generally prepared for anything, so of course she had a brand-new-looking notebook with her.

“My alarm didn’t go off and in my panicked state to get my ass to class, I forgot it.” Sarah opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but I quickly interrupted her. “If I’d had time to go get it, I would’ve had time to change my sweater.” Sarah nodded her head in understanding. I took the notebook from her and flopped back in my seat as the professor started his lecture.

About five minutes into the lecture, I realized I’d done the wrong reading assignment, and had no idea what the professor was talking about.

It really was shaping up to be a shit day.

AFTER MY LAST CLASS I was finally able to head back to our apartment. Of course the shit day was on a Tuesday, which was my all-day, back-to-back class day. I was so relieved to finally go home and take off the damn coffee sweater. After sitting in a pungent cloud of coffee smell all day, I was starting to worry I might not ever be able to drink my favorite beverage again. Most of all, I was looking forward to some alone time to try to process my horrible day. The real cherry on top of the shit-sundae had been the terrible grade I received on a writing assignment handed back during my last class of the day. My favorite part was the comment at the end of the paper, written in big, red letters and underlined for extra emphasis: “Did you even read the assignment?!”

Why yes I did.

Yet, I still failed it.

What a stupid day.

I was almost home when without any warning, the damn strap on my purse broke. My once beloved purse crashed to the sidewalk, spewing its entire contents on the ground around me. I clutched my hands into fists and threw my head back. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” I shouted to the sky.

With a big sigh, I began to pick up all of the loose change, lip gloss, old receipts, and tampons that littered the ground. I grabbed my phone and said a quick prayer hoping the screen would still be intact after it hit the ground and went sliding down the sidewalk. I held my breath as I turned it over and was relieved to see there was no damage. I’d have to remember to thank Sarah for talking me into buying the heavy-duty case and screen protector since replacing my phone wasn’t going to be in my budget any time soon. As I ran my hand over the screen, I noticed there was a notification for a new text message.

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