Yesterday's Girl

Chapter Nine - Checklist

A few hours passed after Nora closed her diary. She read a few pages of the book, read a summary on the internet, used Wikipedia and Google Maps to get to know her new city better. There's so much to discover! Then she fell asleep with her book and laptop next to her on her new bed. It was twice as big as the one she had before, so she could spread her whole body over the bed. She wasn't used to her new bed yet, so she'd covered one corner with some books, piled up against the edge of the bed and the wall. There were folded, soft blankets spread over the width of the bed.

She opened her eyes, disoriented and not knowing what she ought to do. She yawned, sat straight up and looked around in her new room.

"Aha, that's it,'' murmured when she saw her laptop and the book she was reading before she fell asleep. She reached under her pillow and touched the solid fabric of her diary. She stretched out and picked up the ballpoint and started writing where she stopped.

''Dear Diary,

Just woke up from a so called ''power nap'', but I'm still yawning. It doesn't matter, because I've read a lot in the thirty minutes before I fell asleep. When I woke up, I didn't know where I was at first. It happened before. I don't have energy and patience to do something for school, so I'll just Google about Reading and try to find something interesting and wander off after. No! Better idea, some fresh air. Let's go.''

She yawned again and put away her diary. She hopped off the bed and began to search for the things she always used when she went out for a walk. Headphones? Check. Plugged into her phone? Check. Some money for a sudden, possible craving while walking? Check. Keys? Check.

Nora turned on her music and hummed along. Where will she go? Of course, the stairs first. She reached the hallway and the front door. Once outside, she looked around the neighbourhood. Where would she go? She didn't know, but she just wandered off and let her legs decide where to actually go. Nora thought how lucky she was with her warm sweater which she had bought before the departure. She bought herself a thick scarf and a fluffy oversized beanie when she was wandering through the shopping area for the first time. It wasn't too late to go there, she might even find something nice to wear.

Twenty minutes later, she walked out of a store with a dress. She never bought dresses, but she felt good about herself and her appearance and she immediately fell in love with the black dress, with its dark blue lace. She wondered when she could wear the dress. She already imagined herself using the normal checklist before she went somewhere, but she added ''watch in the mirror to check dress'' to the list for the next time she was going to wear it for an occasion.

Next to the store was a bookshop with the newest books in stock. She loved to snoop around, trying to find new authors to give a chance. In the end, she always walked around in the store with a book of a popular author in her hands, considering buying it. This time, she didn't find a new page turner, unfortunately.

She'd gotten hungry and the stores were about to close, so she headed back home, but she took a side road through a nearby park. The sun was setting over the lake. It gave a warm shimmer and the light played on her face. People, who walked past her, suddenly saw her beauty and kept looking at her. Nora was still walking around with her music on, nodding polite to the ones passing her but not feeling the need to greet them with words. She was already listening to words. The words from the musicians she loved and her own thoughts. She was thinking about the dress, what it would look like if she could wear it to something special. Something special... The last time she was aware of her appearance when she was in a special occasion, she was having dinner in the Italian restaurant ''That's Amore. Nora remembered the whole evening. Especially the part where she'd said goodbye to him, expecting not to see him anymore.

She'd told her mother about the evening afterwards and her mother noticed when she got sad.

''Darling, you'll be fine. I don't like to say it myself, but there's plenty of fish in the sea,'' she said. Nora had rolled her eyes at her, pointing out that she already knew that. If was just the question which fish would fall, or better say ''swim'', for her. Was she attractive enough?

''Mom, what should I do?'' Nora had asked her.

''Just wait and see. Miracles happen to those who wait.''

''Wait for what exactly? By the way, you sound like a social media account that is posting quotes. Stop it.''

''Well, you could notice the positivity that's within these quotes, you know? Just repeat them, especially the motivational quotes. Oh, and you're waiting for the things or persons you'll need in your life. You don't need to sit still at all times. You have to do something, of course.'' She smiled, happy about her success. ''Darling, you'll find the love of your life, just like we did when we were young and still at school. Please remember: It doesn't have to happen at a boring school.'' She winked at Nora and gave her a hug. Waiting, that was what she was going to do, then. Nora smiled when she thought about the conversation. It really sounded funny to hear the quotes for positive vibes from her mother. She always read them somewhere, but never actually heard quotes said out loud.

It had gotten dark now Nora reached the front door again. She went inside, hung away her jacket together with the beanie and scarf. She turned around to find a place to put her shoes and went to the living room to put on some lights.

There was no one there, so she put on the radio to hear different music than the music styles she downloaded on her phone. Top thirty hits were blasting out of the speaker when she went upstairs to try on her dress for the second time.