crowns

1

        Mariah's eyes opened. She stared blankly at her pink ceiling as minutes passed with the alarm blaring, and then finally threw back the covers and got out of bed.

        She walked to the mirror and examined the size of her thighs and stomach, pinching the little fat that there was and frowning. She straightened her long brown hair, blow-drying it upside down to give it volume, and slipped on heels to match her short skirt. She brushed on layers of black mascara, and painted her face with blush and pink lip-gloss. She packed her school notebooks in a bag and paced back and forth on her bedroom carpet, practicing walking in sky high heels like the flawless way that supermodels do.

       "Put some food down for Candy, and there's a banana on the counter for you." Mariah's dad told her once she got downstairs. He gathered his briefcase and headed to leave for work, calling out "See you later, pumpkin."

        Candy immediately brushed up against Mariah's leg, purring and meowing. Mariah kissed Candy on the head, opened a can of cat food, and went outside to wait for Nicki.

        Nicki pulled up in her barely week-old blue mini coupe, Jay Z blaring from the speakers. She pushed her designer sunglasses up on top of her head, smiled with her Nicki charm and said "Do you have a banana for me?"

        Mariah tossed it to her and hopped in, mouthing along to the rap chorus.

        Nicki brushed back some of her shoulder length, wind blown hair, and peeled the banana with her sharp fake nails as she drove. Nicki was the only person in the world that Mariah knew who could eat like a pig and still stay that thin.

        Pulling into the school parking lot, some of the boys yelled "Yo, rich girl!", calling after her and staring at her car.

        Nicki held up her keys and jingled them, showing the boys with the baggy pants what they were missing. "Let them drool." She said to Mariah, smiling as they got out.

        Walking to her classroom, Mariah kept her head high, held her eyes staring down the dead center of the hallway, hearing her heels click on the floor all the way to the English department. Right in front of the door Josh stopped her and kissed her, wrapping his arm around her waist, and then with no words they together went and sat down in the class for sophomore English.

        "What did Newman really give you on that essay?" Jillian asked as she fixed her hair in the bathroom mirror.

        "An A, duh." Mariah said, adjusting her skirt. "But Josh got an 84%, and he's the only junior in that class y'know..."

        "Oh, did she tell you?" Jillian leaned away from the mirror to address the group. "Jazzy let Kevin help her study for the chem test."

        The girls giggled, raising their eyebrows at Jasmine.

        "Kevin sucks at chemistry, you know that Jazz." Nicki said without looking up from her phone.

        Jasmine looked down sheepishly, and said in her high voice that still sounded kind of like a little girl, "You guys, I really needed the help."

        "Come to Mariah's tonight, you can study with us." Jillian offered, but Jasmine shook her head. "No, no, I've barely got a B, I actually have to learn the stuff for real."

        Jillian rolled her eyes, smiling, and linked arms with Jasmine. "C'mon Nicki."

        "Mhm..." Nicki stopped texting for a moment to look up at Mariah. "Are you coming, or is Josh taking you to lunch?"

        "Yeah, he is. I'll see you in math."

        Alone in the bathroom, Mariah took a deep breath and stared in the mirror. Slight freckles across her face, nose a little too big, top lip too thin, eyes a dull brown. She wiped some smudged eyeliner from her skin, turned to look at her body from the side, and slung her bag over one shoulder.

        Careful steps down the stairs, long strides through the parking lot, and there was Josh, leaning against his car.

        "Please don't tell me we're going to the bank again." Mariah said as she got in the shotugn seat.

        "Just two more days, it's no big deal baby, they just gotta ask you some questions for security purposes and shit."

        Mariah fished in her purse for black sunglasses, and zipped up her jacket to hide her cleavage. "And why, again, can't you just ask your parents for money?"

        Josh pulled out of the parking lot and sped down the cross street. "I told you baby, it's my account, my dad just put it under my mom's name 'cause he didn't want me to spend it all."

        Mariah sighed. "I don't want to, can't we just go back to school?"

        "C'mon don't be like that. Look, we're already here, just get in and out no one will notice."

        Mariah finally got out of the car. She pulled her skirt down a little and stood for Josh to see. "Do I look professional?"

        He laughed, "Yeah, you look just like my mom."

        She slammed the car door and rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. She threw the bubblegum she was chewing in the trash at the entrance, and sauntered to an open teller. They asked her to sign things, just like before, she handed them the ID Josh took from his mom's wallet, and answered questions acting as casual and mature as she knew how. In five minutes she was back in Josh's car, taking off her sunglasses and kissing him.

        That night, Mariah's doorbell rang, and she opened it to Nicki standing in sweatpants with half of her hair up in a bun.

        "Hey, Jill's upstairs, I'm just gonna get some soda."

        Nicki kicked off her shoes and headed towards Mariah's bedroom.