Unknown Beauty | ✔️

Chapter Ten: Revealing Secrets

[If all girls started wearing no makeup and comfortable clothes, guys would have no choice but to fall for girls because of natural beauty]
-Unknown

Asher's POV

The pungent smell of the washing up liquid suffocated me as I scowled at the stained plate grinning at me cheerfully and ran it under the tap. Starting to scrub the plate clean with the sponge, I sighed, "Where the hell could she be," I murmured to myself.

The soft pad of footsteps alerted me as I silently continued to clean the plate, before running the water again and rinsing it. Callie walked in, being sure to dramtically swerve away from me and deciding to take the long route to the sofa she had claimed as hers as soon as we set foot in the apartment. Travelling around the long couch, she finally made it to her destination, inspecting the sofa for dust before taking a seat.

My lips pursed in irritation, I shook off the excess water from the plate and slipped it into the drying rack with the other uniform plates. A thick silence hung in the air, restless and cackling at the tension in the room.

Eventually, Callie stood up and breathed a deep sigh, marching past me and storming out.

~~~

Fallon spent her days as blank as a sheet of paper. Cold. Weary. Silent. It was almost scary for her to look herself in the mirror and see the monstrosity she had become. Her eyes were looking sunken, to the point where she was convinced soon they would be engulfed by her eye bags. Her cheeks were as cold as ice and her skin was as pale as a ghost. But worst of all? Her positive attitude had slowly been chipped away at, disintegrating away as the days passed.

It seemed like weeks of staring up at the quiet, moonlit sky at the abundance of stars, lying back on the stone concrete, soaking in the serenity of being by herself. The sun barely got a chance to make an appearance in Fallon's world and just as swiftly as it seemed to wave hello, it seemed to yawn a goodbye. Days passed like seconds but Fallon's hope was disappearing way faster.

Fallon was confused - why was she acting like this? She wasn't exactly joyous having lost a friend of hers (and an almost acquaintance) but she never had friends before and she was fine. Or, as fine as she let herself believe.

And so, as she glanced up at the beautiful sky one late night, (or was it early morning?), she forced herself to take a deep breath. Why? She asked herself. Because I don't know how to react, she admitted the terrible truth, I've never had friends to lose before. I lost my mother but somehow... In some twisted, horrible, unbelievable way... losing Calbee (and again, an almost acquanitance) was worse.

Ashamed at herself, Fallon closed her eyes and rested her hand over them, feeling unexpected tears well up.

"I need my friends back," she whispered, shaking her head to herself.

Calbee and Asher were the dam and Fallon was the water. Without them, Fallon was sure to overflow and succumb to insanity. Now she had smelt the sweet flower of friendship, she wanted the whole bouquet. She felt greedy: but that was okay. It was okay to be greedy for once, Fallon had to think about what she wanted first. She had to be priority for herself for once or she'd be pushed around more than she already had been.

With that mindset fueling her with motivation, Fallon picked herself up (metaphorically of course, there was no way she was that motivated enough to neglect sleep and actually get up) and discarded all terrible thoughts from their mind.

This could be the day. Or it could be tomorrow. But if I keep thinking of the worsted possible outcomes, the day won't ever come.

A couple hours later, Fallon began her day, determined.