I stare at myself in the mirror as I lift my hand to touch my face. Most of the time, I would wear my mask at home, not giving myself a chance to look at myself for not even a second. But, of course, there would also be times where I would actually not wear my mask, but still, avoid looking at myself. My mom would also come and knock on my room door, but it would be locked, giving me time to put my mask back on to answer her.
Now, I take the time to look at myself after such a long time. I have taken a shower, which resulted in my hair to be wet and tangled from the water. My eyes seem to have a bit of humor in them, and no longer look sad or depressed. I can see the faint smile on my lips as I lick them to moist them.
I turn on the hair dryer and pick up the hairbrush that's just sitting on my dresser and start brushing my hair, using the hair dryer to dry it. I watch as my hair slowly starts growing fluffy. After a few more brushing and drying, I pull my hair back into a low ponytail and then start twisting the end and wrapping it around to make a small, neat bun. I lean in and smile to see the girl in the mirror smile back, something I haven't seen her done in such a long time.
Feeling all set and ready for bed, I step back and turn around to start walking over to my bed. I pull the covers over me as I'm in bed, and close my eyes with a small smile on my face. Before I completely fall asleep, my thoughts drift back to the conversation I had earlier with my mom, sitting at the dining table.
She had just done making dinner as she settled the dinner plate in front of me, filled with her delicious, smelling food. I couldn't wait to dive in, but of course, I waited for her to sit down with me first, so that we can both start eating at the same time.
My mom sat down with a big grin on her face. "Let's pray," she said, and I nodded my head in agreement.
After she finished praying, we both dived in, tasting the delicious taste of her favorite dish to cook; Lasagna with raw vegetables to the side, Italian dressing on top.
We both finished eating and sat in silence for only a bit when I break it and said with a huge smile, "Thank you for this amazing dinner, Mom. Delicious as always."
"You're welcome, hun, and thank you!" She said, and I stand up, taking the plates with me as I walk into the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher.
I walked back out of the kitchen and into the dining room to see my mom still sitting there at the dining table. "I'll be going up to my room now," I told her as she turned around to look at me.
"No," she said, and I look at her with a confused look. She noticed and cleared my confusion by saying, "I mean, we need to talk about something."
I nodded my head and sat back down at the dining table, in front of her.
"You've taken off your mask," she started, and I could see the tears starting to form in her eyes, again. "Now... I need you to explain to me why you wore it."
My mom looked at me in the eyes, not caring about how glossy hers were. I sat up straight in the chair as I leaned back and swallowed hard.
We sat in silence before I found it in myself to speak up. "I wore the mask because of what happened in 8th grade," I choked up, feeling a bit weird talking about it, even though for all those times that I've been wearing the mask, I felt pretty confident about it.
She furrowed her eyebrows at me, wrinkles forming on her forehead. "This was all because of them?" she asked, and I nodded my head. "I thought you were over what happened... Why didn't you talk to me about that?"
"Because you were pretty busy with work, and I didn't really want to get in your way with everything that was going on," I frowned. It was true, she was busy all the time. When she's leaving for work early in the mornings and coming back late at night, I didn't have time to talk to her about what I was feeling and so, I came up with a better way on how to help myself.
"Oh, sweetheart," her voice cracked as a single tear rolled down her face, "If I only knew what you were going through... I'm so sorry..."
"Don't blame yourself," I said as I reached my hands over the table and held her hand in both of mine, "I was the one who didn't talk to you about it..."
She had let out a breath as she stood up from the dining table, her hand leaving mine. "You should get to bed now," she said with a smile though, I saw the small hint of sadness in her eyes.
I stood up and nodded my head as I walk around the table to her, giving her a hug. "Goodnight, Mom," I said as I let go of her, heading up the stairs to my room.
~ ~ ~
I wake up from the loud ringing noise of the alarm clock on my phone. I sit up, rubbing my eyes, my feet dangling off the side of the bed. I pick up my phone to dismiss the alarm and push my feet into my bedroom slippers and get up, walking over to the bathroom.
After brushing my teeth, I take a quick shower. I head out of the bathroom and into my room, walking over to my closet. I stand in the closet with two outfits, holding one in my right hand and the other in my left hand, thinking about which one I should choose to wear today. In my right hand is a spaghetti strap blouse with a black skirt and a blue jeans jacket, and in my left hand is a white shirt with a grey cardigan sweater and a pair of blue ripped jeans. With a lot of thinking, I go with the outfit in my right hand.
Putting on my outfit, I decided to put on just a little bit of makeup. I stand in front of a mirror as I apply lipgloss to my lips and mascara to my eyelashes. I look at myself for only a moment, letting out a small breath as I watch my now long eyelashes flutter and my lips shine a bright, glossy pink. I unwrap the bun and untwist the end of my hair, then taking out the hair tie for my now curly hair to fall gracefully to my shoulders and on my back.
I'm ready for school.
There's a weird feeling in my gut thinking about walking through the halls of my school with no mask, my face is clear for everyone to see, letting them know who I am and that I'm not 'Mask Girl' anymore, but Annie. It all feels weird, but I'm going to show them who I really am.
I walk away from the mirror and over to my bookbag that's sitting on the floor. I pick it up and swing one strap over my shoulder. Taking a deep breath, I take a few steps over to the door, my hand on the knob as I spin it to open the door. I walk down the stairs and into the kitchen to see my mom doing her usual routine in the morning, walking back and forth, holding a cup of coffee in her hand, picking up whatever she needs for work.
She spots me and smiles. "You look beautiful and ready, sweetheart," she says, and I smile at her.
"Thanks, Mom. So do you," I say, walking up to her, giving her a kiss on the cheek, and she does the same to me.
She smiles again and says, "We should get going. Don't want to be late, do we?"
I shake my head with a small smile, and the both of us leave the house.
~ ~ ~
So, I could say that I was feeling a bit confident in myself earlier, but now that I'm actually here, outside my school, my heart is beating rapidly with my hands slightly shaking. I hold my hands to my chest, but then move them to my sides, shaking away the nervousness in my hands. I take a deep breath, adding to the many others, and start walking to the entrance of the school.
I'm now walking through the halls, looking from one side of the hall to the other, then slightly averting my eyes. I watch as some students simply stop what they're doing to look at me and I instantly feel overwhelmed by their stares. I listen closely as students in the hallway, talk loudly without a care that I may hear them - "Is that 'Mask Girl'??" "Woah, she's... hot, or cute. Whichever!" "That outfit is pretty cute... different from the sad and boring ones that she would wear..." "It looks like she has stopped hiding behind the mask!" Hearing the last person's whisper-shout, I lift my head, now gaining my confidence back as I flash her a smile.
I'm close to my locker and I spot the three girls turning around when they suddenly hear the loud chatter about me near them. They turn around fully with their arms folded across their chest, Amy chewing on a gum, blows it, then pops it, Lindsey eyes me up and down then looking to Sandra, who's simply glaring at me. I think I saw a twitch in her eye from glaring at me too hard.
"Omg," Amy starts, blowing her gum and then popping it again, "...she took her mask off."
"No..." Lindsey says in a 'duh' tone and I can imagine her glaring at Amy for only a second as I walk past them and over to my locker.
"I've gotta say," Amy says, "That outfit is really, really cute! I'm jelly..."
"Would you shut up, Amy?!" I can hear Sandra practically growl. "NO being jealous of her! She's clearly trying to do something... and we, especially you, shouldn't show anything towards her intentions!"
I open my locker, taking out whatever I need for my class and closing it after grabbing all my books. I giggle quietly under my breath, turning around to look across the hall at them. I clearly have no intentions towards her, nor Lindsey and Amy, but she has many of them. I can feel the tension from all the way over here.
Sandra spots me looking at them. I purposely look at her directly in the face, so that we could make eye contact. I can see as she gasps slightly from the sudden contact. It's almost like a war as we both stare each other down, the both of us daring not to blink our eyes or even squint them.
She suddenly blinks and I smile in victory, watching her as she makes her way from her side of the hall over to mine. I stop smiling but still keep my stance, waiting for her to get closer.
"What do you want?" Sandra asks, stopping in front of me.
"I want nothing," I say with a smirk. "I think I should be asking you that question since you're the one who made your way over here."
"Would you stop?!" she suddenly exclaims out of nowhere. "You're trying to do something and I'm going to figure it out!"
"Figure what out?" I now ask, rolling my eyes at how ridiculous she sounds right now. "Just because I took off my mask, you're thinking that I'm up to something? Well, you're wrong. I'm just being the girl that I am, and not the 'Mask Girl' you all wanted me to be known as for the rest of my existence in this school!"
Sandra's face starts to turn a light shade of pink and I can tell she's starting to fume again, little by little.
"So," I start, using my hand to move a strand of hair behind my ear, "Please don't mind me as I start heading to class so that I won't be late."
She stands back with an angry look on her face, blowing out a few puffs of air. I smile, showing my teeth. I walk past her, walking down the hall to find Chance walking in the opposite direction that I am. I smile at him as he looks at me from head to toe. He then looks behind me at a fuming Sandra, then back to me.
"Hey," Chance says, stopping in front of me.
"Hey," I say looking at him.
"You seem to have handled things perfectly back there..." he says, taking another look behind me. "She looks really angry."
"Yeah, I know," I say looking elsewhere, smiling. I look back at him, "I just put her in her place. That's all..."
He nods his head. "Hmm... You did a pretty good job at that," he says, and I grin.
"Thanks," I say, "I should get going... I don't want to be late for class."
"I understand. See you later, Annie," he says with a wink and then he walks past me, and I resume my walk to class.
* * *
A/N:
Omg, hey there!! So, I have big news... (at least it's big news to me lol). This book is ranked #776 in Short Story! Yayyy!! Okay, so I know this only lasts for like, a short amount of time, but it just makes me so happy!! *squeals*
So, it took me almost two weeks, again, to update! Woohoo... not. But at least this chapter is 2000+ words!! I'm happy about that lol
Thank you so much for taking just a few minutes of your time to read this chapter! I really appreciate it! Please leave a vote and your comment/s!!
- Tanya <33