Excellence[ON HOLD]

Prologue 

The movements were supposed to be relaxing, but Riley could do anything but. It was a flowing dance system where you go down on your heels, onto your toes, and back down. The arms would fan out and would lift as if a boat in water. Riley's feet kept cramping and her arms seemed too heavy for the movements. At least she was alone and not at the head of her group like usual. Today Riley knew that when she got home, her mother would be so unhappy that the house seemed to lose all of its warmth. Riley's father had been deployed somewhere confidential to even the family of the soldier just yesterday. Riley was miserable, and her mother wasn't helping none moping around the house.

Riley's toes rolled under again and she stuttered out a curse as she flattened her feet before she broke anything. She slapped her hands onto her thighs and wiped the sweat onto her jeans. Riley was in the storage room of her work at a great magazine department. It was her break right now and she had escaped the pencil-pushing for just enough few minutes to practice her dance. Dancing was Riley's father's idea and she wanted to stay with it so when he got home she could show him what she learned. In a way, she was learning something from him.

Riley lifted her arms as she balanced on her toes perfectly. Her hand hit a box in the slightest bit and, with her luck, it toppled to the floor. The insides came out, which consisted of paint bottles, cameras, and photos from the shoot just taken. The paints spilled and the cameras shattered, ruining the photos underneath. Riley kicked the box in anger and yelled out. Instead of cleaning up, she opened the door and stomped off. Her shoes were in her hands when she walked by her boss' door. 

"Riley, please stay for a few extra hours so you can answer the call I am supposed to get?"

The words were simple but the meaning was so tough for Riley to take at the moment that she actually kicked the wall, "Of course, Mrs. Matts."

Riley stomped to her desk and dropped herself into the desk chair. It rolled sideways and her knees slammed hard into the wooden drawer someone had left open in her desk. Riley groaned and shut the door harshly, making her cubicle neighbor glance at her in fear. The computer was shut off and it took almost a half hour for it to finally boot up. When it did, Riley had to wait another several minutes for it to load her emails. 

"This Internet is shit," Riley muttered and watched as her cubicle buddy ran off with their things. Lucky bastard.

The phone began to ring, like it did constantly, and Riley lunged for it before she had the idea to run off like her buddy back there. She answered the phone and took the message for Mrs. Matts about some hair-removal. The details that Riley was forced to ask were too personal and Riley wished she had wrapped the phone cord around her throat.

After an hour of waiting for the so-called phonecall for Mrs. Matts, Riley started to really have to go pee. But she didn't want to get up and then miss the 'important' call. Riley was debating whether she should just sprint to the bathroom and wash her hands in the sink in the kitchen, which was across from her desk, instead of the bathroom that was halfway across the building.

Riley jumped off her seat and ran as fast as she could down the empty path between cubicles. She burst through the door, but it didn't budge, and Riley slammed hard into the door.

"Crap on a cob!" Riley said and fell backward, landing hard on her bottom. The door swung open and on the other side of the threshold was a delivery boy. He smirked at Riley before passing her like she was just a rug on the floor and headed to Mrs. Matts' office. 

Riley shoved herself up to her feet and ran to the bathroom and then went back to her desk. Riley kept repeating the words: 'I'm all right', in her head just to make sure she didn't fall apart and break some necks. When she got back to her desk, her phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Riley, April Fool's!"

Riley looked into Mrs. Matts office with a sour look hidden behind a confused frown. Mrs. Matts was laughing hysterically while Riley's head started to pound from hitting the door and the stress she was under.