Walker's Path

Chapter 10 Tough Morning

Someone was being really loud but I couldn't understand what they were saying. I buried my head under my pillow and hoped they would go away.

Then something moved on my bed. I jumped up and scooted away from whatever was in bed with me. When I fell off the edge, several girls screamed as I landed on them. I was officially up.

"What are you doing!" One yelled.

I did my best to roll off of her whoever she was. When I finally got a good look at my surroundings I realized that I was still at Joy's house. I had misjudged how close I was to the side of the bed and fell onto Gina and Lacy.

"Sorry," I squeaked.

Lacy punched my arm, hard. She was stronger than she looked. I only grazed Gina because she apparently slept curled up like a ball.

As I was rubbing my arm I got a look at the clock. It was six-fifteen.

Joy's mom walked into the room. "Are you girls all right?"

Something was wrong.

"We're fine. Wa—" Joy stopped herself and coughed. "Kennedi fell off the bed."

Lacy pushed my shoulder. "And landed on me."

"I didn't mean to!" I said.

Joy's mom put her hands on her hips. "It's time to get ready."

"Get ready for what?" I asked.

Joy's mom laughed. "Breakfast."

"Oh," I said and then it hit me. We didn't set an alarm so I could wake up early.

Shit, shit, shit! I went into panic mode and scrambled off the pull-out. I slipped but caught myself before I fell. I was having problems getting air so I ran over to the window, opened it, and stuck my head out.

The sound of my heartbeat in my ears was deafening. People were talking behind me but I couldn't quite make out what they were saying. After a minute or so I could tell the fresh air was helping because my mind was going crazy. What the hell am I going to do?

"Kennedi, are you okay?" Joy asked from behind me.

I knew I was feeling better when I noticed I was on the second floor hanging out of a window. I backed out of it and sat on the ground. This house is going to kill me.

My brain wasn't ready for interaction so I gave her a thumbs up.

Everyone was staring at me but as soon as they registered my hand signal they seemed to jump into motion.

Lacy and Gina fixed the sheets on the pull-out while Joy and Sam fixed the bed.

When I stood up to try and help Joy's mom led me over to the chair by the vanity and sat me down. "Can you breathe okay?"

I nodded.

She knelt down and put her hand on my leg. "You don't just have claustrophobia do you?"

Joy and the other girls stopped and watched.

"N-no," I said.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I looked down at my hands and shrugged.

She stood up. "Well if you want to talk about it, I'm here okay?"

I nodded.

With that, she walked to the door and looked at her watch. "We have forty minutes but if you need more time," She looked directly at me. "Then let me know okay?"