Growing up, I was the tomboy of the family. I wasn’t on the cheer team or dance team like Lizzie, and I didn’t care for music the way Olive does. I rarely wore makeup or dresses. I preferred to be outside with my dad, getting my hands dirty.
Doing things like shopping for elegant dresses, buying expensive makeup, and getting my nails done were all things I’d only done as I’d gotten older.
Jewelry isn’t something I loved to wear, either. I still forget most days, even now. Though, when I do, I try to keep it simple.
"You should wear the dress to Megan’s wedding," Jenna says as she hands me a deep, emerald green version of the dress in a smaller size.
"I’m not going as a guest anymore, remember? I’m only going to be there because it’s my job as her wedding planner," I reply, doing up the zip on the side of the dress.
Megan is Austin's sister, and we were really close while he and I were together. But now it just feels…weird. She seems a little distant, and I get it.
She and I decided together that I would only be in attendance as the wedding planner and not a guest.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that she’s getting her happily ever after. I just don’t think I could sit in the same room with Austin and come out of it alive.
"I’ll buy both the green and the blue," I say to my best friend as she waits patiently for me to put my clothes back on.
"Yay!" she squeals, taking the dresses off the hook, heading straight to the counter.
"Is there anything you would like to do today?" Jenna asks as we walk mindlessly through the mall.
"Yes, actually. Can you squeeze me in for an appointment? I want to go back to my original color." Jenna is a hair stylist. One of the best in California. I have appointments with her every six weeks because Austin liked my hair lighter, so it needed to be constantly maintained. But now that he no longer has a say, I want my natural color back.
"Hmm, we don’t have time for that, I’m afraid," she says, her voice oozing with sarcasm.
"Well then, what’s next on your to-do list? Please tell me it includes going back home to bed?"
"Just a couple more things, then we can go back to your apartment and have a quick nap."
"Coffee first?"
"Absolutely."
As promised, she buys my now third coffee of the morning, takes me back home and we both pass out on my bed.
***
BARP BARP BARP BARP
Why do I keep getting rudely awoken today by loud noises?
And what the hell is that noise?
Groaning, I slide off my eye mask to see Jenna fumbling frantically as she searches for her phone on my bedside table to shut up the horrendous sound of the foghorn blaring through the speakers.
"Why is that the sound of your alarm?" I cover my ears to soften the blow, scrunch up my nose, and squeeze my eyes shut.
"Because I’m a heavy sleeper. No other sound wakes me," she croaks as she rests her back against the headboard of my bed while we both appreciate the silence that now fills the room.
"Why do you have an alarm set?" Forcing myself upright, I lean against the headboard and rest my head on her shoulder, stifling a yawn behind my hand.
"Less questions, more movement. In the shower, Herring. Chop chop, let’s go."
She’s awfully cheery as she rips my body off the bed while attempting to shove me into my bathroom, but my feet remain firmly planted on the ground. “I can get there myself. Relax, will you?” I shake her arms off me, watching as she raises her hands up in defeat.
Before heading to the shower, I make a pit stop at my underwear drawer in search of a clean matching set, while she hisses from behind me. "I’m going, I’m going," I mumble under my breath as I slam the door shut to give myself some privacy, and this time, I force my eyes to the mirror.
I stare at myself, longer than I did in the change-room at Minko, and tears pool in my eyes.
