The Voices Told Me To... Chapter 3 She walked up the stairs, still kind of tired from the lack of sleep she got. Walking into her room she grabbed a long sleeve shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. She threw them on the sink as she walked into the bathroom, she looked at herself in her full length mirror. Her makeup smeared all down her cheek from sleeping with it on, her hair in a giant knot on top of her head but her bangs hung in front of her right eye. Being only eighteen she looked like she was in her late twenties early thirties. Her parents had died nine years before, and since then she had taken all the responsibilities they had left behind (cooking for two people, cleaning a two story house, and most of all taking care of Rachelle who was only sixteen and in that stage of being rebellious and headstrong) the stress had gotten to her and she was showing it. She took her hair out of her knot and examined it as it fell to the middle of her back. The dark brown “curls” that had became abundant from sleeping with it up and was knotted looking hideous. Her shape was curvy and she was perfect in all the right places, yet something still bothered her. She turned to the right she looked over at the mirror peering at her self sideways. Her critical eyes stopped at her stomach that was slightly “imperfect”. No don’t let that little bump be what I think it is… She looked at her face her makeup smeared from sleeping, her eyelashes glued together by caked on mascara, her lip gloss smeared down her chin. She slumped over to the shower and turned it on. She stepped in and the boiling water hit her face burning her skin. She held her face in the water scrubbing her face so hard she thought her skin was going to peel off under the rag she was using. She quit scrubbing then flipped her head upside down and shampooed her hair. The tangles vanishing as she scrubbed. She watched the bubbles disappear down the drain, and then it hit her. The pain shot through her stomach making her collapse on the floor and she had the feeling that something was going to really alter her #life today. What is wrong with me and with this pain? Is it what I think? Could I possibly be what I think I am…? She stood up clutching her stomach she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. The pain eased as she did this it just seemed like something bad was going to happen at this point. She looked at the clock. She was going to be late for school. Putting on her makeup with such precaution, she seemed to make all of the extra years shed gained from stress, fade away. She straitened her hair and looked at herself again now looking almost like her sisters twin except her dark brown hair and her eyes weren’t as piercingly blue, she smiled pleased with the work of art she just created. Walking back in her room, she checked her phone for messages. She found twenty three new messages all saying "Happy Birthday Anna!” She smiled and texted a boy named Jason that was the top of her list and texted: I'm awake come on over love you see you in a second. She put her phone back on her night stand and went back in the bathroom to examine herself once more and to fix any imperfections. Not even a half an hour later the doorbell rung. Jason was standing at the door with a bouquet of flowers with a box of chocolates. “Hello my love, happy birthday.” He smiled at Anna and leaned over to hug her, she hugged him back. “Hello darling, thank you.” She smiled and offered for him to come in. “No, I can’t we need to go to school.” He said then nodded to Rachelle who was standing behind Anna. “Good morning.” “So are you going to stand in the door all day or come in?” Rachelle stated looking at Jason evilly (she hated Jason for some strange reason unknown to Anna) “No I thought I would stand here all day and stare at your beautiful sister all day.” He replied sticking out his tongue at her. “Whatever,” She rolled her eyes and looked at Anna “I’m riding to school with Harley instead of you two and you know why.” She nodded towards Jason then walked over to her and whispered in Anna’s ear “He gives me the heebie-jeebies. Be careful I know you’ve dated him for three years, I just don’t trust him.” She leaned back on her left leg to take a look at Anna’s face, nodded then spun on her heels and walked out the front door to Harley who was already waiting for her on his Harley Davison which Anna thought was ironic. “Ok let’s go.” She walked inside; putting Jason’s flowers and chocolate on the counter grabbed her books, and walked out to Jason’s 87 model white Chevy truck. He lifted her up to put her in because she was too short. He jumped in on the other side of the truck and looked at her. “Are you ok?” He asked looking concerned. She thought for a second, acknowledging her skull splitting headache, her stomach pain, and remembering her nightmare. “Yea I just have a feeling something bad is going to happen. I just don’t know what…” She trailed off. He sat for a second thinking of what she had just said and stared at her, then started the car and pulled out of the driveway. “Does it feel like something bad is going to happen today to you?” She asked Jason uneasily. “Not really.” He said, and then they sat there in silence. She squirmed in her seat. Finally she decided something productive would take her mind off of the feeling she had. She had some language homework where she had to write a #poem, some math, and Spanish (that would be impossible to complete on her own). After ten minutes of driving and attempting to concentrate on some math problems she gave up, just as they pulled into the school parking lot. It looked like a prison in Anna’s mind but she liked to go, it made her feel like she wasn’t the adult she was made to be. She hopped out of the truck after gathering up her books and waited for Jason. He walked around the truck to her and took her books then they walked inside together.