Eve of Samhain Read Online Free

no-no. I didn’t possess a magical shrink ray to reduce the size of my backside, but what I did have was a great sense of style, and I would make damn sure I looked put together.
    I circled the campus quicker than I anticipated (woo-hoo!) and decided to go another round before heading home.
    The unsettling sense that someone watched me struck halfway into my second lap. Pants-pissing scared, every hair on my body stood at attention and an icy shiver shot up my spine. I’d experienced a similar feeling of being watched the night before, but this…this was different. A sick feeling of dread slithered across my flesh, making me want to jump out of my skin.
    Wigged, I scanned the area and stepped up my pace. There were a few other students jogging, and a deliveryman pushing crates of milk toward the campus dining hall. None of them paid any attention to me, and once again I felt like a member of the forty-watt club.
    My imagination was obviously running wild, probably a result of the measly four hours of sleep. The urge to slap myself for acting like an idiot was strong, and I hauled ass across the street, through the courtyard, and into the sanctuary of my apartment.
    Once inside, I tiptoed down the hallway, doing my level best to be quiet and not wake Jessica. My efforts were in vain. I tripped over a random shoe and tumbled ass-over-tea-kettle onto the floor with a loud “Oomph!”
    The door to Jessica’s room flew open. “Ryann?” She flipped on the hall light and rubbed her eyes furiously. “Are you all right?”
    I lay sprawled out in the middle of the floor, unable to contain my laughter.
    “Ryann, are you really okay?” she asked, trying to hold back her own giggling.
    “I’m fine,” I replied, gasping for air as I continued to snicker. “Sorry to wake you…again. I left the hall light off, hoping to go unnoticed. I was tiptoeing to my room and tripped over this,” I said, holding up one of Jessica’s shoes, which as usual, were strewn about the apartment willy-nilly.
    She reached for the offending footwear with a sheepish look on her face. “Oh, God. I’m sorry. I thought I moved all of my shoes out of the hallway last night. I guess I missed one.”
    “Don’t worry about it,” I said, waving her off as I got to my feet. Glancing through my doorway toward my alarm clock, I saw it was a few minutes after seven. “Oh snap. I have to shower or I’m gonna be late. My first class is at eight.”
    After hightailing it into my room and grabbing a set of fresh chonies and my robe, I made a mad dash toward the bathroom.
    Thirty minutes later, I darted across the hallway into my room with my hair dried and styled, and my makeup done to perfection. Digging through my packed (yeah, I like to shop, sue me) and extremely cramped closet, I decided on a pair of low-rise Lucky jeans that looked great as long as I didn’t bend or move too much in them, and a white Hollister t-shirt. I slid my feet into my favorite gold pair of Steve Madden flip flops and frantically searched for my large gold hoops and watch to match. Slightly OCD about matching accessories, I’d switch out the tiny stud in my nose daily, just so it would match the rest of my ensemble. That particular piece of jewelry was safe today as the tiny cubic zirconia stud matched my outfit perfectly.
    “Ooh, cute sandals,” Jessica said, admiring my footwear from the doorway as she sipped her morning coffee. “And your hair…I absolutely love the cut. You didn’t tell me you were going to take that much off. I’d be too scared to cut mine that short.”
    My hands automatically reached for my new shorter hair. “Thanks.” I’d gone in before work the previous day and cut my longer, brunette locks into a trendier A-line style. My hair was now stacked in the back, angled down to two wicked points in the front, and sported several chunky gold highlights. My stylist, Jolene, was the bomb. Now, if I could do something about my shit brown eyes and