Chapter 1 –
Late starts and morning delays
01.06.04 – 01.06.04

There was a bed placed against a bare wall and it was centered there; across from the bed's wall were two floor-to-ceiling mirrors which reflected the light that was filtering in from the two windows which were placed squarely in the center of the two remaining walls. For all its uniformity, something was certainly different about the room; the accessories were rather funky. In a good way, of course, and livened up the otherwise choking boredom. And there were collections of various things everywhere; horse figurines... figurines in general, jewelry boxes, books. Masses upon masses of books. Under the pile of blankets that were lying mangled on the bed, a form shifted and a groan was emitted.

A hand snaked out to slam itself onto the top of an alarm clock which was beeping unbearably as the digits clicked; it now read 7:45.

“Bloody alarm clock,” the hand returned to its source, pulling the top portion of the comforter in around its owner as another groan ensued. “I hate early mornings after late nights.”

After a few more brief moments, the blankets burst away from the young woman who pulled herself together and forced herself to awaken. “I'll be late...” She slipped into a pair of slippers which sat beside her bed and reached behind the door to her bedroom on the way out, grabbing today's outfit off of the hook. The young woman was dressed in her usual sleeping apparel of short cloth shorts and a spaghetti strap tank; she pressed the ‘play’ button on her answering machine as she crossed the short breadth of her living room and entered the bathroom.

A few messages could be heard as the lady hung her clothes on another hook and began running the water for her shower, but one in particular made her pause and return to rewind it and hear the message again.

“Stephanie, darling, where are you? It's eleven o'clock at night and I had hoped you'd be able to have lunch with me tomorrow afternoon.” The young woman, obviously Stephanie, rolled her eyes and let the message play itself out before heading back into the bathroom to take her shower.

“Mother can wait.”

Stephanie made her appearance again after taking her shower and getting dressed; her clothes were simple, a pair of velour jogging sweats, in grey with a baby blue stripe, and her top was a solid-colored baby blue v-neck tee. She sat down on the couch and quickly punched in a number as she slipped into her tennis shoes. “Hey, Rian. Put Mom on, m'kay?”

There was a brief pause after a younger male voice agreed before a woman picked up.

“Stephanie, darling,” drawled the responding feminine voice with a rather thick southern accent. “Where were you last night?”

“Hello to you too, Mother.”

“Well, honey, I'm sorry but frankly I've been disappointed with the fact that I never seem to be able to get in touch with you anymore and–”

“Lunch is fine, Mother.”

“Stephanie Elizabeth. Don't you take that tone with me–”

“Sorry, Mother, but I really have to be going now or I'll be late.”

“Stephanie... Stephanie Elizabeth!”

Stephanie wasn't listening anymore; she heard her mother squawking as she pulled the phone away from her ear, but she didn't acknowledge anything, instead just hanging up the phone. The young woman moved towards the door, pulling her hair up into a ponytail as she did so, and slipped into a sweater-jacket that matched her pants. "Keys..." her hand, a square-palmed, short-fingered thing, reached out and retrieved the desired item from the table by the front door. Almost there...

The phone rang.

“Bloody phone.” Stephanie visibly cringed at the sound but retraced her steps nonetheless and picked up the phone from where she'd left it on the couch, hitting talk. “Hello.”

“Stephanie Elizabeth! I know you hung up on me! I am still your mother, young lady, and–”

“I'm hanging up now, Mother.”

“You will listen to me, do you hear?”

“I'm gone.” She shut the phone off and slipped around the side of the island which separated her living room area from her kitchen area to replace the handset on the charger before heading out again. She stopped only long enough to check the time on the stove clock; it read 8:28.

“Crap. Now I really will be late.” Stephanie grabbed the small back pack, which served as her purse, and yanked the front door open; keys in hand, she stalked down the three flights of stairs that separated her from the ground floor and groaned. She was blocked in again.

“Hey, Donny! Think you can move your truck?” she shouted to the man in his thirties. He was balding and what little hair he had left was beginning to grey; okay. Late thirties, early fourties. He paused in the unloading process and glanced over his shoulder, giving an unsure shrug.

“Aw, come on, Donny! It's the third time this week!”

“Sorry, Hun,” Steph grimaced inwardly. She didn't care if he called everybody ‘hun’ or ‘doll’ or ‘sweetie-pie’ or anything like that, she didn't like it when her own mother called her ‘darling’. She had a name and she preferred people to use it; Stephanie hadn't met very many people other than her younger brother Rian whom she didn't mind calling her by pet names. But she didn't say anything; she was in a hurry. “I've gotta finish with this stuff... can't move right now.”

“Yeah! And I gotta get to work, Donny!” He shrugged again and she slammed her palms onto the hood of her cherry-red geo storm and then swore… again, briefly examining the hood to make sure that she hadn't inflicted any lasting marks. It may have been an older car, but it was the only one she had. Not to mention the fact that it had been her first car... and she'd paid for it completely out of her own pocket; no assistance from Mother was needed. Steph then returned her attention to the problem at hand. “You can't keep doing this, Donny! It ain't right, or fair, or anything like that for that matter!” She rolled her eyes as she began jogging towards the gates to the little housing complex she called home.

She was going to be late or she'd have to run.

Author's Notes: Well it may not be an outstanding beginning, necessarily, but it's a good one and it gives you some input into Steph. :) *Pats Stephanie on the head* Good lead character. Please review it if you read it. I'm planning on trying to update every Sunday or so keep your eyes open.