nefelibata (n.) | ✔️

eight.

Present. September 10th, 2018.

My morning started like I had expected, chaotic and frustrating. My mother decided to take it upon herself to pick out my outfit for school. I don't know when she found the time to come into my room and lay out the hideous navy blue dress on the counter, but she did.

As I stare in the mirror, glancing at the dress, I sigh heavily in disapproval. I had to make somehow my life more comfortable though. Do I want to listen to my mom lecture me on the importance of navy blue dresses? Not especially.

Don't most girls bring an extra outfit to school so they can dress more scandalous, not so they can wear black for their own good will?

I shove a pair of black ripped jeans and a black tank with my favorite black and gray flannel into my bag. It's much too big for me. I purposefully got large in the men's section so I could cover most of the length of my body.

I finish off my usual heavy makeup and throw on my best fake smile as I head down the stairs, my school work and change of clothes in hand.

"Oh, Lena. You look beautiful!" My mother compliments. She walks towards me and holds both sides of my face, giving me a soft kiss on my forehead. "Now all we need to do is ease out of that horrid makeup." I roll my eyes subtly and give her another fake smile.

I walk to shove on my black converse, keeping the heels off so I can easily slip out of them when I change. I give my mother a wave goodbye and rush to my car. It starts with no hassle, thank God, and I drive down to a secluded part of my neighborhood to quickly change.

Note to self - putting on skinny jeans in a car, with rips no less, is not an easy task. The fact that my mother hates my style so much that I have to sneak behind her back to change into more suitable clothes is ridiculous. I huff and pull the sleeves up on my flannel, fanning myself with my hand.

"Want an easy workout? Put skinny jeans on in the damn car." I grumble to myself, putting the car back in drive and making my way to Lenny's.

——————

By lunchtime, I was sure that my day could not go by any slower.

The distant glares of passing students did nothing to prevent my very pissed off expression. I feel like I wouldn't have a resting bitch face if these fucking students would stop looking at me.

Going to the library for lunch is not exactly my best moment, but it's better than subjecting myself to the annoyance of sitting alone in the cafe.

I plop myself down at a computer, shoving my head in my hands and trying my hardest not to smudge the makeup that lives there. The fact that my school life is so miserable that even the librarians give me odd looks is almost laughable.

"Lena?" I raise my head from my hands to the voice that calls me from the sitting couches. No one has called my name in this building, so I'm not exactly sure if I'm hearing things or not. "Lena, over here!"

I stand up to look over the towering bookcase to find a very smiley Carson. Do I have this bad of luck, or is Satan playing tricks on me?

"Carl, hey," I say a bit too unenthusiastically. Carson laughs, closing his book and ushering me to sit by him. Luckily, no one else was using the couches, so I was safe from the judgment gazes for a bit.

"Love to see that you're happy to see me!" He exclaims, smiling brightly. I give him my best side-eye as I toss my bag to the floor and slump into the couch in front of him.

"Always happy to see you, Carl." I give what seems to be my millionth fake smile of the day and pretend to take an interest in the random book lying beside me. I don't know why eye contact with Carson is so tricky.