𝐑𝐮𝐧 ✯JJ Maybank

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 || 𝐃𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥

✯♛✯

𝐀 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 through her window brought Francine out of her thoughts while she applied her overly priced concealer over the bruises on her face. She knew the lights were from a vehicle and rolled her eyes, wondering which family was the first to show up for dinner. Her bedroom window was located at the front of the house, facing the driveway so she knew whenever someone came to her house.

The girl was not looking forward to the meal she was about to have, hopefully Rafe will leave her alone but she doubted that. Rafe always had something to say, especially if it's unnecessary. Her plan was to go downstairs, greet everyone and then only talk to Sarah for the rest of the night. She desperately needed to talk to her best friend about everything going on. At first she was against telling Sarah about the pogues. The blonde was one of the sweetest people Francine knew, well except for a few things she's done, so she wouldn't react very well to her ignoring her old best friends for three years. Francine also didn't think she was going to have a civil conversation with the pogues but look at where she is now.

While Francine was getting prepared for the dreadful dinner she's about to experience, she decided that she'll tell Sarah about the pogues. If she had the courage to talk to her old friend group, she should be able to tell Sarah.

     The girl stood from in front of the vanity and took one last look at herself in the mirror. Her mother made her wear a summery pastel yellow mini dress, even though the teen would much rather wear a t-shirt and some shorts. The woman insisted that she had to dress 'presentable' which, in her language, means she has to wear something expensive. Francine thought about leaving her hair down and not even bothering with it but she figured that her mother would definitely have something to say about her not fixing it. She put it up into a braided ponytail and tried to tame the curls. She didn't wear a bunch of makeup, only a little bit of mascara and the concealer to cover the bruises. She was always one to think that if she didn't need to wear makeup if she didn't have to. That didn't stand for other girls, if they wanted to wear it, they could. But personally, she didn't like the feeling of foundation and all the powders on her face, scared that if she slightly touched her face, her eyebrows would come off. 

     "Francine come downstairs, the guests are here." Katerina called from the bottom of the staircase at her daughter. Francine rolled her eyes at her mother's choice of words. When they lived on the Cut, the woman used to make fun of people who said those kinds of things. One of the things her mother used to say that Francine remembered was when the two were watching Titanic. During one of the meals of the first class, her mother said, 'No one actually talks like that, they're just trying to act fancy'.

Back then Francine laughed because she didn't understand why people did that.

But now the teen basically laughs at the memory, seeing the way her mother acted the exact same way they did in Titanic when she's rich.

     The dark haired girl closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. 'It's only three hours' she repeated in her head, hoping that it'll calm her nerves. She didn't know what Rafe would say, and she wasn't really on speaking terms with Nathan at the moment. She might've been overreacting but she didn't know if she could be friends with a guy who sells and does drugs. He might have a nice personality and be a really cool guy, but he also might have been faking everything about not being prejudiced.

Francine left her room and made her way down the stairs, everyone had already moved to another room because there wasn't a single soul in the entrance of the house. She heard laughter and voices coming from the family room so she assumed that that's where everyone was. The teen made her way to the room, she entered and the first person to catch her eye was Nathan. He was standing beside a small girl who seemed to be around eight years old and her stepfather. He was talking about something, and Christopher was nodding along to it. Francine narrowed her eyes but didn't keep her attention on him any longer, someone might catch her staring and get the wrong idea. Her gaze moved to her mother, who was talking to two other adults, Francine assumed it was the boy's parents.