Ever since her dad had become MIA, leaving her to live alone 95% of the time, she'd grown quite cautious, all the doors remaining locked at all times, their alarm system armed, and a can of mace on her nightstand. With that being said, she knew when something wasn't right.

She would never leave the door unlocked, no matter how much of a rush she was in.

She knew you needed a key card to get into the building and that the alarm system would have gone off if someone had broken in, but it still didn't do much to ease the uncertainty she felt as she pushed the door open.

Thankfully, there wasn't an axe murder waiting for her inside, just a snoring Pickles on the couch. She let out a long breath.

"Fuck I'm losing my mind," she shook her head, locking the door behind her. She made her towards her room, passing her fathers bedroom as she did. She froze as a musky floral smell filled her nostrils. She turned towards the door that always remained locked, a lit up keypad next to the handle.

Was her dad here? No... oddly enough, she knew her dad's smell, the cologne he wore everyday. This was far from it, full of florals her dad hated.

She hesitated before reaching towards the door handle, the lock jingling as she attempted to twist it.

She pulled back, turning and walking back into the living room. She scanned the room, looking for anything that might be displaced. She walked around, carefully taking in everything, from the empt glass she'd left on the table the night before to the remote that sat in one of the couch's creases.

Was she overreacting?

Once she'd concluded that everything was still where she had left it, and the alarm remained armed, she walked over to Pickles.

"Hey bud, come on, let's go to bed," she rustled his ears. He looked up at her drowsily, as if he was too exhausted to move after spending the day lounging about the apartment.

"Come on, you can't be that tired," she lifted him to his feet and after a moment he sluggishly followed behind her into her room. She showered and changed, the exhaustion from here game finally hitting her. She was about to crawl into bed when she hesitated, instead, grabbing her desk chair and propping it under her door handle. Not that she was really worried, it would just put her mind at ease while going to bed.

She laid in bed, Pickles cuddled up next to her and scrolled through her phone. She pulled up the email the recruiter had sent her shortly after their conversation, a formal invitation to their recruiting clinic. Playing for them would be a dream come true. She loved everything about the university, especially getting a chance to move away from home. She smiled to herself as she turned her phone off and sat it on her nightstand.

She had needed something to look forward to. The idea of being stuck with her dad for another four years made her want to vomit.

***

When Mira woke up, Pickles was heaving next to her, his throw up falling in a pile on her comforter.

"Oh Pickles, come on," Mira scrunched up her nose, helping him down onto the floor as she carefully crawled out from beneath the covers.

"Jeez pal, did you get some scraps off the floor or something?" She asked, looking at the gross spot with her hands on her hips. Shaking her head, she rolled up her bedding and tossed it in the wash. Usually Pickles didn't have any stomach issues, but she knew she often dropped things here and there whenever she ate so wasn't too shocked he'd gone ahead and licked up whatever he could find.

In honor of their win against Hillcrest, Mira's coach had cancelled morning practice, so she went ahead and put on a little makeup and left her hair down for the day, confidence radiating off of her.

"Shit, if I knew coach was going to cancel morning practice if we won, we'd have 3 state cups by now," Jayla stated as they walked through the hall.

"Yeah, I could get used to this," Mira agreed.

"Oh, hey I wanted to ask, the cafe you work at is right next to the Barnes and Noble, right?" She asked, and Mira nodded.

"Sweet, could you pick up a book for me? I would get it myself, but Jeremy's car is in the shop so he's using mine for the time being. I'll pay you back and everything, I'm just out of things to read and it's killing me." She groaned.

Mira laughed.

"I forgot how much of a nerd you are. But yes, what's it called?"

Jayla's eyes lit up.

"It's called Mafia Love, it's about this girl falling in love with this mafia leader and apparently it's super spicy," she wiggled her eyebrows at Mira.

"Ok, I'll grab it before my shift tonight." Mira agreed.

Xavier gave her a wave when they walked into class, and she tried not to look too excited when she waved back.

"Hey Mira, I was thinking maybe Friday we could go to this one book shop I really like to study, what do you think?" He asked her. Mira's heart did a leap. Was he turning their study session into a study date. Sign her up.

"Yeah, that sounds great."

"Perfect."

Overall, Mira's day was good. Her classes went by fast, Xavier had upgraded their Friday study session, and everyone was in a good mood for practice.

She took Pickles for a long walk when she got back to her apartment, and got ready for work early so that she could stop at the book store and grab Jayla the book she wanted.

She'd never really gotten into books herself, but she had to admit, nothing compared to the calming atmosphere of a bookstore.

She wandered the isles, the book author pulled up on her phone. She finally found it, releasing a small yelp as she looked at the cover, silhouettes of a man and women having sex making up the entirety of it. Of course this would be the kind of book Jayla would read. She could already feel the embarrassment rushing to her cheeks at the thought of having to give it to the cashier.

"I don't see you here very often," a deep, velvety voice tore Mira's gaze away from the nearby pornographic book in her hands. She looked up to see Adrian's steely grey eyes meeting hers behind a pair of black rimmed glasses, his shaggy black hair touching along the edges. She wasn't a sucker for glasses like some of the girls she knew, but she had to admit, he pulled them off well.

"Oh, yeah I don't really come here -" he pulled the book from her weak grasp, his brows shooting upwards, lips curving upwards as he took in the cover. She snatched it back quickly, cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

"Looks... interesting," he bit back a laugh.

"It's not for me, my friend asked me to pick it up for her," Mira exclaimed defensively, holding the book awkwardly against her chest.

"Hey, I don't judge, I'm sure the plot is just as good as the cover," he teased.

"Uh-huh, well I see your cheating on me with another barista," Mira changed the subject, motioning towards the black coffee he held in his free hand.

"Ah yes, unfortunately the barista I prefer to pour my coffee wasn't working," he replied cooly. She was definitely not expecting him to say that.

"You should try switching it up sometime, I make damn good latte you know," she said matter of factly.

He raised his brows at her.

"Hmm, I'll have to keep that in mind."

"So I'm assuming you come here a lot?" She continued. He shrugged.

"Yeah, it's a nice break from the headache work gives me. Why, do I not come across as the book worm type to you?"

Mira bit back a grin.

"Not exactly, but don't get me wrong, I think reading is a very attractive trait," she stated.

"Oh, so you think I'm attractive now?" He raised a brow.

"Depends on the book your reading, but if it's a dark mysterious romance, then certainly." She remarked. He scrunched his nose.

"Sadly I prefer more informative texts."

She laughed, reaching back to grab her phone as it vibrated against her pocket. She glanced down to see it was a text from none other than her father.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Adrian commented at her reaction to the text. She pursed her lips, shaking her head.

"No, it's just my dad texted me for the first time in four months: Amira, congrats on the game." She read it out loud, rolling her eyes.

"Amira?" Adrian questioned.

"That's my full name, he's the only one who ever uses it." She explained, shoving it back into her pocket.

"Ah, I like it, it's different." He said.

"Yeah, my dad hated it, but my mom refused to budge on it, so we know who won that battle. Anyways, I have to check out and get over to the cafe for my shift, but it was nice talking to you Adrian," she looked up at him.

"I'll let you go then. I'll see you around, Amira." His voice was velvety smooth. Usually she hated when people used her full name, but oddly she liked the way it sounded leaving his lips.

She checked out quickly, trying to hide her embarrassment as the cashier bagged the book. You didn't even have to read the blurb to know what the plot consisted of.

Adrian didn't stop by like he usually did when close came around, and Mira couldn't help but to be a little bit disappointed. Why, she wasn't sure, he'd only stopped in twice, but something about his presence put her at ease.

She closed and made her way out towards her car, barely taking note of the black SUV parked in the corner of the employee lot, windows tinted dark enough to grab a cops attention. She did a double take as she sat in the drivers seat, fairly familiar with the cars her coworkers drove, almost certain that wasn't one of them.

"We'll, they're gonna get a ticket," she said to herself as she pulled out of the lot. It wasn't until she was halfway home when she realized the black SUV was following behind her. Usually she wouldn't have been super creeped out that the car had followed her this far, but it was the fact that they'd made every turn and ran through every light to stay hot on her trail.

The real question would be whether or not they would try pulling into the parking garage behind her.

Luckily, instead of pulling in after her, the car continued driving straight down the road, confirming that she was in fact just extremely paranoid. She felt it was justified though, being a eighteen year old girl living in downtown New York City, she couldn't be too cautious. Especially when she lived alone.