Karina is too early.

In her defense, on time is actually late, and she doesn't really mind arriving at school when the majority of the students are still in their beds snoozing their alarms. 
 

Gripping the straps of her backpack, she walked comfortably along the covered path leading to her campus. It's still the middle of the first week of classes, so it meant no rushed and panicked sleep-deprived students muttering silent curses in their heads yet. 
 

Karina cherishes the bit of silence the first week gives, but then again, she prepares herself for the upcoming headache she's about to have. 
 

She could have listened to her parents, yes. But she never really wanted to be homeschooled anymore, and she thinks that diving into it headfirst is the way to move forward, plus, she's not really planning on staying inside ever just so she can shut down the noises. 
 

So here she is, the second year into high school, having survived the first year like surviving a climb at Mt. Everest,—she's being dramatic, yes, but it surely wasn't a walk in the park. 
 

The first few months were the hardest. There are bad days, and there are worse than bad days. 
 

Bad days would be Karina losing concentration over ramblings of someone she doesn't really know five seats away from her. Or the consistent disgusting thoughts from guys from anywhere near her that make the hair in the back of her head tingle (in a bad way).

But worse than bad days, God, Karina can't even fathom to explain.
 

She arrived way too early for her first class, so she heads to the library (as usual) and settles to the farthest table near the wall shelf (as usual). 
 

She indulged herself with few more chapters from Sidney Sheldon's Tell Me Your Dreams, turning pages wildly, eyes bulging and gasping for air when she found out that Ashley, Toni, and Alette are the same ing person. 
 

Startled with the first bell, she noted the page she's currently at and decided to take the book home. She walked to the front desk, offering her library card and ID, waiting patiently for the librarian to check out her book. 
 

That's when it happened. 
 

"Oh my God, what do I do, what do I do?"

Karina didn't really mind, it's not the first time she hears someone panicking, so she shrugs it off, still a bit curious who it's coming from since there are only a handful of people inside the library at the moment.

The voice sounded a bit far, so when she heard it again, she started to unconsciously search for it, wondering as to how it filters against everyone else's thoughts when it sounded like it's the farthest.

"–fu, ugh! 2A, uh, 2C.."

Now, this piqued Karina's interest more. The voice sounded like she's reading the room names, and mind her, Karina was just a few steps away from the library. 2A or 2C is a good few rooms away from her. 
 

She never really heard anyone this far before, the farthest she heard being her mom downstairs cursing whenever her toe gets stubbed in their kitchen divider. Anyone else would have to be in the same area with her, sometimes she can't even hear others in the same room as hers.

Checking the time, she still got ten minutes to be in her first class anyway, so she threaded carefully amongst the sea of grumpy, sleepy schoolmates she passes by.

Finding her usual seat, she waited patiently for her professor, smiling widely at her friend Giselle