AMIRA SINCLAIR.
Present.
It's six o'clock in the morning when my alarm rings and I couldn't be more excited to wake up and finally have a reason to get out of this house. Today is the first day of school after the summer break. I'm officially in my senior year of school. And then I'll be off to University!
One more year and then I'll be free.
I get up in a sitting position and look around my room like I always do. Purple walls, purple curtains, and purple duvets greet me.
Yes, you guessed it right! I'm a through-and-through purple lover.
I don't know why but for as long as I remember I've always loved the colour purple and its many shades.
Something about the colour has always attracted to me it. Just hearing the word "purple" makes me happy. Looking at it seems soothing, satisfying, cheering, and optimistic. Okay, enough of talking about my obsession with purple.
I get out of my bed and enter my ensuite.
It looks like it's straight out of a fairytale.
The whole house does. That's Sinclair Mansion for you.
From the outside, it looks like one huge, luxurious, perfect home.
But I'm sure you've heard the saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover."
I guess in this case it is "Don't judge a Home by its magnificent architecture."
Well, if Sinclair Mansion deserves to be called home that is.
A luxurious bathtub sits near the giant window but I avoid looking at it as much as I can.
Sometimes not seeing things make me forget that it's there. It's childish to think like that but it is what it is.
I am afraid it will bring back memories that I don't want to recall.
Ignorance is bliss.
I enter the cubicle and accidentally turn the handle of the shower with a little too much force and am instantly attacked with a huge force of water.
I jump out of the water force and cut the flow off.
Although I was under the water for just a few seconds my breathing turn erratic and a shiver rolls down my body.
10 breathe in.
9
8 breathe out.
7
6 breathe in.
5
4 breathe out.
3
2breathe in.
1
Breathe out, Amira.
It's just a shower! You are not going to drown, Amira. It's been years, stop over reacting and get over your fear already.
I chide to myself.
Once my breathing returns to normal I turn the knob with less force this time and only one of the shower starts.
I stand under the force and start washing myself.
After a good 15 minutes, I turn of the shower and come out of the cubicle.
I reach for the fluffy white towel on the hanger and wrap myself in it.
I open the cabinet under the washbasin and find the weighing machine and check my weight.
38.800 it indicates. Oh, no, I have gained 800 grams, almost a kg since last week.
How come girls maintain their weight so efficiently and you can't do the same?
You need to stop eating, you cow!
The monster in my head chastises.
I brush my teeth and dry my hair with a hair dryer and exit my bathroom once my hair is almost dry.
I saunter towards my dressing table and take a seat on the velvety chair.
Reaching for the cocoa-butter lotion bottle sitting on my table that Laura gifted me a few months ago, I squeeze a generous amount of it on my palm and place the bottle back on the table.
I smother the lotion on both palms and rub it over my right leg nicely and then repeat the same with my left leg as quickly as I can to avoid looking at the purple-green bruises decorating my thighs.
I then take some more of it and apply the delicious smelling lotion on both my hands but have a little problem applying it thoroughly on my left one because my right shoulder is hurt.
I pick out my favourite mint-flavoured lip balm and apply it on my lips.
I love days like this when I don't have to paint my face behind a thick coat of foundation.
I shimmy into my uniform and black stalking and my favourite purple full sleeves cardigan although it's not wintering yet. I am so used to wearing fully-covered clothes to cover my body that I can't bring myself to wear skirts and half-sleeved clothes anymore. I feel exposed and vulnerable, uncomfortable at this point.
Opening my cologne cabinet, I choose
Marc Jacobs Daisy Cologne and spray it on my pulse point of my neck and wrists and a little in air and twirl around. I sigh as the fresh and feminine floral fragrance infiltrates my sense.
It's one of my go-to cologne. I love how it smells sophisticated but not too serious. Bright but soft and warm at the same time.
Something feels incomplete.
I check myself out in the mirror to see what I am missing and realise that I haven't worn my watch yet.
I open my bedside drawer where I keep my watch, my mother's watch, the only possession that I have of her other than the locket that I always keep tucked inside my clothes away from everyone's eyes and the watch because my father isn't aware of the fact that it's something I snuck away from my mother's room when the servants were vacating her room after she....
My throat thickens with emotions but I don't let my mind wander any further.
I quickly grab my backpack and my phone and do a quick survey of my room a habit I can't get rid of.
One more year, mommy. Then I'll be free.
Just wait and see.
With that thought, I
get out of my room and close the door behind me.