tomboy ▪ hemmings

1.

lazily written. i'm sorry. 

she wasn't one of those mainstream girls - with crop tops and mini dresses or dyed hair and wing eyed makeup- , she kept herself subtle and normal. well, at least she thought so.

but people took her in as a tomboy. maybe it was her overuse of flannels and snapbacks, or even her naked face made people look twice. she didn't have a manly face, but she just didn't act like a girl either.

deep down, only she knew how she was. she wasn't those stiff and tough people, well yes - she showed people she was such an emotionless person - but those tears had no witness, and her sorrow was only kept in her chest. aching to find a place to throw it away.

she wasn't born this way, it was the experiences that taught her better. the struggle to take care of herself and her little brother changed her lifestyle. she didn't care to go shopping for clothes or whatsoever, she just took bits and bits of her parent's wardrobe before selling them to a store that sells hand me downs.

since her parents left, she had nobody to depend on. she was the chief, she was the assistant, and she was the only person left for her little brother. they depended on each other, and Andrea knew she had to accept it.

they slept in an abandoned warehouse, not far from the city and quite hidden among the other gigantic houses surrounding them. she knew she had to take the risk and stay there, even if they weren't legally staying there.

it was close enough to the school that Adam was in, and just a fifteen minute cycle to work. she didn't finish school, thus earning herself a dropout title. she didn't really care, she didn't really have a choice either.

her tough exterior actually began when Adam was bullied by a couple of seniors in his school. she couldn't push away the memories of how they laughed at Adam who brought them to hang out at his house. it wasn't even a house, so Andrea quite understood why they laughed and teased him ever since.

but she wasn't going to let Adam feel so torn at their words, thus resulting in a bloody nose, and quite a bruise on the bullies. they weren't teasing Adam anymore.

she wasn't loaded, and her parent's savings were slowly decreasing by day. it has been three years since their death, and she had been working ever since. nobody really asked her about her whereabouts and what she did to help out. nobody really cared.

Andrea doubted anything would change anyways.

"Ands, I'm hungry." Adam whined from the entrance of the dusty warehouse, and Andrea walked over to him before passing him his schoolbag.

"C'mon, you're late for school. Grab an apple from the table."

they walked over to her rusty bicycle, but she never wants to let it go. it was her fifteenth birthday present, the year her parents died. Adam was used to clinging onto Andrea like a monkey, so the trip wasn't such a problem for them.

Adam was nine years old, making the both of them nine years apart. Andrea didn't question the nine year difference though, she just adored him ever since he was born.

the similarities between them made it even easier to detect. Adam was quite a handsome boy, with his long lashes and doe eyes. Andrea had the same lashes and hair colour, but he had the typical brown eyes, and she got the green eyes.

Andrea hated it, she hated them for being obvious. she wanted brown, making her seem more low key. well, she couldn't afford the coloured contacts either anyways. they were a memory of her father anyways.

she cycled the mountain bike up to Adam's school, kissing his forehead before he ran over to the school gates with a half eaten apple in his hand. she shook her head at how he managed to look so adorable doing so, before strapping her helmet back onto her head.

there was a snapback in her basket, along with her backpack. she didn't like how her hair flowed against her back, thus making her tying her hair up in a bun every single time. the snapback was a cover for her hair, making her look like a boy.

tadaa. that's where she got the tomboy resemblances. she didn't push those rumors away though, she just shrugged her shoulders whenever she noticed those glares or even obvious whispers from behind her.

she worked as an office girl with some old Chinese man. he was nice, and that was enough for her. that was the only suitable job that she found with her low qualifications anyway. the pay wasn't that much, making her work part-time at a nearby diner. it was a night shift thing, increasing the fact that she had to act like a boy.

too many discrete annoyances if she was a girl. she hated the attention.

ever since her parents died, and people kept throwing pity and sympathy - that made her hate the attention. she despised people noticing her and her actions. why couldn't people just pretend like she was invisible?

the struggle was real, but it was worthy. for Adam. for herself.