getting there. more to the story

nicolette rolled out of bed and slipped on her furry pink slipper from 3 christmas' ago. normally she wouldnt be caought dead in something so tacky, but she was home alone and it was getting cold outside. she loved the beauty of the fall, just sometimes it woudl be nice if it could stay warm. she walked to the bathroom to brush her teeth, not evenbeing home sick is an excuse for morning breath. she brushed long enough to say her abc's twice. it was something she had watched on Barney when she was like 3, but still it was a good rule! as she raised her head from the sink she was taken aback. she thought her skin and a purple shimmer to it. it must have been her new eye enhancing contacts, or maybe it was just from her not feeling well. whatever it was, it wasnt real. she laughed outloud. it was so abusrd. could you imagine the pretty, popular, purple girl? i dont think so. it was one thing to make a statement with you hair color, but having a unnatural skin color was definitly a nono with social suicide consequences and that was not something nicolette could have.

she turned the corner and heard a muffled sound. she was confused. she thought she was home alone. she thought through her familys schedule. tuesday: dad was at the office and mom, hmm, mom has aerobics on tuedays and tennis lessons after that. she didnt ecpect either of them home before 2 p.m at the latest. their schedules were clockwork. her parents liked routine. they routinely avoided each other at all costs. working late and busy afternoons were a common place. dad even started sleeping in the guest room last year. they said it was because he snored and bothered her mother. nicolette didnt really believe them but as long as they seemed happy and her life was fine she wasnt concerned how their sleeping arrangements worked.

she stepped into her room to find the noise and grown quite alot. she turned a full circle trying to pinpoint the noise. she slowed in front of her closet. yes, that was were the noise was coming from. she quickly made a mental picture of her closet. it was a good size. not walk-in but long with plenty of room and built in shelves to one side. the shelves were full of shoes. rows and rows of shoes. the only shelf without shoes, was found at the very tip-top and it held a few old toys of her childhood. maybe the noise was from an old toy with messed up batteries. that seemed plausible. the thought eased her mind and she slowly reached for the door knob. as her hand began to turn the knob, the framing hanle cover of lollipop began to play. she about jumped out of her skin! it was the ringtone to her cell and it had scared the death out of her. she laughed at how caught up she was getting about an old toy making a noise in her closet, and skipped to her nightstand where her phone was plugged up. she loved the ringtone. it was fun, a little provocative, and she loved covers because she was able to be different but with about the same outcome.

the screen had a picture of a pancake with a heart cut-out in the middle full of syrup. it was adorable. her boyfriend had made it for her the first time she stayed over with him. she woke up smelling something burning and found her way to the kitchen. when she walked in, the room was filled with smoke and and Nathan was leaning against the counter with a plate in his hand. he handed it to her and said, "i made pancakes. theres cereal on the table. milk in the fridge."
"but what if i want pancakes. shouldnt i at least try them after all the troule you went through making them?"
"no, they arent eatable. just eat some ceral". she giggled and obeyed. a few minutes later he sat the plate beside her. "here its not breakfast but it is still special" the plate had the pancake with the heart cut-out on it. she was beside herself in love. it was an adorable gesture and she ate it up. she whipped otu her cell and snapped a picture before he could object. she always wanted to remember his special breakfast.

nathans name appeared below the picture. she answered the phone. he was calling to see why she wasnt at school. he was caring like that. she explained that she didnt feel well and decided to take the day off. he said he would be over after football practice with her favorite sandra bullock movie and they could have a cuddle date. she smiled a smile that reached her eyes and into her heart. she loved this boy. he was everything she wanted and more. she was very lucky. she dated a kind, smart, popular football player who drove a mustang gt. he was another part of her dream high shool career come true.

no end yet in sight

she looked out the window, anxious to hear the sound of grace. well her grace that is. it came in the form of a beat up blazer with entirely to much bass. sometimes she felt as if she could feel the vibrations before he turned the corner, but that could have been just another one of the intuitive feelings she had begun getting more and more often. at any rate, he was taking way to long and the crying in her closet had become unbearably loud and increasingly persistent. she knew what sat behind that door was something fairly unexpected. not an saddened younger sibling or a kitten or some other living, breathing being, but a translucent form of a boy. a small boy covered in bruises and cuts with eyes of fathomless amber that seemed to reach into the depths of hell itself. she knew these things because he had been there for the past 5 weeks.

Nicolette was pretty, popular, and today she was sick. she lie in bed debating whether staying home today was worth missing one of Mr. Wheelers Pre-Cal tests. If she missed the test she would be forced to re-schedule which meant she would have to make-up her assignment in his classroom in his planning time when it would be crowded with her peers. normally she would have ate it up, getting to be with all her friends and having them faun over her every word, but they could be very distracting. it also meant that he would be grading it as soon as she turned it in. he would know if and how long she had spent studying and she hated letting him down, but there were only so many hours in the day!

she was a very busy girl. she began her day bright and early to ensure her perfection. being popular meant always looking and acting your best, which has to be far better than everyone else. looking stunning isn't something you roll out of bed for, you have to put a little effort into it. as soon as her alarm sounds, she is up and out the door for a jog in the crisp morning air. once home she jumps into the shower, washing her hair twice, slips into her robe, and is off to her room to begin the hunt for the perfect Tuesday outfit. she has a theory on what each day of the week calls for which type of clothing. most look at Monday as "sleepwalking casual". the day when you were able to wake up late and blame it on having such a full weekend. Nicolette disagreed. she used this mind frame to her advantage and made Mondays a day to shine. everyone knew how impossibly full and intriguing her weekends were because they were all buy trying to be a part of it. they knew she very easily could have came to school with no more than a few hours sleep and she still came in gorgeous and fully refreshed. Tuesdays and Wednesdays were a little more relaxed. Thursdays were the beginning of the weekend. she used this day to allow others making their plans and she choose from amongst them. Fridays set the tone for the weekend. she was equally admired and despised among her peers and she was very aware of it. she realised how they could want to be her and be jealous they weren't. everything about her seemed so effortless. from the flip in her hair to her humble attitude, she was perfection. she almost agreed, but that in itself would be a flaw. she also complained of a slightly oily t-zone that made her forehead a little shiner than it should have been. that was what she believed her greatest flaw to be. of course that was before she knew that she saw things. things no one else could see.