Chapter 1

My alarm clock buzzes loudly in my ears, causing me to stir in my sleep. I reach for my pillow and I place it over my head just because I want to drown out the loud sound of the alarm clock. I regret every morning when it wakes me up why I accepted it as a gift from my best friend, Liz.

The sound only gets louder, and no matter how many pillows I stack over my head, it does not help.

"Iris, I believe that you are hearing that thing ringing," I hear Liz say and I finally open my eyes. I take the pillow from over my head and I sit upright. She is fixing her hair, which tells me that she has already taken a shower. 

I still can not understand how she is able to wake up so early every single day, and just so she can jog. She goes for a jog every morning even if it is on the weekends, she is the complete opposite of me because I absolutely hate to exercise, especially running.

We go to a very expensive college which is Ivy League and her parents pay her fees while I took out a couple of student loans to be able to pay mine. We are great friends and have known each other since kindergarten.

We have had fights and been thorugh so much crap, yet nothing can tear us apart.

Liz and I share the same bedroom, it is decently sized and really nice. We live in a one-bedroom apartment in Seattle, we have been living together since we graduated high school.

"I do," I groan and she chuckles.

"Why do you hate the alarm clock so much?" She asks me as I try to drag my body from the bed. I wince lowly when my bare feet touch the hardwood floor, it is so cold.

"I don't hate it," I reply to her as I yawn.

"Oh, you don't?" She gives me a look and I smile weakly.

"I do remember that you threw it on the wall three mornings ago," She adds and I roll my eyes playfully.

"Okay, I do kind of hate it a bit, but what I mostly hate is having to wake up so early every morning," I tell her truthfully as I stand on my feet.

"You call 7 in the morning early?" She asks as she laughs.

Gosh, she is so pretty. Liz is perfect, she has the perfect hair, the perfect body, the perfect life, and the perfect boyfriend. Whereas I am single and have been since I began college. My hair hates me and only cooperates on certain days. And my life is so boring!

"I would rather wake up five minutes before my class begins," I joke, and we both laugh.

"You are a bit late this morning, usually you are gone before the alarm rings, except on weekdays and today is Monday," I chat with her as the both of us exit the bedroom. She has her running shoes in her hands because we made a rule for our house.

No shoes of any kind are allowed, either socks or barefooted. So we don't wear shoes in the house, and if anyone visits us, the rule applies to them too.

"Yeah, well, Brad made me drink a shot of tequila last night on our date. He said that I needed to loosen up," She tells me about her date and I smile in admiration.

We are now in the living room and all I am wearing is a large T-shirt and very short pants. My hair is ruffled and I still feel like going back to sleep. I am very tempted to do so when Liz leaves for her jog, but I know that I can not. 

I have to get the house cleaned up and get ready for my finals which I would be taking in two hours.

"And did you loosen up?" I ask her and she shrugs while wiggling her eyebrows.

"Tell me all about it!" I say excitingly and she laughs.

"When I get back from my jog, I promise to give you all the details," She replies to me and I smile cheerily.

I watch her walk to the front door and she opens it, but before stepping outside, she stops in her tracks and turns around to me.

"I can't believe I almost forgot," A look of mild surprise covers her face.

"Forgot about what?" I walk a few feet closer to her, she looks slightly annoyed that I do not know what she is talking about.

"Oh, Iris, do you have amnesia? Today is the day you are supposed to get the response from that famous company that you applied to," Liz reminds me and my mouth opens slightly.

"Oh my gosh, I totally forgot. Crap!" I say as a wave of nervousness and anxiety fills my entire body. Getting accepted to work at that company would change my life! 

I would finally be able to be optimistic about the future. Getting accepted would be a dream come through, it would mean the world to me in so many ways.

"You want a hug? You look like you do," Liz says as she closes the distance between us and hugs me. I hug her back for a few seconds and then I pull away.

"I believe in you, and I know that you would get accepted," She tells me and I sigh. I truly hope that I do.

She bids me goodbye and then leaves for her jog. I lock the doors and I make sure to avoid my laptop as I busy myself with cleaning the house and making breakfast. 

I'm scared that as soon as I open my laptop that I would see an email from the company telling me sorry that I could not be accepted. 

Once the house is clean, breakfast made, and I have taken my shower, I get ready for class by dressing casually. Liz says that she wants the 'Don't give a damn' attitude that I have, and I always take that as a compliment though it makes me laugh.

Ding! My laptop chimes as I sit down in the dining area to eat the scrambled eggs and bacon that I made. The sound makes my heart skip a beat and my breathing has now accelerated.

I stand up from the dining table and I walk towards the small workspace that we have in our living room. My expensive laptop sits on the desk, Brad, Liz's boyfriend got it for me as a birthday gift last year and I am so grateful.

I close the distance between me and the laptop and I bravely open it. The screen comes to life and I see a notification, the one that I have been waiting for almost two weeks now.

It is the official response from the company I applied to work for, in an email.

I tap the touchpad on the laptop, causing the email to open. Instead of wasting any more time because I may be nervous or anxious, I begin to read it.

My heart drops when I read the second paragraph.