Just Another Pretty Face in the Crowd

Chapter Three – Shock

The next morning was pretty much the same as the morning before and the morning before that. Every morning consisted of me slamming my fist into the snooze button of my abused alarm clock, crawling back into my comfy and warm bed, only to be disturbed by my cell phone’s alarm.

I struggled to get out of bed after my cell phone demanded that I get up. I cursed softly, damning that there was such a time as 6 AM.

Caesar rolled over to his side, trying to ignore my alarm clocks. He grunted and groaned as if the movement was too much effort for him.

“Oh, shut up,” I muttered at him as I slowly rolled out of bed. My joints cracked as I stretched to wake myself up.

I walked down the hallway and went into the bathroom to start my daily routine; shower, get dressed, get ready. That was my daily routine ever since I was in middle school. Nothing really changed except during tenth grade, when I thought if I looked prettier boys would notice me more. That never panned out so I went back to my old routine.

After my shower, I changed into one of my many band t-shirts (today’s just happened to Avenged Sevenfold), my favorite pair of faded jeans, and of course my worn pair converses. Once again, the towel that was supposed to be drying my hair toppled over to the side, I pulled it off. I brushed my tangled hair. Thanks to my conditioner, the brush ran through it with ease. God only knows, how disastrous my hair would be without it.

“Caesar, it’s time for your walk!” I shouted. I stood in the living room waiting for Caesar. He walked out of my room, passing me without a notice or care, and sat down next to the apartment door.

I hooked his leash on his collar and we made our way to the stairwell. I don’t know how the hell people could ride an elevator. It was too cramped! And that cable could snap at any moment!. Stupid elevators.

We walked into the apartment building lobby and were once again greeted by the receptionist. She was still looking at Caesar like he was the evilest creature in the world. He truly wasn’t. He was just part of a misunderstood breed.

“Good morning, miss,” the door man said smiling.

“G’morning,” I smiled back, hoping that my simple ‘G’morning’ made his day just as his made mine.

Caesar pulled gently on my leash and we walked across the street to the park. He gently led the way down the paved pathway. I didn’t have a problem with him leading the way. Almost every dog demands to be in front but I figure as long as he doesn’t pull my arm out of my socket, it'd be fine.

A few joggers ran past by us, their iPod cords swinging to the rhythm of their jogs. As usual, I didn’t really pay attention to any of them, just like they didn’t pay attention to me as I passed by with my dog.

I really wasn’t expecting anyone to call my name. When they did, I was slightly confused. I looked up in front of me to a familiar, dark haired jogger that was dressed in track pants and a light Adidas sweater.

“Dru, right?” Sidney asked, pointing at me in a questioning manner.

‘Well, there’s a shock!’ I thought before replying, “Yea.” I smiled a little and stopped, causing Caesar to jolt to a halt as while. He looked over his shoulder to see what the hold up was. When he saw Sidney, he turned around defensively, looking at him. Caesar always liked women more than men. He always got defensive around guys.

“How are you?” Sidney asked, one of his ear plugs were popped out of his ear and was swinging back and forth as he walked over to me.

“As good as I can be in the morning,” I replied with a smirk forming on my lips.

“Not a morning person, eh?” he commented.

“Yea, pretty much.” I replied, holding in the small squeal. 'He did the Canadian thing!'

Sidney glanced down at Caesar as if he just noticing the defensive pit was there. “Is that your dog?”

“Yea,” I said, smiling. “His name is Caesar.” I knelt down and hugged the canine's neck in an affectionate way.

Sidney knelt down next to me. He cautiously held out a hand for Caesar to sniff. Satisfied that the man wasn't going to hurt him he allowed Sidney to pet his head.

“He seems nice,” Sidney spoke out loud, more to himself than to me.

“That’s because he is nice,” I replied anyway, in a defensive tone.

I could see Caesar tense a little as Sidney petted him. He wasn’t used to random people just petting him or giving him any sort of attention. Before long, Caesar was sitting there with a dog smile on his face and his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

“Wow, he’s really taking a liking to you!” I commented as I stood up with a smile on my face.

Sidney looked up at me, “He does?”

“Yes,” I said reassuringly.

Sidney stood up shortly after. I suddenly felt my shortness as he started to tower over me. Sidney must have noticed my uneasiness now because he was smirking slightly as he looked down at me. “ I never got the chance to ask if you liked the game last night.”

“I actually loved it." I answered. "It’s been a while since I was at a hockey game. The last one was when my brother started playing for the Bears two seasons ago."

He smiled, “I’m glad you could make it then.”

I smiled back at him, “I am too. It turned out to be an excellent game.”

After that we were sent into a few moments of awkward silence. “Well, I guess I’ll let you go back to your walk,” Sidney finally broke the silence with a slight smile playing on his lips.

“Yea,” was all I could reply.

“I’ll see you around,” he said. I could hear that slight hopefulness lined his statement.

“Hopefully,” I said. And that was it. He turned and started jogging while I continued on my merry way with Caesar. It was only then that I noticed that my heart was pounding in my chest.

“Stupid cute guy,” I muttered to myself.

Caesar did his business and we headed back to my apartment, both of thankful to get out of the cold. The doorman opened the door and we were surrounded by the nice warmth of the building. He tipped his hat at me as we walked in.

Caesar’s tongue still hung from the side as he took one step at a time with each of his front paws. I jogged steadily up the stairs, wanting to get the maximum amount of exercise I could before going into my apartment to give Caesar his food and eat my own breakfast.

We finally reached my door. I unlocked it, unleashing Caesar, who jogged happily over to his food dish. He was a lot more cheerful now that someone besides me gave him attention. I walked in and stripped off my winter stuff. “Just wait, boy,” I said to my dog, who was sitting beside his bowl as if screaming ‘Hurry up!’

I gave Caesar his half of scoop and put in his required vitamins. He dug in and finished his food before I even had a chance to get my own breakfast out of the cabinet.

I sat down with a bowl and spoon. The smell of Reese’s Puff filled my nose as I poured it into the bowl, then the skim milk. I ate then first two spoonfuls of cereal in silence, having it slowly drive me insane as Caesar laid beside my feet, hoping that I would drop at least a little bit of cereal.

“Goddamn it,” I muttered. I went into the living room, where the remote to the TV was sitting innocently on the coffee table. I clicked on the news and went back to the kitchen listening to the false, cheerful voices of the weatherman, traffic woman, and sports reporter.

I ate and drank the rest of the cereal and milk, content with the fact that I finally had something in my stomach. I didn’t even realize I was hungry when I was out on my walk. It didn't surprise me because I didn’t even notice my heart pounding when I was talking to Sidney.

I didn’t really think much of it. Sure, I liked the guy in a celebrity crush kind of way. I highly doubt he even took a real interest in me. He probably had puck bunnies over at his place every night and I am determined not to become one of them.

I grabbed my messenger bag that had all my books and notes for school. I slung it around my shoulder. Caesar lazily looked at me as I put on my coat, gloves, and knit hat.

“See you, boy. I’ll be back,” I said, before walking out and locking the door.

I walked down the stairs again and into the city air of Pittsburgh.

“Have a nice day, miss,” the doorman said, nodding his hat at me again.

I smiled at him, “You too.” I walked down the sidewalk, heading toward the University of Pittsburgh. I was not only the school's softball catcher but also studied there to become an elementary school teacher. I blended in perfectly really, since every girl demanded on having blonde hair and light eyes. Unlike them, though, I was naturally blonde and green eyed.

I pulled out my iPod and plugged my ears. I turned it on and Yellowcard’s Gifts and Curses filled my head, blocking out most outside sounds. I walked the five blocks to the university and towards the lecture hall where my first class, Calculus, was held.

“Hey, Dru!” someone practically shouted over my music. I glanced over my shoulder to see my best guy friend, Anthony.

“Hey, Tony,” I replied. I pulled out my ear plug as he fell in step with me, his backpack hanging off one shoulder. “What’s up?”

“The sky,” he answered, stupidly. I rolled my eyes at his comment. “What are you up to tonight?” he asked.

“I don’t know, why?” I really couldn’t do anything with anyone because I was underage. I could enter bars and clubs, but I couldn’t drink like everyone else because I was only twenty, still had over six months till I was twenty-one.

“Do you wanna go to this bar that I found in downtown Pittsburgh?” Tony asked with a hopeful look on his face.

I looked over at him, “I’ll think about it.”

“Please Dru!” he pleaded.

“I don’t know, Tony. I mean I won’t be able to drink. I’ll feel awkward,” I answered with the first excuse that popped into my head.

“No you won’t! If it helps, I’ll drink only a couple beers,” Tony said, trying to make a compromise with me.

I sighed and looked at him out of the corner of my eye, “I’ll think about it, Tony.”

“Fine,” Tony said in defeat, knowing that I wasn’t gonna budge on my decision. “Just text me tonight and let me know, okay?”

“We’ll see,” was all I said back to him as we walked into the hall. I took my normal seat in the middle row of the left side of the room. Tony sat down next to me.

“Did you do the homework?” he asked, looking at me curiously. He knew that even if I didn’t do the homework that I would still ace the class because I was that good with numbers and equations. Even though I didn’t have the passion for it, my parents secretly wished that I became an accountant instead of an elementary teacher.

“Half way,” I said, pulling out my book. Papers were jammed in behind the front cover, it was a wonder how I was even organized enough for college.

“Loser,” he said.

“Let me guess, you didn’t even do it because you were too busy playing Black Ops again,” I said, raising my eyebrow at him.

“What? Kibbles-N-Bits was on again!” he said in his defense which wasn’t really the best one I heard.

“And I'm the loser?” I questioned with no amusement. “I don’t know how you can even pass this class or even college when all you do is play that damn game all the time,” I scolded, reminding myself of Hermione Granger.

“Because you always give me your notes,” he said with a smirk.

I furrowed my brow and gave him a look even though I knew he was right. He knew that he could always get notes or answers from me if he asked. I mean what are best friends for? 'Invitations to bars and answers to the mid-term test, obviously.'

“See! You can’t even deny it!” His smirk got bigger, making his already big ego bigger than was before.

“Shut up,” I muttered and then focused on the front of the classroom, where Mr. Hampfield stood waiting for the clock to strike 8:00.

Tony smirked even more, “Told you.” He pulled out his own math book from his backpack. His math book was the complete opposite of mine. You could tell that he didn’t even put any effort into his work. There were no olden papers peaking out over the edge of his book, like there was with mine. I just couldn’t let him fail, that’s why I gave him my homework to copy. The good thing about math is that you are able to copy homework.