𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐩𝐬 ✓

1

Leaving home was always the plan.

I had known from a young age that I wasn't where I was meant to be without anyone telling me otherwise. High school was when I realized that I had to make sure to get the grades I needed in order to be able to do what I want without anyone stopping me. Being independent of everyone, especially my parents who constantly and relentlessly used me to show off to their high society friends, was the only way I could make a clean break.

The walls of our house were covered in pictures of my family, photos in which we looked 'happy and perfect'. Awards that I'd received from countless competitions and tests were displayed on the mantle. The walls in the entranceway and throughout the lower floor of the house were the only ones that weren't bare, everything in that house is bare. It is almost eerie how empty the house feels as soon as you were to walk up the stairs or enter a room, any room.

My own bedroom didn't have photos and personal items in it unless they had been approved of by a designer. They never were. I was forced to keep everything in drawers and in storage in my closet. In my childhood house, I was constantly surrounded by people but I was always alone.

Growing up, I had never gotten close to anyone until I met Faye, my best friend. Our family dynamics were similar in the ways that it affected the two of us. We both had selfish parents and it was all too easy to relate and all too refreshing to be able to speak freely with someone who understands. Faye and I had been inseparable until she moved away after graduation to a town a couple of hours away.

Greenville.

After too many fake tears, fake hugs, fake goodbyes and fake see-you-laters to my family this morning, I was on my way to University, my fresh-start. I was determined to make it worth it, despite my anxiety about keeping every aspect of my life balanced.

I drive with the top of my convertible down, the trunk and backseats filled with my belongings, random rock music blared through the radio and a genuine smile on my face as I pass by the "Welcome to Greenville" sign. My body starts to hum with excitement and nerves now that I'm here.

I'm finally free. I don't have to be perfect, I don't have to be alone. I can finally be a kid.

My phone starts to ring from the passenger seat so I put it through my car's speaker. "Why don't I see you in the parking lot right now? I know there isn't any traffic because I checked the reports and it's like...four"

"Faye I'll be there in 10, chill." I attempt to placate my friend.

"Excuse me, chill? I've literally been waiting in the parking lot for twenty minutes. Drive faster."

"It might take me a bit longer to get here if I were to get pulled over..." I trail off with a smile plastered on my face.

"Whatever," I can practically hear her eyes rolling back into her head. Faye hangs up the phone unceremoniously, a habit of hers, so I focus on following the directions to the block of apartments that Faye will no doubt be waiting in the parking lot of. We decided that because we will be attending the same University, instead of staying in dorms we could just live together in an apartment about a ten minute walk from the main campus.

Hearing my GPS tell me that I've arrived at my destination, I pull into the parking lot of a decent set of apartments with a racing heart only to hear a shriek, followed by a blur of red as I back into a parking spot conveniently near the door.

The blur comes into focus although I already knew it would be Faye; she hardly seems to wear anything other than her favorite color. Quickly climbing out of the car, I find myself immediately tackled to the ground, lying underneath a very happy Faye. Her blue eyes wide and staring straight into mine.

"Oh my god you're finally here! What the fuck? Did you hit puberty again over the summer or something?" She pauses, lifting her upper body off of mine with her signature crooked smile. "Whatever, let's get your shit upstairs before we go." Faye says while trying to pull me up off the ground with a wink.

"You won't even let me move in?" I ask confused, I figured we'd just be staying in and catching up as we start classes tomorrow.

"I'll give you half an hour, then you and I are going swimming."