“Oh.” She turns around and finds the speaker and mutes it. Instant relief pours through me.
“Sorry. I have to work tonight, so I need to sleep for a little bit. I wanted to see if it was possible to keep the music turned down. It doesn’t need to be turned off, just not quite so loud.”
“Oh, sure. Of course.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. “Thank you. All right. I’ll see you.”
“See you,” Faith calls out over her shoulder from where she’s currently hanging up her clothes. I walk back over to my room. I close my bathroom door and make my way over to my bed. I try the whole process again. It takes less than thirty seconds. I squeeze my eyes shut when I hear the music start up again. It sounds just as loud as it did before, and I wonder what exactly they missed. I grab my headphones and put on quiet music, but it’s kind of pointless. I can literally feel the bass beat thrumming through my body. I finally give up and get out of bed and start getting dressed for work. I throw my hair up into a ponytail and don my ugly-as-all-get-out security outfit of black men's pants, an ugly gray polo, and a yellow reflective vest. It’s obvious the outfits weren’t designed for women, especially short women. Ihave to roll the pants up several times. I pack my bag for the night, eat a pack of peanut butter crackers, fill up my water bottle, and start making my way across campus. My shift runs from eight at night to six in the morning.
I make the walk across campus to the security shack where I’ll need to check in. “Hey, Dan.”
“Tessa,” he greets with a smile.
“Easy day?”
He nods. “Yes.”
“Good; that’s what we like to hear.” Dan has the shift right ahead of mine, and is almost always in the guard shack when I’m ready to clock in. He usually gives me a rundown of the day. “I think they’re moving you tonight.”
I finish clocking in and turn to him. “Yeah? Where to?”
“I’m not sure exactly; I just heard Bill say that they were moving a few people around. Yours was one of the names he said.”
“Thanks for the heads-up, Dan. I appreciate it.”
“Of course, Tessa.” I put my flashlight in my pocket. “Have a good night.”
“You too.”
I start towards my regular area. I've just made it there when my radio comes to life. “Tessa.” I instantly recognize Bill’s voice. He’s the head of the college division of security and my boss.
“Yes,” I respond a moment later.
“We’re making some changes tonight.” I’m glad Dan gave me a heads-up. “You will be taking the south end tonight. Meet up with Hayes; you’ll shadow him tonight. He's waiting for you at the soccer field.”
“Will do. Thanks.” I redirect to the soccer field across campus in the other direction. When I get to the field, I see Hayes.
“Hey, Tessa.”
“Hey.”
“We’ll be covering the Southern quadrant tonight. I’ll show you the ropes tonight, and then I think tomorrow you’re on your own.”
I nod. “Sounds good. Thank you.”
“Shall we get started?”
Hayes is a good teacher. He’s very detailed, and I appreciate it. Because it’s a new assignment for me, it helps the time to pass quickly. There’s not a lot of down time like there will be other nights. Tonight is all about showing me everything I need to know to be able to run this route on my own. By the time the sun starts to rise, I’m exhausted and ready for my bed. “We start the night and end the night with soccer,” Hayes says. “The soccer team works out here at six. Some of them will start showing up early.” I follow him inside the facility and do a check with him. When we finish, he steps back outside. “I usually wait for the first player to arrive, make sure they get in okay, and then leave. I do that so I don’t leave and then get called back a few minutes later.” I discreetly check my phone and breathe a sigh of relief when I see it’s almost 5:45. I'm almost done. “Thorne is usually the first to show up. He shows up every morning at 5:45 like clockwork.” He turns to me. “He shows up every day, even on days they don’t have practice; so, you can’t ever be late.”
I take in his words, completely unsurprised that Slater Thorne gets here early every single morning. I take his warning seriously. “Okay, I will.”
“And there he is.”
Hayes had warned me that Slater Thorne showed up every morning at 5:45 on the dot, but somehow it wasn’t computing. It is now. Slater Thorne strides towards the entrance to the weight room with his bag slung over his shoulder with that almost arrogant confidence he always possesses. He’s still several yards away when he stops suddenly and lifts his head. He locks eyes with me, and I can’t seem to move.
Chapter 3
Tessa
