this is me trying | taylor swift

twenty one

❝but I'll be cleaning up bottles with you on new year's day❞

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

"And done. Finally," Ella murmured to herself, closing her laptop with emphasis as she let out a heavy sigh. After two weeks of endless work and focus, she had completed and submitted her semester-long project for her history class, and early, too.

The September heat had turned into a November flush as the days got shorter and the nights got colder. The middle of November also marked two months since Ella had left her old school, ending that chapter of her life. As the seasons passed by, Ella navigated the labyrinth of online high school and the world beyond, a chapter filled with its own melodies and challenges.

That night in September, many moons ago, when Taylor had unexpectedly visited Ella and successfully convinced their parents to allow the teenager to switch to online school was a night that Ella would never forget. She had just awoken from her nap and was dreading returning to class the following Tuesday. Enter Taylor -- the blonde singer walked into her sister's room with a smile on her face and Ella instantly knew that it was good news. Her suspicions were confirmed with Taylor told her that their parents had agreed to let her try online schooling and an immediate wave of emotions, including the strongest -- relief -- were released.

Online school was nothing like how the teenager expected it to be. It was a lot less laid back and included far more sleepless nights than anticipated. In fact, Ella felt more busy completing her studies online than she ever did while attending a brick-and-mortar school. The youngest Swift sibling worked tirelessly to juggle her academic goals, ballet, and social life, especially with Kenna. Nobody told her how hard it would be to maintain and foster relationships when you don't see the person for seven hours, five days a week.

Nonetheless, Ella was exceptionally happy with online school. It had been an adjustment, but Ella was no longer uncomfortable or fearful of attending school. While there was a steep learning curve and the sophomore did not perform up to her personal par at the beginning of the school year, she had a successful routine now and was thriving, academically.  The program that she was in allowed her to maintain her own schedule, apart from a few mandatory virtual live lessons a week, so Ella was able to as quickly or as slowly as she wanted, depending on the course.

Amid the chaos, one good thing that came out of the learning curve she had to quickly adapt to were the hours that she spent locked away in her room, working on assignments. The more hours that Ella spent in her room meant fewer hours wandering around her house where her parents were. Fewer hours wandering meant less of a chance of being reminded to eat or told to come down for breakfast or lunch. Often times, one of Ella's parents would bring her a snack or a meal and while Ella would always have a few bites, it was a rarity that she finished the entire meal -- and the number on the scale reflected this.

✮

"Dude, you literal skinny legend. How? Teach me!" Kenna exclaimed to her best friend as the two joined forces in front of Pottery Barn. It had only been a week since they saw each other last, but compared to what it was before, this was a long time for the best friends.

"No, oh my God, I wish! All you, Kenny-Boo!" Ella responded back, feeling her hands clam up at the thought of Kenna becoming inquisitive and risking finding out anything. The blonde teenager adjusted her coat, tugging on the zipper to counteract the icy wind.

The two girls had decided to spend their Friday afternoon at the mall, together. It was a rare opportunity where there was no soccer practice, dance classes, or other extra curricular's going on, and the duo could spend time together and catch up.