Athena ran faster than she ever had before.
Maybe this was because she wasn't used to running in something as athletic as a cheerleader uniform, it was much lighter and more mobile than her long and flowing gothic dresses and her legs feeling the breeze made it feel like she was flying.
Maybe it was the fear, the panic that she had just run afoul of a trap, that she was no longer in control of her own destiny. She had to get to home. She had to get to safe.
Maybe it was because her body took to running because it suddenly felt used to the action, as if she was used to this sort of exertion, it was normal to go for a jog around the neighborhood.
She ran recklessly, getting sprayed at one point by a sprinkler, but she keep her pace. "Great!" she thought, annoyed at the wetness, but also with a concern for what the water would do to her hair and makeup. She had to get home.
Everything was at stake, she had to get out of these cloths. She opened the door of her house, it felt lighter, brighter inside, as if the tone of the lights had gone from warm yellows to natural whites. The feeling that something was amiss increased. In her own house she felt like around any corner could be a body snatcher, and this slowed her pace. She crept in her own house, turned down the hall towards her room and screamed, a surprised scream, but also higher and more feminine than she expected, though she was not used to screaming normally. What surprised her was her own face in the mirror, yes she looked different in the Gold and blue cheerleader outfit she wore, but it was her face that scared her. Her pale white make up was running from the sweat and sprinkler water, revealing pleasantly tan skin beneath it. She looked closely and rubbed and sure enough, she was sun kissed in a way she had never been before, like a snake shedding skin to reveal something new beneath. In the mirror she also noticed what she held in her hands. It wasn't her dress, but a black sparkly cocktail dress and heels. How could she have missed this? Did Karyn plant these on her? Did she grab the wrong thing? There wasn't much black to choose from in that closet, but more importantly how did she not notice the difference in weight as she ran?
She needed to get out of these cloths as soon as possible, but her room was the real revelation. She opened the door to a gasp.
