0.2

'And there's the alarm...'

'Gosh darn it...'

I rolled myself over in my bed, reaching blindly for my phone. The volume was steadily increasing, and, for once, I didn't even give a crap. I just wanted to get the day over with.

'I guess it's just one of those days...'

I finally got ahold of my phone, and I forced my eyes open as I turned the screen to my face. Even though the screen was on the lowest brightness setting and the alarm screen was dark, I still found myself squinting and searching for the off switch through a set of eyelashes.

'Okay, Jamie. Swipe left on the thing to turn it off.'

I followed my brain's instructions. My alarm snoozed, which was not what I wanted at all.

'Uggggh... I did it again...'

I groaned loudly, rolling onto my back and dropping my phone onto the bed, next to me. I stared up at my ceiling for a moment. Then I sighed, and I forced myself to sit up. I knew that if I lay for just a minute, then I would actually be lying down for at least ten minutes.

I glanced at my phone to check the time. It was six thirty-two.

I sighed once more. "If only my alarm could be wrong, for once."

I threw my blankets aside and turned to sit on the edge of my bed. I yawned, and I stretched.

"What am I waking up for again?"

I glanced at my phone once again, and I opened the clock app to look through my alarms.

'Here it is. Six-thirty alarm set for today.'

I read the label aloud, " 'bank loan for bakery at 8' ?"

I sat on the thought for a moment. I knew I should've been happy. Heck, I should've been excited! I was about to get the bakery I've always wanted, but I just felt so off. Nothing felt right...

I sighed. "Shake it off, Jamie. Shake it off."

I had to be at the bank in an hour and a half. I had to shower, and dry my hair, and do my make-up, and make myself look nice in the things we call clothes. In other words, I actually had to look the part of a "Lady." Eww. But back to me having a bunch of crap to do to myself.

I grabbed a pair of dress pants and a nicer, plaid, button-up from my closet and a bra and underwear from my dresser. I trudged into the bathroom with the clothes in my arms and I dropped them unceremoniously onto the counter as I turned the shower on to warm up the water. I had a small frown on my face the whole time.

"Dude," I told myself as I started to strip. "Why do I feel so freakin' weird?"

I adjusted the water so that it was just cool enough not to burn me, and I got in.

"I mean, is this deja-vu or something? But it's just not the same! I don't get it..."

I forced myself to take a breath as I rinsed my hair.

"No, it's all good. You've got this. I've got this. I just need to chill out. Nothing's up. I just need coffee.."

I finished my leisurely shower, and I dried myself off at a comfortable pace. I got dressed, and I towel dried my hair as best as I could. I planned to come back and braid my hair just before leaving, so I left my hair as it was. I brushed my teeth and I put on a minuscule amount of makeup. Then, I move onto the kitchen where I shoved a spare muffin into my mouth and fixed myself a travel mug full of coffee. Once my coffee was ready, I grabbed my keys and my purse, I shoved on my flats, and I was out the door in a flash.

I tossed my purse into the passenger seat of my van and started it up. I pulled a hairband off of my gearshift and I turned to my rearview mirror. I ran my fingers through my hair to get rid of any tangles, and I pulled aside the longer portions of my hair to braid them towards the back of my head. Part of me wondered how "professional" I'd look with my hand-me-down van with dents (from the previous owner) scattered over it. But seriously, what bank employee would be looking at the vehicle I drive when considering giving me a loan? I shook my head with a sigh at the thought as I plugged in my aux cord and turned on Spotify.

"I've got nothing to worry about," I told myself, letting myself relax as I pulled into the main road. "Nothing at all."

I frowned as one of my favorite songs started to play; I just wasn't really in the mood to listen to it. I started skipping song after song, finally just stopping and settling on something that I hoped would get me out of the dumb "funk" that I was in.

https://youtu.be/bCaqAHNZOc4

I turned the music up as loud as I could without hurting my ears, and I sang along as loud as my lungs and throat would allow. I knew that the people driving next to me could easily hear me through my van's old walls, but I didn't care one bit. I was confident enough in my singing abilities, and I wasn't having the best morning. The other drivers could just deal with it.

I looked into the rearview mirror as I stopped at a red light. A portion of my hair fell out of its braid, and I rolled my eyes. I didn't even attempt to push the strands back into the braid. I stopped to stare at myself for a moment, only to shake my head and look back at the road.

With the funk I was in, just staring at myself was not the best plan. I knew I was bound to find something I didn't like.

The light turned green, and I moved into the turning lane. I pulled into the bank's parking lot and pulled into a spot that was pretty close to the door. I took a deep breath. I needed to get out of this mood before I went in.

I turned down my music and looked at my vehicle's clock; it was seven fifty-one.

I took another deep breath, knowing I didn't have the free time to just sit in the van and breathe. I got out of my van, locking the doors behind me as I started walking towards the front door. I shoved my keys in my pocket. Then I opened the door.

I walked towards the chairs against the nearest wall, sitting next to a boy and his mother.

I forced myself to smile at both of them. "Hey, Mckinna. Hey, Landyn. What's up?"

"Hey! Miss Breaux, right? Jamie Breaux?" Mckinna asked, turning in her seat to look at me with a smile.

I could have sworn I'd heard that exact sentence before and, for some reason, I felt even more on edge than before.

"Yep, that's me, Miss Breaux. It's been a while. How long's it been, four years?"

"Hey, Miss B.!" The woman's response was interrupted by the nine-year-old next to her, and she laughed a bit at his excited smile.

There it was again. The same tone of voice, the same greeting, the same exact smile and body language. Something wasn't right.

I felt my smile fall a bit, but I forced it back to how it was. "Hey, bud. How've you been? You taking care of your mom?" I crossed my arms and gave him a "questioning" look.

He nodded enthusiastically, giving me a big, toothy grin. "Yeah, I've bee -- "

"Yeah, what?" Mckinna interrupted her son, giving him a questioning look.

"Yes, ma'am." Landyn corrected himself, giving me a smaller, almost embarrassed smile.

Mckinna nodded. "That's right."

"Oooh!" I smiled at the kid, poking him on the shoulder gently. "The kid's got some awesome manners!"

Landyn laughed as I poked him. "Dude, stop!"

I raised my hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright!"

I couldn't bring myself to join in when Mckinna started laughing. But she stopped the instant we heard a loud, head-splitting bang from the center of the room. For some reason, I was acutely aware of the woman next to me covering her son's ears and holding him closer to herself. I froze in place, only moving my head as I turned to where the sound came from.

There were two men at the center of the room, each one wearing a ski mask and holding a firearm. I casually glanced around as one of them started talking, seeing that two women with masks were standing near the tellers' desks and two more masked men were standing in front of the door.

I was almost scared at how calm I was. I mean, I felt like I had done all of this before, but I had never even been close to a bank heist in my life! Even the people who were robbing the place, I had never met them before, they were probably from out of town, and they still looked insanely familiar. I looked back to the men in the middle of the room.

"Okay, listen up," The speaker began. "Everyone puts their phone in the box, everyone sits on the floor in front of me, and everyone keeps their mouth shut. You do that, and no one gets hurt."

I heard one of the women begin talking to one of the tellers, and I heard one of the robbers at the door cock his shotgun. I watched silently as the other patrons of the bank scurried towards the centre of the room in fear, nervously noting my even breathing in comparison to my frantic heartbeat.

At this point, Mckinna, Landyn, and I were the only ones that hadn't moved. So, I gently took Mckinna's arm and pulled her out of her seat. We dragged ourselves to the two men with the box. I saw Landyn grasp his mother's hand, and Mckinna didn't hesitate to pat his head in comfort. I could vaguely see the men smirking through their masks as we reached them, and I suddenly felt inexplicably angry.

"Hello, ladies." The leader said. Then he glanced at Landyn. "Hey, little man."

Landyn flinched back, and I instinctively put a hand between the boy beside me and the man in front of me.

The leader looked taken aback by my action, but he soon chuckled. "Don't you worry, sweetheart. We won't hurt the kid. We'll just take your cell phones. If you don't mind."

I forcefully pulled my phone from my back pocket and I tossed it into the box, not even flinching as it hit the bottom of the box and rested on top of a pile of the other bank patrons' phones. My only link to anyone outside of the bank was now out of reach. I lifted my hand, gently taking Mckinna's phone and putting it in the box as well.

"Thank you very much! Now, if you'll have a seat, please."

Mckinna instantly began to drag herself and her son towards the other people huddled together on the floor. But me? I stood there in silence, staring at the men before me and clenching my fists.

'I have to do something.'

"Young lady,"

I met the leader's eyes. He raised his gun and aimed it at my chest.

"I insist."

I stared for a moment longer, feeling tears well up in my eyes. But I eventually turned my back to the men and started walking. I knelt down next to Mckinna, squatting directly between the family and the armed robbers.

I was constantly glancing at the clock on the wall, and I counted about fifteen minutes of our sitting there, legs falling asleep as the tellers slowly did as the robbers demanded. The longer I sat there, the more on-edge I became. I've been here before. I've done this before. Something was gonna happen, and I needed to stop it, or I would never forgive myself.

Then I heard a scuffle not far behind me, and I turned to look. A door next to the tellers' desks had been opened, and one of the women was inside yelling at someone. I didn't even realize I had stood up. The man who worked in that office left it when the robbers first arrived, and he was sitting right next to my feet. Things didn't look good. The woman walked out with an office phone that was cut at the cord, and she was leading a man out at gunpoint. My breath hitched in my throat.

"Connor..." I whispered, glancing around at the robbers in the room as I started stepping around the other patrons.

"Hey!" The other robbers turned to the woman when she yelled.

"Jamie, where are you going?!" Mckinna whispered in a panic, reaching for my pant leg.

"Miss B.!" Landyn did the same.

But I was already out of reach.

"This guy was in an office over there. Getting a bit friendly with the cops." The woman lifted a leg and kicked Connor in the back, making him land right at the leader's feet.

"That so?" The leader squatted down, looking into Connor's face with a sneer. "What's your name?"

Connor shook in his spot on the floor, but his voice was surprisingly level when he responded with, "Connor. My name's Connor Fontenot."

"Level with me, Connor." The leader held out his hand, helping Connor to his feet. "You got any family?"

Connor cleared his throat. He nodded.

"Wife? Kids?"

"I -- "

"And where are you going?" A deep voice asked behind me.

I squeaked as I felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around my waist. I swung my legs violently each time the man holding me had me in the air, and I spent every second trying to get out of his hold when my feet could touch the floor. I had to get to Connor!

"Oh," The leader looked in my direction, leaning an elbow on Connor's shoulder. "So we have two little troublemakers. You know this young lady, Connor?"

I watched as Connor's face was completely drained of color. "Jamie?!"

I didn't answer him.

"Augh! Put. Me. Down!" I yelled at the man holding me.

The leader chuckled, smirking in my direction as he lead Connor towards me by the shoulders. "So her name's Jamie. She's a feisty one! She a friend of yours?"

I swung my leg down and back as Connor started to stutter out his answer. The man holding me back instantly released me, his knees buckling beneath him as he groaned in pain and fell to the floor. Connor's stuttering stopped as I started running to meet them halfway.

"Whoah, now!"

I froze as the leader aimed his weapon at me.

"Not so fast, Jamie. We're kind of having a conversation here. Do you not care about your friend? Get back over there and sit with that other young lady and that kid. You take one more step over here and I'll blow Connor's brains out."

I was angry when I saw the man place his gun's muzzle against Connor's temple. I clenched my fists, knowing that this man wasn't bluffing in the least.

I didn't think. It just spilled out.

"You were going to shoot him anyway!" I took a shaky breath. "Please, let him go. Connor's made a life for himself. He has a family. Did you come here to start a murder spree and tear families apart, or did you come to make yourself and your buddies rich?"

The entire bank was silent at my words.

"Look, when the cops show up, your best bet is to have hostages, right? Use me as your 'representative hostage', or something. You know, 'if you don't give into our demands, then she's the first one to die' kind of deal. Be smart about this."

'What did I just do....'

The man had a thoughtful expression underneath his mask as he hummed in consideration.

'I'm gonna get myself killed....'

Then, the man nodded his head and moved his aim from Connor to me. "You're pretty clever. I think I'll take you up on that."

He turned to Connor as he removed his arm from the poor man's shoulder. "You got lucky, Connor. Be happy that Jamie here has a good head on her shoulders. You might wanna go sit over there before I change my mind."

Conner took a tentative step forward. When he didn't get shot, he took a shaky breath and looked to me for confirmation. I gave him a tense smile. I nodded in silence, telling him that he'd be okay. I knew I probably wouldn't be, but I was fairly confident that Connor would be alright, now. When he saw my lips curl up, he looked into the crowd of bank patrons. I didn't turn to look; I only listened as he made a beeline for his wife and child at a brisk, fervent pace.

"So, Jamie,"

I began to drag myself forward when the leader waved me over, his gun still aimed at my chest.

"What were you doing here before we showed up?" As soon as I reached his side, he slung his arm over my shoulder. "I mean, you already know why we're here. It's only fair that we have a little quid pro quo."

I swallowed what little spit was in my mouth, glancing around the room. I avoided the man's gaze, but I still answered him. I figured that the longer he was talking, the less likely he would kill anyone.

"I came for a loan."

"Oh? What for?"

"I want to open a bakery."

"Well, that sounds just lovely, Jamie! Got a name for it?"

I couldn't help the incredulous glance I gave him. "You actually care about my bakery?"

The man shrugged. "Not really."

"Hey!" The two of us turned to the door as one of the men over there got our attention. "We've got incoming."

I flinched as the leader pulled his arm off of my shoulders and firmly gripped my upper arm.

"Well, that's just great..." He muttered under his breath. Then he turned to the tellers' desks and shouted, "Hey, ladies!"

The two women that stood there glanced over.

"How much longer?"

The woman that I heard speak earlier smirked beneath her mask. "Not long at all, sir."

"As a matter of fact," The other woman piped up, eagerly taking two large duffel bags from one of the tellers. "It looks like we're all done here!"

The leader nodded his head. "Excellent."

Then he started handing out orders.

"You two, stay here and watch out for our little sheep, would you?"

"And if you and our lovely ladies over there could make a clean getaway, that would be fantastic."

"Jamie and I are gonna have a nice chat with our friends outside; see if we can buy you some time. Won't we, Jamie?"

I kept my mouth glued shut as the man began dragging me towards the bank's front door. I tried not to make any noise as I winced. There was definitely going to be some bruising if I made it out of this alive...

The man opened the door, pulling me out with him with his gun's muzzle touching the side of my head. I was shaking. I could feel tears pooling in my eyes.

I tried to ignore the danger I was in as I looked into the parking lot at the three cop cars. There were six officers; five were positioned behind their vehicles so that they would be a harder target to hit, and the last was doing the same with a bullhorn in her hand.

"Good morning, officers!" The robber asked loudly. "Can I help you?"

"Good morning, sir," The woman with the bullhorn greeted him.

This was around the moment where I found myself zoning out. I guess the stress was finally getting to me because I was only picking up bits and pieces of the conversation between the policewoman and the man holding the gun.

"Now, why would I do that?" The robber pouted childishly underneath his mask. "Jamie and I are having a good time over here! And also, your not even going to tell me your name while we have our chat? Talk about rude."

"I'm Lieutenant Alissa Hadaway from the Moss Creek Police Department."

More things were said, and yet I found myself staring at the concrete stairs beneath my feet as tears streamed from my eyes.

"Hmmm...." The robber looked to the sky for a moment. "No, I don't think I will."

At some point, an actual negotiator arrived on the scene and took over for the lieutenant, but things didn't really go as smoothly as they'd hoped.

"I thought I had told you what would happen if you said that again!"

"what...?" I finally choked out a whisper as the man's grip tightened on my arm.

I didn't even flinch as he pulled the trigger.

I heard a fraction of the negotiator's shout.

Then everything went dark.