limerence | COMPLETED

05

BY THE WEEKEND, LAYLA'S EXHAUSTED.

While it has stopped snowing, the sky has remained an angry dark grey throughout the entire week, which is why all of their local newspapers are now lined with words of warning such as, 'Huge snowstorm will hit!' Layla dubiously eyes the newspaper her father had abandoned on the coffee table before pulling out her phone to check for any messages.

There's one voicemail from her mother from yesterday afternoon but she'd been in class at the time so she hadn't answered, and by the time she'd gotten home, she couldn't really be bothered to listen to it. She could kind of predict what would be said, anyway.

Clicking the voicemail option, Layla presses the speakerphone button so she can listen while making her breakfast. For some reason, she's craving a burrito and although she feels a little guilty about eating so much at only ten am in the morning, it's not like there's anyone around to judge. If she wants burritos, she'll make some goddamn burritos.

"Layla, hi!" Emily exclaims brightly. "So, I'm going to meet some friends out of town this weekend and your dad will be in the studio all weekend as he's working on producing an album! Exciting, right?"

Another voice distantly calls out in the message, some woman asking for help with whatever products they're working on.

"Coming!" Pause. "Uh, yeah, so have fun! Okay, bye!"

Layla deletes the message and places her phone back on the table. Then she picks it up again and lobs it across the room. Either out of luck or poor fortune, the stupid metal bounces against the pile of wet washing left outside the washing machine, breaking its fall. Layla stares at the phone as though it's laughing at her.

Also, why the hell has the clean washing been left in such a mess on the floor?

The pan sizzles when she pours the chopped veg onto the light spraying of oil minutes later and it doesn't take long for the smell of food to fill the air as she goes through the methodical process of occasionally stirring the veg and keeping an eye on the rice cooker. It's silent in the house like usual and all she can hear is the wind beating away at the wooden decking outside.

After dishing up her food, Layla pads into the living room. She turns the television on while she eats to re-watch one of her favourite documentaries about wolves, and the rest of the morning calmly passes by just like that. She eats, watches an episode of a DIY show she likes, cleans her dishes and the mess up in the kitchen, and stares longingly outside for a while.

Then the boredom hits her like it always does.

Mercy is at volleyball practice and Savannah is busy with her family, meaning Layla can't even invite them around to help pass the time. The cake mix she had bought the other day has gone missing from the cupboard too, likely stolen by her mother for the get-together she's having with her friends.

What do people even do with their free time anyway?

Her eyes wander around the grey walls of the house until they land on the curtain rail in the corner of the living room, which has sat there uselessly like that for ages now. Her father said he would install it months ago but clearly he's never gotten around to doing it.

Layla slowly sits up on the sofa. She knows how to put curtain rails up. She's watched Warren put one up in his house before. It would take her a while to do it on her own but it would keep her busy for a bit...

It doesn't take her long to get to work.

After she's grabbed the equipment she needs and set everything up in an accessible way, she soon falls into a noisy process of drilling holes and checking the screws will fit securely. She struggles to hold the heavy rail still as she tries to grab the pencil from between her teeth, but she manages to get it without hurting herself.