It All Started with a Beanie

(3)

The rest of the day went by rather quickly, even though the majority of my classes were just me doing make-up work. I didn't really talk to anyone else but this girl named Olivia. She's my partner in my history class for whenever we do projects. She seemed mean at first, but she's actually really nice. She has long, curly, black hair and these beautiful light blue eyes. She's mixed and overall, she is just very pretty. To say I was jealous of her beauty just a little would be a lie; I was jealous a lot.

The final bell rang and my mood got so much better. My straight face went to a happy one and I walked down the hall, a smile on my face. But that smile didn't last long.

Almost at the door, I see Parsons with his friends. I continue walking but he looks at me and our eyes lock, both of our expressions going blank. He continues talking to his friends, not missing a beat but still maintaining eye contact with me. Our eyes stayed locked on one another until I passed him, leaving him behind me. 

I don't know why, but right as I'm walking through the parking lot I get an urge to turn around and apologize. 

Apologize why? You put him in his place and showed him that you're not effected by what he can and will say.

Well I was a little harsh.

Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to get things done.

Why do you keep quoting Dad? He's gone and let's keep it that way.

I get in my car and crank her up, hooking my Bluetooth up and playing some Billie Eilish as I drive home. For some odd reason, listening to Billie's songs calms me downs. It has since I found out about her music.

I get home and get inside when I get a text from Camden.

Camden: Hey. This is Cam. We still on for tonight?

Me: Definitely. What time?

Camden: In an hour, maybe?

Me: Sure. That works. 

I ask him for the address and then we stop talking after he gives it to me. I take the hour I have to take a shower, "cleansing myself of my daily sins" as my Uncle Stew would say. Billie Eilish continues to play as I shower. I let my hair air dry after and put on a Looney Tunes shirt and my favorite pair of leggings. I watch the rest of an episode of Dance Moms and still have another twenty minutes. With those twenty minutes, I have a quick dance party, finish drying my hair, eat a blueberry muffin, brush my teeth, put on a little but of makeup, fishtail braid my hair, put on my most comfortable pair of shoes, put on a red beanie instead of the black one I wore at school, and eat another muffin.

You have to eat other things than muffins, ya know.

Oh, shush. We both know blueberry muffins are the best food out there and these are the healthy ones, so I don't think Mom would mind me eating a few.

Just don't forget to eat other foods, Erin. That's all I'm saying.

Yeah, yeah. Sure.

I check the time and I grab my keys and book bag and begin driving to the location Camden gave to me. It's not a long drive from my house, but it's on the richer side of town.

I double-check the address and pull into the long driveway. The house is a light grey, two-story home. There's another car in the driveway. I park a little bit behind the other car, allowing them space to pull out if they wish. I notice a tire swing hanging off a large oak tree on the side of the house, standing between this house and the neighboring one but closer to this one. This one looks smaller than the ones I passed, but it's still big in comparison to my home.