The Five Laws ✓

02

The next few days were spent unpacking and trying to make our apartment feel a little more like home; not just some empty place all our things had been crammed into.

Florence had been telling me about her new job for hours on end. How excited she was to finally be working with other accountants, and how most of them were other girls just like her. I tried to pay as much attention as possible, while also shoving popcorn into my mouth and watching the movie broadcasting against the wall at the same time.

"Seriously Mia, you've got to meet them. They're all, like, the independent badass type."

I snorted at her words, trying to picture girls with calculators being badass in the slightest. I honestly couldn't.

I glanced over to see her glaring at me before looking back towards the movie. She spoke again, "We're all going out later and I think you'd really enjoy getting away from this place. I mean... doesn't it get boring watching the same shows on repeat?"

I was offended she even dared to assume I didn't have a schedule and routine down. I shook my head and explained, "No, I watch them in a certain order, so I'll never be binge watching the same one multiple times in the same week."

Florence groaned and threw a pillow in my direction, causing my arms to fly up to block my face. She missed by a long shot, and I laughed before repositioning myself on the couch.

"You don't start work until Monday, and it's only one night. Come on, how bad could it really go?" She looked at me with a hopeful expression on her face, grinning from ear to ear.

I wanted to stop her there and name the multiple ways of how badly it could go: I could get mugged on the way. A car could swerve off the road and run both of us over the second we left the safety of our apartment. I could make a complete fool our of myself in front of all her new co-workers. I could spill my drink. On me, or even worse, on somebody else.

"Please?" She interrupted my thoughts, pouting at me as her glasses reflected the projection in front of us. With a final roll of my eyes, I let out an, "Okay." before seeing her clap excitedly while sitting up.

"It's going to be so fun; I can already feel it. Hurry and go get ready!" She slipped off the couch and waved her hands in the direction of my room before quickly disappearing into hers, the door closing behind her. I knew that I had done it, no going back.

After a loud and very dramatic sigh I hoped she heard, I made my way down the hall and into my bedroom, catching sight of my reflection in the body length mirror leaning near my bed. I hesitated, my eyes scanning over myself.

My hair looked long as usual, except it was straight since I had actually managed to do it. Freckles covered my nose, and I scrunched my face up a bit, wanting to get rid of them immediately. My thin frame stood tall, only wearing a pair of black sleeping shorts and an oversized top I had gotten from a music festival a few years back. I decided in that moment to wear a little more makeup than usual; noting that I was, after all, meeting a bunch of other women who most likely put more effort into their appearance than I did.

After about half an hour of sorting through my closet for something that looked formal but not too formal, I decided that an olive skirt buttoned up the front and a black long-sleeved top would suffice.

"Mia, are you ready?" I heard Florence call from the living room as I pulled on some knee-high black socks and quickly shoved my shoes on. I'd have to do my makeup in the car.

I yelled back, "Yes, give me a second!"

With my bag in hand and the only jacket I owned finally on, I met up with the blonde near the door, running a hand through my hair. She smiled and looked me up and down, "That outfit looks really cute."