THREE

♥ Lucille ♥

I wake up that morning with a minor headache. My hair is all poofy from sleep. I notice Kiara in the bed across the room, still asleep in the clothes she wore last night. Must've gotten too drunk to change, I assume.

I only ran into her once at the party, but that was one time too many. She's very irritating.

I climb out of my bed to get a shower. In the bathroom I remove my Hello Kitty pajama pants and the white tank top I had on, climbing into the warm water. One of the best feelings in the morning.

Once I'm all done I step out of the shower, but quickly realize I forgot to bring my towel and a change of clothes in here with me. Dammit.

I peek out the bathroom door. Kiara seems to still be asleep. I quickly grab my towel from where it resides in my closet, wrapping myself in it. I grab a change of clothes from my dresser, taking them into the bathroom with me.

I shut the door a little more aggressively than necessary and dry off. I squeeze the water from my damp hair. Though it's blonde, it turns significantly darker when wet. My hot pink bangs also turn a deep shade of magenta.

I've chosen to wear my white cardigan with pastel colored patches, a sage green sports bra, and light blue jeans with small rips. I allow my short hair to air dry, which usually doesn't take long.

I leave the bathroom, sitting down at my desk to do my makeup. I need to go to the grocery store today. I've learned that we have no food here. Dakota and I stopped at Wendy's last night for food before the party, but otherwise I haven't eaten since I've moved in. Kiara must not have either, at least not at home, but she doesn't seem like she gets out much. I suppose she can use whatever I buy. Money is no issue for me. I may or may not be a trust fund baby...

Once I'm done getting ready, I put my wallet and phone into a small white handbag and leave the dorm.

Once I'm outside I realize how hot it is. Our dorm is thankfully air conditioned, same with the rest of the building, but outside it's miserable. Only 8 AM and it's already 80-something degrees.

I get into my car. The temperature is even worse in here. I leave the door open while I wait for the AC to cool it down. I take out my phone, noticing I have a few texts from my parents checking in.

"How are things? I hope you've unpacked and have a nice roommate ❤️❤️❤️" From my mom. I type back, "Good! My roommate is annoying but it's alright! ❤️" In reality, it's not alright, but I can cope.

From my dad, "Let me know if you need more money for food or anything like that. Also, buy a coffee machine. It changed my life when I was in college. Love you." I was indeed planning on getting a coffee machine, considering the dozens of times he's told me to in the past... I respond, "I will, thanks. Love you too."

My car has cooled off so I shut my door and load up my GPS. I have no idea where the grocery stores are around here.

Then I take off.

♥♥♥

When I get back to the dorm, many grocery bags in hand, I notice that Kiara is now awake. I put the bags down on the counter top, I still need to go back downstairs to my car for the rest. Ugh.

"Hey, can you unpack these? I need to get the rest." I ask in her direction. She looks over from where she was typing on her laptop. She looks tired.

"And why should I do that?" She asks. Annoying...

"If you help I'll let you eat some of it when necessary."

"By necessary do you mean whenever I want food? Or just when I'm about to starve to death?" She needs to stop acting like she's all that. I'm ready to hit her.

"Why does it matter?"

"So it's the latter then?" She assumes, probably due to my aversion.

"No! Ugh you are so annoying." I groan. "Just unpack these, I have ice cream in here and it is melting."

She remains sitting for a moment more, leaning back against the crappy chair she has for her desk. One that the school provided. "Fine, as long as I'm getting free food from this."

She stands at last, entering the kitchen area.

"Thank you." I say, though it's clear I really don't mean it. I rush back down to my car to get the remainder of the groceries. It's 6 bags, which I slide all of onto one arm. I carry a large package of paper towels in the other.

It's a difficult journey back inside. Maintenance has come to fix the elevator, but the problem is that they are actively fixing it now, so I have to trudge up the stairs anyway.

Eventually I make it back to the dorm, and drop everything to the ground with a grunt. My wrists are red from where I had the bags stacked up.

"Wow. You're such a strong independent woman." Kiara claps softly.

"Go fuck yourself." I mutter, reaching into one of the bags for the box of Cheez-it's I have purchased.

"While the offer is enticing, are you sure you want to be in the room for that?" I'm confused by her words for a moment, but realize what she means.

"I literally hate you so much." I angrily open the box of Cheez-it's, stuffing a handful into my mouth.

"Awe... You know, lying is not a good look on you." She says, followed by a fucking wink. This bitch just winked on me. I want to murder her so fucking bad.

I don't even try to respond, because I know she'll just come up with something cheeky to follow it. I start to put away the rest of the groceries.

As I'm putting things into cabinets, Kiara just stands there, leaning back against the counter top. I can feel her eyes on me. Weirdo.

"You know," She speaks suddenly. "Your voice is actually really nice when you aren't talking."

I sigh. She's clearly trying to instigate something, but I don't care. I respond anyway. "Oh yeah? I'm sure the world could benefit from your silence as well."

"Is that so?" She cocks her head, "I think the world has other concerns when there's war, and famine, and death, and American politics, and you unable to be a decent person, et cetera." She shrugs.

I want to scream. But I try to stay level, at least with my words. "Awe, you think I'm on the world's list of priorities? Thanks, that's sweet." I smile at her.

"No problem." She says, going along with my sarcasm. "Just don't let my kindness get to your head, princess."

AGH. I want to fuck her up so badly. I could probably do it. I bought knives at the store today... "Stop calling me princess, jackass." I say in a mocking tone.

"I'll pass." She leaves the kitchen area, going back to her desk. She really only walks a few feet away, but it's clear she's done with me. Thank god.

I see that she's typing on the keys of her laptop. I attempt to casually walk by, just to see what she's doing. All I can see is what appears to be a Google Doc with lots of words.

"I can feel you staring and it's making me paranoid." She says, not turning around, her tone neutral.

"So you are a lizard person?" I suggest.

She chokes back a laugh, turning to face me. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You know... bearded dragons have an eye on the back of their head... and you knew I was staring when..." I trail off "NEVER MIND! It was better in my head..."

"Well then." She turns back around, typing at lightning speed.

"So, what are you even working on?" I ask, still curious.

"You are very nosy."

"Shut up, this is like the first question I've asked you!" I try to peek over her shoulder "But really, what are you doing? If it's homework this soon I will not be sympathizing with you."

Kiara sighs and stops typing. I can practically hear her eyes rolling. "If you must know, I am writing a book."

"Wait—really?! OhmygoshIfuckinglovebooksthey'resofun. Lemme see!!!"

"No." She says like it's the stupidest question slash demand in the world. She closes her laptop.

"Okay. Jeez. My sincerest apologies, Wednesday Addams." I bow playfully.

"If you think I am anything like Wednesday Addams, you're making it painfully obvious you've never seen any piece of media with the Addams family in it."

"Okay, for starters, I have seen basically everything Addams because my little sister used to be obsessed. Also, your nonchalant "I hate people but like pissing them off" thing and your black and gray color scheme is definitely giving Wednesday."

She cocks an eyebrow at me. "Is that your perception of me? Interesting... Also I am wearing red pajama pants. I don't think that ties in with a black and gray color scheme."

She may have a point, and I am definitely realizing how far off I was, but I am not about to admit that in front of her. "You are such a know-it-all, aren't you—Uh... You see, I was going to call you by your last name, but I'm now realizing I don't know what that is..." I trail off, gesturing with my hands, hoping she'll fill in the blank.

Kiara glances down at my hands then back up at my face. "Okalani."

"What?"

"Okalani."

"I'm definitely gonna butcher that if I tried." I admit.

"It's like four fucking syllables and an entirely English pronunciation."

I glance away and then back awkwardly. "Uh. Okay."

"Are you gonna try to pronounce it, or are we moving on..?"

"I dunno." I blink. I'm not usually this weird, I promise.

Her brows are furrowed. "Um. Okay then... I'm just gonna..." She turns around in her chair, reopening her laptop.

"Kay..." Sometimes my mind dies on me. It's not a rare occurrence. Same happens with my Dad. It was really bad when the two of us took a trip to the Bahamas. We were supposed to be at the airport to go home at 10 AM. We finally got there at 8 AM the next day. I'm not sure what happened. My dad isn't either. I honestly don't even have memory of that trip.

I plop down on my bed. I glance over at the book on my nightstand, feeling an urge to read.

I pick up my book and, of course, read. Books make me happy. They take me elsewhere. A place where I don't have to deal with the stressors and obligations of the world. The demanding daily cycle of the world.

Sometimes I don't like being a person. I want to live life without the actual difficult aspects of life. Hm.

I should probably start reading. I'm not actually reading right now, but I don't want to anymore. I put my book down. What the fuck is happening right now? I need to stop thinking, because then I think too hard. And then I stress myself out.

I feel sick in my stomach. Like anxiety eating my guts kind of sick. Random...

I have a few options. I can ignore my problems or I can call my mom. One will make me feel shitty, and the other will make me feel better. I decide on the latter. I told my therapist I would stop self sabotaging.

I leave the dorm, stepping out into the hall of the building and call my Mom. She always knows what to say. Plus, she's feisty and will give me a list of comebacks to use against Kiara.

I love her. My mom, that is..! I shouldn't use the words "love" and "Kiara" in the same few seconds. Bleh. I hate that bitch. As in Kiara. My mom is not a bitch!

Okay I'm going to actually call her now... Ha...