Take Off Those Rose-Tinted Glasses

Chapter 4

"Dads," The front door closes softly, emitting a quiet click. "I'm home."

"Wionna, dear, I'm glad you made it back home." One of her dads gets up from his seat and hugs Wionna. She doesn't hug back, just stands there.

"Where's dad?"

"Oh, your dad is in the bedroom now. Work's been extra tiring today, so I just told him to go sleep without me while I wait for you to come home late again." He places his hand on Wionna's shoulder and grips it. Wionna lightly nudges it off.

"I'll be going up now." Wionna walks past her dad and proceeds to go up the stairs.

"Goodnight, dear."

Wionna scans the small hallway. There are 4 doors, each to their own bedroom and a single bathroom. The farthest door on the right near the old painting of the family is the bathroom, while the 2 doors on the left are her dads' and her little sister's bedroom, while her bedroom is on the right. She goes for one of the doors on the left.

"Hey." Wionna slowly opens the door and peeks. "Willow, you up?"

Willow, who seems to have fallen asleep on her desk filled with scrunched up paper, responds with an annoyed grunt which surprises Wionna. She walks into the dimly lit room - the lamp on the desk only being the source of light at this point - and scans for a while. The room was small. The ceiling is painted white, the walls this light desaturated green with their drawings spread across the bottom of the walls, and the floor in this dark brown wood. There was a window with a small seating area containing a few small plants they have been taking care of. Her bedframe was also as white as the ceiling, while her pillows and blankets being neatly tucked in. Her bedside cabinet only has her glasses case. She also had a small coating rack with her clothes neatly hung up on the wall opposite her bed.

Wionna steps closer to scan the desk more. Crunched up paper everywhere and her books and pens all messy and sprawled out, some on the desk, some on the floor.

"Hey, Willow. You alright?" Wionna asks, despite Willow obviously not looking alright. She places a hand on Willow's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. A few sniffles were heard here and there.

"I got a failing grade on my test today and our dads got really mad at me." Willow slowly looked up at Wionna, eyes red and heavy from all the crying.

"I really tried this time." Wionna couldn't keep her cool, so she slowly hugs Willow into a loose hug.

"Look, Willow. I know you tried your best. I'd sometimes walk in on you studying at like, 2am. Just know that I'm very proud of you." Willow suddenly pulled back.

"You walk in on me?"

"Uh. Yes." Willow jabs Wionna's arm hard and begins to laugh.

"I'm gonna keep that in mind and lock my door."

Silence filled the room for a quick second.

"Anyways, it's 11pm. You better go to sleep." Wionna pokes Willow's lenses and storms off, leaving Willow annoyed and needing to clean her glasses again.

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"God." Wionna leans onto her door.

"Fucking." She slowly slides down.

"Damn it." She grips onto her hair with both her hands in frustration.

Her room had the same color scheme as Willow's, without the nice window, though. The room smelled like lavender. Wionna's bed seems to be the only thing very messy. But despite that, both siblings are very well organized and keep their room clean.

But despite the welcoming nature of her room, she's still pissed.

Wionna has been there before. Her dads basing her self-worth on her grades. They'd used to not feed her until she got an amazing grade. Obviously, they've calmed down their act after getting Willow, but it's still affecting them greatly. Don't get me wrong, they're great dads. Both did graduate in community colleges, but they did with above-average grades - one of them being the magna cum laude. They just wish their dads saw them as more than just a trophy.

They were never vocal about it. They'd be extremely friendly with the teachers whenever they heard about their grades, then yell at their daughters when they get home.

They finally shut up when Wionna got amazing grades in college, but that's just because she's been cheating with her clients.

"I don't want Willow to go through what I did before, and I don't want her to be some weirdo drug dealer to kids at college just so I can get good grades." Wionna whispers to herself.

She stands up and walks to her bed, gets down on one knee, and gets a small chest with a lock. She reaches for her back pocket and gets her key, opens the chest to find some small packs of marijuana. She counts them.

2...4...6...8

She sighs in relief as her chest feels lighter, knowing that her hiding spot is still effective.

"Can't forget these for tomorrow." She takes two packs and shoves them into her jacket's secret pocket which is located at the inner backside of the jacket. She takes her jacket off and hides it under her pillow. She locks her chest and pushes it far into the underside of the bed.

She gets to bed and takes her glasses off, setting them on the cabinet.

"Goodnight, I guess."

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Hey, Luz.

Willow is on her bed, chatting with some friends and completely ignoring her sister's advice that she should be sleeping.

heya willow! whats up?? :D

Nothing much. Just upset about the test.

dont worry willow we're all here for you alright

now i gotta go to bed, my mama might hit me with another chancla. night willow!

She sets her phone down and stares at the ceiling for a while, waiting for the night to drift her away. As time passes by, her eyes begin to turn heavy. She doesn't fight it, and she finally takes her sister's word and just sleep.

"Goodnight, I guess." She mutters and drifts away into her sleep.