Undecided

1.

"And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light."

— 2 Corinthians 11:14

The morning sun dances across the girl's face, triggering her eyes to flutter open. The window of her room shows the day's conflicting weather. A light rain falls from the sky, dampening everything in its path, but the sun is still shining confidently. Alice ponders over if she really is ready to get out of bed, but the thought of a shower tempts her out of the comfort of warm blankets and stuffed animals. The air is cold in her apartment. Her roommate enjoys to keep it that way, so she doesn't mind though a shudder makes its way up her spine. She peeks out of her door, no sign of Elena, which means she must still be asleep in her room on the other side of the apartment. Alice pads her way to the bathroom, all-too-eager to feel warm water on her skin. Looking over herself in the mirror, Alice takes in her appearance. Her dark, deep brown hair appears nearly black as it hangs down her back in messy, tangled curls. Around her eyes are slightly sunken as she can't ever quite manage to keep the sleepy-undereye bags away no matter how much she slumbers her days away. The woman lets out a light sigh, deciding not to focus too much on her appearance, or more so, her disapproval of it. She has always been a smaller, pale woman which has made her present on the more sickly side, and she hasn't managed to get away from it. She slides out of her clothes, and allows them to rest on the floor as she moves over to turn the water on.

The warm water washes over her, and the rush of heat makes goosebumps appear across her skin as it even begins to turn slightly pink. Showers have always had a way of calming her down, and giving her space to think things over, gain new perspective. Life has been going in her favor in many ways lately, but she wishes she could be more grateful for it. Elena and her have finally settled themselves into a place of their own that feels safe, and gives her a true sense of belonging with someone she cares so deeply for. They both have a stable job that, while isn't perfect, isn't the worst thing in the world. The woman feels like she has so much to be happy about, but still she wakes up every day and her chest aches. It has been about six months since she had left her two year relationship; she wishes she could say the time passed has made it easier, has made him fade away from her mind some, but it hasn't. They say it takes at least half of a relationship's duration to begin to heal from it, and she would appreciate the alleviation. Maybe she'll always think about him, a part of her heart preserved for him forever; once you truly love someone, she doesn't believe it ever goes away. The sad part is that sometimes that love isn't ever reciprocated and there's nothing you can do about it. There was a time when it was right, and everything fell into place, but now it's gone. Alice has never been very good at letting go of things, that's the price of feeling things so deeply. The price of being human. We all try desperately to cling to things and people, but the nature of the universe is constant change. The woman rinses the conditioner out of her hair, finishing up her shower routine. She turns off the water, and steps out to wrap a towel around her body. Outside of the bathroom, she will lose the warmth of the steam, so she wraps the towel tightly around her shoulders and opens the door, quickly making her way back to her room. She shudders as she moves to her closet to throw on some cozy boyfriend style jeans, that won't really help with her objective of keeping warm since they are ripped all down the front to her knees, and an oversized black jumper. Moving over to her dresser, she fishes out some fuzzy pink socks and slips her feet into them. Sighing of relief from the cold, she rubs the towel over her head a few good times before combing out her damp hair with her fingers. The universe has perfect timing because just as she sits on the side of her bed, she hears Elena making her way into the kitchen.

Peeking her head out the door, Alice sees her sleepy roommate going through the fridge, probably contemplating what to make for breakfast.

"Good morning," Alice greets as she too makes her way to the kitchen, her tummy telling her that food sounds like an amazing idea.