As she stepped into the elevator of her home, Natalie breathed a sigh of relief and directed her index finger towards the button on the wall labelled with a small neon yellow 3. Another day at high school, just as much torture as any the one before, over. Another day closer to graduation.
Most people struggled to understand why she wanted to leave so badly, and, if she was honest...she was't really all that sure, either. On one hand, she was the youngest child in the family...none of her sisters were still at school, and she'd be the last to leave and start her own life and career, which was something some of them seemed to think was better. But there was that small part of her that never failed to remind her that, when this day came, she'd probably still not have the first idea about what she wanted to pursue as a career. In reality, it scared her.
But, nevertheless, now wasn't the time to be worrying about the future. The only thing that needed to be on her mind right now would be what she was planning to do tonight. She had to plan where she was going to go, who she'd invite, what she was going to wear...
As if sensing her thoughts, she heard the familiar ding of the elevator reaching her floor and hopped out as the doors opened, then crossed the hall to her bedroom. Once inside, she threw her bag down onto her bag and immediately made her way to the full length mirror on the opposite wall, taking a few moments to inspect herself and check she still looked okay. She'd considered changing out of her blue and white cheerleading uniform as she took a look at it in the mirror, but abandoned the idea and nonchalantly smoothed it down instead, knowing her boyfriend, who would probably be here soon enough, wouldn't really care if she was still dressed for school when he arrived. The same applied to her hair, tied into a tight blonde ponytail at the top of her head to be kept out of her eyes during cheerleading practice that afternoon. She had to admit...together, it made her look kind of cute.
With a small smile she flopped down onto her bed, pulling her mobile phone out of her pocket and texting a few friends while she waited for Ashton to arrive.
The door to Seth's apartment opened and he walked inside, holding a steaming cup of Starbucks coffee in one hand and his keys in the other, his laptop bag slung over his shoulder. His day had been slightly more stressful than normal; filled with dull and unimportant meetings which he'd already forgotten the subject matter included in the moment he walked out of the door. Coffee had been his lifesaver...without it, he'd have completely crashed and burned.
However, there was still a hint of happiness to his voice as he called back to another resident of the building to thank them for holding the staircase door open for him, a slight spring in his step as he made his way over to his desk. Today was the day Alisia, one of the writers he had chosen to take on in his publishing business, was due to send him some of her newest work. Somehow, even though her work was serious and sophicated, it always made him smile. She had real talent in this business...a way with words...and he'd sensed it straight away from the first time she'd brought any of her work into his office. Not to mention she was a lot of fun as a person in general, and she was kind-hearted. And her beauty was something out of this world...
He always looked forward to her sending him some new stuff. She never failed to suprise him.
Perhaps that was why he was so disappointed when he checked his email enthusiatically to find that no mail from her had been sent. No new message, and he'd checked the regular mail box, the spam, and even the trash mail just to make sure. She
always managed to keep up with deadlines...why hadn't he managed this time? Maybe it was just writer's block...he'd heard it sometimes got that bad where you just couldn't write anything at
all...
Lifting out his phone from one of the compartments in his laptop bag, he dialled her number and put the phone to his ear, his smile returning slightly as he heard the noise telling him she'd picked up.
"Hey there, my little Superstar...how are you? I just checked my mail, and I noticed you haven't sent anything new in to me today, so...I was just calling to see if you're alright..."