Verity [ON HOLD]

Chapter 8

V E R I T Y

Staying in my bedroom to sob the entire weekend, from Friday night to Monday morning, was probably the last thing I was expecting out of every possible scenario that could've gone down. Spending my Saturday with a hangover was a definite idea I kept in mind getting ready that Friday evening, and snoozing on my couch with Netflix in the background was another- sobbing my heart out without an ounce of willpower to even get up was the furthest thing from my mind until I collapsed bonelessly onto my bed the second I had my door shut.

It was pathetic, arriving to school with concealer under my eyes as if it would shield the sheer restlessness my paling skin reflected. I hadn't bothered with my eyes, theorising they'd only be smudged with the way I continuously rubbed at them, and only had lip balm as a replacement to my usually fulfilling routine.

"Ivy," Rosie introduced herself with widened eyes, visibly moving her head backwards at the lack of liveliness across my dampened face, "how are you feeling? Gosh, mind my bluntness, but you look really ill. Are you sure you're fit to come in today?"

The breath that left my lips was audibly shaky, passing as a sigh rather than an exhale as it was built to be, "Yeah," I took my time speaking, smiling at my friend as I set my belongings on the table surrounded by sheets of papers and a computer in the possession of Rosie, "I look worse than I feel, trust me. I just need a coffee to fuel me."

"I'll go grab one," Rosie immediately offers, smiling gently at me as I sit in my seat before automatically starting to get up again. She stops me, shaking her head and preventing me further by an arm gently pushing on my shoulder, "no, no, you sit here. I was about to go buy one anyways and I reckon you should rest instead."

"It's really no big deal, Rosie," I smile, "I feel fine."

"You might," she shrugs as she grabs her wallet from across the table, "but that isn't enough for me. So you stay put and I'll be back in a bit with a warm drink before you start sniffing all over the place." Her words are teasing through the tone of her voice and I manage a smile, thanking her once more before watching her retreating back leave the classroom and in the direction of the cafe.

The second she's gone I sigh into my hands, my forehead pressed against the inside of my wrist as a visualisation of my pure exhaustion from more ways than one. I'd experienced heartbreak before- as a teenager, it certainly wasn't something foreign to me, but a day out with Caroline and a tub of ice cream always seemed to do the trick.

I didn't have a Caroline or a tub of ice cream at home. Grocery shopping was something apparently distant to me ever since my arrival to London because my busy schedule left me even less time to spend in the kitchen; the more time I spent thinking about it now, the more I suddenly felt saddened about the fact. I'd go after school, I decided. All the work I had to do for Charlotte could be done at home and same goes for my school work- I'd manage.

"How's the dress coming along, Ivy?" A voice appears the left side of me, guiding me to automatically look sideways where I see my professor peering interestedly over my shoulder. I plaster a smile on and straighten my posture, spreading out the fabric slowly coming together as a dress to show off my progress so far.

"Good," I nod, my lack of a better descriptive word coming clear with my plunging mood until I sort myself out with an inward smack to the back of the head, "I'm really pleased with the progress. I think the dress is going to turn out really, really nice. Exactly how I planned."