chapter 8

Hastily, Genevieve crossed her room, yanking the pale pink ribbon from her hair and tossing it to the floor before she reached up and threw her curtains back. Sunlight immediately streamed into her room, filling the space with an even brighter haze as barely visible dust motes danced along her skin like the freckles that brushed her nose.

She sighed in the morning air after she gripped the lock on her window, pulling the latch out and letting the glass pane spring upward before she turned and pulled her shorts away from her body- tossing them perfectly into the cylindrical laundry basket that sat in the far corner of her room. Genevieve closely followed as she stripped her feet of her socks, followed by her shirt and bra she unclasped... all landing in the empty bottom of her laundry basket before she pulled a brown hair elastic from her wrist and tied her long hair up.

Groggily, her bare feet dragged along her flooring as she crossed into her ensuite, flicking the lights on as she went and reached into her shower after pulling the glass door open. It always took a while for the water to warm up, as she stepped back and stared into the mirror, raking her fingertips through the hair she had threw back and adjusting curled flyaways into the band. Steam had begun to dance along the glass surface of the mirror, slowly consuming the sharp reflection until all that could be seen was the vague colouring of her complexion- a pale figure... and her brown eyes staring back at her.

Consuming and releasing a large lung of air, she reached out and shut the door to her bathroom before she stepped out of her panties and stepped into the shower. Almost releasing a soft moan from the soothing temperature of the water, she felt the lucid material waning under the intense light of the bathroom run along her shoulders, over her chest. Another sigh was down from her lips as she ran her fingers up her sides and rubbed her neck, calming the stiff joints and muscles of her neck before she turned to face the stream.

Genevieve reached up and rubbed her hands over her face, holding her breath under the trickle of water before they retreated from her features as she reached for the tube of facial cleanser that sat proudly in a metal basket hung from her taps, squeezing the liquid over the undersides of her fingers as she hummed a low tone- rubbing her fingertips together before she massaged them over her cheeks and forehead, stepping back under the water once more as her fingers continued to work into her skin and wash away the foaming wash.

She stepped out of the water, blinking the soap away from her eyes as she began to search for the bar of soap, pausing her song to taking in a breath before she continued, sinking to her knees as she bent down to retrieve the soap and pry it from the shower floor where it had dried.

She lathered the soap into the palms of her hands before she placed it in the basket, watching spitefully as it slipped through the cracks and tumbled to the floor once more like crooked teeth peering through a smile (uncomfortably but inevitably misplaced), as she continued her tune and massaged the foam into her body- over her back, over her chest, around her neck and down her legs as steam danced through the air from the shower floor, brushing along her skin and curling against the roof where condensation had begun to drip to the floor artfully like regretful tears.

The water ran over her skin once more, ravaging the suds of water as it travelled before she reached out and cut off the stream of water, watching as the last drops sunk down the metal drain in anguish until the last pool of water had left. Reluctamt to leave her case of both steam and warmth; she stepped out onto the tiles of the floor, reaching for a towel that she wrapped around herself. Her eyes watched as footprints of water stamped the floor like a crimson lipstick kiss, following her like a shadow- even chasing her steps onto the wood of her floor until they surfaced on her rug and she paused before her dresser. Her hands hooked in the first underwear she could find, and she rubbed herself down with the towel before dropping the cotton to the floor and, stepping into her underwear, followed with hooking her bra over her shoulders and connecting the clasp with difficulty.

The next step to preparing for her day was throwing her legs into her skinny jeans, tugging a tee shirt on and stepping into her socked feet into sneakers. With a sore neck, she freed her hair from her ponytail, running her fingers through the tangled strands she quickly relieved with a brush.

She didn't need to look in the mirror to know she looked like most girl's, and in turn looked acceptable.

A loud sigh escaped her lips as she crossed her room once more, pulling the door open and stepping out as her eyes landed on her mother who stood impatiently in the living room.

Genevieve rolled her eyes as she descended the stairs, running her hand along the polished railing as she had made the habit for, before she jumped from the second last stair and greeted her mother with an expressionless face.

"You look terrible, but it will have to do." Her mother commented, snatching her keys from the surface of the counter as they jingled and she irritably stuffed her arm through the handle of her purse, turning and beginning to make her way towards the front door. Just as always, her mother was as difficult to tolerate... something painful and uncomfortable. Something that could only be compared to a sunburnt derrière. "Let's go, we're late as it is."

She followed her mother reluctantly, her arms crossed over her chest as she pulled the front door open once more after her mother had pushed it shut behind herself. Genevieve was quickly greeted by the morning sun and light breeze. Her mother had pulled the car door open and stepped in, taking a seat and shoving her keys into the ignition as the car roared to life with a purr that melted with the swaying of leaves.

Genvieve had to rush around the car as she climbed into the back seat, throwing the door shut just in time as her mother pulled the car into drive and reversed from the driveway, the tires screeching against the asphalt of the road as she turned, her white knuckles gripping the leather of the steering wheel as she navigated the narrow streets with ease and traveled in the direction of the exit; where suburbia met the city and cars frequently passed on their way to the city themselves, where life was devoured by need guilt, lust and materialism. Her eyes scanned the passing neighbourhood, watching as each detail blurred with speed and became a sunset through the scattered shards of water- each colour melting and screaming with a need to be seen as the cold night devoured the citric display into an absence of colour.

Genevieve's eyes clung to the sidewalk, scanning along the front doors of houses, an elder mowing his lawn with difficulty, a woman jogging along the road with two dogs galloping with small strides. She moved her eyes from the scenery as she took another turn and swerved onto the highway, hundreds of cars merging together as the scene of landscape became barren and filled with man-made construction, a monumental display of need to mark the territory and superiority of the human race, as curious eyes peered through windows and exit signs were missed- all drowned in the sound of engines roaring and the changing of gears, hands wrapped around stick shifts and swerving along the road.

It did not take long at all, consumed in the passing attractions before she found the vehicle slowing to a halt and stopping in a parking space, turning back to her with an irritatable statement that Genevieve would not have noticed if it weren't for the moving of her lips drowned in lipstick, though she did not hear what she had to say, and instead turned to the car door and pushed it open, stepping into the incoming traffic with little worry, and making her way around the car and onto the footpath, following her mother that had begun to walk away with little regard for her daughter that had struggled to catch up.

People barged through, devoid of colour as they rushed and weaved through the crowd that hurried in the opposite direction. Dodging pedestrians, she continued along as her mother made her way into the shopping centre. It was an odd building, it was not closed in at all, but instead built on single columns of stores with large gaps between, all filled with small stands for miscellaneous purposes.

She turned, and gripped Genevieve's arm, steering her into a store with a fake smile, so warm and dripping with affection that one would have actually picked emotion from the gaze.

"Mona," A woman greeted her with a stretched smile before she extended her arms up and gripped Mona on the shoulders, planting a kiss on her cheek. "You're still looking young I see. What's your secret?" The woman jokingly asked, admiring the radiance of the woman as her eyes sparkled in the rich lighting. It was piteous. The smile of youth was expensive and safeguarded by a thick mask of daily serums. The 'secret' was tedious and hardly glamorous. The 'secret' bore inconsistencies on the skin of both her arms and legs.

"She eats puppies and lights her cigarettes with orphans," Genevieve spoke from beside her mother, tensing as her mother raised a hand, but she simply placed it on her daughter's shoulder, drawing her to her side.