The Things We Leave Behind

e l e v e n

It was finally homecoming and Lana, Millie and I were all getting ready in my room. The window was finally fixed last week so I was able to move back in only having spent a few days rooming with Logan. There wasn't any hanky panky after the first night, which I'm not sure how I feel about.

I got home from school and basically collapsed from exhaustion each day. I'm so tired lately and I feel like it has something to do with the messages. I'm getting emails from them now. Fucking emails. As in, electronic mail. Seriously, could you stoop and lower after you've been blocked.

I spent a good thirty minutes trying to figure out how to block people on email and when I finally did it, I got another one. Typical. I decided to leave it for the time being because there's no point in trying to block people when they keep coming back.

I look over at Lana and Millie who are chatting away, and they look so incredibly happy. I moved away from a toxic place to one filled with love and laughter. My friends here respect and value me and it's a new feeling. It takes time getting used to new places but somehow, I felt like I always knew that I belonged somewhere other than L.A. or California in general. Sure, that's there all my family is but these people, Lana, Logan, Millie, Jackie and Daniel, they're my chosen family. I'm their little brunette, adopted daughter who looks nothing like them. Truth be told, I wouldn't have it any other way.

"What are you staring at weirdo?" Millie asks with a mock disgusted expression on her face. She giggles as she looks at my dumbstruck face.

"Nothing," I say, still smiling. "I'm just really happy right now." I tell her. Her face softens and a warm smile fills her face. "Well, get that smug smile off your face cause we need to do your makeup now." She grabs a bunch of products and walks over to where I'm sitting on my bed and dumps the makeup next to me. She grabs my desk chair and spins around to sit in front of me.

She and Lana get to work on my makeup which doesn't take long because I told them I was going for a more natural look than anything else. They let me do my own eyelashes because I was not about to let them poke me in the eye with the mascara wand.

Once my makeup is gone, we load up our clutches or purses with the essentials like phone charger, emergency money, a spare pad and makeup for touch ups. We all exit my room as quickly as possible as to not be late but when we try and descend the stairs, Jackie calls up to us from below.

"Wait! I wanna get a video of you all walking down," she tells us.

"Typical mother," Millie mutters. I can only chuckle at her aversion to her mother's motherness.

"When I call 'go' I want one of you to walk down and the next person wait ten seconds and then the last person wait ten seconds before you come down. When you get to the bottom of the stairs, give us a little twirl. Ok?" Jackie instructs.

"Fine, mum, let's just hurry this up. We don't want to be late," Millie calls down.

"You won't, don't worry," Jackie assures. "Alright, go!"

Lana is the first to walk down. She reaches the bottom fairly quickly as the staircase isn't massive. She gives a little spin before moving off to the side behind the camera. Millie is next and she graciously flows down the stairs. At the base of the stairs, she curtesy a small princess like bow and drops all the way down to the floor. Dramatic little girl that one.

I go next and try my hardest no to trip over my own feet in the process. I get to the bottom of the staircase and give a little bow followed by a small spin. I smile and Jackie cheers as Lana and Millie come back into the camera's frame.

Daniel, who was recording, lowers the camera, signalling that he's done recording. Millie stops fake smiling and her face returns to her 'my mother is insane' look. "Mum, can we get going now?"