"He often told me, my name and my eyes were my most obvious feature," I sighed at the memory.
"But only I, could ever truly know what my best feature is, and right now, I'm not sure what that is anymore."
••...
Over the past 24 hours I had completely reinvented myself. I needed my mojo back, I needed my old self back. The one that didn't hide or cower, the one who didn't show weakness when things got tough. Rosie took me to her friends salon, the friend who's wedding I basically ruined, & dyed my hair a color I would never consider coloring it.
Pink.
Not a crazy hot pink, just a really nice soft pink. While I was getting my hair done I was able to apologize to Ruby for ruining her wedding. In the end all was forgiven & I was given a new look that I fell in love with almost instantly.
Instead of usually hiding my freckles with makeup, I decided to wear minimal makeup. Only some lipstick, mascara & my eyebrows.
My outfit helped make a new image for myself as well, I was in black clothing from the neck down.
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Instead of wearing my usual lazy attire, Rosie helped me get rid of & keep the right clothes. Even though I was wearing all black I felt empowered. I felt like nothing could stop this sudden boost of confidence I was given. I kept my head held high without anyone catching a glimpse of any weakness. This reinvention of myself also helped me get my mind off of Gregory. It's been a week since anyone's heard from him, but I know that like my mom, he would come back sooner or later.
Walking into school with everyone's eyes on me was quite nerve racking to say the least since I had never really gotten any attention, besides for my eyes & name. From the corner of my eye I could see Maggie waiting in her car as she watched me walk by & up the steps of the school.
To say that I missed my best friend would be an understatement. However, Maggie was in the fault here, despite me practically ruining her relationship. I could also see Jesse as he got out of his moms car, with his eyes glued on me. I was beginning to feel self conscious & used my hair to cover my face.
I could hear the sound of Madison's annoying giggling around me but I was in no mood. Once I looked up at my locker I could see why they were giggling. Why everyone started giggling. All over my locker were pictures of Jesse kissing me. From the angle the picture was taken it looked like it was a mutual kiss. I quickly tore all of the pictures down & walked over to the trash to throw them away.
"Come on that took me forever to print out." I ignored Ethan's comment and continued walking while he kept laughing with his friends. I kept my head slightly down but I could feel eyes burning holes into the back of my skull. I refused to look up in fear & embarrassment that I would see those same hazel eyes.
I threw the papers away & ran into the restroom to catch my breath & relax myself.
||
My stomach dropped at the sight of a large crowd around my locker. The closer I got the more distinct the sound of bone-meeting-bone became.
"Don't go fucking near her!" That familiar voice is what caused me to push through the crowd only to gasp at the sight in front of me. Ethan had Grayson pinned down for a second before Grayson was on top of Ethan. There were specks of blood splattered on the floor around them. Grayson's nose was bleeding & Ethan had a large cut on his eyebrow & lip. Grayson used his legs to pin Ethan down & repeatedly punched him with a few hits to the liver. Someone screamed "teacher!" and Ethan snaked his way out from under Grayson & ran the opposite direction. Grayson stumbled a little but was eventually able to stand up straight. His eyes met mine & we locked eyes for 3 seconds before he was running towards the front doors of the school.
A freshman teacher came out shortly after that & began questioning the people around who witnessed the fight. I quickly made my way out the front doors to avoid being questioned, but a small part of me also wanted to see if Grayson was alright. Once out the front doors I couldn't see Grayson until I could hear someone's heavy panting from behind a blue truck. I quickly ran over to see Grayson lying on his back on the dirt as he clenched his chest. His face was pale like a vampire had sucked all the life out of him.
"Grayson-" he cut me off when he pointed to his truck. The door was already slightly open so I immediately started going through the passengers seat.
"M-medicine" he sounded out of breath & weak.
"Glove compartment." His eyes started to look heavy & my heart rate started to go faster & faster. I had no idea what the hell he was talking about or why he needed medicine.
I rummaged through the glove compartment & found a bottle of pills at the bottom of all the mess. I read that he needed to take three when needed & quickly opened the cap & helped him swallow them. After about five minutes his breathing was still heavy, but much calmer. I sat on the curb awkwardly as he leaned against his truck.
"Since I know you're probably thinking horrible things I can assure you I'm not dying,"
"I have a sucky heart so..."
"So you thought it was a good idea to get in a fight with your brother?" I scoffed. Realization smacked me in the face suddenly.
What does he mean his 'heart sucks'? What the hell does that mean?
"This only happened because I forgot to take them in the morning. If I don't then I'm screwed."
"Then how do you play sports?"
"I take a stronger dosage when ever I'm active. Sometimes I have to take breaks during games."
"...oh" we fell into a silence after that. I could feel him staring at me but I didn't want to look up at him, I was still angry about what he did.
"You look nice." I could feel my cheeks becoming tomato red at Grayson's comment.
"I know." He chuckled as he played with a twig he found on the ground. We sat there for a moment before we ended up getting in his blue truck & driving to his house.
