"Is this true? You got kicked out from the dorm?"
Now that was a teeth-grinding way of saying it. Kicked out, huh? "Dad, I can explain." If there was one thing that Zen was afraid of, it was her father. Her father meant the world to her, and disappointing him was like ripping a chunk of her own flesh and pouring disinfectant over the open wound. In this life, all she had was her father and her not-so-significant fifteen-year-old brother. "Yesterday, I-, I, well, I-"
"Miss Dorothy told me all about it. No need to explain," came her father's voice from the other line.
"Miss Dorothy? Who?" Zen asked in confusion.
"Who else? Your warden."
"Wait, her name's Dorothy?" Zen mumbled to herself. Huh! For an old, toad lady with anger management issues, she had a pretty nice name. What a disgrace to all the people named Dorothy.
"What are you mumbling to yourself out?" Her father's impatient voice rang out again, and she flinched, bracing herself for a massive bomb packed with immense explosive power bound to cause permanent irreparable damage soon to be dropped by her father.
"Nothing," Zen stuttered. "Dad, I'm sorry. I know I've disappointed you again. But this time, I really had a good reason. Please listen to me. Yesterday, in the dorm room, I-"
"Zen, calm down. I'm not disappointed in you."
"Hah? You're not?" That was a pleasant surprise. The father who always reprimanded her for the tiniest of reasons was not mad at her. Something was clearly wrong.
There was a long pause of silence before her father spoke again. "I'm not... Are you... alright?"
"Huh?"
"I'm asking if you're okay." Her father's tone sounded calm and concerned.
"Mm... I'm okay."
"That's good to hear. This morning I got the call and it worried me."
"So, you're not angry?" Zen asked hesitantly.
"Of course, I'm not angry. Are you stupid?" he scolded her. "If anything like that happens, you should make sure to call me."
"I'm sorry. My phone's battery died."
"You are such a... anyway, where are you right now?"
"At Kate's."
"Good. That's good to hear. And what about university?"
"I'll get ready in a bit."
"Good. Good."
"So, you're really not angry?"
"No. Have you ever seen me angry at you?"
"No." Zen smiled right after.
"I know my own daughter. She would never fight back without a reason. Isn't that right?"
"That's right," Zen agreed, nodding her head fiercely as if her father could see her now.
"Make sure to tell me if anyone bullies you again. I'll come there and deal with it myself."
"It's fine, dad. You're so old, you won't be able to fight with them," Zen joked, giggling to herself.
"I may be old and bald." Her father laughed aloud. "But I'm still your dad."
"Yeah. I got it. I got it, old man," Zen replied in amusement. "I'll call you if anything happens. I'll go now or I'll be late."
"Alright, alright."
"Bye, dad."
As soon as Zen cut the call, she cursed out loud. It was ten minutes past eight, and she was late. Judging from the atmosphere, she was all alone in the apartment. Kate had probably left for work since her morning shift started at five in the morning. No wonder she found herself sleeping alone on the bed when she woke up.
Dismissing her thoughts, Zen hurriedly got up and headed straight for the bathroom, knowing perfectly well Kate was going to give her an earful for not making the bed when she returned, but there was no time.
After coming out of the shower, she grabbed a couple of clothes from her now severely disorganized blue luggage and hastily dressed herself. She wasn't a messy person by nature, but she did go out of control when under pressure, and that was exactly what she was experiencing at the moment. Pulling up her pants almost to the point of ripping her fingernails off in her haste, she rushed to the mirror fitted on the dressing table and quickly ran a comb through her hair.
"Done. Let's go grab my bag and my watch." Zen stopped dead in her tracks. "My watch? Where is my watch?" She felt her shirt and pants with her palms, looking for a hard, spherical object. "I remember wearing it when I left the dorm yesterday." She walked back to her trolley to search but stopped herself. "No. I'm sure I didn't put it there. Don't tell me..."
A spark of the previous night's incident flashed before her mind. Her cheeks flushed, remembering the scene when the drunk stranger stole her first kiss like a thief in the darkness. "Damn it." If it was any other watch, she would've ignored it and waited until her next paycheck to buy a new one, but that watch was very important to her. It was the only thing her mother had given her before she passed away. And now it most likely had been STOLEN by that evil, conniving drunk stranger who she highly doubted she'd ever meet again. "Ugh. All because of that unlucky bastard! Shit!" Now she was truly late. At this rate, she might not make it to mark her attendance.