Co-Presidents

1.

She clutched her chest and felt her steady heartbeat as she fell back and sighed, her head resting against the cold wall. Tears were falling down her face and her knees were scrapped, but the adrenaline numbed the pain. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead and a wave of relief washed over her as she started at what she'd done.

She almost smiled. But reality beat her to it, as usual. With a final glance, she walked out of the claustrophobic room and skipped down the stairs, careful not to trip on her dress. The thought of calling the police lingered on her mind much longer than it should have.

"They are just as chauvinistic," she spat angrily and held into her clothes tighter. She reached the main floor after what felt like a decade and stopped in front of it.She felt a huge weight on her shoulders and she looked to the direction of the room she was in and shook her head to rid the thoughts of sympathy.

She was glad she wore the the rubber gloves because she knew very well that they'd make sure they found whoever did that. But this premeditated crime was carried out with the most caution. They might be smart forensic people, but she was always five steps ahead. And it was going to stay that way.

The cold wind wrapped itself around her as she stepped outside and let the door shut behind her. It was completely dark outside, save for the street lights that might as well be on life support. On the way home, she removed the gloves and threw them in the dumpster truck that was in the second neighbourhood block.

Then she increased her pace, her feet bare as she walked with determination. She was late; her curfew was strictly six p.m. but she violated that by being three hours late.

With each step that she took, the pain became more unbearable. She ached everywhere: her thighs, her feet, her arms, her stomach, her head, her skin. But she wouldn't allow the aching to slow her down.

She never did. She certainly won't start now.

The thoughts on her mind were louder than the cars racing back and forth beside her. She came up with plenty of excuses she'd give as to why she was late, dismissing one after the other because they weren't good enough.

She wasn't good enough.

Preoccupied with her thoughts, she forgot to look both ways before crossing the road. The car was already coming at full speed and her brain could not process anything else but the blinding lights. Her feet remained planted in the middle of the road and her eyes widened as she slowly realised that the oncoming vehicle wasn't nowhere near slowing down.

The tires screeched and multiple hoots echoed in her ears while the bright yellow lights blinded her. She closed her eyes and held her breath as she waited for the impact. She wanted nothing more than to go into a numb state and not feel anything at all.

After what seemed like an eternity, she slowly opened her eyes and saw that the car that didn't seem to slow down had a head-first collision with the traffic pole. Only then did her ears seem to start working because the screams of people and the sirens of nearby cars were going off from the impact. She could see the smoke coming from the car before her eyes landed on the struggling man emerging from the driver's seat.

His forehead was cut and he was bleeding a lot from on the side of his face, the blood trickling from his eyebrow and down to his cheek and shoulder. Bystanders rushed to help him come out of the car and they laid him by the side of the road.

Sirens could be heard from the distance and that was what brought her back to reality and jolted her to move. She looked around and saw that nearly everyone was attending to the gentleman. She glanced at the gentleman who caused an accident for himself just so he didn't hit her and she said a silent prayer before dashing in the direction of her house.

If her mind was rushing earlier with thoughts of that man, then this time each thought came faster than the speed of light.

"What if he dies? The accident was my fault. What if someone recognised me?" she cried as she ran home. Her mind trapped her with questions she didn't want to voice answers to.

After running for half an hour, she stopped and looked behind her. She heaved in content when she saw the street she was familiar with. She decreased her pace when she walked through the gates and straightened her clothes to look a little more presentable. She stepped onto the porch and opened the door, freezing in her tracks when she came face to face with him.