ophelia; j.k.

ii

march 31st

it had been 2 weeks.

2 weeks without her best friend.

ophelia did nothing except mourn. lacey would be so mad at her for that.

ophelia sat wrapped up in her blanket on her bed, with a joint in her hand.

today is the day, she decided. she was going to go live. if it had to be one day at a time, so be it, but she was going to respect lacey's wishes.

she got out of bed for the first time in 3 days, and took a shower. she sat in there for almost an hour, almost regretting getting up.

everything was hitting her. she knew that lacey would never come back, but she didn't realize it until she picked up her phone and called lacey. it went straight to voicemail.

"hey, it's lacey. sorry i can't come to the phone right now. i probably won't call you back."

ophelia froze. it had been weeks since she had heard that voice.

she blinked her eyes a few times in shock, forgetting for a moment that her best friend was gone.

"who's going to help me pick out my outfits now?" she thought. she laughed. of course, in a time of mourning all she could worry about was clothing.

she slipped into a pair of black jeans and a grey t-shirt, and threw lacey's denim jacket over it.

it still smelled of her perfume.

she shook the sad thoughts out of her head. "not today."

she didn't know what she was going to do today, but she wasn't going to stay cooped up in her apartment, that's for sure.

she grabbed her bag, slipped on her boots, and marched out of the apartment, determined to have a good day.

it was a cold day in portland. ophelia quickly jumped in her car, and turned the heat on. she hit the play button on the stereo, and Blue by joni mitchell turned on.

ophelia hummed along as she drove to the mall.

"you can do this. you're not a pussy," she said to herself, before getting out of her car. she still didn't have any set plans, and decided to let the fates decide.

she walked into the mall, and the first place she saw was the food court. it was only 3pm, and she had a bite to eat at her apartment, so she decided against food.

she passed through several stores, going into every one of them and just browsing. her and lacey used to do this all the time.

she pushed the sad thoughts to the back of her mind as she stepped up to the register.

she found a little black dress that screamed lacey.

"perfect," the cashier started. "your total comes to $57.32."

ophelia handed her the cash, and was quickly on her way. she was starting to get tired, but her eyes sprung open when she saw the hair salon across the way.

she smiled to herself and decided that it was time for a change. her hair had always been the same. long, brown, and dead.

"hi, i was wondering if you guys have any walk-ins available?" she asked anxiously.

the receptionist smiled at her. "we should, just let me double check."

ophelia smiled back. "yeah, of course."

the lady typed something into the computer before answering ophelia. "there's one hairdresser available now! if you want to take a seat, her chair is the last one on the left." she pointed to the row of chairs.

"yes, perfect! thank you so much!"

ophelia made her way quickly to the chair, and not long after the hairdresser came out.

"so, what are we looking to do today?"