Lycanthropy: Beauty Is A Beast

Chapter Two: The Definition of Normal

"Scream! 'Til you feel it! Scream! 'Til you believe it! Scream! When everything hurts you scream it out loud!"

"Ugggghhh, shut up...” I tell my alarm clock, like I do every day. And, just like every day, it doesn't listen.

 "Mother-" I don't finish the remark as I'm forced out of bed. 6:20 isn't that early, really. I just never get used to the idea of waking up. At all.

I groan at myself when I see my reflection in the mirror. Hideous. As always. Every night before I go to bed, I put my long black hair in two braids. It prevents me from getting too hot at night and that way it doesn't get horribly tangled. But, I have all these really short layers at the top that always look like a rat's nest in the morning. My bangs are all twisted around my eyebrow piercing, and I have to untangle them, slowly and painfully.

Thank God for showers. I love showers. They're like a past time, even a hobby for me. The only thing stopping me from taking more than two a day are water bills. My mom and I are kinda low on cash. And I hate to see her working so much. Once I'm sixteen (which will be in one month, two days, 29 hours, and...30 seconds) I'll get a job somewhere and help her out. Until then, I'm a conservationist.

xxx                                                                       

After my 20 minutes of heaven, I blow dry and straighten my hair. While I'm pulling on my Paramore shirt so my belly button piercing doesn't get any colder, I put my iPod on shuffle and let it play through the speakers.

Broken by The Gorillaz.

Dammit, now I'm in a Gorillaz mood and have to change my shirt! I grumble as I slug to my closet to find the one that says "I Love Stu-Pot". It was a hard find, but it's now one of my favorites.

I throw on my dark skinnies and make a run for the kitchen. I can see the light from downstairs, meaning my mom is already up.

She's busy fixing coffee, back towards me. So I sneak up behind her and gently grab at her shoulders. "Boo!" She jumps and swipes at me playfully. I kiss her cheek.

"Morning, Mum. When's the beans gon' be ready?" I always talk like that around her. I think it may secretly tick her off.

She shrugs. "About ten minutes. I'll call you when it's done, kay Mads?" That's her nickname for me. I got it when I was three. That was the stage where I always had temper tantrums.

I grab a granola bar and head back upstairs. There, I fish through my drawers to find black socks, then stuff on my blue, high-top Chuck Taylors.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I decide I'm going to tease my hair. So, I grip my comb and get started.

xxx

When I'm done, I clip a blue bow to the left side of my head. "Maddie! Coffee's ready!" my mom calls. I rush downstairs and grab my Batman cup from the cupboard.

My typical morning. Sipping from a Batman mug and making faces at my mother. Us two live by ourselves. My dad opted out of the marriage thing when I was 5. I still see him, just not as often as I'd like.

I rinse out my cup and go to my bathroom to brush my teeth. Then, pile on the makeup. Blues, whites and silvers on my eyes. Light blush. Then, decide to be bold and put on black lipstick: not a normal thing for me.

Stuffing my phone and a black sharpie into my back pocket, I grab my tote bag and iPod.

I blow my mom a kiss on the way out the door to catch the bus (that I still have to ride for another month and two days).

She catches it. She always does. I'm such a kid when it comes to my mom.

xxx

School. Just hanging before the bell rings. Spring Break is coming up, so that's the topic of our discussion.

"I'm going on a cruise with the fam. The old man says I can take a friend if I want-" The group erupts and cuts Sean off. He stops them quickly. "-if they're able to pay for themselves" Everyone gets quiet at that.

"That's what I thought" he says with a face.

Then Steven speaks up. "I could convince the folks to give me some dough to pay. Can I?" Sean shrugs.

"Sure, dude. If you can"

Neil flips him off. "Fuck you, man. I gotta stay home all break, I'm grounded for sneaking out" He glances at Roxie. She gives him a look.

"It's not my fault you decided to walk to my house at three in the morning so we could watch a movie. I was asleep!" Neil just shakes his head.

"I missed you, can you blame me? And your 'rents never even found out!" He shakes his head again.

I just stand there idley. As per usual. Then Sean suddenly stabs me in the belly button. I flinch, but I know that hurt him more than me. "Owww, fuck! I forgot you had a piercing!" He holds his fingers lovingly, like a dork.

I smirk. "That's what you get"

"WHEN YOU LET YOUR HEART WIN!! WHOOOAAA!!" the group explodes with a Paramore song. I just giggle.

Roxie starts in with her plans when everyone is calm. "I'm going to a beach in America! I'm soo excited!" Neil and I stare in awe.

America. I've always wondered what it was like there. It's always kinda cold in Canada. Even in Spring. I'm so jealous of her, Sean and Steven. I want to see the world. Ideas for my poetry.

Everyone looks at me expectantly. I blink and try to remember what I'm doing. "...Nothing really. I may visit my Uncle Max-"

Roxie interrupts "Crazy Uncle Max?"

I nod."That's it"

Neil lets out a sigh of relief. "I'm not the only loser staying home!!!" I give him a look and he shrugs.

The bell rings and we grab our crap. In the halls, Roxie and Neil kiss before parting ways. I smile and give her a nudge. "Oh, shut up, Maddie" I snicker and run off to Algebra II.

xxx

Lunch. Normal as ever, I guess. Me reading old crimes I printed out from my computer. I do that, look 'em up on Google and print them out. Real stories, not the fake, crappy ones. Sean and Steven are still talking about the trip to Florida. Roxie doodles on her hand. Neil tries to steal my pizza-- Wait, what?!

I smack his hand. "Get your mitts off my pizza, you food pedophile!" He gasps and stands up, shocked.

"I am appalled!!" The cafeteria goes quiet and all eyes are on him. He stands, unfazed by the attention and takes a deep breath.

"I...have something to confess..."

Someone shouts "You're gay?!?"

Neil swerves. "No you dumbass!!" The guy flips him off.

"I...” Neil pauses. "...Lost the Game"

The crowd erupts. "Ugghhhh, you suck"

"Dammit, I lost!!"

"Fuck you, man"

He nods proudly and sits back down. Him, Sean and Steven high five as I do a face palm. Roxie giggles.

xxx

Bus. Thinking about today.

Yep, my life is definitely the definition of normal.