Kalopsia: (n.) the illusion that things are more beautiful than they really are
I can't help but notice that it's a really nice day when I wake up.
I mean, I know that "birds singing" "sun shining" mornings are just bits of fantasy from board books for little kids, but at least I didn't feel like diving underneath my covers as soon as I felt wintry sun on my face.
I didn't even have to drag myself out of bed. I felt light, a little bit floaty, and there was a strange sense of elation in my chest, like someone had inflated a balloon there. It was an amazing feeling; one that I hadn't felt since the beginning of seventh grade when I first snuck out to the movies with my best friends. You know, that feeling of infinity.
All throughout picking my outfit I tried to savor this newfound feeling of quiet euphoria, fingers skimming through the singular rack of clothes. They finally decide on a short-sleeve black swing dress; it's out of the norm for me, but I felt like dressing up today. And even though the skirt probably violated the dress code, I knew none of the teachers really enforced the dress code (besides the Physical Ed. teachers) and as long as I wasn't wearing anything too outrageous (which I wasn't) I wouldn't get in trouble.
Besides, I knew Nolan liked it when I dressed up.
I quickly changed from pajamas into the dress, then eyed my rather troublesome hair. Usually I would have just dragged a brush through it and then perhaps put it in a ponytail (depending on the weather) but since I was going for fancy, I decided to braid it.
After trying and failing to attempt a Bohemian braid, I settled for a more subtle fishtail and then surveyed myself in the mirror.
What I saw surprised me. I was actually...quite pretty when I tried to be. In fact, if I smiled and maybe stole some of my mom's mascara and put it on, I might actually look like a popular girl.
I smiled and decided to steal some of my mom's mascara.
* * *
Being the paranoid little creature that I was, I walked to school always fifteen minutes prior to the first bell. The sidewalk was littered with puddles reflecting the blue of the sky above, which was marbled with gray clouds. The air smelled like rain and it cheered me up immensely, as it signaled the possibility of not doing Phys Ed that day.
I was trying very hard not to touch or blink my eyes too much; the mascara was waterproof, but too much fooling around would probably smear it, and I was in too much of a good mood to let badly done makeup ruin my day.
As I picked my way around murky pools of water, I couldn't help but wonder how Nolan would react to seeing me like this at school. I had only dressed up a few times before: mostly on our first dates. After a while things became much more relaxed and I just never felt the need. But anytime that I did dress up for no reason at all, he would always do a doubletake, somewhat teasingly, and then he'd say, "That can't be Saige, can it?" And I would smile and he would smile, and for a few seconds I could forget that he wasn't perfect.
YOU ARE READING
Kintsukuroi
Random"Love is a game that two can play but both can win." Eva Gabor said. Saige Adler passionately disagrees. All too often she has played that game, and all too often she has lost more than she had gambled. She has been destroyed over and over. But some...
