EMILY

CHAPTER TWO

The next day…

My alarm rang for the third time this morning and I lazily snoozed it again. I sat up staring at the time. It was ten minutes past four. I had gotten at least six hours of sleep. I slowly got down from my bed and headed into the bathroom. Splashing water unto my face, I became very aware of my surroundings. I brushed my teeth before heading to the side of my room which I made into my fashion space. I sat down on my chair and got to work. I needed to complete the work since we all had an individual presentation by the next week. We were given the work a week before and we had only a week to come up with a theme. That was how stressful design school was and I really didn’t mind. At least it kept me occupied and helped me not to stray into my head and begin to overthink.

I had decided to go with the theme “INTRIGUING” since that was the only boring thing my mind could muster. We had spent our first year learning everything about design and how to bring it to life. And this was our first task since then; that is if the little work which we did with our needle and thread or the dress we made with only office pins on a mannequin is not included. I had made a skirt and shirt. The skirt was long and was folded every where to make the mannequin look almost like a tomato. And the fun fact was the material was orange and had so much funny stickers on it. I was on my shirt already and I wanted it to look sexy? But I didn’t know what to do. I got my sketch pad and began to go over designs but I was stuck. See, fashion designers do also get brain dead.

I realized soon enough that I wouldn’t be able to achieve anything else, so I made my way to prepare for my shift. I had an afternoon class today and my shift will end by ten minutes to twelve in the morning and my class begins an hour later. So I had enough time to get back to my apartment and get ready for school.

“Hi, Emily” Sarah greeted as soon as I walked into the restaurant. Sarah was two years older than me and went to a university at the other end of the town. I don’t really know how she joggles it, but she’s doing a good job at it.

“ How you doing today?” I asked in reply and she then goes into a full detail of how she spent yesterday after we had both parted ways yesterday. I listened to her every word as she explained how she helped a cat get her kitten down from, I got lost there when she then switched to another story of what happened in her dormitory. I laughed when she suddenly stopped talking.

“ Did I talk a lot again?” She asked and I shook my head. I liked hearing her talk and I liked anything that didn’t lead me into my own head.

“ You didn’t dear” I said breathing out a laugh as I changed into my work clothes. She then started ranting on how her neighbor decided to start playing music as early as three in the morning and how she woke up with dark circles under her eyes for not sleeping well. I laughed again as I walked out of the dressing room and headed to the counter and took my spot as she went over to draw the curtains and began to clean the tables. I updated today’s menu and made my way over to the other side of the shop to start helping out.

“ I’m very sorry guys, I missed the first bus” Andrew says as he rushed into the restaurant. He proceeded to hug Sarah and walked over to me. He patted my hair and I slapped his hand away.

“ How are you doing, pretty Em?” he asked giving me a toothy grin and I scoffed.

“ I was fine before you decided to grace yourself with the thought to pay my hair” I said and he laughed. They had all gotten used to my cold self. When I first worked here, they didn’t really mind my attitude and not soon after, I warmed up to them. But I couldn’t drop my apprehensive mind and anxiety to everyone’s touch.

“ Emily, could you please help me clean the remaining tables while I join John in the kitchen?” Sarah asked and I nodded. Andrew went over to change his clothes and soon joined me. He began to set the chairs and soon enough we were done and the restaurant was open and ready to serve.

It was a hell of a busy day and the time flew by quickly too and soon enough, I was on a bus taking me back to my apartment. I quickly showered and then headed out for school. I got to class and was called over to where Annabel and the rest of them sat. The class soon started and guess what, a new work was given out. But this time, it was a group project. I had Annabel and a guy; Wilfred in my group. I really never noticed him and this time around, a theme was allocated to us.

It was chosen randomly and we got “METAMORPHOSIS”. Annabel immediately looked at me.

“What the f**k?” She mouthed as soon as we were given the topic. I immediately glanced over to Wilfred. He also looked bewildered. As soon as the lady lecturer left the class, Wilfred rushed over to me. I glanced up at him as he slumped in the empty seat in front of me.

“ Do you have any idea?” Anna asked him and he shook his head. Anna groaned into her palm.

“ Why didn’t we get something like ' ocean tranquility ' or something ” she asked dramatically throwing her arms to the air. Wilfred wasn’t any better either. He had his cheek in his palm staring at me. I raised a brow and he looked away immediately.

“ Since tomorrow’s a weekend, should we meet up in school and brain storm” Wilfred asked and I nodded packing up my bag.

“ Two in the afternoon” I added and they all nodded.

“ You’re going to meet your therapist today?” Anna asked and I nodded. My pills will run out by Sunday and I need to have it always to not slip up easily. I didn’t need to start hearing things anytime soon.

I made my way to therapy and walked inside. I met with my therapist and he asked me basic questions of how I felt and stuffs. We didn’t have deep conversations on Fridays. He believed that I’m to have a clear mind for the weekend. I got my pills and headed back to my apartment. I stopped by the market to buy my office and safety pins and more colored chalks for my work. I decided to get a new scissors and measuring tape to keep for future use. I then made my way home, stopping by Anna’s place for dinner. She had ordered pizza for dinner.

“Pizzaaa” I said with a joyful tone before dropping the sarcasm and adding “again” She gave me the middle finger and I rolled my eyes. She never liked cooking and neither did I, but I was far better than her. I cooked when I had the strength but she couldn’t , even if she had the strength.

Once done with dinner, I bade her goodnight and went to my own room. I freshened up and laid down. I set my alarm to wake me up by two the next day and it was seven now. I slept after a while and was pulled into the dreamland.