Pins and Needles

Chapter 3

I slumped over my desk, regretting the decision to do my homework all in one go. It should be illegal how much homework Mr. Peters gives. I was convinced he did it just to spite me. Nevertheless, I continued the work, occasionally gripping at my hair or banging my hands against the desk.

After what felt like an eternity, I finished my homework and silently rejoiced. The desk chair rocked behind me as I pushed it back to stand up. The dark mirror laid hidden in the corner of my room, draped with a thickly ominous shadow as it taunted me to step forth. I complied and shuffled over to the stationary object until I could fully see the girl. She stood with monotone poise, holding nothing to high regard as she caught my gaze. After clearing my throat, I approached the girl and sat down before speaking.

"Hey! You wouldn't believe what I saw today," I exclaimed with evident eagerness.

"You know Ruby Garrison?" I awaited a reply, but was only left with an enthusiastic expression. "Well, her hair was put up into the most beautiful hairstyle I have ever seen. Seeing as nothing else about her is special, I couldn't help but stop and admire the work. You should have seen it! I just had to write it down, there was no way I couldn't."

The girl was the only person who knew about my bathroom shenanigans, so I found it hard to hold back when explaining. It felt so nice to just rant on about something I was passionate about to someone who listened well.

"Anyways, I needed to mention that, or else I was going to burst. Of course, Ruby can't even compare to Maeve; you know this. Sure, Ruby had some nice hair today, but who knows what it'll look like tomorrow? It's a shame that my classmates can't follow in the footsteps of Maeve. If they did, those stall doors would need to be extended," I joked.

My mainly one-sided conversation was cut short when my mother called for me. I got up and walked leisurely to the kitchen where Mom stood elbow deep in the sink.

Mom started, "Hey, sweetie, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?"

I shifted my feet and tilted my head before saying, "Sure, what's up?"

"I'm a bit preoccupied right now, so I was hoping you could take the laundry to the laundromat? I'll give you quarters."

I nodded, "Sure, no problem."

"Thank you, dear. Quarters are on my dresser!" she yelled as I headed towards her room.

After gathering the clothes, quarters, and laundry detergent, I hopped into my mom's car and went straight to the laundromat. As I was driving, I noticed the moon that covered the sky in full illumination. I checked the time and saw that it was 9:15. This made me wonder if the place would even still be open, so I sped up to save as much time as possible.

When I pulled up into the parking lot, the clock read 9:23. I gathered the supplies and shuffled over to the door. Noticing that the lights were still on, I breathed a sigh of relief and squirmed through the door. I scanned the space and immediately recognized one of the few faces there as Maeve's. I swiftly walked over to her where she was loading a washing machine and dumped my stuff right next to it.

She jumped a bit, turning her head before sighing, "God, Angel, you scared me! I was wondering who would get this close to a stranger, but luckily it's just you."

I scratched the back of my head, "Sorry, I didn't think you'd scare so easily. Anyways, what are you doing here this late?"

"Dad spilled wine on Mom's new comforter and she went ballistic, so I'm cleaning up to avoid her wrath. Dad's on his own with this one."

I chuckled lightly, "Leave it to Mr. Jennison to screw things over with your mom. The poor man doesn't have a graceful bone in his body."

"You got that right. Now, what are you doing here?"