One Way Up

.i.

The bed creaked as I sat on it; gently, I removed my white flats placing them on the carpet beneath me. I winced as I touched the abrasions on the back of my ankle, looking at my hand I saw my finger stained with a slight tint of blood; immediately, I picked up one of my flats and noticed the scarlet liquid had imbrued the insoles.

"Another pair ruined," I thought. Taking the flats in my hand I sauntered toward my dresser; I pulled back the door, revealing my plethora of footwear. Carefully, I placed the flats into the dresser and closed the door shut.

The faint sounds of conversation flooded my room, my brother had once again gotten into an enthralling debate with my dad. I walked to the bathroom, my feet were aching and another night of pointless confabulating had drained me. Looking into the mirror I noticed my lips, they were stained a deep red just hours ago but now all that remained was a shade of faint pink.

I took out my endless number of bobby pins out of my pinned back hair, my chestnut locks cascaded down to my elbows. I took a handful of cold water from the faucet and splashed it on my face. This had been the tenth time this summer I'd gone through this routine, I couldn't deal with it for much longer. I trudged back into my room and slipped out of my paisley dress. Tossing on an oversized t-shirt and a pair of cotton shorts I finally felt myself again.

Every Saturday night, I had to wear a dress for four hours and those were the longest four hours of the whole day. It wasn't much longer till I didn't have to do this; those were the days I was looking forward to. No more having to wear formal dresses, no more painstakingly having to walk in flats trying my best to be lady-like.

I heard a light knock on my door just as I was about to tumble into bed. "Come in", I said. It was my Mom, she still had her full ensemble on, her short auburn hair sat on her shoulders neatly pulled back and her smile was radiant. Even with such a tiring night she was still contained and together. "Mom, you should stop buying me flats. This is the fifth pair that I've ruined."

"Honey, you'll get used to it and don't worry I'll have them back to mint condition in no time", she assured. In between taking care of two kids and working full-time, my mom still found a way get things done; she was very persistent and that was something that I lacked.

"I came to remind you that we are going go to the store tomorrow to pick up whatever you need for school on Monday",she said, her voice had a motherly tone. Most girls loved buying new clothes for school, but the one thing that I loved to do the most was buying stationary. Every year I would buy the exact three pens and a new notebook in case I had roaming thoughts to write down during school. Many times the myriad of pens to choose from would overwhelm me which then left me no choice but to stare at them wonderstruck, the same experience I had anytime I would go to a bookstore. Lost in my daydreaming once again, I was quickly reminded that with school supplies shopping also came the actual incidence of attending school.

"Good Night", I chimed, as my mom walked out, closing the door behind her.

I laid on my back staring up at the dark ceiling, replaying the events of tonight in my head. Talking to my dad's coworkers, talking to other kids my age, it was something I dreaded. A few years ago, on a night like this my family would have stayed up late watching episodes of our favorite shows but now things were changing, we were growing up.

Now there was only one way to go...up