Just so everyone knows Frances is referred to as Frankie by friends and her dad calls her Kody. I don't want anyone to get confused.
Frances took a deep breath as she looked out of her window. Summer was almost over; she only had one more week of freedom. One more week before she had to go back to being perfect; one more week of no straightners, no demure make-up, no doing whatever she wanted on weekdays. It's not school she dreaded, just the people there. Her classmates expected her to be perfect, she always had been, and there was no changing that now.
She smiled at her messy bed head in the mirror before throwing her hair up into an off center and haphazard pony tail, no more messy pony tails either, it was back to perfectly sculpted pony tails with bows. She frowned at the thought of having to wear that stupid bow again, she could already picture the stupid thing perched just atop her head right in front of her high pony tail. She craned her neck to look at her skin more carefully, it was flawless, it always was, there was not one red mark to mar her olive skin and for a moment she wished there was. Scrunching her face, she turned away from the mirror to get dressed.
She found her favorite jeans laying on the ground by her bed and as she pulled the wrinkled and ripped jeans on she frowned again, no more ripped jeans. As she tugged a sweat shirt that she had cut the top off of she was still frowning, no more 80's sweat shirts either. Damn, she stopped her foot before pulling on her boots; she wouldn't be able to wear those at school either. As she looked at herself in the mirror she debated as to whether or not she should even go to school, but that was laughable. She was the valedictorian and she had every intention of going to college, so she had to go back, but she could transfer...again she knew she couldn't. Her daddy couldn't very well move his shop just because she wanted to go to school and be able to be herself just once. She had to get through one last year, one more year for daddy and then she could be herself for the rest of her life. When she thought about it like that getting to be herself for the rest of her life was prize enough for being who they wanted her to be for 18 years. She smiled again and lopped down the stairs to catch breakfast with her daddy before the shop opened.
"Mornin Kody!" her dad smiled as she walked into the kitchen.
"Morning Daddy," she said sweetly before kissing his cheek and dancing around him to grab some of the eggs he had just made.
"How'd you sleep kiddo?" he opened his paper before she could answer.
"Good," she answered slathering butter on her toast, "You?"
"Same as always," he turned the page and they lapsed into silence as they ate.
"Frankie hand me a 3/16," he dad called from beneath a truck.
"Here ya go pop," she said handing it to him before sliding back under the car she was working on.
"I was right about the oil pump dad," she laughed, "but the gasket is loose too, just like you said," she could hear her dad chuckling.
"Uh huh and we both got this one right, so I think we are even so far baby girl," he answered.
