“Listen here boy.” Ricky’s father’s voice rose as he spoke, but Ricky just stared right back at him. “I have had enough of your . I was being nice before for the sake of your mother, but this has to stop.” Ricky just crossed her arms and sat back with a defiant of her head. “Because of you, the therapist went to go see a therapist. Now if you know what’s good for you, remove that dress and put on some damn pants.” They both sat, staring at each other.

Her father was not a big or tall man. He was actually pretty small and thin, but the way he carried himself made him seem so much bigger in Ricky’s eyes. His mother was smaller than her father, and it didn’t help that Ricky was born prematurely. It is true that many babies are born before time, not many actually make it for the full nine months, but her father always seemed to believe that it is exactly where it stemmed from. Ricky sighed and stood. She flattened out the creases in her simple jean dress before making her way to leave.

“Where are you going?!” Her father yelled out. She merely rolled her eyes before looking back to answer him.

“I’m going to Changjo’s.” He stood angrily.

“I told you to stay away from that boy!”

“He kissed a boy once,” she sighed. “It’s your fault for giving a minor alcohol.” She quickly closed the door behind her before rushing out of the office floor and into the stairwell. She never liked elevators much. She would always get a rush in her stomach that made her feel uncomfortable, so whenever she could, she would take the stairs. She finally made it to the ground level, but a voice stopped her from leaving.

“Ricky!” She looked over to the secretary behind the front desk. She smiled and walked over to her. “How are you doing? Your dad didn’t give you a hard time, did he?” Ricky smiled as she unconsciously played with a strand of her now shoulder length hair. It wasn’t styled, just pulled back into a ponytail.

“Eh, same as usual. The entire, stop acting like a loo loo, but that’s about it.” She smiled to the secretary. She was nineteen and studying business management at a college nearby. Since she worked there and Ricky was present almost every day, they became friends. “Anyway, Juniel, how is your day? Anything fun happened?”

“Just an old man came in and tried to hit on me, but his wife came in after.” Ricky made a look of disgust and Juniel couldn’t help but to smile at her face. “Anyway,” she started hesitantly. She looked away hesitantly before continuing. “I was wondering if-”

Beep. Beep.

“Hold on Juniel, let me get that.” Ricky fished out her phone from her pocket “Hello?...I just came out…yes…don’t worry…really?!...Okay, I’ll be there in like five minutes!...Fifteen minutes? Pfft. You know I don’t have time to be walking. I’ll see you in five.” She hung up her phone and looked at Juniel. “I got to go. Changjo just got the new Diablo game and I have to play it! See you later!” Ricky ran off leaving Juniel hanging and upset.

“I was this close,” she sighed.

Ricky ran down the street at full speed. Even though she has on a dress, she made sure that it would always be at her knees. She thought long skirts and dresses made her look old, and really short skirts made her feel uncomfortable. She almost never wore heels. She never liked going through pain just to be a few inches taller, so when she did where them, she would wear wedges, other than that, she always wore sneakers or flats.

She ran with no other objectives in mind, so it would come as of no surprise that she was about to run into the street right when the light turned red. Luckily for her, someone had held her back.

“Woah there missy!” Ricky was pulled back by her collar, a car speeding straight past her. She looked up to too a tall woman with black hair curled around her face. Even though she couldn’t see her face because the woman was wearing a mask, she still couldn’t help but to be captivated by her beauty. Her eyes shimmered in the light, and even though she couldn’t see the rest of her face, she knew she was beautiful. “You need to be careful!” The woman let go of her collar. Ricky stood straight and straightened her dress before bowing towards the woman in thanks

“You’re really pretty.” Ricky looked up to see another woman next to the one with black hair. Her hair was wavy and brown, but it was obvious that it was dyed because of the black roots. Her hair was down to her chest and she wore a white dress that barely reached her knees. She was taller than Ricky, but just a little shorter than the woman. She had big bright brown eyes, but other than that, she couldn’t see the rest of her face for she also wore a mask. “Isn’t she pretty mama?” The woman nodded with a smile. Ricky blushed and smiled.

“Thank you,” she said. The woman just waved her off.

“It’s nothing; just make sure you be careful. You know they traffic here is a mess.” Ricky nodded before walking forward once the light turned green. “Where were you speeding off to?” Ricky looked up and smiled.

“My friend got the new Diablo game, and I wanted to go play it.”

“What’s Diablo?” Ricky looked over to the girl with brown hair. She feigned offence before speaking.

“Well it is just about the best game to ever grace human existence.” She smiled as the girl’s eyes crinkled. in what she thinks, is a smile. “Your eyes are pretty.” The girl nodded in thanks, but didn’t say anything else.

“Well we should be going. We have a doctor’s appointment,” said the woman. Ricky smiled as she waved goodbye. They turned the corner into the old building of the local doctor. Ricky looked after them before heading towards Changjo. She decided to be careful this time, so she didn’t run. She held her gold necklace close.

“I guess I was taken care of today,” she said to herself.” She smiled as she walked the rest of the way. She checked to make sure there were no cars coming her way and made it to Changjo’s in ten minutes. She quickly reached into her pocket and fished out her key and made her way inside.

“I thought you said only five minutes,” said Changjo from the doorway. Ricky just smiled before sitting down on his couch.

“I thought you said this game was sold out?” Ricky questioned. Changjo shrugged before sitting beside her.

“A girl gave it to me,” Changjo answered.

“Ooh~ Girl? What girl?” Ricky teased. Changjo just rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know her name. She had long, dyed, wavy brown hair. She was the same height as me, and she had on a medical mask. I think she was sick.” Ricky tilted her head.

‘This can’t be the same girl. Right?’ She questioned herself. ‘No, she didn’t know what Diablo was.’

“Anyway. she saw me being mopey, so she gave me her copy. I was going to refuse, but she just shook her head and ran off. By the way, I think she can run faster than you, because damn she was fast.” Changjo then opened his laptop and inserted the disc. “I should turn off the tv,” he said. He went to get the remote, but stopped when a special headline appeared.

“Wait,” said Ricky. The television was covered in red, orange, and gold. She grabbed the remote from him and quickly turned up the volume. Both Changjo and she stared in horror as the images ran across the screen. Only the sound of the reporter filled the house.

“This just in. The building of the local doctor has just caught on fire. Firemen have made their way into the building, but as of yet, nobody has been found inside.”