12 MINUTES IN HELL

Chapter One

"Maya hurry up or we will be late!!" Kathy shouted from down the stairs.

"Chill girl, I'm almost done." I shouted, back at her.

"That's what you said about 10 minutes ago." Annie added, standing at the door.

I glared at her.

"Girl, don't hurry me please, I need to look good for them boys." I smirked.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Girl, you don't need to do too much. The boys already drool when they see you."

"I know. That's why I have to give them something to stare at." I grinned.

"Maya!! I'm giving you 2 minutes else I'm leaving you behind " Kathy called her voice already annoyed.

"Sorry girl, I'm done." I called out fixing my shirt.

I'm putting on a black short mid- length pleated skirt with a white long sleeve collared shirt, and a blue sweater over it. And I paired it with my black knee length boots. I picked up my black Louis Vuitton bag and I'm ready to go.

I decided to wear my brown curly hair down today.

I applied eyeliner on my eyes to make my hazel eyes pop.

I hurriedly applied lipgloss on my lips cause Annie is shooting lazers at me with her eyes.

"I can feel your stare girl, stop staring. I'm done already" I complained.

She scoffed, rolling her eyes.

I took one last glance at the mirror, bitting my lips in satisfaction.

I linked my hands with Annie's shutting the door behind me.

We made our way down the old staircase, the stairs creaked loudly with every step I took like they were announcing my delay.

I looked up and saw Kathy standing at the bottom of stairs, arms crossed, glaring at me with obvious irritation.

I attacked her with a hug, squeezing her tightly.

"I'm sorry my love." I apologized, pouting cutely.

"I don't need your apology, I want changed behavior." She glared.

"Changed behavior, yeah whatever." I said, playfully.

"Maya I'll be late today. Don't wait up for me. Make sure you lock the doors properly." Aunt Lily advised.

"Okay. Have a nice day at work today." I said, giving her a peck on both cheeks.

"You too my love. Make sure you behave yourself properly at school today." She warned, knowingly.

I smirked mischievously.

She rolled her eyes at me.

"You two look out for Maya. Make sure she behaves and attend all her lecturers." She said to Kathy and Annie.

"We will try to." Annie responded.

We all made our way to the driveway and bid goodbye to Aunt Lily as she drove off.

I linked my hands with my girls as we made our way to Kathy's car.

"I'm calling shotgun." I said, holding the door of the passenger seat.

Annie was about to argue with me, I cut her off immediately. "Girl, don't say anything. You rode shotgun yesterday when we went shopping. So today It's my turn." I pointed out.

"Fine, whatever." She muttered.

"Good." I grinned in Victory as I got into the passenger seat.

"Yayy... I'm the passenger princess today." I said excitedly.

Kathy rolled her eyes at me in amusement as she drove off.

Autumn is here and 'm excited about it. I've always loved Fall season because it reminds me of my mom. Fall was her favorite season and it has become mine too.

When I was a child, I would go on long walks with my mom, playing with the fallen leaves on the floor. Chasing the birds, singing and dancing happily.

I smiled at the nostalgic memory.

I rolled the window of the car, cool autumn breeze blow across my hair, faint music playing from the car speakers.

I close my eyes humming gentle, everything feels so serene, so quiet.... until this pig called Annie decided to open her big mouth.

"Maya."

"Maya."

"What?!" I snapped clearly annoyed.

"Are you in one of those your mood?" She asked.

"I was enjoying the serenity of the environment till you decided to open your big mouth and disturbed me." I complained.

"Oh Please, who cares? I know... I don't. or do you care?" She asked turning to Kathy.

"No, no, no. Don't involve me please. I'm not interested in joining in on the argument." Kathy replied.

"What do you want Annie?" I asked tiredly.

"Well... I have a hot tea to spill." She grinned excitedly.

"Alright go on, spill it." I said, interested in what she has to say.

I love me, some good morning gossip.

"Okay so I bumped into Susan yesterday evening and she told me that Dave was arrested for sexually assaulting a minor." She whispered in hushed breath.

I turned so sharply I felt my neck protest, like it couldn't keep up with the shock.

Beside me Kathy slammed the brakes a little too hard, eyes darting between the road and me. "Wait- what?"

My mouth shot open in shook still surprised by what she just said.

"I knew it!! That boy was always acting creepy. Everytime he stared at me I could feel my skin crawling in disgust. But I can't imagine that he would go that far. A minor???? I hope he rots in jail for the rest of his pathetic life." I said angrily.

"How's the girl? I hope she's doing okay? Do we know her?" Kathy asked in concern.

Kathy is the mother of the group. She's very empathetic.

She loves loudly and feels strongly.

Annie is the mean sassy quiet girl with a very nasty temper and she's the one who gets the hottest gist.

And then there's me.... the troublesome, mischievous one. Always getting into trouble and very talkative. And plus I'm bipolar. One minute I'm hot and the next minute I'm cold.

"Yeah, kind of. You know that pretty nice lady that owns that flower shop down the road. it's her daughter." Annie replied.

"What? Really? I know that lady. Her daughter is always there at the shop assisting and helping her out." I said, feeling pity for her.

"How could he think of doing such a thing in a small town like Blackridge and not expect to get caught? This town where everyone kind of knows each other." Kathy asked bewildered.

"He's a stupid person, obviously. Thank God he was caught and arrested. At least this town has been rid of one douchebag." I hissed, still clearly annoyed.

"I'm not done with my tea." Annie said sheepishly from the back.

I turned to face her. "Girl, please don't make my BP go up. My poor heart can't take any more shocking news" I groaned.

"Are you interested or not?" She asked.

"I'm sat." I said turning to face her.

"Okay, I heard from another reliable source that Lucy was caught sleeping with Prof. Martins at his office."

I covered my mouth in shock.

"Lucy? like...the quiet good girl Lucy?" Kathy asked in surprise.

"Yeah, that one." Annie replied.

"What? How? Why?" I asked still in shock.

Lucy is a girl at my English class. She's not exactly my friend but she's an acquaintance.

She keeps a seat for me whenever I'm late to class and she's one of the few people I talk to in class.

"Well... according to my source. she had an F in creative writing and Prof. Martins told her if she doesn't want to come back for the course she has to sleep with him. And she did, cause she didn't have a choice. I heard the course is pretty important to you English majors." She said looking at me.

"Ohh, yes it is. I had a B in it. And I was so happy cause that course is insanely difficult. Failing it is suicide." I replied.

"I feel sad for her. So what's going to happen to her?" Kathy asked in concern.

"I don't know. it's up to the school to decide." Annie replied.

"But how do you know all this Annie? Cause we all went for summer break and the school was not in session." I asked curiously.

"A magician never reveals her secret." she replied smugly.

"A lot of things happened during the summer holiday that y'all are not aware of, that's why I'm here to give you guys the hottest tea available." she said proudly.

"Thank you for this tea. it was such a hot one." Kathy said in amusement.

We all bursted into a fit of laughter.

The 20 minutes drive came to a stop as we drove into the college driveway.

I groaned in annoyance. "I hate school, I can't wait to be done with college."

"Me too girl but it's just left with one year. We have one year left to be done with this s**t hole." Kathy encouraged.

This is going to be a very long one year.