Sequel: You Could Be Happy ›
Wilted and Faded
have you ever felt so used up as this?
I glanced over at the magazine in Bob’s hands and smacked myself on the forehead.
“Oh my God, I totally forgot about that.”
There I was. In blue, white and red stripy over-the-knee socks, blue panties and an unzipped red hoodie barely covering my modesty. My hair was glossy and bouncy, heavy eye make-up and pouty lips. I looked like an imbecile.
The text on the opposite page read, ‘Move over Lindsay and Paris, there’s a new ‘It’ girl in town. Introducing RUBY WEST’. I squeezed my eyes shut trying to remember. This is the photoshoot I had done a couple of days before I met Louisa for lunch, the interview had been the day before and I remember being particularly obnoxious.
Swallowing hard I opened my eyes and started reading.
Random quotes jumped out at me, ‘People can criticise me all they want, but wouldn’t they be doing the same things as me if they were in my position? It’s just jealousy.’
I cringed.
‘What’s the point in having money and not spending it, that rainy day people save up for might never come. I’m not prepared to take that chance.’
I squinted my eyes but read on, like a car crash I couldn’t look away.
‘People say, ‘Oh, all she does is go out and party.’ But I’m just having fun with my friends. I’m young, that’s what I’m supposed to do.’
I felt sick. I didn’t want to read anymore so I gathered up my new clothes and stood up, “I’d better put all this away.”
I walked calmly down the hall then when I was sure I was out of the view of the guys I ran up the stairs and into my bedroom. Closing the door behind me I pressed my back against it and slid down to the floor.
That girl in that magazine was not me, from the airbrushed pictures with perfect hair and perfect make-up. The spoilt little brat that couldn’t give two shits about how her actions affected herself and those around her.
It was not me, not anymore.
I bit my lip and hung my head. It was time to grow up, I’ll be 21 soon.
Time to make a change.
“Oh my God, I totally forgot about that.”
There I was. In blue, white and red stripy over-the-knee socks, blue panties and an unzipped red hoodie barely covering my modesty. My hair was glossy and bouncy, heavy eye make-up and pouty lips. I looked like an imbecile.
The text on the opposite page read, ‘Move over Lindsay and Paris, there’s a new ‘It’ girl in town. Introducing RUBY WEST’. I squeezed my eyes shut trying to remember. This is the photoshoot I had done a couple of days before I met Louisa for lunch, the interview had been the day before and I remember being particularly obnoxious.
Swallowing hard I opened my eyes and started reading.
Random quotes jumped out at me, ‘People can criticise me all they want, but wouldn’t they be doing the same things as me if they were in my position? It’s just jealousy.’
I cringed.
‘What’s the point in having money and not spending it, that rainy day people save up for might never come. I’m not prepared to take that chance.’
I squinted my eyes but read on, like a car crash I couldn’t look away.
‘People say, ‘Oh, all she does is go out and party.’ But I’m just having fun with my friends. I’m young, that’s what I’m supposed to do.’
I felt sick. I didn’t want to read anymore so I gathered up my new clothes and stood up, “I’d better put all this away.”
I walked calmly down the hall then when I was sure I was out of the view of the guys I ran up the stairs and into my bedroom. Closing the door behind me I pressed my back against it and slid down to the floor.
That girl in that magazine was not me, from the airbrushed pictures with perfect hair and perfect make-up. The spoilt little brat that couldn’t give two shits about how her actions affected herself and those around her.
It was not me, not anymore.
I bit my lip and hung my head. It was time to grow up, I’ll be 21 soon.
Time to make a change.