Heartlines ||Jared Cameron||

viii. coruscate

CORUSCATE: (v) to reflect brilliantly; to sparkle

"Our judgments when we are pleased and friendly are not the same as when we are pained and hostile." 

- Aristotle

Makenna manages not to fall out of bed when her alarm goes off in the morning. Not waiting for Charlie to yell about her very loud alarm, Makenna slides out of bed and turns the piercing sound off. She remains standing there, staring at nothing and not think of anything in particular. After a few seconds, she shakes the daze off, suddenly aware what feels off this morning. She's craving comfort and affection that usually meant many hugs from Dominic.

With a frustrated sigh, she takes a few deep, calming breaths and then goes through her yoga flow. Muscles relaxed and not so sleep-stiff, she goes to the dresser to pull out her clothes for the day. A solid red dress and one of her many floral sweaters, this one slightly oversized to give her some comfort.

In the bathroom, Makenna inspects herself in the mirror. Her eyes are unpuffed and lacking a distinct color of red around them. There's no remaining evidence from yesterday's crying, something she is eternally grateful for. Quickly then, she goes through her morning routine before heading back to her room where she changes and throws her hair up in a messy bun. Combat boots round the outfit off and though Makenna would usually pair the outfit with some sneakers, sweaters are meant to be worn with sneakers, she needs the familiarity of her favorite footwear. Spotting the time, the girl grabs her backpack making sure her camera is in there, her phone, and her coat and goes downstairs.

A plate with cookies and two slices of toast the way she likes it is waiting for Makenna in the kitchen. "Thank you," she says, sliding into her seat.

Charlie gives a hum, peering at his niece over the rim of his coffee cup. It isn't until she's finished with one slice of toast when he speaks up. "And how was your first day?"

For the first time this morning, Makenna looks at Charlie. He looks tired, worn out. The light in his eyes have dulled and there are new lines on his face that weren't caused by laughter. It makes Makenna's heart ache and she then remembers Bella's abrupt departure to Italy. She mentally curses her cousin for leaving Charlie like this. Hopefully, she'll return soon.

"It was good. My classes don't look that bad and my teachers seemed nice, only my trig teacher made me introduce myself. Turns out I have all the school supplies I'll need to. I'm just going to use my old notebooks since it's almost the end of the school year."

"That's good, that's good." Charlie looks like he's genuinely pleased with her and that makes Makenna smile. "Make any friends." And there goes the smile.

Makenna focuses on her cookies, the last things on her place. There's no way she can look at Charlie as she says what come next. "Not at school, no. I didn't really talk with a lot of people." or anyone really she mentally adds.