"I think of something, and then it becomes something else."
-Pablo Picasso
***
"It's just a cut mother. Don't be so harsh on me." I said cringing at the shitty hospital clothing they provided. I mean white gowns with blue flower prints? Seriously ridiculous. Small flower prints were not even in the fashion these days. Mom stood in front of me with a stern expression on her face which clearly depicted her annoyance.
"Eat them Tessa Collins or I'll make sure you never get out of those." She said pointing to my hospital clothes. Damn mother, you really know my choice.
She handed me a bowl full of fruits. I had fruits. I mean she could get my Nutella and it would also provide me some nutrients. The point is erasing your hunger. Even pizza toppings have veggies on them, don't they?
But of course mom has to chip in and give me gluten free diet and the so called balanced one. I hope she understands that I too am a girl and have cravings.
"Where's my phone mom?" I asked impatiently. I can't really live without my phone, after all it shares its secrets with me. It keeps a track of my whole life.
"Oh let me ask Sophia." She said and scurries out of the room while still talking on the phone about the opening of her exclusives. She seemed so busy, and I looked nothing but pathetic lying here in these hideous clothing where I could be partying today. Or shopping. Or both.
"Tessa." Ashley came inside the room shaking her head in disappointment. She does that whenever I act childishly, hence in this case.
"What happened to you?" She knew what happened to me but she liked getting under my skin. And partly, she's actually surprised since I'm a model and walking in the correct was and the amount of swaying your body does is something I'm a hundred percent aware of, it's unbelievable how much of a klutz I can become. I can practically run in heels but this was just so embarrassing. Tripping over marbles? It was so not.. me.
And suddenly my eyes widened in surprise.
"Who the fuck put marbles on the floor?" I asked angrily while Sophia entered the room with my phone and probably she heard the conversation considering her guilty expression twice a day.
"I'm sorry, it was Brooklyn. He lay them on the floor so I could trip and fall since I hid his video games. I just got it out from him."
She said laughing. In case you're wondering who the hell Brooklyn is, he is her brother who is three years younger to us. Apart from that, despite their constant bickering he came to a conclusion that he had an enormous crush on me and Ashley, which was kind of awkward since his mental state is disturbed considering he still puts marbles as a weapon for revenge!
"What are you guys, 5?" I laughed.
"But you know I was thinking of throwing a party."
"You can throw them later." Ashley said rolling her eyes like she always does.
"At my place and inviting the whole school."
Their mouths parted and closed. While their heads snapped at me and eyes appeared to bounce off the sockets anytime now. My face lit up in an impish glee.
"You certainly did not."
Ashley nudged me playfully while Sophia started,
"Are you fucking kidding me?" She wondered aloud. She might be the good girl amongst us but she can swear a lot (really funny ones)
"No, I really do want to enjoy my last year of school and try not to be Regina George all the time. I decided to live a little with my fellow mates."
They all smiled because they knew I should move on. And I did.
"Hey! Remind me why Zach and Asher are approaching our hallway?"
She said peeking out of the glass on the door.
"Fix me in case they come in here!" I said and nudged Ashley. Ashley removed my hair tie and let my hair lose. She applied a bit of cream on my face and I mouthed her a whole hearted thanks. We all pretended to talk about me and that's when the door opened to reveal Zach and a very rugged looking guy- obviously Asher. It's funny how he looks gorgeous even in his messed up hair. I need to ask him which hair spray he uses. I guess it's BedHed.
"Sup girl." Zach asked me casually as if we have been buddies for a very long time, to which I replied with a raised eyebrow. He glanced at Sophia and Ashley who just wore shorts and a crop top.
"I thought you just tripped." Asher spoke for the first time while making himself comfortable on the couch. He air quoted the word 'tripped' which is so mainstream it is out of fashion now. Only Joey Tribbiani can pull it off.
"Well I tripped and hit the bed corner, but I think that will suffice." I scoffed in annoyance and gave them a sickly sweet smile.
"Woah there girl, tone down you're bitch level." Zach said surprised which proved the fact he hadn't actually ever talked to me, but Asher just smiled like he's used to it. He tried to put his feet on my bed corner which I immediately disliked.
"Eww. Put your shoes off my bed. That's like, so unhygienic."
I might sound like a snob but that's kind of disrespectful? Since when did I care about Asher's manners anyway?Though it is a totally different point that he has none.
"Hush girl, don't be so rude to a guy who came to see you." He said smiling. And I gave his words another thought. I must seem like a bipolar since I'm always hot and cold to him. I really should decide whether I like him or not. I guess I do.
"To be honest I didn't actually believe you tripped, you're too tactful for that. I thought you came under the bus or something." He said laughing but I felt somewhat relieved that my reputation is still good to go but mad on the fact that he thinks I'll come under a bus? And that's exactly why I don't like him.
"You just compliment- insulted me." I said frowning.
"That's what YOU do all the time. I just follow the path of my counsellor."
"Not to be rude or anything but why did you come to see me? Out of all the people I didn't expect you to come."
He laughed but something in his eyes said that he cared. Though I was never the one to care about the eyes or the heart I felt like I could see through him.
"I came here to click your pictures and then post them on social media, well the world deserves to know how stunning you look in that Dolce and Gabbana dress with the white head gear." He said seriously and I almost got tricked by him.
"Hilarious." I said scoffing. He had a great sense of style, new brands and now a great sense of humour. Great, just great.
"I know you'd never do that though." I said seriously.
"What makes you think I won't?" He said challenging me.
"Oh I know you Reed, you're too detached for stuff like that." I felt the need to get going but the look on his face forced me to stop.
"I better get going." He said walking away but I stopped him.
"Hey, I'm hosting a party soon. Will you come?" I said confidently.
"I'll see." He said and walked away.
Well out of all the things you could have said in the world, you say I'll see to Tessa? What about I just grab you by the collar and rip your head off and ask you to repeat again. You won't be able to 'see' then.
I was too caught up in my savage thoughts that I didn't notice mom had come here.
"Who was that handsome guy?" Mom asked me as she sat down on the couch next to me seconds later.
"Are you seeing someone?" She asked curiously.
"Gosh mom, how naïve can you be!that's Clarissa's son."
"Now I see, I always thought he looked vaguely familiar. It's good to see that you're mingling with my partners family."
"Mom I'm not 'mingling' with him. We don't like each other at all." I stated clearly.
"If he doesn't like you then he wouldn't just visit you at the hospital."
"Oh that, he just came to threaten me about taking my pictures in these and posting on social media." I said.
"I'm sure Tessa nobody can be that pathetic. And I clearly think he doesn't hate you either. I don't know why you've turned into a snob. People making fun of each other and by bringing each other's moral down is stupid.It's kind of petty don't you think?"
"Yeah." I said trailing off. If only she knew how mean I was at school.
"Hey mom I've been meaning to talk to you." I said nervously. I was hardly nervous but this was more intense than a wardrobe malfunction.
And my family had more issues than Vogue.
She turned to me fully and gave me a warm smile to continue going on. I took a deep breath and thought of just pulling of a band aid. It couldn't hurt that much, right?
"Mom, I've been thinking of moving out."
***
3 weeks later
"No! The dishwasher has to placed inside, it has to be white! Or a combination of white and red. I want the combination to be of black and red! No- yes! Well obviously. Okay. It should be delivered by 7 pm." I said on the phone exhausted. I slumped on my new IKEA white leather sofa that was extremely comfortable and classy. I rested my head on the pillow.
I had been in my shorts and crop top all day, and my hair thrown into a messy bun which looked horrible on my and my hair sticked out in different directions even though I was hardly sleeping, I didn't even have time to breathe. I guess moving out wasn't as easy as it seemed to be. And I guess I should have accepted mom's offer of helping me when it was still valid.
Ashley was busy with her auditions for getting into a show or a movie. She is a star kid after all.
Sophia couldn't help me because she has to study for the upcoming tests. Though she says she's weak in German, she manages to bag a whopping 95.
Though I've always thought that French sounds way more sexier and French speaking people are considered to be really classy, Sophia begs to differ that Germans have the 'less words and more ears' attitude which is attractive. And my frequent visits to Nice, Marseille and Paris have turned out to be fruitful and getting a 100 in French pop quizzes isn't something now I'd be excited about. However, Ashley is the one hanging on between with just a casual 'humph' that she's okay as long as she's getting laid and popular.
I heard a sudden ring on my phone which caused me to unlock it, and saw a reminder for doing my homework in which I was lagging behind. Now I could do two things, call up Sophia and ask for them and decorate my house further and take a warm fuzzy bath to relax myself or do the whole thing on my own.
But of course my evergreen ego and pride resisted me from calling anyone and I turned to complete it on my own. By 8 pm, I was through with most of the work. I collapsed on my queen sized bed which is perfect. I put on some light music for planning up my schedule for the left day.
My thoughts drifted off to my family and I remembered how dad acted when I broke him the news. He seemed to take it pretty bad since he always complained the pros and cons and he even refused to sign the official consent. I had never known he was so protective of me. Mom was okay, she sobbed a little but she was fine because she thought that I should have an idea of living alone and taking care of myself.
I looked for a place as soon as I was discharged from the hospital. I found a really expensive (totally worth though) two storey penthouse which I decided to buy immediately. It was near Manhattan and the best part since I'll be able to shop more!
Which reminded me of how I had to arrange my closet. I had to get some refurbishing done in the flat and set up a big room for my clothes. Needless to say it turned out to be really creative and pretty.
"Shit!" I cursed under my breath as I had to make a notice for the freshmen students since they were going on a field trip to Brooklyn and one for the cheerleading tryouts.
We were having a lot of student body meetings lately with the council members and it was eerily difficult to cope up with Principal Duvall.
He was very particular about the discipline at the school and lately our rival school Eastwood Shore has been preparing pretty well for the football and cheerleading squad competitions,I hope Tatiana doesn't let me down and it's the only time of the year we converse with civility because school spirit.
Though I don't forget her spiteful remarks and earnest glares when she throws herself at Asher. He is entertained by her at the moment, but I know boys like that get easily tired of what is available. Play hard to get always has the upper hand in the game of Cupid.
I come across Asher a few times, he teases me and I snap at him and that's probably the only time me actually talk. We didn't talk nicely after his little hospital visit. And turns out I didn't actually throw a party. I guess the mild concussion did good to my brain. But I still think partying with these losers was probably the worst idea ever.
People at my school don't know how to party. They drink the booze until they throw up anywhere and get stoned by taking LSD's and then make out and screw each other. But they hardly know them fun when you actually remember everything and don't wake up at a strangers house with a massive throbbing headache.
They honestly should have Pinterest for the best party ideas without getting drunk, at least it's affordable. I was invited to Alexander Wang's runway show this weekend and my friend Kylie was going with Tyga. But I thought I'd rather not and a couple of other events I managed to dodge.
Though I got a great amount of scolding from mom, who thought that I should be more responsible towards my career.
I lay on the bed quietly when the music stopped and my ringtone rang. I received the phone call without checking the caller ID.
"Hello?"
"How's my favourite girl?"
I could recognise that voice anywhere.
"Marc! How come you called! Its been so long!"
"You and Flora are up for a photoshoot at my New York studio for the fall edition. No ifs no buts." And I could feel him smiling.
"Can't say no to Marc Jacobs." I said tentatively. "Hell yeah."