Painted Smiles [completed]

End

September 5, 2016

It was the last day. The first day of school was seconds away. I knew I would have to paint on a smile.

My heartbeat refused to slow down, yet my eyes did not blink as I stared at my computer screen.

My room was dark. Once I clicked "print", I shut the MacBook and tossed it to the carpet beside me. I could hear the printer chugging away, so I ran as fast as I could to see the result. My essay was gorgeous. A whole eight pages of women's rights just for D.

I hope she likes it.

When I returned to my room and placed the small packet into my backpack, I heard the bamboo ringer on my phone go off. Only one person had her own notification on my phone, and it's Sandy. I opened the text and read it, blinking with surprise at her reply to a message I sent earlier.

I would see her soon enough.

My stomach growled furiously, and I remembered I only ate cereal and a bagel that day. I sighed.

"I can't wait for school to start again. I won't have to forget to eat all the damn time," I thought to myself.

I snatched some cheez-its from my desk and jumped back onto my bed.

I recalled, however, the immense anxiety and depression school caused me. "But maybe I'm better off this way."

With that thought, I pulled my laptop back up and began watching silly videos my brother sent me.

My friends sent comforting messages, but it did not help.

The night went well. I slept a lot more than anticipated. My dreams deceived me, for I almost had a good dream.

A/N: I will not be posting another book in this series, at least for this year. Thank you!