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𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐅𝐎𝐀𝐌. jennie pushed open the glass door, bells sounding at her entrance. the smell of stale downy and seafoam walls hit her.
she had never been here before. not once.
yet it was all so familiar.
she routinely lugged the plastic bag full of clothes to one of the empty washing machines, and opened the machine door, stuffing in the wrinkly items, one by one.
her hands moved on their own, pressing buttons, and neatly folding up the plastic bag. she sat down on the nearby bench for a few minutes, sniffed her clothed arms and walked back to the white machine.
with a few movements she had stripped herself of her leather jacket, and the washing machine was turning again. she didn't really care if the jacket was ruined. she figured they.. they wouldn't be here for much longer anyway.
sigh.
she felt a little cold, so she rubbed her arms with her hands, feeling the bumps on her skin. her eyes drifted forward, to her reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror, and her movements faltered.
she glanced down at her arms.
what?
no. this wasn't possible.
it wasn't.
it couldn't be.
but it was.
the pale, transparent pigment under her fingers convinced her.
she was suddenly really tired, and really dizzy. so she sat down, back onto the cold bench.
jennie looked up at the clock that read 10:45. it was broken, she assumed, like they all were. but oddly, this one was ticking. she didn't think much of it.
she leaned her head back against the glass of the storefront, and for a moment she wondered if the others were okay.
beep!
apparently the clothes were done drying.
jennie thought she must have fallen asleep. she rubbed her tired eyes and stretched. how long had she been here?
yawning, she walked over with her plastic bag to gather the clothes from the dryer. while she stared into the mirror again, at her exhausted, pale-looking reflection, she winced and fixed her messy braid. jennie paused and squinted. something behind her had caught her eye.
it was a pair of shoes, on the very top shelf. without much consideration, she had made her way over to the back of the room. she tippy-toed, and reached up to grab them, inspecting the jewels embedded on the surface. the centerpiece of the design on each shoe was a very scratched-up (yet still shiny) emerald.
maybe lisa would like them?
jennie remembered how lisa ranted to her, on and on, about her favorite pair of childhood sneakers, which "had lots of very shiny, very pretty jewels" on them. lisa liked green, too, she recalled.
yes, she will probably like them, jennie thought.
"jennie!!"
lisa looked back at her friend and scanned her features carefully.
"come on!! you're falling behind!" the lively girl skipped foward, dragging her poor friend along with her.
"okay, okay!!" jennie smiled. she glanced down at the shoes lisa was wearing- the sneakers she had gotten her earlier that day.
they looked pretty.
the four of them gathered in the center of the spacious lot, where newspapers and stray fragments of memories drifted and settled endlessly.
subconsciously they turned to the theater. the place that had started it all. a subtle glow lit up the place.
a tear fell to the cement floor, erasing the dust that had formed there. then another. and another.
they were all crying, they realized.
jennie opened her mouth to speak. she had to tell them. now.
but as she turned to them, i know, their eyes said.
they already knew.
lisa shook her head and wiped her face with the back of her hand. "put on your song, rosie. let's dance."
and drunk on their sober thoughts, they spun across the cement, their movements artless yet graceful.
they were so incredibly lost in the moment, eyes glossy with the fantasy of never-ending youth, and their smiles kaleidoscopes, filled with stars right on the edge of bursting.
they spun, hand in hand, star-crossed. living, loving, and longing, all at once.
they had suffered enough up until now. maybe, maybe tonight, they could be free.
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🗒 ❛ author's note: ༉‧₊˚✧ ╰┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ hi loves <3 i've missed writing so much ! and i've missed you guys hehe ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ i hope you enjoyed the chapter !! we're almost at the end of the book :( i'm going to be so sad T-T but please look forward to the last few chapters ♡ take care as always ! sending infinite hugs.
