The First Night by Sidda Lee Tate

Chapter 1
     
    Kayla Dobbs grabbed her time card and punched out. Another long week at the factory was over, and although the job on the assembly line was meant to be temporary while she took night courses, she couldn’t believe she was marking her seventh year for the company that growing up she swore she would never work for. She’d escaped Pineville, Mississippi once. Directly after high school she left for college only to find herself moving back a year later because of expenses. Every day since then, she wished she would have stayed gone while she had the chance.
    There was nothing for her in the small town aside from work and school. Classes were strenuous and while she kept them up, she had cut back considerably during the last year in search of some type of social life. She was failing miserably. Her last relationship had ended nearly six months ago. That guy was too time consuming…and an ass. Since him, she had resigned herself to enjoying solitude, at least until she finished school. One more semester at the local university and she would officially be a history teacher…if she could find a job. Oh, how she wanted away from the factory.
    She heard someone yell her name, snapping her from her thoughts. She turned to see Sharon jogging to catch up to her. Sharon Blake, her work friend—her only friend—loved to party. Kayla suspected she used her small frame and giant tits to every advantage possible.
    “Hey girl,” Kayla said, smiling brightly. She knew what would happen next but she asked anyway. “What’s up?”
    “A bunch of us are going out tonight. You want to go?” Sharon asked, trying to catch her breath. Her breasts seemed to grow bigger with each heave for air.
    A light breeze brushed a few strands of hair across Kayla’s face. She smoothed it away with her hand. “I don’t know. It’s been a long week.”
    “Damn. You never want to go out.” Sharon laughed. “Every Friday I ask, and every time you have an excuse. One of these days, I’ll stop asking.” She dug in her purse and pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
    “No, you won’t. You’re too determined to get me drunk so everyone will have something to laugh about on Monday morning.”
    Sharon took a drag from the cigarette and smiled at Kayla. Blowing out the smoke she said, “Maybe. But, really, who cares? Fun is fun, right? We’re meeting at nine o’clock at Night , the new club that opened a few months ago on Broad Street. I’ll look for you.”
    “I’ll think about it,” Kayla replied, hoping to give Sharon enough that she would stop pushing the issue. Not that she minded Sharon asking, but she just couldn’t see finding time to waste with going to a bar. She climbed in her car, started the engine, and gave Sharon a wave as she drove away.
    Pulling into the driveway of her small, yellow house, she frowned at the sight of her overgrown lawn. It was one more thing to put on her to-do list. She parked the car, ignoring the garage, since it was full of the exercise equipment she had ordered the week before, which needed to be carried into the house and assembled in the spare bedroom. She was tired of going to the gym when investing in equipment and bringing the gym to her house was much more economical in the long run.
    After examining the plants on either side of the front door and deciding they could take another day without water, she walked in and tossed her purse on the sofa. Home at last. She went straight to the kitchen and grabbed a banana from the counter. A sad supper for one , she thought as she eyed with repulsion the stacks of required reading material for school piled on her dining room table.
    The thought of studying all night stole her desire to eat, and no longer hungry, she tossed the fruit in the trash. Kayla looked out her window at the obnoxious yard, frowned, and pulled a phone book from a drawer in search of a fix for one of her problems. Calling a lawn service would be ideal, and although the expense