Pulling up to her driveway, Hazel checked the time on her phone and it was a couple of minutes past 1 am. She sighed and sneaked up to her front door.
Once she got in, she heard sounds in the kitchen. Peeking in, she realized it was aunt Mabel. She panicked and put her hand on her mouth to prevent any sound from coming out.
Tiptoeing backwards, she tripped on a chew toy and a vase placed on a table tipped over. She caught it just in time but it was already too late.
"Who's there?" Aunt Mabel called out, startled by the sound. "Asher? Is that you?"
Hazel ran up the stairs as quietly as she could to avoid being seen fully dressed in all black. It would have been an awkward sight. When Mabel went over to check, she saw no one there.
She scanned through the whole living but saw no one. She shrugged and went back into the kitchen.
Finally in her room, Hazel heaved a deep sigh of relief. She thought she was going to get caught out there, but thankfully she wasn't.
She took off her shoes and plopped down on her bed to take a long nap. She's had quite a night. It wasn't anything like she thought it'd be. Nothing like the movies she's seen. It was far scarier than that.
But with her kind of confidence, she didn't think she'd have much of a hard time at all.
________________________________________
"Did she quit?" Dove asked Jordan as he walked into their domain.
"Is that what you wanted?" Jordan questioned, narrowing his eyes at her.
"My first time there was hell. I got raped twice. Surely she must've been raped at least once?" Dove stated as she rolled her eyes.
"You sent her there on purpose hoping she'd get assaulted? You're sick, you know that?" Jordan uttered in distaste.
Dove simply rolled her eyes not fazed by his comments at all. "How was she when you saw her afterwards?" She asked in excitement.
"Absolutely fine actually. She came out smiling at me."
Dove furrowed her eyebrows forming a frown, "What?"
"You heard what he said." A furious Malcolm stood behind her, "She's fine."
Absolutely terrified, Dove turned around slowly and her eyes met his. She smiled nervously and could feel her heart thump through her chest at that point.
Malcolm looked down at her in disgust. "I trusted you with a new worker and you wanted her to quit? You can't even do your job right and won't give someone else a chance to?"
"Sir, I-"
"Do not interrupt me while I speak. No one can replace you seeing as you're so bad at your job. We're looking for an upgrade, not a replacement." He completed, rubbing his temples in annoyance.
Dove looked down at her shoes in shame, her short platinum-dyed hair covering her face. She couldn't believe how humiliated she was at that moment.
"Seeing as the new girl's first job was such a huge success, she'll be taking your title as the first female worker here since you were a dud and frankly, an utter waste of time and space." He continued walking away from her and over to a bar in the room.
"I won't be relieving you of your duties though. You can learn a thing or two from her. Be better, understood?"
"Yes, sir…" Dove replied in a low tone and exited the room in tears.
"What's her name?" Malcolm asked Jordan as he poured himself a drink in a glass.
"Hazel, sir" Jordan replied with his hands tucked away in his back.
"Hazel…." Malcolm repeated whole twirling the drink and taking a sip out of it. "Contact her and tell her to take the day off tomorrow for her troubles"
"Oh….yes, sir" Jordan replied and bowed his head. He was surprised at how warm Malcolm seemed toward Hazel and it was only her first day. He could smell something but wasn't quite sure what it was.
Meanwhile, Malcolm was lost in his thoughts, still trying to remember where he had seen her before.
________________________________________
It was the next day and Hazel was doing laundry. Once she was done with them in the dryer, she folded them and set them down in the laundry room.
Wiping her sweat, she looked at her phone to check the time. It was past noon and she had to get ready for a class.
"Aunt Mabel, could you please help me complete the laundry? I'm already done drying them." Hazel asked as she walked into the living room to see her aunt playing with Asher.
"Sure, hun" Mabel replied setting Asher down to play on his own.
Hazel smiled widely and ran up the stairs to get dressed for school. When she was done, she came downstairs wearing a purple overall with a white undershirt and her hair in twin tails.
"Mom! Aunt! I'm off to class!" She called out before going out the door, blowing Asher a kiss before shutting the door.
While cycling to school, her hair blew under the hot sun. It was summer so the sun was quite hot and bright. The thought of her having to see Kyle once she went to school made her chest tighten.
Parking her bicycle on the rack in the parking lot, her phone buzzed letting her know a notification just came in. She turned on the screen and opened the message. It was from Jordan.
Jordan: The boss said to let you know that you won't be working today. He's giving you the day off.
She squealed in relief, but she was more concerned about her pay for the job from the day before. She thought to ask via text but decided to wait till after the class.
When she got to the classroom she would be having the class, she saw a writing on the class board.
; THE CLASS WILL BE HELD IN THE CHEMISTRY LAB. THANK YOU, MR AGARWAL
Hazel facepalmed because the chemistry lab was in Kyle's faculty which increased her chances of bumping into him. She quickly picked out a face mask she always carried around in her bag for awkward moments like these and put it on.
Heaving a sigh, she walked through the science faculty looking out in every corner for anyone who looked like him.
She couldn't care less about him, but she didn't need the awkwardness, especially with everything she's been going through.
Once safely inside the lab, the class had already started and it was embarrassing to walk to her seat pretending she didn't want the ground to open up and swallow her.
Seated in the middle row of the lab, she pulled out her books and pen and started taking notes of what the teacher was saying. Little did she know she was in for a surprise.
A huge placard with the words, *I'M SORRY. LET'S GO OUT TOMORROW NIGHT TO MAKE UP FOR WHAT I SAID* and holding on to the card was Kyle.
The class gasped in shock and the teacher waved his hand at Kyle asking him to stop the distraction at once, but Kyle refused to leave unless Hazel gave him an answer.
Being put on the spot, she nodded in acceptance and looked away from the window. Kyle smirked in satisfaction and left the window. Her phone buzzed and it was a text from Kyle.
Kyle<3: Thank you for saying yes…
She turned off her phone screen and focused on the class. Once the class was over, Hazel decided to go to her dorm room and relax a little before leaving.
On arriving in her room, her roommate Dahlia was laying in her bed eating a bag of chips and was startled when she set her eyes on Hazel after so many days.
"Hazel darling. Where have ya been, love?" Dahlia asked running to Hazel and kissing her all over her face. Dahlia was Scottish and it was quite obvious from her accent.
She was also a lesbian which would normally make Hazel feel nervous about changing in her presence.
"Uh hi, Dahlia…just been caught up with some stuff at home.." Hazel replied nervously as Dahlia played with her hair as usual.
"Oh alright I missed you, but where are your bags? You just up and left one day and never told me anything no calls or anything" Dahlia stated, whilst still playing with her hair.
"I'm really sorry about that. It was just very urgent" Hazel chuckled uncomfortably and backed away from her. "I need to sit down for a second"
Dahlia simply glanced over at her suspiciously and shrugged. Suddenly, the door swung open to reveal a girl about Hazel's age standing and glaring at her. Her 4C Afro bounced hysterically.
She stomped over to her, her dark brown eyes glistening with fury and yelled, "Girl! Where the heck have you been!? You never picked up or returned my calls!"
"Uh…Maude…hi…" Hazel laughed, nervously breaking into sweats, "How have you been?"
She knew she was in for a huge talking-to at that point but she couldn't escape it anymore. She had to tell her the truth about why she's been distant.