The Black Rose Society

Chapter 4: It's Gonna Be Okay

Copyright © 2013 Bree Eischen

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o4. It's Gonna Be Okay

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When I awoke the next morning, I glanced around at my surroundings and tried to remember where I was, but it only took a second to recall the events from the day before. I noticed that someone had turned off my stereo and the black lamp on the nightstand next to my bed since I must have fallen asleep without doing any of that. The picture I had been crying over was set against the lamp as well.

I figured it must have been my dad or Cody. One of them may have come in to check on me only to find that I had passed out pretty early.

I sat up a bit and rubbed my eyes. Then, I looked down only to find smudges of eyeliner and mascara that made their way onto my hand. I must have looked like a complete train wreck.

The alarm clock on my nightstand informed me that it was six in the morning. How had I not slept in more? It was my second day in a row waking up before eight, but I didn’t feel like going back to bed at all. I stood up and made my way to the closest bathroom down the hall from my room. I got there, closed the door behind me, and just stared at myself.

I couldn’t tell who exactly was staring back at me. I looked nothing like my usual self. My hair was a tangled mess, my eye make-up was smeared down my face from crying so much, and my bright green eyes appeared dull.

Okay…yes, I was in a bad situation—in my opinion at least—but I finally realized at that moment that there wasn’t really anything I could do to change it. I had to make the most of it and definitely had to let my dad be happy for once.

I turned the faucet on and began washing my face, wiping away any evidence of my sorrow from the night before. It was a new day. I needed to be more optimistic than I had been in the last few days.

I threw my hair up into a messy bun on top of my head and took a deep breath in then let it out. I left the bathroom, turning off the light and closing the door behind me. At that moment, the smell of bacon and freshly-ground coffee wafted through my nostrils. My stomach began grumbling at the thought and smell of food, and I knew I couldn’t go any longer that morning without eating.

I went downstairs and found the dining room, noting that Simone was the only one sitting there, her robe on and her reading glasses near the tip of her nose as she looked over the morning paper and sipped her coffee. She had a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of her, and it smelled even more delicious being so up close.

My step-mom suddenly glanced up only to find me standing there awkwardly near the table. Trying to have a conversation with her while it was just the two of us proved to be slightly weird to me just because of the circumstances. I think she always tried to find some way to make small talk when she could, but I had never let it go past one-word answers from me so that she would eventually try to stop talking to me altogether.

“Oh, hey there, Lily. Would you like some eggs and bacon? I can cook up a little something for you if you’d like.”

“Please. That would be great,” I said, my stomach growling in approval a few seconds later.

She told me to take a seat and went into the kitchen that was attached to the dining room. I sat down in one of the chairs near her spot at the table and took the liberty of pouring myself a cup of coffee, adding some sugar and cream that she had set out on the table in cute little glass containers. From the looks of it, we both had at least one thing in common so far: how we liked our coffee.