Zoey groans loudly as she's roused by the screeching alarm. Rolling over in her bed, she gives the small alarm clock a borderline slap for ruining her slumber. As always when she woke up, her hair was everywhere and it took her a few seconds to get enough of it out of her face enough to see when she could be bothered to open her eyes.
Next was sitting up. Quite the task as Zoey tried to overcome the sleepiness. Her mind began to wake up as well, helping her sluggish body move out from the warm covers and after a much needed stretch, began her day. Zoey was many things but a morning person was definitely not one of them. After a yawn, she stumbled her way out of the bedroom and the short trek to the bathroom. A good shower usually did wonders for legitimately waking her up.
Today proved to be no exception. She felt infinitely better once she stepped out of the shower, stretching again. Wiping the mirror off, Zoey looked over herself out of habit. She wasn't immune to the occasional body image issues and sometimes this helped and sometimes it didn't. Today seemed like a good day so far. Moving her long orangish red hair from her face, she looked closely into the reflection. No new freckles, and with how pale her skin was, they tended to stand out.
From there, her eyes trailed down. She was very petite. More than she preferred to be mostly. Zoey still remembered how happy she was when she finally went above five feet, even if it was barely. Cute. She was cute. It was a title that she both loved and hated simultaneously. But she couldn't say that her body was sultry or sexy. She was cute. Proportionate for her size. Not the hourglass figure that she'd prefer but she couldn't complain. There were worst things than being cute.
Finally, was dealing with her hair, which took forever to blow-dry but that was why she had to get up so early. That and she knew that her mom was already up and heading out to jog. Zoey would probably be out by the time she got back. If not, she'd be almost done. Either way, she would have the bathroom to herself for awhile.
Once her hair was dry and brushed, she wrapped a towel around herself and made her way out of the bathroom, looking past the dining room and the kitchen to the basement door, which she noted was open, frowning slightly. The frown faded as a large shadow loomed over her from behind. She whipped around to see the imposing figure that drew her attention.
While it was far from unusual for anyone to tower over her, this man did so by over a foot. Not only his stature but his sheer broadness, and blatant muscle mass would have intimidated anyone before him were it not for one fact.
"Daddy!" Zoey grinned, doing her best to throw her arms around him to little avail. Her father returned the embrace, affectionately petting her head.
"Good morning, Princess." He smiled warmly, letting her go.
"You're up early." Zoey commented, suspiciously.
"Yeah...we got a new contract today. Trying to get an early start." He grumbled, running his fingers through his short, black hair. Zoey always imagined her father as a lumberjack or a Viking. Calvin Hughes was such an unassuming name but he seemed like he'd look more normal with a huge axe in his hand than being at construction sites. Most people assumed he lived at the gym but she'd never seen him in one. He just always had very physical jobs.
"You're going to be home late, aren't you?" Zoey sighed, snapping out of her daydreaming.
Noticing the change in her posture, Calvin put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "That's why I'm going in so early, Sweetheart. I'll be home before kick-off."
Zoey sighed again. "You said that last time, and you barely made halftime."
"I set the game to record, so if I am late, which I won't be, we can watch it together tomorrow." He reassured her.
"Maybe I should take class off today and help you get done faster." Zoey flashed her father a toothy grin.
There was a short pause from him before he threw his head back into a loud booming laugh. "It's outside, Sweetie. As in...in the Sun. Your mortal enemy? Why we don't go camping anymore?"
"Daddy!" Zoey's jaw dropped, giving him a hard punch to his chest only for him not to budge, and her own body stumbled from the force. She merely took another step forward as if it were a commonplace action and continued her rant. "We've been over this! This is a cute amount of freckles!" Zoey pointed to her face. "I'm almost at the borderline! Me and the Sun have decided to amicably part ways. It's not him, it's me and my vampire skin. We can't all have manly tans like some people."
This comment got another loud laugh from her father. Truth be told, he did have a pretty healthy tan, but it made sense considering how much time he spent in the Sun both for work and in his free time. "I think you'll be adorable no matter how many freckles you get, personally."
Zoey rolled her eyes and waved the comment off. "You're my Dad. You have to say that. I'm at the borderline."
Calvin laughed again, once more playfully ruffling her hair. "Either way, looks like you're going to class today. I would have made you go anyway. We don't want your senior year in high school happening again."
"Dad!" Zoey grumbled, frustratedly. "I got a little lazy and my grades dropped. I still got into the college I wanted."
"Barely." Her father added, tilting her chin upwards to make her face him again. "You're a bright girl. You're better than barely."
"Yes, Daddy..." Zoey sighed, seeing her reflection staring back at her in Calvin's blue eyes. They always made her think of the sea and how often the three of them would go swimming together, though her and Calvin tended to push themselves farther to one up each other in how deep they could go and how long they could stay under.
"Fine, fine. Lecture over." He stated, once again snapping Zoey out of her pondering. "I need to head out, anyway. Say morning to your mother for me."
"Will do." Zoey lied, knowing she'd leave while her mother was in the shower and the two wouldn't even pass each other until the afternoon. "Love you, Daddy. I'll see you this afternoon then..."
"Have the chips and dip ready for me." Calvin said with a wink, bending over to kiss Zoey's forehead, and embracing her again. "Love you too."
Zoey let out a sigh as she watched her father leave. She looked down at the towel she was wearing and then to her room. Clothes. Clothes were needed.
Zoey was never really particular about what she wore. That was always her mother's thing. She just wanted comfortable clothing that looked good on her. Usually basic t-shirts and jeans. Nothing too tight, but enough that the figure she did have was on display without her actually having to show any skin. Today, it was just a plain black shirt and blue jeans. As soon as she heard the shower come on, it was showtime and the teenager grabbed her backpack and headed out, taking the family's second car.
It was a nice deal. Zoey didn't stay in a dorm so she got to use the car since her chosen University was pretty close. Sure, it was her mother's car but it was still more convenient than the bus. Her only real complaint was that it always smelled of perfume when she first entered it, but after rolling the windows down and driving a bit, it was like it was her own vehicle. Sure, she'd have preferred something like her father's massive SUV but he was always using that.
It wasn't that long of a drive before Zoey found herself pulling into the parking lot. Grabbing her bag, she made her way into the campus. She still felt pretty new here so she didn't have much in the way of friends. And that was fine for now. She had one good one. And two, if you wanted to count-
"Guess who, Vampirella?" A voice said from behind her, covering her eyes and standing
way
too close, damn near pressing against her.
"Someone who's clearly forgotten that they lost touching privileges. And don't call me that." Zoey grumbled, roughly moving his hands from her eyes and looking back at her "friend".
Whenever Zoey mentioned that she had a friend named Erik, everyone always asked if it was with a 'c' or with a 'k'. When she answered, there was always that tut tut reaction. She didn't know if Erik was the way he was because people expected it or if it was genuinely just a self-fulfilling prophesy, but he wasn't doing his namesakes any favors.
"Awww, don't be that way. I thought the whole, gingers don't have souls thing was a myth. You said we could still be friends, after all." Erik flashed a sleepy grin, turning on the 'charm'. Not to say he wasn't an attractive guy. He had all the features that Zoey liked in a man. He was confident, he made her laugh, he was somewhat tall, and he had a very...masculine presence. Though she was never a fan of the short and spikey way he styled his dark brown hair. It made him look like he was in a 90's boy band. And while he
was
a drummer in a band that didn't make that hair any more forgivable.
Zoey rolled her eyes and waved off his comment. "How is
Mikayla
doing, anyway?"
"She's fine." He batted away the comment before be bending down to put his arm around Zoey's shoulders. "How's your mom?"
'And here we go...' Zoey thought to herself, rolling her eyes as hard as she humanly could and once again denying Erik touching privileges, pushing his arm off her and speeding up her pace. "My mom is
fine
."
"I was watching one of her old videos last night." Erik commented, with a sinister grin, licking his lips and easily keeping up. "Mother of God, that woman can take a dick."
