Today Is My Past

Chapter 1

The bus pulled to a stop and passengers entered and exited. Lee ignored the ritual, she witnessed it several times a day, every day for years. A pretty woman with a satchel bookbag at her side glanced at her, then sat across the aisle. Lee ingnored her. The woman looked like she was about to say something to Lee, but then she noticed the headphones partially hidden in Lee's hair.

The bus stopped a few more times. More passengers got on and off the bus. Lee squinted her eyes as the sun set, irritated that the rays shined in her eyes. Lee barely noticed the pretty woman get off the bus at the stop before her own.

Lee got up at the next stop, the only person who used this stop at this time. This part of the city was poorer than others. There were fewer lights lining the streets. Lee navigated the sidewalk easily in the dark, avoiding obstacles she knew from memory. She walked up the steps into the apartment building, and made her way into her own apartment. She dug two keys out of her pocket - one was to unlock the apartment, one was for her room in the storage center. These were the only keys she had.

Lee unlocked her apartment, walked in, and turned on a light. She set her cd player and backpack on the table, then went into the next room. Her bedroom was not very fancy or decorative. It had plain white walls, with some posters on it and a few magazine pages torn out and pinned up. There was a bed in one corner, a dresser in another, and the remaining two walls each had a door - the one Lee just walked through, that led to the rest of the house, and one on the other wall that led to a bathroom.

A desk covered in stacks of books and magazines was on the wall of the door that Lee just walked through. Lee passed this desk and made her way to the dresser, where she emptied her pockets onto the top. Then Lee took off her pants and shirt and fell into her bed.

(scene change)

A younger version of Lee was sitting on a picnic table. Her butt was on the tabletop and her feet were on the seat. She was slouched over, her arms were crossed and resting on her knees. She did not look like she cared much for fashion. On any given day she would wear a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. Most of the time she wore band tee shirts, on some days she would be seen in a rugby shirt or a Hard Rock Cafe shirt. Today her sneakers were dirty. There was a storm the night before, and the ground was muddy. The girl did not bother going out of her way to keep her shoes clean.

Beside her sat another girl, about her age. It was obvious that she put more thought into what she wore than her friend. Her clothes were trendy without being conformist. Her friend admired that.

"Lee, what's wrong?" asked the trendy girl. "You have been sulking around for a month. I can't be your friend if you don't talk to me."

"I really don't feel like telling you." Lee said. The trendy girl sighed, Lee was always impossible to deal with.

"You promised me and Laura that you would tell us what's going on."

"Eh." Lee stared at the ground, sticking with her decision.

"Lee!" Lee looked up. "Why do you have to be like this?"

Lee glared at her friend. "I'm gay." Lee told her. "Are you happy now, Danny?"

Danielle's eyes widened. "I... I..." she stumbled over her words. "Well... I have to go." Danielle got up from the table and backed away. "I forgot... my mom needs me..." Danielle ran off.

(scene change)

Lee woke up, her sheets tangled around her legs. She sat up too quickly, lost her balance, and fell off the bed. The fall cause the dream to escape her memory.

"Shit," Lee whispered. When she fell off the bed, she landed on her wrist, and it bent backward more than it was meant to be able to. Lee eased herself all the way onto the ground, then tried to pull the sheets away from her legs and arms. The task proved harder than it looked. She ended up ripping the sheets away from her bed, and then kicking her feet until they were loose.

Lee sighed. She had a paper due the next week for her psychology class that she was only half done with. Today she would spend more time getting to know the college library.

Lee showered, got dressed, and grabbed a candy bar to eat for breakfast before leaving for the library. She grabbed her bag and winced, her wrist still hurt from her fall off the bed this morning. She must have had some dream, to manage falling off the bed and almost breaking her wrist. She stuck her cd player into the pocket of her cargo pants, then put the headphones around her neck. After checking that she had everything she would need, she headed out to her bus stop.

(scene change)

"Hey, Miss Jacobs." Lee stopped by the librarian's desk in the library before continuing work on her paper.

"Oh, Lee," the lady's fond smile was the kind seen on the faces of mothers looking at children. "Call me Margaret, for the last time."

"Sure thing, Miss Jacobs." Lee grinned. Margaret shook her head at Lee as Lee walked off to her usual table.

Lee always preferred sitting a the table near the back of the library, away from the open space at the front used to awe new visitors. This table was nearer to the section of books Lee browsed most of the time, having to do with psychology and sociology, her majors.

Today her table was already occupied. A woman sat at the table, with her bag and some books spread out in front of her. She looked familiar. Lee thought for a second, then remembered it was the pretty woman she saw on the bus the day before.

The woman looked up. Lee realized that she had been standing there for a while, not really doing anything.

"Er..." Lee fumbled. "Hi." The woman was still looking at her. Lee looked down at her clothes to make sure she had not accidentally worn yesterday's clothes. Nope. What, then? The woman was still looking at her. "I'll be over there, then." Lee hurried to another table not too far off.

About an hour later, Lee was in search of a book she had heard would have a decent overview of gender personality traits, but she could not find it.

"Hey, Miss Jacobs." Lee called, walking over to her desk. "I can't find this book, and the computer says it's in..." Miss Jacobs ignored her. "Miss Jacobs?" Still no answer. "Alright, Margaret." Miss Jacobs looked up. "Can you help me find this book?" Lee handed her a piece of paper.

"Hmm..." Miss Jacobs thought for a bit. "I believe that transfer student asked for it earlier this morning. I meant to ask you if you could show her around campus and such, she seemed pretty lost."

Lee thought about it. "Sure. I really don't feel like doing this paper all day. What's her name?"

"Danielle. She moved here from... oh, I don't remember. But she asked about getting a guide. She's very pretty." Margaret's eyes twinkled.

"Ah, Margaret, you know me too well." Lee smiled. "What's her last name?"

"Last name?"

"Well, I can't go looking for her with just a first name, can I?"

"Oh, you're right. Her last name is Trenton, I believe she said. Danielle Trenton. Lee, is something wrong?"

Lee had frozen. "Danielle Trenton?"

"Yes. Are you sure you're okay? I have some tylenol, if you need it. Let me get it for you..." Margaret started to dig around under the top of her desk.

"Yeah, I'm good..." Lee started to stare off into space.

"Anyway, you don't need to go looking for her. She's in the library. I think she went into your section of books. Do you need me to get her?"

"No, Margaret, I'll introduce myself. Thanks." Margaret went off to help another student, and Lee wandered back to her own table.

Danielle Trenton. It had been a long while since Lee had heard that name. A lot of memories were attached to it. She got up and walked over to her usual table, where the pretty woman sat.

"Are you Danielle Trenton?" Lee asked.