The New Girl [On hiatus]

Meeting

I woke up to my iPod dock blaring some Crown The Empire at exactly 6 am on a wednesday morning. I hit the snooze button and collapsed back down onto my pillows, groaning in dismay. Who the hell decided school had to start so early? At 6:05 my alarm went off again, and I rolled out of bed, sighing and groaning all the way. 

Look around what do you see?

The choices you never had the guts to make.

Granted life again, and now you've cheated death

There's nowhere to run when you run from yourself!

I sang along as I rummaged through my closet and drawers for clothes, and pulled out a pair of black and white striped leggings and a large black t-shirt. I've always liked wearing tight pants and baggy shirts. It looks cute. I laid my clothes out on my bed, and padded into the ensuite bathroom attached to my room, and started the shower. As I waited for the water to warm up, I examined my reflection in the mirror. Bright green eyes stared back at me amidst a sea of pale freckles, and a mane of long dark hair. My looks weren't anything spectacular, in my opinion, but I supposed there was something you could call "cute" about me. Turning away from the mirror, I stepped into the shower, and scrubbed down, singing along with my iPod. The song had changed, and now On Paper by the Arkells was playing. Belting out the lyrics, I washed my hair, scrubbed down, and shaved all in record time. I stepped out of the shower and dried off, walking back out into my bedroom to get dressed. After I was fully clothed, I towelled off my hair and wandered downstairs to eat. It was only 6:30, so I had plenty of time to kill before I had to leave for school. I found my mom with her head in the oven, checking on the cinnamon rolls she was baking.

"Hey mom, you know you're supposed to cook the food, not yourself, right?" I teased, nudging her with my hip as I walked by. Damn, the rolls smelled good.

"Ha ha, very funny, Mackenzie. Remind me again where you got all your good humour?" She teased back.

"Hm, internet would likely be a good place to start."

She laughed out loud at that, and I took a moment to examine her. I got a lot of my looks from my dad, but there were similar features between my mother and I. Like our eyes. We always seemed to have a mischievious glint in them. And our general facial structure was pretty much the same too. At 35, my mother was pretty young to have an 18-year-old daughter. She'd had me when she was 19, fresh out of high school, and out of ideas. My dad had been 23 at the time, and had a solid job. You hear a lot of stories about kids whose parents had them too young growing up in single parent households, or with step-parents, or foster care, but my parents had somehow beat all the odds. They kind of inspired me, with a love like theirs. My dad had been able to get a raise at the hospital where he worked nights, so my mom could still pursue her college dreams. They made it work, and now we're doing pretty well. 

The oven timer dinged, and my mom pulled the rolls out, and started spreading the icing on. I grabbed one, and leaned against the counter to eat, while my mom rolled her eyes.

"You know, we have chairs for a reason, Mack. So we can sit while we eat, like civilized folk." 

I rolled my own eyes at that, and the nickname.

"But by golly gee, mama, I dun' wanna be like dem civilized folk, I like usin' my hands an' shootin' ta kill. And it's Kenzie, not Mack. Mack sounds like a truck. Or a dude with a questionable music taste."

I shoved the rest of the roll into my mouth, making a show of chewing for my mom. She smacked me with the dish towel, and told me to "git". I took the stairs two at a time back to my room to start getting ready. I blowdried my hair, and decided to put it up with a red bandana. I took my time with my foundation, making sure it was smooth and virtually unnoticeable. I hated it when girls makeup looked all blotchy and unnatural. After that, a light coat of eyeshadow, white on the inside, with a neutral light brown towards the outer edge of my eyes, just to highlight them. I spent a good five minutes staring at my eyeliner, trying to decide if I wanted it or not. Finally, I decided against it, and coated my eyelashes in mascara. Satisfied with my face, I examined my reflection in the full-length mirror one last time. I have spaced ears, at 1/2", and tattoos all down my right arm, as well as a couple on my ribs, legs, and feet that were currently hidden by my clothes. I'm about 5'6" tall, so a little on the short side, but still average. But I'm happy with how I look. I'm Kenzie Pierce, and I'm Fierce. I get a lot of dirty looks for my tattoos and spacers, but I also get a lot of compliments. The way I look at it, nobody can tell me how I can and can't look. My body is mine to do with it what I please, and I'm so happy my mother understands and agrees. We even have a couple of matching tattoos! I'm really close with my mother, in case you can't tell. Though I'm very much a daddy's girl. My father gave me the world and more while I was growing up, in little ways that most people wouldn't consider to be much. He was always there when I wanted him to be, and definitely when I needed him. He taught me how to ride a bike, and how to swim. He bought me my first guitar, and later, my first drum kit. He took me to my first concert, and held me on his shoulders so I could see over the crowd. My dad's the best, and I'm really lucky to have the family that I do.