Nowhere to hide

2. i saw you somewhere

as elegant and professional as you are, you can never always stay in character for too long, or you would collapse.

images we build in our head are foolish, they're demons, but they keep us going.

"you'd never love me if you knew who i was. but you will never know who i am, so none of this matters." she would always say. now she's afraid she's wrong.

you can love anyone, you just have to be right enough for each other.

and yet, everything stays subjective as hell in this area, because there's never a "stop. she's not what you want. wait! he's not what you think he is" in a relationship. there's only a "i like you."

her thoughts swallow her whole as she tries to restrain herself from ruining more of her life, even if all it would take is one call.

it would feel good to ruin michaels life. but her moral compass says otherwise, so obviously- she decides against it.

she pulls on her black dress and throws on some black high heels. perfect. she's ready to rock another world.

the honk coming from outside stops her flow of thought and she picks up her small black bag from the hallway, rushing to the front door.

"jocy, you can't be late again, please, hurry the hell up babe" her best friend, ashley screams from the car.

she rushes to the white mercedes and sits down by ash. "i'm never late, a." she says with more confidence than ever.

"and that is thanks to who??" ashley turns her head to see her friend staring into the far corner of the empty road, where a small park is located.

she chuckles and puts on her seat belt, not for a second tearing her eyes away from the park.

**

"aaand we are here!" ashely says as enthusiastically as possible. not a movement from jocelyn.

"the hells wrong with you today? did you swallow a hedgehog or something?" ash snaps her fingers in front of the girls face.

"just. thinking. you know?" jocelyn says with tiny stops between the words, which makes her sound like she's reading a script she hasn't seen in her life before.

"thinking? yeah i know what thinking is. now a get a damn move on! your father will straight up kill me if we're late!" both the girls get out of the car and head towards the big white building.

they are greeted by the friendly assistant ladies at the reception. "hi mia! hi janice!" the girls behind the desk wave in return to their welcome from the two ladies who are now headed straight to the main office.

as soon as they enter the main building, jocelyn freezes. her entire body halts to a stop and the world seems to follow with it. her eyes widen at the sight- the boy. that boy. from the co-

"we don't have all day my love!!" ashley takes her arm and leads her into one of the rooms, interrupting her trance and giving the world a kick back into its initial direction.

beautiful blue eyes lift up from the book and follow her every step until the door between them is shut.

"right on time girls. once again, thank you ashley. sweetie i promise your car will be fixed soon!" the man redirects his gaze between the girls non stop. "alright now take a seat. when i call you up, come over and we can start." and with these words, the blonde man rushed off into another part of the room. as he is out of sight, ash twists her body to face her best friend.

"soooo that dark haired beauty, huh?" ashley wiggles her eyebrows, only to be slapped on the arm in return, by no one other than jocelyn.

"what?! he is cute! do you know him? i've never seen him around before. although i would certainly love seeing him more." ashley turned back to watch jocelyns father  walk back, in and out, with a smirk on her face with the simple thought of what she had spoken of just now.

all jocelyn could do was nod slightly in agreement- "so would i." her eyes hadn't once left the floor and her body was almost perfectly still in an effortlessly natural position.

ash, however, didn't like any of that- "the hell is wrong with you today j? are you alright? is there something you have to tell me?" ashley seems to stumble over her words, trying to ask the right question that would make jocelyn answer in more than 3 words.

"oh no, i won't have to call liana again and tell her she has to submit papers by next week, will i? i will die if you make me do your work for you again!!" ash explained, after a long pause as her eyes widened at the thought of more last minute work that her beat friend decided to leave out, for a reason she'll never find out about.

"what?" jocelyn looked up at her in slight confusion, "no, what? did i make you do that? no that's not it." she says, looking back down at her fingers.

"well then what is?" the girl seems to be whisper screaming by now. her hands were waving around like noodles. she used them for more vivid and bold expression, but it always makes lyn laugh. she looks up with slight amusement on her face. "nothin, ash. it's nothing. you know me, if i'm in a bad mood, i just am. now i have to head inside and help my dad out." she turns her body and looks back up at her best friend who seems a bit disappointed.

"hey, ash. i love you. i promise i would tell you if something was up, i always do." the girl said with a slight, encouraging smile. "thanks for the drive. i'll see you later." she murmured and kissed the girls cheek, to which ashley replied "see you soon." and walked off.

something seemed a bit off, as if ashley was playing mastermind and had a flawless plan for... well, for something. all lyn could do was go to her fathers office and prepare for the meeting. the long, boring meeting, while nothing but a boy she knew nothing of played in her mind like a vinyl stuck on repeat.