𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧' 𝐆𝐮𝐲 ➺ 𝐵𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓃 𝑀𝒶𝓎 & 𝒬𝓊𝑒𝑒𝓃

(9) 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴

Yes, Emma teased me for minutes on end about my plans with Brian. Yes, she made assumptions like the horny little bitch she was. She even brought up when we ran into him in the corridor that one time, saying how he gave me the look. You know... that look. Though I knew Emma was being excessive, I humoured her through her suspicions.

But the real arduous task of the day was trying to make myself look less of a mess. There I was, stood in front of the mirror in the girls' toilets, analysing the mess in front of me. My cheeks were slightly reddened, my mascara had started to smudge under my eyes, my hair wasn't in its straight form I had put it in that morning and my concealer had worn off. I grimaced at the sight: blemishes on my chin, one on my left cheek and some spots breaking out also on my chin.

That's when a group of girls waltzed in, almost not even noticing me as they too stood in front of the mirror. I couldn't help but envy their style. Their efforts to look flawless all day. They carried brushes around with them, their entire make up bags etc... I didn't understand how they had the mental capacity to bother about their looks 24/7. And I didn't care much for their superficial efforts. But for that moment in time, I wanted nothing more than to be like that also.

My eyes travelled down the mirror, taking in the girl next to me. She was wearing a yellow long-sleeved button up, tied at her waist, whilst her blue shorts allowed her to show her body off in all the right places. It made me retract. I took a look at myself in the mirror. I did not like what looked back at me.

I, too, was wearing a button up. But it was nowhere near as fashionable; it was ¾ length on the arm, no pattern at all, and was tucked into my jeans. Yes, jeans. Not shorts. Though, I wouldn't wear shorts in 11-degree weather anyhow. But my jeans didn't do much for my self-esteem. They hugged around my hips, the little extra weight I had round there slightly prominent to anyone who looked. They got a bit more comfortable as they flared out at the bottom, not too much, but enough to not suffocate my calves and ankles. My trainers were battered, dirty and fairly worn out. And to top off my amazing fashion choices, I wore my oversized denim jacket that covered everything up to perfection. The sleeves totally covered up my arms and hands.

Just the way I liked it.

"Can I help you?" The high-pitched whine of one of the girls' voices rang through my ears but snapped me out of my rather depressive trance.

"S-sorry..." I mumbled, pushing past her friends and leaving the toilets as quickly as I could.

Way to make yourself look like a dickhead again, Maria...

I was slightly distraught after that encounter, so I didn't really realise when I'd bumped right into Brian, mumbling another 'sorry' and continuing to walk.

"Maria?" He called back to me, and I turned around to see him with a confused expression on his face.

"Oh God, I'm sorry." I let out an airy giggle, taking a deep breath and making my way towards him. "You uh... You ready to go?"

"Yeah, yeah... I was just coming to find you. Are you okay?" He walked closer to me, putting his arm on my shoulder.

"What? Yeah, I'm okay. I'm fine." I shook it off, nodding my head and putting on a smile. Just ignore how you look, Maria... "Should we get going?"

 

"Absolutely."

//

 

 

"Where abouts in Yorkshire are you from, Maria?" Brian broke our silence as we were sat opposite each other, by the window of the small coffee shop around the corner.