𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝙿𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜

(+_+) 1..

𝚁𝚘𝚛𝚢

Four Months.

That’s all that stands between me and adulthood. AKA freedom.

Deep breaths, Rory. Count to five, in. Hold it. Count to five, release.

You are not going to get into a fight today.

Alma will put your ass back on dishes and you can’t take another hit to your savings.Or the little amount of money I do have, I guess you could call that savings.

You need that extra cash from the tips.

Beads of sweat lace my forehead as I lift my apron to wipe the perspiration away from a long day of serving customers and cleaning tables.

Here goes nothing.

I push the swinging kitchen door that leads to the main dining area carrying three plates of food on my tray. My feet are taking their sweet time heading over to their table.

I set the food down with enough force to cause dickhead number one to come out of the comatose stare he’s been giving my tits.

Eyes up here, buddy.

“Is there anything else I can getcha guys?”

That’s all but rhetorical as I turn, not waiting for a response after placing their food in front of them.

“Oh, miss!”

Keep walking. Pretend you did not hear them. One foot in front of the other.

If only my feet would listen to my head.

Don’t turn around.

Do not do it!

My brain was screaming.Alert, bad idea.

The obnoxious clearing of his throat has my feet stopping of their own accord. Accustomed to addressing my customers at their every whim.

Unfortunately.

Both of us know it’s too late to pretend like I didn’t hear him the second my feet came to a halt. Turning, I don’t even try to act friendly. My brows crease as my mouth sets in a firm line across my face.

Not like they notice since they can’t seem to keep their eyes from roaming everywhere but my face. Adding up their pluses and minuses like I’m some sort of mathematical equation.

Guess I scored high enough to catch their radar. Whoop de-fucking-do.

Dickhead number two speaks for the first time. Lifting his now empty cup so the ice clinks against the glass.

“Yeah, pal, my water is empty, and I’m feeling kind of thirsty.”

So, number two thinks he’s clever.Wonderful.

Walk away. You need the money.

But of course, nothing in my life can be that simple.

I pick up his glass, turning to leave again when I hear the slap and feel the sting on my butt.

Their laughter echoes in my ears. Ringing. Growing louder until all I can feel is its tightness growing. Smothering the rational thoughts in my brain with a cloudy vengeful haze.

My composure completely disintegrated, rage now filling the void.

Sanity is all but a mind game. It’s a mental system derived from the masses that gives these boys their privileged egos. They knew what they were doing, they didn’t care. Their self-pride overpowers their sense of common respect.

But I’m different. Call it neglect, having to grow up quickly, raising myself. All the above.

I’m not like them, with their easy smiles and charisma, not a care in the world. I’ve seen how dark the world can be.

The world is their pearl. Mine being the oyster. I’m what’s left after the beauty inside is taken. Thrown back into the sea, empty, split open, and forgotten.

I’ve come to master being able to shift from one operating system to the next. The seamless side shifting into place as my features relax.

And like that, the finality of his fate is sealed. The empty cup was all but forgotten as it was set down.

He is practically begging for what’s coming next.

Turning, I smile sweetly. Flutter my lashes a little. Twirl my fingers through the ends of my long locks strung up into a high pony.

Bending down, I run my finger along his neck, above his collar. Goose bumps break out across his skin. His smirk tells me all I need to know. He thinks this is all but in the bag.

Like my mother, they think I’m naïve, foolish…easy.

Doesn’t matter the quality, it’ll get you to the same place eventually.

In all of Lillian’s faults, she was at least right about one thing, manipulation.

Having a mother who stopped caring a long time ago. Abusing medication, and then eventually alcohol becoming the drink of choice when the meds weren’t enough to numb the pain. I know firsthand what it’s like to watch someone slowly start to diminish themselves.

To shrivel away into oneself but still be breathing. Trapped inside your head like a prisoner. Purgatory of the brain.

Numbing the pain internally. Even as the world continues to live around you.

“You know what you remind me of, handsome?”

My fingers begin to delicately trace the collar of his polo, giving it a light tug, pulling him up from his seat. His crew all but hold back their applause when I wink. Their faces shine as I pull him up and away from the booth.

My eyes struggle not to roll to the back of my skull.

“Enlighten me, beautiful.” His smile is easy. Teeth too unnaturally white.

These punks see a body and the face I am cursed with. The features that haunt me when I look in the mirror, the one that looks like hers. A couple of decades younger.

All they see is a facade. My insides are hollow, much like her eyes were when I was younger.

Weaken their defenses and then let them hang themselves on their vanity.

Lillian would tell me right before popping a couple of little white pills into her mouth like Tic Tac mints every morning.

It happens within seconds.

The pupils of his eyes begin to dilate at the same time I paste a syrupy sweet smile onto my face. His back stiffens as my hands lock on to his shoulders. His body already beginning to go into that space, tensing under my hold.

His brain only catching up when it’s too late. He’s no longer looking at me but at his friends in a last-ditch plea for help.

Too late,pal.

My knee arches, lifting off the ground, my other foot firmly in place.

“A hemorrhoid! A pain in my ass that won’t go away.” Remarking at the same time as my knee connects with his groin, in one hard, swift move.

Ignoring his shrieks of pain, I step over his crumpled body, now in a ball on the floor.

“You bitch!” is hollered by someone as I pass Alma on my way to the kitchen with a satisfied expression on my face.

Those dishes aren’t going to clean themselves.

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Bye