Fated

Chapter 4

I wake up the next morning to an ear defeaning sound. My eyes pop open to reveal my pitch black room. I try looking around for the sorce of noise, but see nothing. Maybe if I just bury my head into a pillow it will go away. But when I do,I instantly still. God, I'm so sore. Why am I sore? Suddenly, flashbacks from last night play through my head. Going to the party. Colton. Getting in Colton's car. Colton. Walking to my house with Colton. Colton. Going inside. My mom. My mom yelling at me. My mom degrading me. Going to my room silently and crying the rest of the night.

I roll over and sigh. I'm still in my uncomfortable dress with my hair super messy that I didn't put into a braid last night. I must have fallen asleep in an incomfortable position, because jeez am I sore.

That noise though... oh. It's my alarm I forgot to turn off for the summer. I'm so stupid.

Once I turned off my alarm, I slowly dragged myself out of bed. When I got to my mirror and saw my appearence, it was worse than what I could see just by looking down at myself while in bed.

I have mascara streaked down from my eyes and down my cheeks. My face is not its usual tan, or slightly pink color. Instead, it's a bit pale, and my red dress is all wrinkled. I look like I could tilt over any second now, and my hair, yet again, is a mess just like yesterday morning. I need to take a shower badly.

When I get in the shower, I have the heat of the water turned all the way up, and it burns my skin. Just how I like it. I stand there, for who knows how long, just letting the blazing water soke me to my core, until it starts to slowly turn colder and colder, when I decide I want to get out. But of course, after I had to wash my body and hair in the freezing cold water. I shouldn't have wasted all of that warm heat on just standing there. I take note that I need to buy a new loofah soon, and then get out.

Damn it. I forgot to grab a towel from the closet, which is down the hall. I'm gonna have to walk down there, naked, because I'm definetely not asking my mom to grab me one. I don't think she would, anyway. Not after last night. My mind starts to panic and try to find another solution, but there isn't any.

When I realize that my only choice is to walk down the hallway naked and quickly run back to the bathroom, still butt naked, I open the door slightly, looking for my mom or really, anybody. I sincerely hope my mom hasn't invited another guy over or something. That would be so awkward. And who knows if he's the kind of guy to take advantage of an innocent and helplessly naked girl. I doubt my mom would try to do anything about it if he tried something.

I don't see anybody through the cracked door, or hear any noises, so I creep through the door, and as I take a step forward, the floor creaks and I internally cringe. But as I continue down the hall and almost close to the closet where the towels are kept, voices begin to fade into my hearing. My mom's voice, another woman's voice, and a man's voice. An all too familiar man's voice.

That's when I decide to just bolt and go for it. I run the rest of the way down the hallway, jerk the door open, grab the first towel I see, and then run like my life depended on it back to the bathroom. When I get back in there, I all but close the door gently and carefully. It slams closed with a loud click, making me jump. If they didn't hear me thud loudly down the hallway, they definetly heard that just now.

I lay my head back on the tiled wall, still wet with condensation from my shower, and close my eyes, the towel barely hanging from my wrinkly fingertips. My heart is beating rapidly. Jesus christ. I was only a wall's width away from being completely naked in front of him. In front of Colton. I shiver at the thought of standing in front of him, all open, bare, so he could steal every inch of my innocence with his eyes.

That might not actually be so bad.

No. Cut it out, Grace.

I dry myself off and get dressed in lacy black panties, jean shorts, and a navy-blue spaghetti strap crop top. I put my hair up in a high pony tail, and then braid it, leaving my long hair hang down my back. Then I hang up my towel to dry, letting out a small laugh, remembering the whole naked-towel-Colton-thing, and then go to my room and stomp into my white high-top converse and lace them into a perfect bow.