Winning Skylinn

9

The next day, I woke up early, took a shower, and had my quiet time. I didn't do it every day, and I wasn't proud of that. But I tried to do it whenever I had time.

Since it was Thanksgiving, I made a list of things I was thankful for. It was my first one without Denver in a couple years, and I didn't want to focus on that all day. I wanted to stay focused on the positive, even if it killed me.

When I was finished, my list looked like this:

-family
-Denver
-Jonny
-Jake
-Sunrise
-Matthew
-food
-my house
-Netflix

I went through the list and prayed, thanking God for each thing I wrote down. Then I picked up my phone and searched my music for a song by Chris Tomlin called "Thank You God For Saving Me." I put the phone down on my bed, turned up the volume, and sang along to the words in the song.

When it was over, I noticed that my hair was pretty much dry. So I gave it some beach waves and a little twist across the back.

Then I put on a tan sweater; maroon skinny jeans; a scarf with hues of maroon, tan, black, and teal; and my favorite owl-shaped earrings. To finish, I tugged on my brown combat boots and laced them up.

I looked on Pinterest for some nail art ideas, and chose a design with little turkeys. Luckily, I had all the right colors! I dug through my container of polishes and pulled out orange, red, brown, tan, and white.

For the next hour, I painted my nails and did the little turkey designs. To my surprise, they turned out almost exactly like the picture! That almost never happened.

Once they were dry, I did my makeup. I could've done it before I fixed my hair, but I'd forgotten. I applied foundation and contoured my cheekbones, because why not? I was feeling festive. Then I put on maroon lipstick, brown eyeliner, and my favorite mascara.

Voila!

Finally, I went downstairs to eat breakfast. It was about 10:00 by now, and I was starving! My mom had made bacon and homemade biscuits.

I poured myself a glass of apple juice and sat down to eat. "Thanks for the breakfast, Mom! It's delicious," I said, chewing a piece of bacon.

"Thanks, love. Happy Thanksgiving!" she replied.

"You too."

"Your makeup looks good."

"Aw, thanks, Mom." I loved when she noticed my hard work, even on something kinda simple, like makeup. (A/N: I say 'kinda' because I know it's important to some people, and not as much for others. I think when you're really good at it, makeup can be a difficult but fun process. But some people just don't care, and that's fine. Skylinn is one of those girls that does happen to care. Just thought I'd clarify.)

"You're welcome." She smiled and took a bite of her biscuit. "Ooo, you're right. I did do a good job on these!"

I laughed. "Where's Dad?"

"I think he's in the show-"

"Talking about me?" said a voice from the stairs.

"Dad! Hi." I waved.

"Morning, sweetheart. Ooo, bacon!" He grabbed a piece off the plate and ate it quickly. "Do we have any coffee?"

"I can make some," my mom offered. She rose from the table to brew a pot.

My dad came up behind me and squeezed my shoulders. "Happy Turkey Day," he said.

I giggled. "You too, Dad."

"What do we have planned for today?"

"Oh, I think we're gonna make some pies," my mom replied.

"What kind?" My dad loved all kinds of food, especially desserts.

"Apple, pumpkin, and chocolate."

"Yum!"

My mouth watered as well. I loved my mom's homemade pies!

"Why don't you invite Savannah over to help?" Mom suggested.

Savannah was Jonny's mother, and also one of my favorite people on the planet. "I'd be happy too! BRB."

My dad rolled his eyes. He didn't understand why people would talk in "text mode" in real life.

It was a chilly day, for Orlando, about 55°. It was perfect for Thanksgiving!

I raced over to the Cox's house and knocked on the door. Jonny answered it.

"Hey!" he said cheerfully through the screen door. Then he opened it and let me inside.

"Hey. Is your mom home?"

"Yeah."

"Great. I was gonna ask if she wanted to make some pies."

As if on cue, Savannah walked in. She was wearing a sunset orange sweater and blue jeans, with little turkey earrings. "Skylinn, hi!" She moved towards me for a hug, and I returned it. Her hugs were the best.

"Wanna come over and make some pies with me and my mom?" I asked.

"Doesn't that sound lovely! Of course I would." She smiled and grabbed an apron. "I'll be back later, Jonny." She kissed his cheek and followed me outside.

Back at my house, we got right to work on the pies. It was fun to be just us girls. That meant we could talk about romance-Savannah's favorite subject! Or in her and my mom's case, husbands. Some people were grossed out by their parents talking lovey-dovey about each other, but not me. I thought it was cute.

I was putting the pumpkin pie in the oven when Savannah asked, "How's that boyfriend of yours?"

I paused for a moment, surprised she'd asked. She knew he was away.

"Um, we haven't talked in a few days. But I assume he's good." A sad look crossed my face, and I wiped it away. "No worries, though. I'm just glad to have you two." I put my arms around Savannah and my mom, and they grinned.

"That's sweet of you, Sky. And sorry for asking. I just thought maybe-"

"It's okay. Can we just...go back to baking?"

"Sure, sure, of course."

And just like that, the moment was erased and everything went back to the way it was.