Her alarm clock went off at 6:30 and she sat up immediately to turn it off. She sat on the edge of the bed with her feet planted firmly on the floor. Soon after she was up and walking across the room. The light of the lamp temporarily blinded her. Out of the dresser, she pulled out clothes for her morning run. Seven days a week she ran. When she was younger, she went running with her friend and her friend�s father. Her mother said her Nigerian roots were why she was so good at running. Whatever the reason she was good at it and she enjoyed it.
Exercise was important to her life. Not only did it make her feel good but also it made her look good. And looking good was a key to success in life. She always dressed to impress when she went for a run; from cute tank tops to fashionable shorts; and of course, her shoes were top of the line. When she exercised was the only time she wore tennis shoes. She didn�t dare wear tennis shoes any other time of the day; it just wasn�t her style. She waved at Nan who was running in the opposite direction. Nan was the quintessential middle-aged woman trying to hang on to her youth. Of course, there was nothing wrong with being middle-aged, she coming up on that herself. She was sensitive to being older; she was a 26-year-old college student. It was just that Nan was 37 and still wearing belly baring tops and denim skirts just below her butt cheeks. The worse part was that she was a mother of two and refused to give the appearance of being a mother. She did give Nan credit, she had a wonderful body but still, for her, there was just something about age appropriate clothes.
She carried on with her run, staring at the lake and houses as the sweat ran down her body. Sweating was one of the best feelings in the world; she couldn�t explain it. It was if every drop of sweat meant she was doing something right. It was immediate fulfillment.
When she returned she went and knocked on Monica�s door. She always woke Monica up after she returned from her run,
�Monica, wake up!� She knocked again and when she didn�t hear anything she opened the door. Nestled deep in the blanket, Monica looked quite peaceful. The past month had been a major improvement for her friend. After all the trauma and pain she had been through, she finally looked like she wanted to live life again.
�Monica, its 7:30, time to get up.� Monica shuffled around, groaned and finally opened her eyes,
�Ugh, ok. I�m up. I�m up.� She knew Monica wasn�t trying to convince her, she was trying to convince herself.
She headed off to take a shower. She turned on the water and adjusted the temperature just right. She had a lot of changes she wanted to make to the house and the first one, if she could ever get enough money together, would be the master bathroom. It was a regular tub and shower. She wanted a large round tub with enough space for two with a separate walk-in shower with a glass door. But every time she complained about the house, which was a beautiful house worth a nice sum, she reminded herself it was hers and it was free. That always ended her complaining.
She walked into the kitchen and prepared her usual morning meal, a bowl of cereal.
�How do you eat that? At least eat some real cereal.�
�Your idea of real cereal is Fruity Pebbles or something else full of sugar.� Monica walked over and picked up the box,
�Kashi Go Lean.� She said it like it was some dreadful disease or something.
�Have you tired it before?� Of course she hadn�t, �Well, don�t knock it. I bet you�d like it.�
Monica smiled at her and shook her head, �Today is payday. Sunday you and I are going shopping so you can help pick out some new clothes. Every day you look like something out of a magazine or at least a Gap commercial.�
She smiled as she looked down at her pink polo shirt, denim skirt and pink and baby blue sandals. Of course, her bag of the day was pink to match her ensemble. And she switched the contents of her black purse into her soft pink purse.
�Ok, you know I like to shop for a bargain. We�ll make a day of it. Breakfast and then shopping.�
They sat at the table and made preliminary plans for Sunday while she ate her cereal and Monica ate some disgusting looking breakfast burrito and drank a cup of coffee.
**
This was the one class where she wasn�t friends with anyone in her class. She knew three of the girls from Statistics class the four of them had but they weren�t friendly to one another. A smile here and there but that was it. Two of the girls, the ones who were joined at the hip, seemed to be a bit flaky and it surprised her when they arrived in the Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination course. She figured Intro to Jazz Dance was more their speed.
She sat out in the commons, ate grapes, and sipped on a bottle of water waiting for her next class to begin..
�Hi Leeyah.� She looked up from behind her sunglasses and smiled,
�Hi Rachel.� Rachel was in her fourth class of the semester.
�We�re going to get together and study this weekend. Do you want to join?� She really wasn�t that good at studying in groups. She had her own ways of going about school that worked for her.
�I have plans this weekend. I work all day Saturday and I just made plans for Sunday afternoon this morning.� At least this time when she declined the offer to study with a group of students she wasn�t lying.
�Ok, I�ll see you later.� She walked off and joined her friends. Rachel was a nice enough girl but she had a hard time hanging out with 20 year olds. She liked to have fun as much as the next person, but generally speaking, 26-year-old fun was a bit different from 20-year-old fun.
004 | No Ordinary Girl