Glass Hearts || Noah Sebastian

2.

    "Ugh. I am so not ready for tomorrow " Mel whines as she leans over our balcony railing.

  Her dramatics cause me to chuckle slightly, choking on the thick smoke that fills my throat and mouth. I break out into a coughing fit, my eyes watering as I try to regain myself.

  "You're wasting it, bitch" she jokes as she takes the blunt from my hand, taking a few greedy tokes.

  I shake my head, feeling all the blood rush to it at once quickly. A goofy grin taking over my face as I watch the world unfold from four stories up. There's a few of homeless men strolling down the sidewalk, laughing amongst themselves. Even if they're in an unsavory situation they always seem happy. As if the world isn't that bad, just unfortunate.

  "It shouldn't be that miserable at least we are working with a semi decent team" I say, causing us both to fall into a universal fit of laughter.

   Days like this are bittersweet. I love the life I have been able to create for myself. Finding a small group of people to hold close, the kind of friends I had been searching for my entire life. Ones that accept me for who I am, even though they don't really know who I once was. It was simple enough to start over here. Finding a sketchy club, that wouldn't ask questions, to work at was the easiest part. I dropped my first name and started going by my middle, and they never asked for any ID proof. The difficulty came when I had to form bonds with new people who wanted to get to know me. I was able to keep it simple and vague. Telling them generic, but half honest, excuses was good enough for them. Even if they wanted to pry further no one did, instead I quickly made new memories that made my old life lack luster. I wanted to erase any and all traces of Veronica and the life I had before.

   "So. Are you excited to be the main event" She picks on me playfully as giggles continue to fall from her mouth, giving me a small nudge with her elbow.

   "Ugh. Please. Do not remind me" I scoff dramatically before grabbing a menthol cigarette from my pack that balances on the old metal railing. The black paint had started chipping off years ago, the bare metal now rusting in those same spots. It's a miracle that it hasn't crumbled to dust by now.

   "Blair, do not be modest. You're so fucking hot I'm surprised they don't have you close off every night" her tone is serious, as she eyes me with a bewildered expression.

   Mellie is the biggest hype man I have ever met, always telling me how good I look and inflating my ego. It was never in a weird way. The compliments meant so much coming from her, who is in fact a bombshell.  She's a natural redhead, but colors it the most vibrant shade of crimson that she can get her hands on. Beautiful eyes that tether somewhere between pine green and brown, creating a beautiful earthy forest. She looks like a fairytale creature, almost too perfect for the natural world.

  "You need to stop. My ego can't take it" I joke as I give her a little shove. I take the now half gone blunt from her, handing off my cigarette to switch vices.

   We carry on with our day as usual. Picking up the small condo as best as we can to make it as clean as possible. It almost never felt 100% perfect. There was only so much we could do with the once white walls, now stained yellow from years of indoor smoking. The laminate flooring that's coming up in almost every spot, water damaged from the many leaks and small floods. We still managed to make the best of it, cleaning it up everyday. Decorating almost every inch of the walls with random art we found while thrifting. It was our own little oasis that we took solace in. 

   We eventually make a late lunch, deciding on microwave tv dinners since the bills took a lot of money this month. We have a severe water leak under the sink, so the bill has nearly tripled. I have learned over time that the life of a stripper is almost never as glamorous as it always seemed.