Marie's Path

Chapter 13

 

Marie woke up slowly. Turning to her side she looked at her clock on the nightstand, it was midmorning. That couldn't be, could it? Sitting up on the edge of the bed she rubbed at her eyes and focused on the clock,10:30 in the morning. She couldn't believe she slept this long. Thinking back, it didn't seem like she woke up at all during the night. She knew a lot of it had to be because of the sleeping pills. But she hoped maybe her body could get back on track, because there was no way she'd let herself become dependant on sleeping pills.

Even though she felt a little groggy, she knew something felt off. Scanning her room, her eyes landed on the closed window shades. The shade on the far wall opposite of the foot of her bed was closed which is how she usually kept it. But the wall along the length of the bed had two windows, and she always opened the shade closest the head of the bed before going to sleep. She knew it was probably odd, but she liked going to sleep looking at the night sky and waking up to the sun streaming in on her face. Maybe the sleeping pills made her forget to open it.

She shrugged it off as not a big deal until she saw her bedroom door wide open. She knew she never ever left her door open when she slept. That's when it hit her. Jay stayed! And those other guys were here, she had forgot all about them. Had they been checking on her?

Marie went over to her dresser and looked in the mirror."Oh my god!" She tried to run her fingers through her hair. It was a tangled mess. And she had forgot to wash her face before going to bed and saw traces of mascara under her eyes. She was embarrassed enough crying like a fool all over Jay yesterday. Now, knowing someone watched her sleep, with this being what she looked like, made her want to crawl in a hole.

She sighed heavily in the mirror. "What the hell ever, just get over it," she mumbled in defeat as she padded down the hall, stopping at the linen cupboard to grab a towel before heading into the bathroom. Habit made her lock the bathroom door and wedge the butter knife in the wood frame around the door. Marie couldn't stand the thought of someone coming into the bathroom when she was in the shower. She turned the shower on and slipped in before adjusting the water temp to as hot as she could stand it.

Standing under the spray Marie tilted her head back enjoying the water hitting the top of her head. She wondered who was downstairs and if she could get into the kitchen without being noticed. Then it hit her, she only had three days, three days of freedom before 'she' came home.

She reached out for the bottle of shampoo that she had swiped from Sang before she moved out. It was one that Gabriel made. Marie loved it, it had a rich honeysuckle scent. She breathed in the scent as she poured some onto her palm. It was amazing, only a small amount was all it took to get a good lather. As she worked it into her scalp she contemplated about how she could go about asking Gabriel for more. She couldn't very well tell him she stole it from Sang. Maybe if she played dumb and just acted like it was left behind and... she laughed at herself. "Here's an idea, why not just tell him the truth. And if he says no, he says no."

She hated the fact that she was intimidated by people and unsure of herself. She knew she was naturally a shy person but was scared of being laughed at or ridiculed. So she covered it up by being a bitch to people at times, or just acting like she didn't care.

Except for Sang. With Sang, Marie was a genuine grade A bitch. The more Marie thought about their lives, the more she came to realise her treatment of Sang was a learned behavior taught by her mother. One she was going to have to unlearn, if she wanted a friendly relationship with her sister.

After getting out of the shower she wiped the steam from the mirror. Gazing at her reflection she smirked. "Looks like it's time to purdy up for the day." She smiled as she remembered Oda, an elderly woman that lived next door to them in Illinois. When Marie was six, she would visit as often as she could. Oda was short, round, and always had a smile on her wrinkled face. She would laugh and tell Marie how it took her over two hours just to 'purdy up for the day.'