Tevun-Krus #10 - TKX: Best of 2014

Just Average: Spunky Heroine

Just Average
A spunky heroine short by @stringcheeze.

She slouched in a booth at her favorite diner and sipped at a café americano. Resting her chin in a palm, she leaned on the elbow propped against the table and closed her eyes.

"You look like shit, Val," her friend Clare said as she slid into the opposite seat. She set down two plates and slid one across orange Formica tabletop. Valerie's eyes opened at the smell of fresh fried egg and bacon and she watched steam rise from the warmed croissant. Picking up the breakfast sandwich, she bit into it, blowing a breath around its molten cheese.

Valerie fanned at her mouth. "I feel like I haven't slept in a week," she said as she chewed. "Getting out of bed this morning was brutal."

Clare sipped at her own coffee and nibbled on the blueberry bagel slathered with cream cheese she chose. "Work getting you down? Didn't you say you were in the middle of a big project?"

Valerie wiped her mouth with a napkin, catching a dribble of cheese at the corner of her lips. "Finished that last week. It's been smooth sailing ever since."

"What about you and Robin?"

"We're fine," Valerie said and shrugged. "He left two days ago for that yearly work conference thingy so I have the apartment all to myself."

"Pregnant?"

Valerie sputtered a cough. "What?"

"Pregnant. Are you pregnant?" Clare smirked. "It would explain the tiredness."

"No, I'm not pregnant. The timing is off. Besides, I don't think pregnancy leaves you with bruises." Rolling up her shirt sleeve, Valerie extended her arm towards her friend. Her tan skin was mottled with layers of yellow-green beneath fresh purple and red welts. "These are all over the place."

Clare gaped at the bruises. "That bastard – I will cut off his balls.”

Valerie blinked in confusion. Once she realized what made Clare so mad, she was quick to come to her boyfriend's defense. "No, I told you – I don't know where these came from. Robin is not beating me! These appeared after he left for his conference."

Mollified, Clare sat back and continued to eat her bagel. "Any new exercise regimen?"

"No, same old kick boxing class."

"Bear wrestling?"

Valerie smirked. "Maybe. Feels like it."

Clare drummed her nails on the table. She looped a curl of blond hair through the fingers of her other hand, smoothing it over and under again and again, scrutinizing as played with the circle of hair.

"What?" Valerie asked before taking another bite of the sandwich.

"Maybe you're sleepwalking," Clare said as she nodded and wagged a finger. "My college roommate did that – I'd find her in the weirdest spots in the morning. One time I found her curled up on top of the dresser."

"I've never done that."

"Doesn't mean you can't start."

"I suppose."

Clare wiped her mouth and dropped the crumpled napkin on her empty plate. "You still have that R-Fit device you used to wear, right?"

"Yes, why?"

"Wear it. It might tell you where you go at night."

Clare had a point. The little device had a built-in GPS unit in addition to its fitness programs and biometrics tracking. If the user wasn't already compulsive about the number of steps taken in a day, or the average heart rate during a workout, they would be after wearing the device for a week. Despite how good she felt about her daily activities, the statistics always depressed Valerie.