I THREW a chip in my mouth and crunched it smooth as I sat on my dresser chair, staring intently at my laptop to the extent where I felt I might have bore a hole through it.
I heard a knock at the door.
"Open up, Wendy!" A familiar voice rang out from outside the four walls of my hostel.
I stood up to go get the door but not before doing my little grumble dance.
"Oh hey, Anna! What brings you by?" I rested my head on the open door.
"Go wear your glasses," the slim Asian model walked past me and slumped on the only available sofa in the room.
I lightly giggle, "I can still see without them, actually."
"Sure, whatever you say. Have you decided on a dress for the outing?" "Nah, but I'll figure something out for sure. I keep buying clothes and never wear them anyway, so I should have loads to choose from," I sat down on the bed and stared at my face in the long-length mirror right in front of me.
"Are you really going to give me a makeover? Cause I'm not to sure about going to an event looking like this. Do I look okay like this?" I turned to face Annabelle.
"Yes!" She squeezes her face in response like I was asking the obvious.
"With how I look right now?" I turned back to the mirror, rubbing my fingers against my freckles like I could clean them off.
"Don't tell me you want to flunk out on this one too," I could vividly see her glare from the reflection of the mirror.
I sighed, "I just don't want the people there to laugh at how I look. I don't want to look weird. I'm sorry."
Annabel got up on her feet and walked over to where I sat, massaging my shoulders.
"Don't be, Wendy. You're fine, really. You're very pretty. And if anyone snickers at you for any reason at all, they're just jealous and stupid too. Just make sure you're there for Scar okay?"
I sighed, "Yeah, thanks."
I saw my laptop screen come up from the corner of my eye and I immediately flew towards it.
My eyes glowed as I saw an affirmative response from what I had been patiently anticipating for the past hour.
I jumped for joy, almost gaining myself an injury as I hit my elbow on the edge of the table. I malfunctioned for a second as I felt a shock in my elbow area.
"What's that all about?" Annabel asked from the bed, laughing her heart out.
"I've gotten two tickets to Nathan's concert!" I said, hyped up once more.
"You want to go all the way to Lindon for a guy who doesn't even know you exist?"
I rolled my eyes.
I roll them too much. Maybe that's why I use glasses now.
"It's not in London. And even if it was, I'd still go see someone that doesn't know I exist. It's called being supportive.."
"..He's coming to Los Angeles next week Friday for his next concert and I've got two tickets!"
Anna sprang up from the bed and pounced on me, making us both fall to the ground.
"Take me with you!" She screamed.
I laughed, "No can do." "Aww, why?" She whimpered.
"If I take you, I'd have to take Scar too."
I remembered how we had shortened our names.
We once brought up a dumb idea to call ourselves by our shortened names. Annabel was obviously crowned Anna, we had agreed to call Scarlett, Scar, and I, Wen.
I had not agreed to that.
Their nicknames sounded nice.
Anna, like the pretty ice queen from the Frozen movie.
Scar, making her seem as daring as she looked.
But what about me? I sounded more Asian than Anna.
Wen. When what?
"But she not even interested in stuff like this," Annabel whines at the fact that I didn't want to tag her along.
"More reason I should take her and not you. What if you steal my crush?" "Wendy, you have a boyfriend!" She laughed. "And it's him I'm taking," I grab my face cleanser and press some on my palm.
{~~^~~}
"So, how was the wedding?" Clara asked as she sank her teeth into a bagel.
"It was okay, I guess." "So boring," she laughed.
"Did you take pictures? Can I see?" I shook my head, "I don't have any." "Girl, you're so weird!"
I laughed.
"Do you have any idea what I can wear to a dinner date? A comfortable dress." Clara grinned, "I've been waiting for this kind of talk since forever."
She drew her chair to now be situated beside mine and pulled out her phone, scrolling through her photos with massive speed.
"You know, you've got to be quick 'cause this is my lunch break, not yours."
I softly laughed, "Yeah. I won't want to lose my job."
"So, what kind of look are you aiming for?" "I have no idea but I just want to look comfortable and bland in with everyone else." "Are you going for an undercover spy or what?" Claire giggled.
"You can say that," I join her on her laughing train.
"We'll I've got three choices for your date. You'll pick one yourself." "Who said it's a date?" "I can recognize a sheepish smile from afar, Wendy. Trust me, I'm the queen of this."
She handed me her phone, "This is the first. It's too subtle for a date if you ask me, but I guess this is your preference."
{~~^~~}
"Make sure you eat well, okay? We're all working hard so you can be alright." "Sure, mom. I'm kind of busy right now. Let's talk later."
"Okay, love. Bye now." "Bye."
I drop the call and place my phone back on the desk, resuming the song initially oozing from the speaker- Landslide by Nathan Ribeiro.
I picked up the formerly brown paintbrush, now smeared with black paint, and created a cast of a shadow of the rose flower painting on the canvas in front of me.
I heard the door softly creak and took a good look at it before going on with my painting.
It's much better when no one is around.
I dipped the brush in a bowl of water and dab it dry on a clean before dipping or in white paint on the palette.
I swung the brush on the ending sides of the leaves, highlighting them.
"Boo!"
I shook down to my knees as someone screams in my ear.
Thomas kissed my neck and laughed.
"That scared me! What if I had made a mistake in my painting?" I slapped his back as he sat down beside me.
He laughed again, "I'm sorry."
Thomas stared at my painting just as the sun rays reflected through the windows and on it.
"You just did this?" "Yeah." "I swear, you keep getting better and better. I still don't understand why you chose fashion design over this." "I'm good at it doesn't mean I have to pursue it. I'd choose fashion designing over fine art any time."
I dug my hand into the front section of my curly hair and soothed it backwards.
Thomas drew in and kissed my neck again.
"You know I've got paint there."
"I don't care," his voice grew thinner than I had naturally registered.
I ignored him.
It's not a new thing.
I penned down my name at the bottom right corner of the canvas.
"Okay, I'm done. We start going now," I stood up and pulled off the apron I was wearing.
Thomas grabbed me by the waist and pulled me back down so I sat on him.
He whispered in my ears as I bounce on his lap, "I want you."
I sighed. I knew this was coming.
"You know I find it difficult exposing my body to-" "Wendy! I want you," he repeated.
I sighed again, "Fine. Can we leave now?"
He helped me up and turns me around to face him. I could see his brown eyes glow in excitement.
"I hope I'm not forcing you to do this."
I pursed my lips and looked away from his eyes, "You're not."
He smiled, standing up to meet my height and beyond it.
"Is there anything you want to pick?" "Just my purse."
I paused the music playing on my phone and shoved it into my lemon purse.
I was about to leave when he pulled me back to himself, "Why are you in such a hurry?" He held my face with so much care like it would fall off if he didn't do so.
"Nothing. I-"
He shut me up with a kiss, digging his tongue into my mouth.
He pulled away and broke into a soft laugh, "Sorry, I've just been craving to do that for a very long while."
He scanned my face for a reaction and I avoided his gaze, not wanting him to see the new pimple that just joined the group chat.
"Did you not want that?" "No, no, I'm just timid."
He chuckled and pecked my cheek, "Let's go."
He held my hand gently as we walked out of the art room.
...
..
.