Eunoia/ a novel

one •

                                  
    Venus scrubbed the oil paint off her nails. She took a deep breath. She had to finish painting a portrait before her flight. It helps her inner thoughts get more calm. Her mom took a day off to congratulate her  daughter on her first trip she is going to take now that she is 18 years old. Eighteen. Eighteen years old living on this earth. Her mother still has to get that through her head. Venus brushed her thick black hair and hummed a song. She took another deep breath and grabbed her backpack and her brand new grey suitcase. ''Goodbye room.'' She whispered. She turned off her lights and stormed off downstairs.
          ''Oh Venus!.'' Stephanie , Venus's mom cried. Her crystal deep eyes were watery. She smiled at Venus with so much warmness.
''I can't believe you are leaving me here alone for the whole summer.'' Stephanie cried again.
''Mom, we have already discussed this. You are not staying alone. I told you aunt Selina is coming here.'' She laughed. ''And with her five cats.'' She added, smirking.
''Alright, alright. You gotta catch your flight. Don't wanna be late to New York City.'' She sighed. She's going to miss Venus. She's used to Venus painting in her room and walking the dog every morning. She's used to Venus waiting for her when she comes off work. She's used to Venus asking her about the planets she's studying and stars.

     ''Now go have fun while I stay here in Portland.'' Stephanie pouted.
''I would take you with me, but you got to work and plus you love your job.''
Venus smiled , holding her suitcase and adjusting her backpack.
      They hugged at the porch and gave a couple of reminders to each other.  The same reminders Venus would say.
''Don't forget to eat, since you forget when working!'' Venus shouted walking off to the cab. And then Venus mother would reply back with a ''Don't forget to scrub the paint off your hands!.''
Weird. I know.
                                                           •••••••
Venus went to Absul's house and picked her up. Absul is Venus best friend since third grade. They used to share drawing pencils in the back of the school bus. She also haves an amazing mom who cooks Korean food most of the time.
       They are starting an art summer program in New York. They were surprise that both of them got in since it was difficult to get in. Competitive Absul was there in her porch grabbing her suitcases and staring at Venus with a huge grin. She was wearing a summer dress and some flats. Along with that her beautiful smile and her long ,thin, black hair in a pony tail.
            ''Ohh, the instagram famous Venus just arrived." said Absul, pulling Venus into a tight hug.
           "Shut up Absul, we have a flight to go to." Venus pulled Absul and shut the Taxi door grinning like an idiot. She really was excited for this trip.
          "So, in ice cream sundaes how excited are you?" Asked Absul pulling her sunglasses that were on top of her head. Venus pulled her hair back so she could stop them from dancing with the wind of the freeway. "Chocolate chip ice cream with fudge and whipped cream and strawberries on top with another scoop of vanilla and mint." Absul laughed at her response
                                                                      ••••
       When they were finally landing in New York, Venus looked over her shoulder and Absul was sleeping. Venus groaned. She was in the same position for hours.
''Absul, wake up.'' She pushed Abusuls hair and opened the window for daylight. There was none of course. It was 8'oclock.
Absul's hazel eyes flickered open. ''New York.''
Thousands of lights illuminated the ground. Skyscrapers everywhere. Venus saw New York in pictures but, this was even more beautiful. Both of the girls felt like they were in a movie. A fantasy. ''Flying 5 hours is so worth it.'' said Venus, taking her laptop and putting it in her bag.

She turned on her phone. She took a picture of her doodle. An elf princess with rosy cheeks.
Finally in New York.

She posted the picture in her instagram account and in a matter of seconds a lot notifications popped on on.  The usual. For Venus, her drawings were on Instagram. That's where she posts them.  She had that account for three years already and her followers were still growing everyday.
                                                                   ~~~

          The hot summer, New York breeze, immediately hit Absul and Venus going through the door of the airport. So many people were waiting for their families, Venus saw people hugging their families. It made her feel homesick. She has never been really away from her mother. The only time she has been away was when her mom forced her to go to the 'Friendly Smile' camp, when she was 8 years old. Her mom was worried about her not making any friends other than Absul.
    When they got to St. Garden Hotel, Venus's eyes lit up. A beautiful sunset painted in the sky along with the outside music of traffic and shops. Absul noticed Venus staring.
''Beautiful, I know. You are probably going to take a picture and paint it aren't you?.'' Absul asked, knowing her so well.
Venus snorted once again. She took out her phone and took a picture as her hair fell back, she was leaning her body to take the picture. Her short hair was the color of a midnight sky. It was a compliment with her pale baby face. ''You know me so well Absul.''

Absul complained about how hungry she was. ''Let's go to a fancy restaurant and drink sparkly water.'' She said , imitating a british accent. ''Or we could go to our hotel room and order food there.'' Venus said pressing the floor number of the elevator.
     After dinner (pizza of course.) Venus and Absul looked at their schedules for tomorrow. Art program. yay.
'' So out of all the classes all we have is one class together.'' Absul said shoving her paper in her purse.
''Sadly.'' Venus said, scrolling through her instagram again.
   Both of them had damp hair and were wearing really long t-shirts. Venus decided to call her mom.
                                                                          ~~~
''So, how do you like aunt Selina.'' Venus asked shading her little doodle.
''Well, today I had a pretty scaring encounter with one of her cats while looking through my telescope in the garden.'' ''-Suddenly  I feel this fuzziness around my legs and I swear Venus, I jumped so high and even higher when I saw his demon like eyes.'' Venus smiled hearing her mother warm laugh through the other line of the phone. ''Mom, they are just cats. Gotta get used to them.'' After an hour long of talking with her mom and a lot of okays, venus finally said goodbye.

Venus leaned in to Absul's bed and saw her sleeping. Her hair was in a bun and her petite figure was spreaded everywhere in the queen size beds. The girls were pretty exhausted and a long day ahead of them tomorrow. Venus went to her own bed and with just a minute she fell asleep. After checking her instagram of course.