Wake Up Call

Wake Up Call

(A/N: The characters and events featured in this story were created by me, so please don't steal, but hopefully enjoy!)

  Lost deep within her dreams, Kai failed to register the dull ringing of her alarm clock, tossing sharply to face the wall with a hoarse groan. Every day was a hectic disaster waiting to erupt into a migraine for the 20-year-old student, somehow trying to juggle a university course in creative writing with a part time job and band practice, yesterday being no exception.

  If memory served, Kai had wondered into her apartment at around one o’clock am after performing with her old college friends at a local club, her throat pounding almost as forcefully as her forehead. Setting aside her guitar with care, the crimson-haired woman sunk into a stiff backed computer chair, her aching fingers pulling over a thin grey folder. She rolled the pen between her palms before scribbling further notes on her coursework essay draft, finally drifting off to sleep at around half past three.

  Now, slanted red digits flashed seven forty five, a feeble beep signifying the need for a change of batteries. The lecture was due to start at eight thirty, and with traffic to take into account, a good twenty minutes were set aside for travel. But Kai’s eyes were fused shut, her body exhausted from the weeks of late nights and early mornings. Fidgeting again, she refused to acknowledge the continual buzzing above her head, until pain smothered her nose.

  Yelping angrily, Kai sat up suddenly, the dented grey clock dropping into her lap from its previous resting place on her face. Narrowed emerald eyes adjusted enough to notice the figure blocking half of the room from view, hands positioned firmly on her hips. Shaking the remainder of sleep from her system, Kai scowled as best she could, a snarl curling her top lip.

  “Hey, you’re finally awake. That stupid thing has been droning on and on for ages.” The girl moved forward, pointing dramatically at the clock in Kai’s arms, a lopsided grin appearing at the sight of the older woman’s seething.

  The smile fuelled her quiet rage. “All you had to do was turn it off and wake me up, you didn’t have to throw the thing at me!” Clenching her fists, the crimson-haired student glared menacingly, her uneven fringe creating a sinister shadow across her reddened cheeks. “And it’s not funny!”

  She giggled purposely, twisting a strand of hazel locks around her middle finger. “Oh, don’t be so cross. I did you a favour by waking you up and you know it.” Reaching out, she nimbly flicked the tip of Kai’s nose before the older woman could thump her hard, barely missing a bare shoulder. The 19-year-old teen stuck her tongue out quickly, another grin covering her lips, as she thrust the clock in front of Kai, who flinched, thinking it was going to hit her again. “Eight o’clock. You have ten minutes to get your rear into that car or you will miss your lecture. You can stay here all morning and scowl at me, or you can maintain your reputation as a perfect student and go.” She flicked her scruffily tied hair triumphantly, making sure to catch her roommate’s chin. “Your choice.”

  With one last growl, Kai flung pale cerulean covers violently from her entire bed, elbowing the shorter woman as she rummaged through a neatly folded pile of clothes in the corner of her room. Twisting her head abruptly, the emerald-eyed student sneered at her younger roommate, pulling free a slightly creased turquoise checked shirt. “A little privacy then? Or is that too much to ask from you, Hana.”

  “Whatever. Just try not to put it on inside out again.” She shrugged, a smirk hanging around her features as she exited the room, leaving Kai to fume silently, and double checking to make sure the label was on the inside of her chosen top. Frowning, she buttoned her shirt, replacing charcoal pyjama trousers with a pair of form fitting navy blue jeans, and lacing up her favourite muddy brown ankle boots.

  Another quick glance at the clock revealed the time to have just gone five past eight. Letting out a shallow sigh, Kai tidied her unruly streaked hair as best she could, tightening a thin black chord around her neck, a small pewter scarab pendent resting against her collarbone. She adjusted two wristbands to hang limply from her left forearm, and hurriedly hooked a slim silver chain onto her jeans. Ten past eight.

  Emerging from her bedroom, Kai seized her burnt umber shoulder bag, and was just about to twist the door handle when a blur of bottle green fell across her head. Startled, her hand tugged at the offending object, a three quarter length jumper, the symbol of bear visible on the left.

  “It’s cold outside. You should wear it over your shirt.” Turning her head slowly, bright green met deep blue. Hana dipped her head, rubbing her bare arm uncomfortably as her cheeks began to flush. “You know, that hall can get really drafty, especially in this stupid cold spell we’re having. I mean, it’s March for crying out loud!”

  Speechless by the young teen’s sudden outburst, and conscious of the time, Kai simply flashed an appreciative smile at her roommate, yanking the jumper over her head and exiting the apartment with a last minute wave and a muttered “thanks, later.”

  Hana grinned in return calling out hastily as the door swung shut. “Yeah! Have a good class! See ya!”

  Of course, Kai was unaware that there were no lessons today, her busy schedule keeping her from realising that the Wallace and Gromit calendar behind her door read ‘March 24th – Easter Monday’.

  Hana stared at the date for a little longer, her deep blues eyes losing focus with each passing second. Letting go of a breath she did not know she had been holding, the 19-year-old collapsed into a creamy grey recliner. “She’s going to kill me.” Her gaze lingered a moment more on the wall, before she dropped her shoulders back in a carefree shrug, flicking the TV on to her favourite station. “Ah well, she’ll get over it. She always does.”

End