As I slipped into the lecture hall, the soft creak of the door seemed to echo through the room. Professor Collins, notorious for his own tardiness, was already there, scribbling on the board. I made my way to an empty seat at the back, trying to be as quiet and sneaky as possible.
The lecture hall was packed, with nearly a hundred students scribbling notes or staring blankly at the board. Professor Collins' voice droned on, discussing topics I'd already studied, or topics I dreamt about studying. I spotted a few familiar faces, but most were strangers.
As the lecture drew to a close, Professor Collins requested my attention. I wondered what I had done wrong this time. Was it my tardiness? Or something more? I did not think he noticed that I was late, or at least I hoped he did not.
Once lecture ended, I made my way to him.
"Any reasonable excuse as to why you were late, Miss Betty?" he asked, his voice low and even.
I tried to come up with a plausible excuse. "Had to take care of the old man, Professor Collins. You know, he's at that age where everything has to be done for him. You understand, don't you, Professor?"
The man stared me down for a moment before handing me a sheet of paper. It was my grade for a test. I got an A.
"Keep up the good work," he said with a nod.
I took that as a parting message and gave him a huge smile. I had another class in another building, so I hurried out of the lecture hall.
As I stepped outside, I stumbled upon a commotion. Two girls were fighting, their hair tangled as they pulled on the other's hair. I recognized them from one of my classes.
I turned to ask the guy standing next to me what was going on, swiping a note from his back pocket as I did so.
"Why do you suppose they're fighting?" I turned to ask the guy next to me as I swiped what felt like a wallet from his back pocket, he didn't respond and I nudged him. He looked at me confusingly and I asked again.
"A guy, I guess," he shrugged. "I'm not too sure."
I watched for a moment longer, then turned and walked away. As I walk, I calculated my loot. The guy's wallet had yielded a decent amount of cash, and I'd also swiped a ring with an unusual tiger engraving.
I get to the shop later that day and meet Wu behind the counter. I smile at him, holding up the pizza I got on the way home. He decides to lock up shop for the day while we go home to eat. The shop was just two houses away from the house and that made things easy because Wu was actually old and I didn't want him walking long distances and spraining his leg, but I did like that he was getting exercise everyday.
"Which poor unsuspecting soul did you steal from this time?" He said as we were walking home, glancing at the watch on my wrist.
"How can you only think of bad things about me all the time. I saw it on my way to school and it looked pretty so I bought with with the money I earned yesterday." I replied.
"Earned?" He retorted, eyeing me greatly.
I avoided his gaze and kept walking, I did not want the same nagging again. I was already a few feet away from him when he mumbled, "I just hope this constant stealing won't get you in trouble one day."
Um, sir, that sounded like you just jinxed me.
I ignored him though and walk home with him following behind me. I had already gotten into the living room when I realized Wu didn't buy groceries. And I did not want to survive on pizza for the rest of the day. It was around 5pm but still, I needed a good meal. I asked Wu about groceries and he said he had forgotten all about it and that I should get it the following day with my 'earned' money. I scoffed at his emphasis on the word 'earned'. I thought that joke was overused already.
Feeling a sense of frustration towards the not yet bought groceries, I took out my phone and decided to order them online instead. We sat on the sofa and ate our pizza while we chatted about our day until he slept off. I tucked him in a comfortable position and left for my room, got into a comfortable position on my bed and brought out the ring from my pocket. I studied it intensely once again, feeling a strange connection to it. The tiger engraving on it was so beautifully done and I was entranced by it, it was obviously made for a man's hand with the way it slid down my fingers. It had a beautiful gold color, it sucked me in and I suddenly found myself being mesmerized by it.
I was lost in thought about the ring when a knock came in, jolting me from my daydream and I ignored the repeated knocking, thinking it was bothersome neighbors but the knock persisted to the point where I could no longer ignore it.
"Relax, I'm coming." I finally yelled after seconds of persistent knocking. I did not want whoever it was to wake Wu up. I opened the door to find two heavily built guys in Hawaiian shirts and shorts. They looked goofy.
"Sorry, but we're not expecting anyone" I said slightly eyeing the men.
"Are you Beatrice Taylor?" One of them asked. I got suspicious. Two big men (that I could not fight off if they decided to jump me) suddenly showed up at my door and demanded for me. Why were two scary looking dudes looking for me? I could not think of anything I had done anything to warrant being looked for.
"No, I'm not." I said, trying to sound convincing and they looked at each other. "Well, if that would be all...", I said and tried to shut the door but one of them held the door open. "What do you think you're doing?"
"You sure you're not Beatrice Taylor? Because you look an awful lot like your mother."