Rot & Romance (Rewriting)

Chapter 24

It's been a long time since Lainey slept in on a Sunday. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she woke up without the assistance of an alarm. What sleep was meant to be like. No alarms. No waking up wishing the world would end. Just sleeping until she literally couldn't keep her eyelids closed any longer. She sat up and stretched for a full ten seconds. She must've slept without stirring even once. She stepped out of bed and made her way over to her vanity dresser.

"You look really bad," she croaked to the girl in the mirror. "But you slept really good," she added with a smile. She showered and dressed and took another look at the girl in the mirror. "Hey there, sexy!" she joked.

Lainey actually never thought too highly of her looks, despite all the compliments her eyes alone managed to get some days at school and work. Eric even wrote a poem about her eyes when they were together. It was a horrible poem. But a genuine one. Lainey figured it was when Eric broke up with her for Vera Barnes that her self-esteem plummeted. She barely remembered the days when she felt she was the most beautiful girl in the world. That may have been because Eric made her feel that way by constantly reminding her she was. Then Vera Barnes, with her platinum blonde hair and auburn eyes and supermodel good looks, caught Eric's attention.

Lainey never once blamed Vera for their breakup. She couldn't have. Not entirely, anyway. It would have been wrong. It was Eric who decided to split. Lainey promised herself she wouldn't be bitter about their breakup. She promised to quickly get over it. It's been almost three months since their very awkward breakup, but she still found herself flushing in Eric's presence? And why do she still keep that stupid photo card on her vanity dresser? Lainey almost cringed when she realized how pathetic it was. She grabbed the photo and stared longingly at it. She wore a big smile as Eric embraced her from behind. They had taken it at last summer's annual culture fair. The last fair they'd attend together.

Ugh! Who cares? Lainey thought. She turned the card sideways and motioned to rip it in half.

But she didn't.

Instead, she tossed it back on her vanity dresser. That was when Lainey was startled by the sudden knocks at her door.

"Elaine?" Mom called from outside.

"Yeah, Mom? Come in."

Mom slowly opened the door and stepped inside.

"Hey," she said cautiously.

"Morning."

"We need to talk," Mom said.

Lainey shrugged and sat at the end of her bed.

"I got all day," she humbly said.

"I was thinking over lunch. You hungry?"

***

Fawn booted up her desktop. Mama's guests left her with too many questions. Why could she hear Vivienne's voice in her head? What did she mean by Do you even know what you are? What was the weird tension between Mama and Jules? What was the real reason they all traveled to Sancova?

Once Fawn's computer had booted up, she searched for directions to Sancova Heights Hotel. The hotel was about a nineteen-minute walk from Sancova High or eight bus stops. She decided she'd make the trip there after school the following day.

Knocks came at Fawn's bedroom door.

"Come in."

Mama slowly entered and took a seat on Fawn's bed.

"Hey again," she said.

"More surprise visitors?" Fawn joked, shutting down her desktop.

"No . . . no, I just wanted to . . . see how you were doing."