𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐋 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃

02

Song:
good days- sza
slowed + reverb

LEENA

"How was your sleep?" Dad hands me a plate of pancakes with bacon and eggs. I grab a seat at the kitchen counter.

I slept amazing. And when I mean amazing, I mean I slept as if I've been asleep for years. It felt good to be energized for once in my life.

"It was nice. The mattress is comfortable," I tell him as I begin eating. He nods and turns back towards the stove. I practically inhale the food. I barely ate yesterday so today I woke up really hungry.

Nothing could surpass my undeniable love for food. I found comfort in eating.

After I finish, I walk up to the sink to wash the plate.

"No, let me handle that." Dad takes the dirty plate from my hands and I try to take it back.

I stare at him as he holds the plate above himself. I try to jump up to reach it but I fail miserably. My dad is pretty tall so I have nothing against him.

"Come on, let me." I plead, holding out my hand for him and waiting expectantly for him to hand over the plate.

"Absolutely not."

"Fine. I guess you'll have to deal with the dishes yourself, then. Your loss." I shrug as I walk out of the kitchen.

I may have been stubborn, but if there was one person who was more stubborn than I was in this family, it was my dad.

I re enter my room and throw on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. I've decided that I'm going to explore the town a bit. I did nothing but sleep yesterday so today I actually need to go out.

Exiting my room, I shut the door behind me. I should probably tell dad that I'll be out for the day so he doesn't think I'm missing or something.

I find him in the living room on the couch scrolling on his phone.

"I'm gonna head out." I stand in front of the couch as I watch him look up from the screen.

"Okay. Your car is in the driveway." His hands fiddle in his pockets before he pulls out a set of keys. My brows furrow in confusion.

"You never told me you bought me a car." I'm not mad, obviously not, but I'm quite shocked that he'd think that far into getting me a car after I just moved here.

"It was sort of a last minute thing. You need a car to get around anyway. I won't be around too often to be able to drive you everywhere." He shifts his glasses from the top of his head back onto the bridge of his nose. "Oh and there's a key for the front door in case I'm not here."

"Thank you. I mean it." I smile at him before I exit the house.

Having a car will make things so much easier for me. It brings a smile to my face, only the smile doesn't last long because thoughts of my mom invade my head.

As I walk down the pathway I see a white Mercedes parked in the driveway right next to dad's car. I make my way to the car and I hop in.

I'm happy that my dad bought me a car. I never really had the funds to buy one when I was living with mom and she couldn't buy me one either because times were hard. But even if she could, I would never allow her. She wasn't in a good financial position and buying me a car would only bring her more stress in the long run.

I let out a long sigh.

I've been trying so hard to avoid thinking about her but it's clearly not working. I was able to distract myself for a short period of time, but now that I'm alone in the quiet of the car, she enters my mind once more.

A couple of tears run down my cheeks and I quickly wipe them off. I don't want to spend my days crying over her. I've cried enough, but for some unknown reason my body doesn't seem to understand.

I pull out of the driveway and venture out into the town. As I drive I pass by many other nice houses and buildings.

The change of scenery is refreshing. I roll down the window as I drive and let the breeze fly through my hair while I think.

I spot the school that I'll be attending. It looks pretty fancy for a public school. A bunch of students exit the building.

A quick glance at my phone and I see that it is now three in the afternoon. I should probably head back now.

Who am I kidding, I need to spend time outside. I told myself that I'd do better this year and yet here I am doing the same shit.

I drive until I spot a mall. It wouldn't hurt to walk around a bit, right? I need exercise anyway. I mean the only exercise I get is when I go up and down the stairs. I mean it's sad but it's true. I lost all motivation to stay fit.

It wasn't always this way though. When mom was around, I was more physically active. Her words of encouragement helped me stay fit and healthy, but now that she's gone it's different.

I exit my car and walk to the entrance of the mall. As I walk in, I take a good look around.
This mall seems better than the mall back home. There's a large variety of shops and window stores that give the place its signature look.

While I'm walking around, I decide to pop into one of the stores. No real reason why, I just simply feel like looking around.

"Excuse me?" I turn around at the sound of a soft spoken voice.

"You dropped your keys," a girl that looks around my age says as she hands me my keys. How the hell did this drop? I swear this was in my pocket.

"Oh my gosh, thank you." I quickly toss them back into my pocket.

"Do you go to Golden Springs High School by any chance?" The girl stares at me as she waits for me to respond. I can't help but admire her appearance. Her silky blonde hair, pretty blue eyes, and her features make her look almost ethereal.

"Actually I'll start attending next week. Do you go there?"

"Yeah! And that's great. I could totally show you around and everything if you'd like?" She smiles as she pulls out her phone from her purse. She asks for my number and I hesitantly type it into her phone.

"That'd be great," I say as I give her phone back. Well no, that doesn't sound great at all, but I didn't want to say no. Plus she seems nice.

"My name's Lilith by the way. You know, so you can put a name to a face."

"My name's Leena. You have a pretty name."

"Why thank you, yours is really pretty too." She checks her phone. "I've got to go, but I'll see you next week!"

I watch as she speedily walks out of the store in a rush.

It's barely been a day. A day and my quiet life may not seem to be so quiet anymore. I think I've jinxed it already, damn it.