TEASER TWO
🎟️ TICKET TO A SUMMER RENDEZVOUS :: COMPLETE
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teaser two
March 13, 2020
As she ran up the street to the bus stop, Kallie inwardly berated herself for not leaving the lab a few minutes earlier. She had missed the intercampus shuttle enough times to know that cutting it this close was never a good idea, since the shuttle always left on time. The cardinal and gold-colored shuttle bus was waiting in place, slightly rumbling with its tail lights blinking brightly.
Even though she knew it was risky, Kallie glanced down at her phone for the time and her heart sank when she saw 8:00 P.M. flash across the top of the screen. It was only a matter of time before the shuttle drove off towards to the University Park Campus. And if she didn’t make it, she would have to wait another forty minutes for the next shuttle to arrive, which was the last thing Kallie wanted.
She reached the crosswalk within seconds, still jogging in place, as she anxiously mashed the pedestrian button as fast as she could. With every second that ticked by, Kallie grew more and more restless while keeping her eyes fixed on the intercampus shuttle. But for some inexplicable reason, dozens of cars continued driving through the intersection, preventing the walk signal from appearing. It usually wasn’t this busy at night and she silently bemoaned her terrible luck as her hand pressed the button even faster.
After what felt like an eternity, but was really only half a minute, the walk signal finally appeared and Kallie raced across the intersection, her feet flying over the asphalt. She was so close to the shuttle. Just a little bit more—
And when she was only a few yards away from the bus stop, the intercampus shuttle’s engines revved loudly and the vehicle pulled away from the curb.
Kallie felt her soul leave her body once the shuttle drove off, soon disappearing into the darkness as she slowed to a walk before completely stopping, body bent over with her hands on her knees while she panted heavily. Seconds later, once she caught her breath, Kallie straightened up and groaned out loud, not caring if anyone heard her, before beginning the trek back to the lab.
Once she was back inside the building, seated at one of the empty desks, she flipped open her laptop and popped in her earphones. She then started a pop music playlist before navigating to the tab containing a PDF file of the fantasy novel she was currently reading.
Completely immersed in the alternate universe she had mentally transported to, Kallie slightly jumped in her seat when a loud buzz suddenly filled the air and she was brought back to reality. Someone was calling her. Kallie pulled out her earphones before picking up her phone and answering the call.
“What’s up, loser?” she carelessly greeted while pressing the speakerphone option and then setting the device back down.
Her best friend’s voice filled the empty lab space as Seth asked, “You home yet?”
She immediately scowled, reminded of why she was still sitting in lab instead of riding the shuttle bus back to UPC, as she tartly answered, “I wish. I was in the animal room until six, taking inventory and setting up new breeding cages since none of our experimental mice have gotten pregnant this past month. And I had to mount a bunch of new brains afterwards, but I didn’t finish until seven forty-five so I ended up missing the shuttle.” Upon finishing her rant, Kallie exhaled loudly and tiredly rubbed her temples. “There’s not much time left until we have to submit our research paper, but since we’re still missing a huge chunk of data, I needed to finish mounting the brains today so that the slides can be screened on Monday.”
Seth let out a low whistle. “Yikes, sounds rough.”
“Tell me about it,” she groaned. “And I’m also starving. The SI leaders had a meeting at one-thirty earlier today, since we have an exam review to teach tomorrow afternoon, so I skipped lunch and I feel like dying right now.”
“Well, lucky for you, I made extra portions for dinner, so I’ll come over with food once you’re back.”
Surprise colored her tone as she asked, “You’re not partying tonight?”
“Nah, no good ones this weekend, so I’m free,” Seth explained with a light chuckle. “When’s the next shuttle?”
“Eight-forty,” Kallie replied as her eyes darted to the lower right-hand corner of her laptop screen to look at the time. She then yelped as she hastily stood up and slammed the device shut before stuffing her laptop into her backpack. “Sorry, gotta run!”
“No worries. Text me once you’re home,” Seth quickly said before the call was dropped.
Not daring to waste even a second, Kallie ran out
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