head over heels | benny rodriguez

| chapter four |

I was awoken the next morning to a glimmer of sunlight peeking through my blinds. After the whole incident with the kid down the block last night, I just went to sleep.

Rubbing my eyes, I flung the comforter off my legs and sat up to look at the time.

"Only 8:50?" I muttered. God, a girl should not be waking up this early on her fifth day of summer.

I laid back down, sticking my head under the warm pillows in an attempt to fall back asleep, but was unsuccessful. Might as well just start the day early while I'm awake.

I rolled out of bed and trotted over to the bathroom to get a good glimpse of myself.

"Holy shit." I jumped back in a panic. I look awful. I don't know how I do it, but somehow my tanktop was completely twisted around my torso, my lips were scabbed and crusted, and my hair had slumped over into a messy lump.

I started off by brushing my teeth and combing the knots out of my hair. Thankfully, my curtain bangs looked pretty good today, so there was no need to style them. I also rinsed my face to help me wake up.

I applied some light makeup; a bit of concealer for my eye bags and any red spots, some blush, brow gel, light mascara, and some chapstick. After all, it is at least 80 degrees out, and too much makeup will melt off my face by 2 pm.

Trying to pick out an outfit was (and will always be) unimaginably difficult. But after a solid fifteen minutes of scavenging, I finally came up with something.

Due to the scorching heat, I went with a baggy pair of thrifted jean shorts and a simple black tank top, trimmed with lace. I paired it with my black high-top converse, and to add some spice, threw on a few necklaces and chunky rings, as well as heart-shaped earrings to match the locket I was wearing.

Though I was satisfied with my outfit, I don't know, it just felt like something was missing. Like an accessory - maybe a hat...

I raced towards my closet to find just what I needed: the Dodger's hat.

Look, I know it sounds bad, but in my defense, it worked perfectly with the outfit's color scheme and worked great with my skin tone. Plus, it's not like he's ever gonna see me again, and I could really use this cap to keep me from getting blinded today.

I wanted to run by the store to pick up some snacks and asprin for my chronic headaches, so I plugged my earbuds into my walkman, grabbed my favorite mixtape, and dashed out of my room.

I quickly hollered to grandma that I was leaving the house for the first time, which she was thrilled about, and I was out the door.

Grandpa told me there was a store only a couple of blocks away - Vincents Drug I think?? - that I could walk by to get my stuff. You see, I didn't really get any directions besides an address, so I decided to just walk around for a bit until I (hopefully) stumble upon it.

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I finally made it there after quite a while of struggling to navigate in the summer heat, and stepped inside.

I was immediately overwhelmed with the smell of dust and plastic as soon as I walked in, but the air conditioning made up for the stench.

The place had definitely seen better days, as the paint was peeling off the walls and the shelves were a little lopsided, but the prices were great so I didn't mind.

After a bit of perusing, I grabbed a pack of Skittles and a glass bottle of Sprite before making my way out of the snack aisle and towards the medical section.

It was kinda nice, just being alone with all of the freedom in the world, zoning out to my favorite songs. I leaned back and forth to the beat as I perused the shelves, drowning out all background noise while I searched for asprin.