Char Coal (BWWM)

Chapter 1: Sun Burnt

Chapter One: Sun Burnt

I couldn't do it, I just couldn't.

Staring at the blue plaid skirt on my bed, I felt like dying. It went with the polo shirt and green blazer next to it. I was the girl who wore gym shorts around the house every day and dressed up in black slacks for church. It wasn't that I was anti-girly, skirts were foreign to me. I even wore boy-short underwear; pants were practically in my blood and now this school wanted me to wear a skirt?

And you won't believe it; they gave me more than one! There was a plain blue one, a khaki one and black version. They gave me some tight shorts that stopped just above my knees that came in the same colors and patterns as the skirt. I would rather wear those but my mother was forcing me to wear the plaid skirt. She said since she was paying for my tuition that she now had the power to dictate what I wore. To be honest, I just thought that she was trying to make up for years of neglect. She never cared what I wore before. Dad used to take me shopping, not her.

"Hurry up Char!" Belle rushed, standing in front of the doorway of the bedroom we shared together. "They waitin' for ya."

I couldn't wait until she moved out; I would love to have my own room for once. She was messy and kept all her stringy undies and cropped tops all over the ground. For a girl who wore little clothing, she sure had a lot to choose from.

I surely wasn't Ms. Clean but her side of the room was a landfill.

"I'm coming, dang." I rolled my eyes.

It was just a skirt. I've seen a lot of girls wear them so what was the big deal? Taking a deep breath, I picked up the plaid monstrosity, pulling it up to my waist. As I predicted, I didn't feel comfortable. In fact, I felt naked. I didn't want my thighs to touch each other without clothing separating them.

"Just go tell them I'll be right out." I said to her. She groaned, sluggishly walking away.

As fast as I could, I searched through my dresser for my shorts. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. I picked my thin black ones that I used when I practiced track in middle school. Now I felt like myself again. It was better when I wore them underneath the skirt.

After putting on the white polo shirt and blazer, I slipped on the white oxford shoes over my white knee length socks. Was this school stuck in the eighties? Total cliché.

Walking to Belle's mirror on the other side of the room, I used some of her pomade to give my hair a shiny look. My hairdo was just two large braids going down to my back, stopping several inches under my shoulders. My sisters always said they wanted my hair while I want their 'everything else'. They got the boys' attention while I was considered one of the guys.

I grabbed my JanSport backpack before running out of the house to meet my dad and the twins in his black Ford Expedition. The twins were dressed like me except Annabelle was wearing a khaki skirt and Mirabelle picked to wear the plain navy blue one. Their makeup was done to the T; their lashes were full and their lips were coated with pink lipstick that they were light enough to pull off. They had the same hairstyle but their feathered bangs went in opposite directions. The only way you could tell them apart was by the scar Annabelle had on the side of her neck from a tragic hot comb disaster. Six year olds should never have access to one.

"Are you trying to make us early for tomorrow's class?" Anna joked as I took the passenger seat. "What do you actually do to make you so late? I expected you to come out in a gown and beat face with all that time you took."

"Good morning dad." I smiled, ignoring her. She used to keep me up when she straightens her hair for twenty minutes and the smell was not pleasant. Burning hair didn't freshen up the air.