Diluted

~1~

"I'm Jim by the way!" The man shouts.

Ember stops and looks back. She grins at him a little. He seems friendly, and she likes friendly people.

"Ember," she tells him.

"Nice to meet you," Jim smiles.

"I live right here if you need anything, welcome to the neighborhood," Jim smiles as he points to an apartment on the side closest to the stairs.

"Thank you," Ember smiles.

"Do you need any help? That bag looks heavy," Jim offers.

Ember takes a second to think. It would be nice to have help but at the same time she would have to invite him into her home and that's way out of her comfort zone.

"No thanks. I think I got it," Ember says as politely as possible.
She hopes that she doesn't come of hostile.
Everyone has always told her that she comes off passive aggressive, but she can't help it. When she feels uncomfortable she goes into defense mode.

"Okay. Well just let me know if you do need anything," Jim smiles as he unlocks his apartment.

With one final wave he disappears into his place.

Ember smiles to herself. He was pretty nice.

Ember walks down the hall and stops when she sees her apartment number.

She grabs out her keys and unlocks the door.

She throws her bag down on the floor, it's really heavy.

She closes the door behind her and locks it.

She leans against the door and lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding in.

She takes a second to look around the place.

It looks really nice. Her mom had people move the furniture already which she is so thankful for.

Ember picks up her bag and carries it into the bedroom.

She looks at herself in the mirror and sighs.

She hates how she looks. So imperfect, so unlovable.

Ember tries not to hate her appearance but she can't help but pick at her flaws.

Ember strips off her airplane clothes and walks into the bathroom. She opens the cabinet to find black towels and wash rags. She smiles to herself. Her parents have always been so supportive of her and they only want the best for her.

Ember grabs out a towel and wash rag and then turns on the shower.
She can barely wait till she can scrub the nasty airplane stench off her skin.

Once the water is hot enough she steps in and opens the pack of soap that's in there.
She begins to scrub her body, not bothering to be gentle.

Once her body is covered in soap she rinses her skin and then sits down in the shower. She allows the water to hit her head and encase her body.

She sighs to herself. She wishes she could have better people skills. She just gets so uncomfortable around strangers.
She hopes that maybe it will be a little easier here in America. Maybe she will finally find someone who understands her. Back in London, nothing was easy, she felt that every one hated her or was out to hurt her or use her, she hopes it won't be like that here.
She already has a couple of friends out here so maybe things will be okay.