Artifice

Night Out

After the last page, I threw the journal as hard as I could. The pages slapped onto the wall and I jumped at the sound it made that almost echoed in the dead silence.

3 months later

"Settle down you're going to give me a headache." Liz complained.

She was sat comfortably on the couch, sipping tea while the television played.

"I am trying not to fail, leave me alone." I gritted my teeth. Papers seemed to be flying below me as I tried to find notes from the beginning of the semester.

"You aren't going to, you've been nonstop studying the past week."

"You don't know that." I covered my face with my hands, giving up on my hunt.

Her fingers tapped rapidly on her phone before putting it down beside her and standing up.

She took strides over to where I was situated on the cold floor with papers surrounding me, and grabbed my hand.

"Get up you potato." She tugged mercilessly.

"Let me sulk in my inevitable failures and be a potato in peace." I let all my weight fall down causing Liz to be the only thing holding me up from hitting the ground.

"Evangeline!" She yelped feeling the weight of her body being tugged down with mine. Her body accompanied mine on the floor now, and I looked at her shocked seeing that my papers were just underneath her butt.

"Get up!" I was on my feet.

She scrambled to her feet and smiled wickedly. Her mission to get me up and away from my studying zone was accomplished.

"Come on, we need to get you out of here."

She guided me to my room, I didn't protest this time, I needed a break. I haven't given myself one in three months, I've taken more hours at work and dedicated any spare time I had to school and making sure I was doing the best I could.

My phone was something I hardly touched anymore, unless it was to check the time or answer one of my mother's many calls. I kept it inside a drawer on my night table, where it sat quietly most of the time.

Liz ran into my closet and began throwing an entire outfit to the ground. When the shoes came I took a few steps back knowing her aim was impeccably horrible and I could end up having to go to the hospital.

The clothes messily scattered on the floor consisted of a loose black dress that I wore for a birthday party once, some stockings and a pair of high heeled boots.

"What's the occasion?" I asked once she walked out of the closet with a smirk painted on her face.

"None, you just need a night out."

"Are you dressing up also?"

Lizzy was already dressed, she had come home from a late lunch with Liam but her outfit was a lot less dressy than what she was asking me to wear.

"Nope, tonight's your night."

"Can on my night, I at least wear jeans instead? It's March but it still gets chilly at night."

She protested about wearing jeans but in the end I was pulling up a pair of black jeans on and a nice shirt to compliment it.

"Ready?" She beamed, this was the first night I was willing to spend out in the city and she was notably more excited than I was.

I wasn't a hundred percent sure if I was indeed 'ready' but three months felt like three years and my conscious couldn't bare another Friday night in.