6

       The sun peeked through the crack in the curtains. I checked my phone and saw that I still had an hour before my alarm went off at eight. After tossing and turning for a half hour, I decided to just get up and shower.

       Hot water splashed against my bald head as I lathered cheap bar soap up on the flimsy motel washcloth. I scrubbed myself as well as I could thankful that the water stayed hot through my entire shower. I shut the water off and grabbed one of the postage stamps they have the gall to call towels.

       In the end, I used both towels they had hung on the wall over the toilet and my clothes still stuck to me when I pulled them on. I pulled on my favorite turquoise beanie, swiped on a little eyeliner, and drew on my missing eyebrows. When I started losing my hair, the first thing I did was go to the internet. I watched every available video tutorial on how to draw on eyebrows. I even read several how-to blogs. I was okay with losing my hair but I knew I would never be okay with looking at my face without eyebrows.

       You know that feeling of hunger where you know your stomach is about to devour the rest of your organs because you haven’t eaten in weeks? Yeah, I didn’t have that. In fact, I felt sick to my stomach despite the fact that I hadn’t eaten in eighteen hours. I knew I needed to eat no matter how I felt so I decided to get breakfast when I stopped at a gas station. I pulled up to lucky pump number two and grabbed my wallet off the seat before getting out of the car.

       I was walking up and down the aisles trying to figure out if I should grab a protein bar or if a cheese Danish was more my speed when a greasy haired man with a mustache strolled up to me. He had to be at least in his forties.

       “What’s a pretty girl like you doing traveling by herself?” he asked as he sidled up to me, lifting the Danish I had been eying off the rack.

       “Who said I was alone?” I asked as I grabbed the protein bar and a Danish figuring I could decide in the car or maybe just eat them both.

       “I saw you pull up. I know you’re alone. Don’t lie to me.”

       “I’m not lying. My friend is in the bathroom.”

       “How did your friend get in the bathroom if I saw you pull up alone?”

       “He walked here from the hotel,” I lied, hoping it sounded plausible.

       “You’re lying. You don’t have a friend in the bathroom.”

       I walked towards the register with my goods in hand, hoping the man would get the hint and leave me alone. To my dismay, he followed me.

       I placed my things on the counter and pulled out my card.

       “Will this be all for you?” Asked the man behind the counter, eyeing the creep behind me.

       “No, I need twenty on two,” I replied before mouthing “help.”

       “No problem. Your total today comes to twenty-three seventy.”

       I swiped my card and collected my provisions before pushing through the door.

       “Sir, you have to pay for that,” I heard the teller say before the door swung shut.

       I walked to my car and started pumping my gas before stowing my food on the front passenger seat. I pulled myself into the security of my car and locked the doors just to be safe. I watched as the teller talked on the phone as he bared the greasy haired man from using the door.

       I heard the click of the gas pump automatically shutting itself off and climbed out of my car. As I was replacing the pump nozzle, the whir of sirens overtook all of the noise. I slid back into my Mustang and pulled out of the gas station.