The Degenerates - Under Edit

t w o

Neijla was folding her clothes she'd unpacked whilst Brad, Lila's boyfriend, lay on his back on her bed with his hands supporting his head, running through a list of supplies they may need for tonight's party.

"I don't think we'll need that many bags of chips, Lila." he commented about her list, "They'll be drinking, not eating."

"Well, I'll be eating, won't you, Neijla?"

Neijla looked up from her shirts, "Sure."

Brad shook his head grinning, showcasing a full set of perfect teeth.

Brad entered shortly after Sasha left the room. He was a tall, handsome guy, with brown cropped hair and a catchy smile. He was the stereotypical popular kid who got the grades, got the sports captaincy and on top of it all, got the girl. But, much to Neijla's surprise, actually seemed genuinely nice. As did Lila, who appeared as the stereotypical cheerleader.

"We'll get out of your hair, Neijla, keep unpacking, we've a big night ahead." Brad said and stood up off the bed, pulling Lila up alongside him, who was folding her list into squares so it fit in her pocket.

"I'll be back in an hour or two," Lila called, to which Brad mumbled, "Definitely two" before digging his keys out of his pocket, laughing at Lila who smacked his arm.

"Bye," Neijla waved to them.

As soon as the door shut, Neijla stood up and opened the cupboard doors, placing all four of her tee shirts in a pile on the shelf, next to three pairs of jeans. She hung up the couple of jackets and jumpers she had, which she now realised she'd need more of, and tossed her few pairs of shoes on the floor in the cupboard. She made another note to buy a foldable cube to put her socks and underwear in, but for now, they sat on the bottom with the shoes.

Neijla crushed the box that held her clothes and slid it under the bed. She stacked her books on the bottom half of the shelf Lila cleared for her, and stored her toiletries on her side of the vanity.

Neijla eyed herself down in the bathroom mirror. She tugged her hair out of its ponytail and ruffled it over her shoulders. She didn't care much anymore about her appearance. But, after seeing the way Lila and Sasha looked effortlessly attractive, Neijla felt foreign, green envy stir within her chest.

She reached into her toiletries bag and pulled a small box out, one set of silver earrings, and a matching necklace set inside. A gift from her father; unworn. Neijla decided to take them both out and put them on, feeling a little nicer as the silver contrasted against her olive complexion.

Neijla kicked off her converse and sat down after an hour of unpacking and organising. She grabbed the closest book on her stack of 'mid-reads' and laid back against the wall. After about half an hour, her eyes were stinging, and she closed them for a moment, only to fall asleep.

A loud knocking woke her out of her slumber, and she blinked several times trying to remember where she was and what she was doing. The book had slid off the bed and fallen open on the floor, pages down. Neijla swore under her breath as she noticed some of the pages were bent and creased. Her phone said 6:30, so she must have nodded off for near three hours. It appeared Lila hadn't returned, and Neijla rubbed her sore eyes, still tired from her drive in.

Neijla eventually approached the door and opened it to find Sasha, a bag in hand. "Hey," she muttered groggily.

"Pre party nap?" Sasha asked when she let her in.

Neijla nodded, "Something like that,"

"I thought we could get ready together, it'll be fun."

"Yeah, sure, okay." Neijla answered and rubbed her eye again, "I'm going to jump in the shower then."