Friday, April 3rd at 6:43PM

Time stopped the moment Evie teetered on the edge of the sidewalk, gasping as she stumbled backward and crushed the paper cup in her hand. The contents sloshed in its container, heating the tips of her fingers in addition to the rush of adrenaline shooting through her. The gust of air from the oncoming bus whipped her near-black hair around her face, mere inches away from disaster.

If she wasn’t feeling awake before, she certainly was now.

She clapped a hand to the cardigan draped over her heart. Her palm now wet and warm with coffee. Evie grimaced. “Shit.”

“I guess that’s an appropriate reaction.” A chuckle came from the girl standing next to her—a grungy twenty-something who stood a couple inches shorter than Evie with dyed, pitch-black hair streaked with electric blue. She pulled the coffee cup from Evie’s hand, wiping off the dribbles with her thumb and flicking it onto the pavement. “Look, if college is really that bad, then maybe you should just—I don’t know, drop out? Jumping in front of a bus seems a little overdramatic.”

Evie shot her a glare while she dug through her crossbody backpack. “Very funny, Serina. It definitely wasn’t because I’m running on four hours of sleep or anything.” She began swiping at her shirt with a moist towelette, trying to keep pace with her as they crossed the street on the signal change.

Serina smirked, tilting the cup to her lips when Evie wasn’t paying all that much attention and gagged. “Oh God, Evie. What the hell?”

“Hey!” She carefully pried it from her grip. “I didn’t think you’d drink it.”

“That’s disgusting. I think I’d rather be hit by that bus than drink that.”

“It’s black. I’m not looking for a sugar high.”

“No, but you’re clearly hoping it’ll put you out of your misery. Now I need something to get that taste out of my mouth.” She made a sound of disgust, rapidly shaking her head like a violent, involuntary reaction.

“I just need to get this project done, so I can take the weekend to relax. I think I looked like death warmed over last weekend after overhearing a couple remarks from my aunt. But honestly, what college student doesn’t look or feel like death?”

“Why don’t you just take a break now, and save the project for Sunday night like every other normal person?” Serina glanced over at her as she nursed the coffee, making her do a double take. “Would you stop drinking that sludge, and come with me to get a real drink?”

“I’m underaged,” Evie said with disbelief. “And I’m sure as hell not going to get caught with a fake ID.”

“Look at Miss Goody-Goody, not even willing to tack on a year.”

Evie rolled her eyes, and Serina let out a bubbly, raspy laugh.

“Come on, live a little! Enjoy life in one of the largest cities in the world!” She threw her arms wide to the glittering windows of the skyscrapers. A sea of people undulated around them like the bicyclists weaving past yellow cabs. “Stop sitting around your apartment and talking to your houseplants.”

“I have far too much to do for school to be bothered with balancing a decent social life.” Evie huffed out a laugh.

“Then maybe we should hook you up on a blind date to fix that.”

“How about no. I appreciate the offer, but that’s probably the last thing I need right now. What I need is someone who won’t text me all night and eliminate the little sleep I already cherish.”

“You know texting isn’t all a relationship is good for, right?”

“And we’re done talking,” Evie said with a hard, unamused smile. She stopped in front of the towering double doors to her apartment building and flipped her phone over, a glare bouncing off the screen in the evening sun. “It’s seven now, so I’m going to pull an all-nighter and have this damn thing done by four. You have a good night with your parties, and I pray you won’t be dead come morning.”

“Same to you,” Serina said with a grin mock tip of a hat. She jogged off, skipping across the street and turning back to wave just as the signal’s red hand popped up, counting down in time with each alarming chirp.

Evie pushed open one of the glass doors, her flats tapping against the glossy white herringbone tiles. Her keys jingled as she flipped through to the smallest one and jammed it into one of the silver boxes lined along the wall. The mailbox’s door swung open to a collection of junk mail, judging by the thin, crinkled magazine paper, along with ‘urgent’ and ‘limited time’ faux stamps printed on the envelopes.

She shuffled through the stack on her way to the elevator and shared a small smile and wave with the security guard camping in his corner booth. Her thumb mashed the button, and the doors slid open, welcoming her inside the wood-paneled brown box to tap her floor’s button with an elbow.

The lobby doors swung open again with two shadowy figures brightening past the tinted glass—a man and a woman. The woman’s dark ponytail swung over her shoulder as she jerked to turn toward the guard counter, her sneakers squeaking. The guy, on the other hand, stopped. His blue-gray eyes pinned on Evie with a curious glint, and his tousled, light brown hair shifted as he tilted his head. The corner of his mouth tugged down in a thoughtful frown before the elevator doors slid shut.

“Okay then…” she whispered to herself, tucking the mail under her arm with another jingle from her keys. 

The elevator opened again, and she strode down the worn, khaki carpeting and past each silver-plated number posted next to the doors. Every peephole might as well have been watching her, those haunting eyes lurking behind each one. She shivered and shook it off when she made it to her apartment, pushing the door shut behind her. The snap of the deadbolt and the scrape of the chain allowed her to finally release a breath.

Safety.

Evie set her coffee cup and mail down on the small square of kitchenette countertop before dropping her bag by the couch. She stretched and swallowed a yawn on her way across the studio to the bathroom, her leggings grazing the edge of her bed’s powder-blue comforter. A beaded friendship bracelet hung tacked above her gathering of plants, along with printed photos, notes, and cards under fairy lights—all memories of a simpler time upstate, filled with confetti and jars of fireflies from birthday parties and summer camping with old friends. Flicking the bathroom light switch, she winced at the harsh fluorescent and tugged off her cardigan to half-toss into the sink. 

The necklace chain flopped against her skin, its heavy, pocket watch pendant finally slipping free as she scrubbed at the coffee stain and grumbled. She tucked the watch back into place and sighed, deciding to let the cardigan soak for a few minutes. That was when she caught a glimpse of her reflection. Evie grimaced at the dark circles pooling under her eyes, making her olive hue look more sickly in the shabby lighting. Well, at least that probably explained the guy’s weird reaction in the lobby.

She scrubbed at the poor cardigan a bit more, drained the sink, and tossed it over the shower door when she’d had enough, praying the stain would come out the rest of the way in the wash over the weekend. Evie popped a hair-tie off her brush, pulled her hair back, and hummed on her way back to the kitchenette. Instinctively, she reached for the coffee cup, but detoured back to the mail, flipping through it again to file it into the trash piece-by-piece.

College-targeted businesses like restaurants, apps, cheap gyms, bars, and a tattoo parlor down the street boasted their own colorful flyers. Half the envelopes held ads for cable and internet. It all flitted into the bin and took a couple steps back to collapse on the futon. Her head lulled back, and she stared up at the small brown stains on the ceiling. Her lids drooped, and the second of rest slipped into minutes, carrying her away with the white noise of water kicking on and her upstairs neighbor’s TV trickling down to her unit.