Day After Day

Nicole Crawford

I woke up to the sun peeking through white sheer curtains. I took a quick look around the room to see that the walls were painted a light pink. A crucifix was hanging on the wall over my head and there were biblical passages in frames on the walls.

These people were definitely religious.

I sat up and looked around the room. A white closet was in front of me and a couple white dressers were at the side of the room. I couldn't stop myself from gasping when I saw my reflection in the mirror.

My mess of dark brown curls hung far down my face. My skin was pale, but I had a beauty mark just above my lip. I had on a light blue tank top and a pair of flannel pyjama bottoms.

I flopped myself back down onto the bed and I heard somebody knock on my door.

"Yes?" I asked. I had absolutely no idea who could be on the other side.

"Nicole, are you coming down yet?" a soft woman's voice spoke.

"I'll be there in a minute," I told her.

"Okay, honey," she said.

I looked at the clock to see that it was almost nine o'clock in the morning. This woman sounded like she must be my mother. She's probably calling me down to breakfast or whatever their morning routine is.

I opened up her closet to see a row of dresses hanging beside a couple of sweaters. I reached out and grabbed the soft purple bathrobe hanging in the corner and wrapped myself up in it.

The floor was cold on my feet as I opened the door open and walked down the hallway. I found the stairs that led right down to the front door. The stairs opened up into a large open foyer cover in a delicate wood detail and a large crystal chandelier. These people had a lot of money.

Four people were gathered around by the door. Two boys, with the same curly brown hair as me, were in black slacks and a dress shirt with a tie. Their heads were down as they were scrolling across on their phone.

A larger man with graying hair was in a suit and facing a woman with her curly brown hair pinned up behind her head. She had on a black dress and a pair of diamond earrings. Her jaw dropped when she saw me.

"Nikki!" she yelled out.

The man turned around and the boys looked up from their phones. They all scrunched their eyebrows when they saw me in my pyjamas. I tightened the bathrobe around myself as I stood there awkwardly.

"Why aren't you dressed?" she asked me.

"I...I forgot," I lied.

"How do you forget about church?" one of the boys asked me. "We've been forced to go every Sunday of our life."

The woman, who must be my mother, turned her head to scowl at the boy. His eyes shot right back onto the screen.

"The Nikki I know would never leave her room in her pyjamas," the man, my father, said.

"Oh God." Her jaw dropped ever more and I watched as she grabbed her chest. "What is your name?"

"Nicole," I said, remembering when she had used my full name earlier.

"Nicole what?" she asked back.

My mind began to race. I tried to think back to that room I was in, but I don't remember seeing a name anywhere.

"Smith?" I took a wild guess.

"Nicole Marie Crawford," he said. Dammit. I wasn't even close. "This isn't funny."