Never Met a Girl Like Her | ✔️

(3)

L E O N I E

"You know what, no! Fuck off. I've had enough. This isn't fair. You haven't been around for three months and then you show up, shouting and behaving like an asshole. Leave me the fuck alone."

The alarm clock on the bedside table had little response to the outburst. In fact, all I got back was the repeated obnoxious blaring while the numbers flashed on the digital face.

Seven.

Seven was the most hideous number that I had ever seen. Instead of turning it off like a rational human being, I twisted in bed so that my feet were at the head and kicked out so hard that the clock flew off the side table and hit the wall on the other side of the room. The face shattered, leaving plastic shards on the light grey carpet beside the ensuite door.

"Oh," I shrugged with my head hanging over the side of the bed so that the room was upside down. "Who still uses digital clocks anyway? That's what phones are for. Right, Dad?"

I rolled over and glanced at the framed photo, also on the bedside table. Dad - Hank - was such a handsome dude. Mom took the photo of him. His plaid shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows while he smiled at the camera with a newborn lamb in his arms. He and Mom used to live on a farm. They married young and I was born when she was nineteen. But I wasn't even one when Dad died in a four wheeler accident. He'd been herding cattle when one went to close to a cliff face. He drove towards it but his wheel hit a rock that was concealed with tall glass. It flipped the four wheeler and he went over the cliff edge.

Mom couldn't manage the farm alone and even though his parent's offered to help, Mom couldn't stand the thought of remaining in the home that both of them had shared. So she packed up and moved into the city where she reinvented herself. She went into law school when I was three. She worked harder than ever and with the help of her Mom - Gran - who took care of me as often as she could, she was able to graduate and go on to become the most boss lawyer in her firm. She did a lot of travel now. Helping firms and cases all over Florida.

"Leonie," Mom's voice and a loud thud on the door came from the corridor. "Get up. School."

"Another reason that I don't need an alarm clock," I sighed, picking up the frame and giving it a kiss. Talking to Dad was how I kept him alive. He couldn't answer me. But sometimes that was for the best. I talked some shit most of the time. "Mom's a fucking fog horn."

"Heard that."

"And an elephant. Big ears," I whispered, standing and staring at the bed in contemplation. It wouldn't be hard to lift the comforter and lay it out so that it didn't look as if I'd had a fit in the middle of the night. But the effort seemed too great. So I crossed the plush carpeted floor and opened the ensuite door.

My bathroom was never out of order. I kept it clean and organised because I hated the feeling of using a gross bathroom. The glass shower doors were stain free, the black tiles didn't have a speck of grime on them. The gloss marble benchtop and black basin sparkled while all of my products sat in the corner in perfect order. It just made it ten times easier to shower and get ready when I didn't have to stare at mess that needed to be cleaned. It made sense to me. The bedroom was a tip because I spent so much time on the bathroom. I was just one woman. I couldn't do it all.

When I was showered, I combed my hair and let it dry on it's own. It was a natural wave and all it needed was a little bit of product to set in a perfect style. Light make up was allowed at school but I didn't bother with it. Mascara was a must have though. I felt like a naked mole rat without lashes. But that was it. When I was in uniform, which wasn't bad as far as uniforms went. Black knee high socks and a pleated skirt with a white blouse and blazer. There were about seven days out of the year that I would bother with a blazer. It was too hot.