UNEXPECTED | UNEDITED

03 | Poptarts

Carly entered her dark house earlier than normal thanks to the cop she had chatted with all night. Milver had offered her a ride when he had learned of her intentions to walk home.

'what kind of person would I be if I let you walk home all alone in the dark? You don't know what kind of people there is in the world.' Milver had said as the duo walked out of the diner and into the early morning light.

He had even waited to make sure Carly made it inside her childhood home before he had left the driveway. This left Carly with a stupid smile on her face before she kicked off her white pair of Converse.

She crept up the stairs in the dark careful to not wake the rest of the house as she came home. It was a Monday morning and she knew that everyone else would be trying to get their beauty sleep before school and work. Carly was already unbuttoning and trying to get out of the waitressing outfit before she had even made it to her bedroom. The ugly yellow garment was tossed to the side of her room before she stopped in front of a mirror. It was a full-length mirror, one that Sarah used to take selfies in for her many social media accounts, so Carly could see her entire body in it.

Carly had never been truly happy with her body, as a child she hated the way her smile had looked. As a tween, she hated the way her skin broke out. As a young teenager, she hated that she had developed so much faster than the other girls. She had been taunted by it by her classmates which caused her to cover us as much as possible. It didn't help that her mother had teased her just like her classmates. Now in her late teenage years, Carly felt her body was average at most.

Her pale skin refused to tan no matter how much she tried leaving her only with bad sunburns and the threat of skin cancer in the future. Her dark hair fell past her shoulders and ended just above her tailbone. Her hair was something that she actually liked about herself and even after a bad few attempts she had even managed the art of cutting it herself. Her deep hazel eyes and dark hair was something that she carried from her father's side of the family, her biological one.

The thought of him caused Carly to tear her gaze from the mirror before she crossed her bedroom and slipped into her bed. The white duvet was still cool against her skin without having a body to warm it. She pressed her face into her fluffy pillow trying to will her mind to fall asleep. After a few escaped tears, Carly found herself asleep atop a damp pillow.

****

Carly didn't wake until a few hours later to the sunshine that flowed through her bedroom window. It was mid-afternoon at least when she awoke to press her face against her pillows. After a few moments of tossing and turning she must have decided it was enough and got out of bed. Dragging her feet to her closet and finding a large t-shirt inside, she slipped it on and headed to her kitchen.

The house was silent as per usual. With Adam and Sarah at school and Victor at work left Carly home alone. A part of her loved being at home alone but she couldn't stand being alone for long periods of time. Long periods of silence bothered her so as soon as Carly made it down the stairs she connected her phone to the speaker system in the living room. She pressed play on her favorite songs as she began making herself a late breakfast.

Carly opened the cupboard where they kept their more sugary or luxury items. On her tiptoes, Carly felt around blindly for the box of wrapped toaster pastries. After a second she found the box, but when she pulled the box out it felt unusually light. With a frown, Carly opened it to realize that it was completely empty. With an angry sigh, Carly smashed the cardboard package and shoved it in the garbage can.

She would have to settle on a bowl of cheerios which wasn't the worst breakfast choice but she had been looking forward to the last cookies and a cream pop tart. After Carly made her breakfast she carried the bowl before sitting down on the couch where she listened to her music and chewed the honey-flavored cereal. Carly scrolled through social media looking at the pictures of all her friends off at college or on one of their many trips. As she scrolled she couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy. Carly had always dreamed about going off to college and seeing the world. That dream imploded soon after her high school graduation.

It was fine, though, it could be worse. Carly thought to herself, reminding herself that there were people dying in the world. Not being able to go to school or see the Eifel tower was just first world problems that really didn't matter. She had a loving family, food in her stomach (even if it wasn't pop tarts), and a roof over her head. More than what others could say.

She sat her empty bowl onto the coffee table before leaning back onto the couch. With her phone on her chest and her eyes closed still trying to convince herself how lucky she was. While Carly was deep in her thoughts the buzzing of her phone brought her out of her self-therapy session. It startled her but she checked the phone anyway. It was a message... from an unknown number. A small smile crept onto Carly's face as she rolled onto her stomach to read it.

Any chance you're working tonight? I might need a coffee fix. :)

Carly responded with a simple yes before she closed her eyes again but this time it was due to the butterflies growing in her stomach.

EDITED 6/7/2020