Dr. Pomfrey spends another hour checking my vitals; making sure I'm okay. Well, physically at least. My mental state is a whole other can of worms and I can't be bothered to find a can opener right now.
After she's sure I'm fine, she discharges me and lets me return to the dorms.
As I climb down the stairs to the basement, I pray that no one's in the common room. Not even the guys. I just want to slip into bed undetected, put a pillow over my head, and block out this entire disaster of a day.
I push the antique wooden door to the common room open. There's a group of 8th graders I don't know in the corner arguing over some TV show, but other than them, the room is empty. Thank God
I turn left past the bedroom of our Heads of House; Professor Snape and Professor Sinistra and slip into my dorm. As I enter I get a whiff of myself, and cringe. I guess having a panic attack and passing out in math class does no favors for bodily odor. Noted.
I don't usually like to go to sleep with my hair wet, but I'm so exhausted, that getting up early to shower before breakfast tomorrow just isn't an option.
I grab my towels and head into the bathroom adjoined to Pansy and I's dorm and turn on the water. After my shower, I do my haircare and head to my bed. I fall asleep before my head even hits the pillow.
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The next day my alarm goes off on time, already an improvement from yesterday. I wake Pansy and we start our morning routine. She crawls out of bed and over to her "makeup counter" (that's what she calls it but it's really a desk...ya know...for STUDYING).
She begins putting on her foundation before suddenly gasping dramatically. I turn to her. "What?... Why are you staring at me like that?" I'm getting super tired of people staring at me weirdly and creeping me out!
It looks like her eyes are about to jump out of her skull. "I..." Pansy touches her hand to her mouth. My stomach drops. Never in the 6 years of being roommates with Pansy have I ever witnessed her being speechless. "Your hair...it's curly?" It takes me a second to process what she just said.
SHIT!!!
I race to my vanity mirror to check. I was so tired last night I must have forgotten to straighten my hair after I took a shower.
There in all its messy glory is my natural hair. No one at school has ever seen my natural hair except Enzo. Not even Pansy! For the past 6 years, after every shower, I would hide out in the bathroom to blow dry and then straighten it. Until today nobody even knew I had curly hair. I cringe. Ugh, this is going to bring so much attention...
"Since when do you have curly hair?" Pansy questions.
"Do you think I have time to straighten it before breakfast?"
"We've been roommates for six years and I've never seen you with curly hair."
"I can't believe I let this happen!" Two days into junior year, and my life is already a hectic mess.
"I didn't even know you knew what a straightener was! But you have-" Pansy checks her phone. "10 minutes until breakfast. And judging by what happened yesterday, skipping breakfast is not a good choice for you."
She's right. I really can't afford to skip breakfast again. I sigh and hold back the tears I can feel building behind my eyes. Pansy and I finish getting ready and head down to the Great Hall.
As we pass through the giant doors I can already feel people's heads turning and eyes on me. My cheeks burn and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep the tears at bay. I take a seat at my unofficial spot, in between Enzo and Pansy.
YOU ARE READING
City Shadows
RomanceY/N has always had a hard time fitting in. She's too loud, too brash, too this, too that. She's about as feminine as a toilet brush, and everyone knows it. Kids at her school aren't necessarily mean to her, they just pretend she doesn't exist. The o...
