[old] hexes for exes, briarville girls (1)

十九。像我們的女孩

(girls like us)

SILENCE IS BOTH POWERFUL AND PAINFUL.

Livia woke up a bit too early for her liking, though she was quickly grateful when she realised that a small pool of blood was spilt between her legs. Growling, Livia yanked the sheet off her bed, thankful that it had not gotten to her mattress. Her pants and sheets, however, needed desperate cleaning. Livia found a nice laundry basket in the bathroom, where she stuffed in her bedsheet, taking a quick shower before changing into her school uniform.

The house was quiet, unsurprisingly. Livia could hear Pamela's soft-snoring, the sound of her mother or father rolling around in their bed and the strange sounds their heater sometimes made. Cursing her laziness, Livia dragged her tired limbs downstairs to the kitchen, where she made herself a nice cup of Chinese tea.

She wasn't hungry yet, so she decided to wait until her family was up to eat. Pamela was still distant, though the two sisters simply acted as if everything was alright in front of their parents. It's Pamela's story to tell. Not hers.

At six forty-five sharp, as always, Livia left for school in her car. She didn't have to leave so early, but a year of leaving at that time back in Shanghai had drilled it into her brain. Besides, it's always nice to arrive at school before your peers. You could snoop around places you normally wouldn't dare, when some teachers and staff were only just filing in.

Today, Livia Wong had one mission. Unfortunately, the girl she wanted to see won't strut into the polished halls until at least seven forty-five (along with a majority of other students), leaving Livia with a painful half an hour before Anderson would reach school. And after that, class starts at eight o'five. This was going to be a race against time- that is, if Lila even bothers talking to her in the first place.

Livia is by no means the only early bird today. A few other students were littered around campus. Some had their noses in books, studying for exams and quizzes, others simply quietly chatting with friends, sitting on benches in the courtyard.

It only took Livia minutes to realise that this was one of those days where the simplest of things made her want to snap. Even people repeating words when she doesn't immediately respond, the slightest bit of physical contact, and the bit-too-loud comment instantly ticked her off. Gods, maybe she shouldn't do this today. It will easily dissolve into a full-on brawl at this rate.

But Livia simply locked herself in a bathroom, looked into a mirror and whispered to herself "I am calm, I am calm". It was the best she could do for herself at that moment. She was at a loss of ideas, and suddenly, half an hour felt like nothing.

In fact, it passed much too quickly. Livia had barely even prepared herself, fidgeting at her uniform's collar and pulling her fingers through her short ponytail (her hair barely reaches her shoulders. Not that she dislikes it, but it doesn't look good in any hairstyle except when it's down, but that breaches the school policy of all hair reaching the shoulders must be tied up) when the clock struck eight forty-five. Growling, she picked up her book bag from her locker and walked towards the door she knew Lila always came in from, leaning against the stone wall to avoid the students that started flocking in, quickly swarming the corridors and hallways until the school was once again it's usual, busy self.