Paper Doll

Chapter 1:

I finish shaving the pale face of a female corpse that lies on the metal preparation table. Her name was Allison Darin. That doesn't mean anything but I know the names of every body I've ever worked on. It's hard to forget the name of a dead body you have to touch for nearly four hours of embalming. Nick enters the room loudly and slams his purse onto another table in front of me. I jump; causing the blade to scrape against her lip, a gash appears.  "How many times have I told you not to make noise when I'm working on a body?" I groan, slamming the plastic razor on the table.

"I'm sorry, I'm just stressed" He whines.

"Alright, what's wrong this time?" I ask, taking off my gloves and tossing them onto the counter to the right of me.

"I signed up for a writing competition a while ago, now it's due in three months and I don't even have a topic."

"Just don't do it."

"I can't do that. There was an one hundred dollar entry fee, and if they like what I wrote they'll publish it."

"So? It's only one hundred dollars."

"Yeah, for a rich kid like you. But for us normal people, one hundred dollars is a lot."

"Fine, then don't talk to me about money problems. Also, don't sign up for writing competitions that require an entry fee, that's like paying to do homework." I say, taking a new pair of latex gloves, and slipping my fingers into them.

"You are so helpful." He says sarcastically, taking a seat beside his purse on the table.

"Anytime." I reply with equal sarcasm. I approach the woman's body and begin to massage her neck 

"What are you doing?" He asks.

"Bathing her. What does it look like?"

"It looks disgusting." my phone begins to buzz in my back pocket.

"Can you get that?" I ask as I turn my back towards him.

"No thank you. I can barely be here without puking from looking at her."

"You've seen me embalm hundreds of bodies."

"Not because she's dead, because she's a woman." I suck my teeth.

"Nick! Get my phone please."

"Fine." He hops off the table and grabs my phone. "But I'm serious, one time I saw my mom straight out the shower and I was ready to bleach my eyes out." He hops back onto his table.

"Who is it?" I ask.

"Dylan."

"Oh, ignore." I roll my eyes.

"Then why is my sister calling you? Did you fuckboy-charm her?"

"What-boi-charm who?"

"You know exactly what I mean. Did you trick Dylan into hooking up with you?"

"I didn't trick her into anything. Firstly, she came onto me knowing the kind of guy I am. All I did was say yes, multiple times."

"You guys are gross. Although, it feels kinda right. You're both sluts, you're both annoying, and you're both gonna die alone."

"Aww, you love us." I tease.

"Separately. You guys are toxic together."
"Exactly, I don't date, and she doesn't date. We're the same. She's the girl version of me. We shouldn't date and we don't, it wouldn't work and she knows that."

"I don't think she knows that. I think that because you guys are so alike she wants to date you."

"No, we're just friends. She needs me as I need her,  just blowing off steam now and then. That's it."

"Right, okay. Can we stop talking about my sister's dating life now? I didn't think it would get that graphic."

"Hey, I  just feel like dating someone for too long gets too boring. You learn everything about them, nothing is fresh or interesting anymore. Besides, I will date a girl for longer than a week if she deserves it."

"Deserves it? You don't just say 'sit' and 'speak' and give them a treat like a dog. Girls aren't pets Maddox."

"Aren't they?" I laugh to myself.

"Maddox, I'm leaving."

"See ya." Maddox hops off the table and grabs his purse.

"Wait!" I shout after him.

"What?" He walks toward me. I splash him with some of the water in the small bin. Nick shrieks as he jumps out of the way.

"I will stab you with one of those tiny knives over there!"

"It's a scalpel." I smirk.

Chapter 2:

    The bell rings for lunch as I make my way to the cafeteria. I sit with my back against the cafeteria wall, my hat and sunglasses purposely cover my face. Nicholas rushes into the room, he runs up to me and slams his purse on the table.

"Maddox!" He shouts with excitement.

"What?!" I jump. "I cannot wait until that purse breaks."

"I have an idea."

"What is it?" I ask annoyed.

"I want to test you."

"No."

"Hear me out. I just want to test if you can change."

"Hell no."

"You're going to like it, I swear."

"I don't think I will." I start walking. Nicholas begins following me down the hall.

"Come on Maddox, I need you for this. You're perfect for it."

"I'll consider it, what do I have to do?"

"Well, it involves you asking out a girl."

"I'm in."

"But there are rules."
"Oh my god." I roll my eyes. "What are they?"

"We will discuss later, but right now I want you to pick a girl."

"Alright. I'll pick Dylan."

"No, you can't. You already slept with Dylan. That's breaking rule number one.

How am I supposed to know who to pick if I don't know the rules?"

"Just pick a girl you haven't slept with.

"Of course. it's not a one-night stand if it happens twice.."

As we roam the school halls for a girl fit for the project, I notice the cliche cliques of our high school. There are three main types of girls here. Type one girls; parade around in short skirts and love to show off their rapidly developing bodies, begging to be sexualized. Type two girls; pace this school with horrid posture, they think possessed is aesthetic. Could probably be found making voodoo dolls of teachers they hate. Type three girls; are basic, they're satchels covered in pins stolen from vintage thrift stores they attempt to revive. The only thing these girls have in common is that they crave love. They believe in a false reality that high school relationships last past high school. I find that quite pathetic.

Suddenly I notice a group of girls who fit none of the stereotypes. Two short girls, one with blonde hair and the other a brunette, along with a tall blonde stand in front of a science class. None of them are nearly half-naked, nor do they have horrible posture or a 'save the turtles' pin or a dirty vintage satchel.

"I want one of them."

"Alright let me introduce you." Nicholas rushes toward the group of girls.