Sworn Enemies

Chapter Two

Kara:

            For the first time in three months, Kara’s alarm went off at six in the morning. As much as she wanted to turn it off and roll over and go back to sleep, or at the very least hit the snooze button, she turned it off and pulled herself to a sitting position.

            “I hate mornings,” Kara grumbled to Shirelle who was already out of bed and rummaging through her closet.

            “You’ll feel better after a shower,” Shirelle said, pulling a top from her closet and holding it up in the air to survey it.

            “Doubtful,” Kara countered. “Where’s Irina?”

            Shirelle laughed. “You’re kidding, right? You know that girl. She was up for her run at the crack of dawn.”

            “I can’t believe she runs for fun,” Kara mumbled, and Shirelle laughed even harder.  

            Kara dragged herself out of bed and gathered everything she needed for a shower. There was only one bathroom on their floor, and it was wall to wall girls by the time she stepped into her shower. Standing under the cascade of warm water, she began to wake up a little, making her mind clear enough to contemplate her class schedule.

            Just like last year, she had eight classes; four in the morning, lunch, and then four in the afternoon. Besides the standard academic classes like geometry and English, she had a few music classes. It was going to be another tough year, but she didn’t mind. A tough year was just what she needed to keep her mind off of Ethan Moore who had this nasty habit of creeping into her thoughts and even her dreams when she least expected.

            After her shower, Kara returned to her room long enough to get dressed and grab her make up bag before heading back to the bathroom. Because it was getting later in the morning, she had to push her way through the masses to find free space at the mirror.

            “You ready yet?” Shirelle asked when Kara appeared in their room a second time.

            “I guess,” Kara said, grabbing her backpack.

            “At least we have most of the same classes together again.”

            “Thank God.”

            Their first period was geometry, and Kara didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. She hated any kind of math so getting it out of the way was good, but having to face math first thing in the morning didn’t thrill her. Things didn’t get much better when they entered the classroom. The only side by side seats left were in the front row.

            “Guess this will have to do,” Shirelle said.

            “Yeah, but let’s see if we can be a little earlier to our next class,” Kara suggested.

            “We probably would’ve been a little earlier for this one if you hadn’t spent so much time in the bathroom this morning.”

            “It takes time to look this good.”

            A few more students trickled in, and all but one of them avoided the front row. One of the last people in the door was a small girl with a dark blonde ponytail and light blue eyes.

            “Is it okay if I sit here?” she asked, though she was already falling into the chair beside Kara.

            “Sure,” Kara said.