Cold, Wet, and Completely Miserable-Reese Morgan's origins

Cold, wet, and completely miserable--the day couldn't have gotten any lousy than a downpour in the middle of winter in the city of Sumberland. Population: 2345, with two grade schools, k-8, and two high schools; three supermarkets, five bars, a movie cinema, and--

"Are you serious? Reese, as much as I adore you while in our dorm room, you need to put down the laptop and come out of this dreary room and drink in the nightlife!"

The petite brunette blew a stray bang of her hair out of her eyes as she was glancing up to see one of her roommates leaning on the doorframe, hands on her hips. It wasn't that Reese Morgan didn't know how to party, but rather the matter of partying her roommate was implying. Morgan, her roommate of two semesters, Candice, and a couple of her roommate's friends had come down to New Orleans to drink in the nightlife and the splendour of the city's rich history for the spring break: all due to Candice's generous parents, who were doctors of high demand in Los Angeles.

Reese let out a sigh as she gave her roommate a look that clearly said 'Go and have your own fun: I got mine right here with me'.

"Reese, hun: if you don't go out and experience the nightlife, how else can you write about it in your works?"

"I'm pretty capable of writing a nightlife scene. I just like to be in the comforts of our stay in this bed and breakfast as I write. I don't need to go out to some bar and get drunk and get laid by a college frat boy that can't even begin to wonder what he wants to do with his life," Reese retorted as she pushed the glasses that was sliding down her nose back up. "Besides, once you've been to a club or bar, it's mostly the same anywhere else."

"You're just a party pooper, Morgan...no wonder you haven't gotten rid of your viriginty," one of her roommate's friends snorted as she passed by.

Reese looked down at her laptop as Candice frowned on the comment. True, Reese was inexperienced in the department of sex, but she was kinda just waiting for the right guy to give it too. Her roommate understand her decision and never thought of it as something against the young brunette. Pushing off the doorframe, the auburn girl sat down across from Reese.

"Don't listen to Fran: all she cares about is how many guys she can notch before she's tied down in a couple of months. You know how much of a slut she is, Reese...I still love you even if you were hideous in appearance."

Reese cracked a small smile. Her roommate knew how to make a moment real good with her sense of humor.

"Thanks, Candice..."

"Anytime, girlfriend. Well, if you're staying here for the night, do you might if you were to grab some more munchies for later on?"

Reese nodded her head as Candice gave her roommate a side hug before she left the room.

Grabbing a jacket and her wallet, she grabbed the list of what munchies to get as she went down the stairs and out into the nightlife that is known as New Orleans. She stayed mostly away from the drunken college boys, who usually traveled in groups of three or more. She recognized a couple of them from West Washington University while others she could only guess were here for vacation and whatnot...just as she and her group were doing.

Reaching the first store she could find, Reese grabbed a cart and moved up and down the aisles, grabbing whatever was on the list: chips, dip, salsa, soda, alcohol, etc. As she moved down to the aisle where books and magazines were, she stopped in front of the section where the mystery/thriller books were located. She picked up one, in particular, and glanced at the back cover. Reading the synposis of it, she was quite surprised that one of her earlier works was in her hands...though, the name of the author was just in her pen name, R.J. Morgain.

'Makes you wonder if I'll ever get more popular with my works,' Reese thought as she added that to her cart, knowing that her cousin, Garrett, would be pleased to read one of his older cousin's works.

As she finished her trek through the aisles, Reese couldn't help but wonder just how long Candice and her friends were going to be out for. She knew that Candice, being the responsible of the party group, would try and force her friends to make their way back to their room around 2:30 am, which will be when Reese will already be passed out for the night. Making her way to the cash registers, she simply just shook her head at the idea of Candice dragging two drunk girls back to their room all by herself.

After purchasing the munchies, Reese makes her way back to the bed and breakfast inn. The crowd had gotten worse while Reese was in the store, making it harder to get back to the inn. With people crammed into spaces where it was normal to walk through easily, Reese was lucky not to lose the bags that was in her hands. There were men oogling at the women on the balconies, who were wearing white see-through tee shirts and tossing colorful beads down to the crowd below. A few of those beads hit Reese in the head; some of them landed around her neck miraculously.

Reese managed to get into a spot where it wasn't being crowded and rested for a little bit. Normally, she wouldn't have a problem going against the crowd to get to her destination, but that was an understatement while in New Orleans, especially during Mardi Gras. She leaned her head on the concrete wall as she sighed a bit.

Then, Reese heard something falling somewhere further down the alley. She lifted her head up at the noise.

"Hello? Anyone there?" she asked into the alley. "Stupid question to ask, Reese," she muttered to herself as she narrowed her eyes to see further into the alley.

Without much hesitation, she walked down the alley, further away from the noisy crowd and into the ever so silence of the dark alley. Her Converses made little noise as she walked; the soften SQUEAK echoed in Reese's ears. It didn't help the frantic beating of Reese's heart go down a bit; in fact, it was beating a bit faster as she went further and further away from the crowd.