Post by Pasture Puff on Nov 21, 2010 2:23:16 GMT
The bus rumbled off, and Tiffany hoisted her knapsack up onto her shoulder. The bus driver had told her it was only a short walk to the college, but her legs felt like jelly by the time she got there, and she stopped to wipe her sweaty palms.
‘Don’t be such a baby’, she told herself, but her stomach fluttered. Alpo was supposed to be out of quarantine tomorrow, and she’d bitten her nails ragged worrying about it. What if something was wrong and he had to be destroyed? She tried not to get so worked up, but after a long flight and an hour bus trip, she was feeling ready to cry.
It took her a while to find the office. She had to stop and ask for directions several times, until finally a freckled-faced boy around her own age had taken her there himself. Tiffany hovered nervously outside, smoothing down her rumpled tee-shirt and pushing the hair back from her face.
She swallowed hard, and suddenly pushed the door open. There was another girl sitting in the corner, leafing through a magazine. She looked up when Tiffany walked in, and regarded her with a bored expression. Tiffany touched her hair self-consciously, and then slid into one of the chairs on the other side of the room.
The hard plastic bit into the back of her thighs, and she squirmed uncomfortably. She hoped it wouldn’t take too long. The other girl yawned loudly, and Tiffany’s fingers gripped the sides of the chair until her knuckles turned white. For a minute, it looked like the girl was going to say something, but then she simply turned back to her magazine, and Tiffany’s shoulders slumped with relief.
‘Don’t be such a baby’, she told herself, but her stomach fluttered. Alpo was supposed to be out of quarantine tomorrow, and she’d bitten her nails ragged worrying about it. What if something was wrong and he had to be destroyed? She tried not to get so worked up, but after a long flight and an hour bus trip, she was feeling ready to cry.
It took her a while to find the office. She had to stop and ask for directions several times, until finally a freckled-faced boy around her own age had taken her there himself. Tiffany hovered nervously outside, smoothing down her rumpled tee-shirt and pushing the hair back from her face.
She swallowed hard, and suddenly pushed the door open. There was another girl sitting in the corner, leafing through a magazine. She looked up when Tiffany walked in, and regarded her with a bored expression. Tiffany touched her hair self-consciously, and then slid into one of the chairs on the other side of the room.
The hard plastic bit into the back of her thighs, and she squirmed uncomfortably. She hoped it wouldn’t take too long. The other girl yawned loudly, and Tiffany’s fingers gripped the sides of the chair until her knuckles turned white. For a minute, it looked like the girl was going to say something, but then she simply turned back to her magazine, and Tiffany’s shoulders slumped with relief.
