Somewhere... Somehow...

Chapter 3: The Fashionista

 Mae Connor went through the daily morning routine that she had adopted ever since she started her classes at California College of the Arts to study designing. She hated waking up early but unfortunately she had morning classes so she had to be up by seven to get to class at eight. Her alarm would ring straight at seven and she would wake up groaning.

Mae was definitely not a morning person in anyway. She would be in the grumpiest of moods as she drags herself out of bed to shower. After a miserable shower, she would force herself to eat milk and cereal. But of course she hated to eat in the mornings, since her stomach had never grasped the concept of breakfast.

If you saw Mae in the morning and then again during the afternoon, you'd think they were two different people. As soon as Mae's grogginess wore off she'd be the sweetest of people you had ever known.

Today was very much different compared to usual mornings. Mae woke up to her alarm with a smile on her face. That morning she even sang in the shower. If her brother had heard her, he would think that she was finally going insane. She had a bright smile on her face as she dressed up in a floral playsuit paired with coral pink wedge heels and perfected her 'no makeup' makeup look. On usual days she'd wear a simple sweater and leggings for morning classes and wouldn't bother to put on makeup.

She hummed a tune as she exited her room with a spring in her step.

"Is the world ending?" Her dad Chris Connor asked as he put on his tie to go to the office.

"Oh come on, dad. I'm not as grumpy as you make me out to be." Mae complained as she walked over to her dad for a hug.

"Well, whatever you say dear." Her dad said and shrugged.

Mae shook her head. She knew she was grumpy in the mornings but she was in too good a mood to even think about it.

"So what's the special occasion, honey?" He asked as Mae grabbed her bag from the study table in the living room of their small three bedroom apartment.

"Well, I'm meeting Jonah today!" She announced with a wide smile on her face. Her eyes sparkled with happiness and her father couldn't help but smile to see his daughter so happy.

"He's become a celebrity now hasn't he? I thought he'd forget about us, honestly." Chris said as he grabbed his office bag and set off towards the apartment door with Mae trailing right behind him.

"Of course he wouldn't, Dad. Jonah's my best friend." She said.

"Have fun then, honey. Give him my regards." Her dad said. They both went in the elevator and out to the parking lot to get in their respective cars after saying goodbye.

She was so excited to meet Jonah that she could not sit still in class that day. She kept reprimanding herself for not paying attention. After all she was here because of a scholarship. She should be grateful and be good in her classes for that reason.

But she could not help but think about meeting Jonah again. She had been best friends and neighbors with Jonah Marais in Minnesota. A horrible car accident when she was fourteen changed all that. Her mother died, the very year that she was supposed to join high school. Her father was struck by grief and dropped to a state of depression.

Mae and her brother Max were both lonely, grieving and had no adult to take care of them since their father was in a bad state emotionally. So her father took the decision to move back to Utah which was where he was originally from. Their father's side of the family supported them throughout this gloomy time.

Mae was in a new state and her best friend Jonah was miles away. Over the years, Mae and Jonah had kept in touch through social media. They were finally in the same city now. Mae, her dad and her brother had permanently moved to Los Angeles.