Dressed up in Faded Costumes

I went to school the next day and got a lot of attention from people even I didn’t know. It felt a bit weird, but somehow I kind of liked it… Didn’t really matter whether I got bad attention or caring ones, just as long as people knew I existed, it felt right.
When I left Minnesota, I was not your everyday normal person. I was barely noticed, even by friends I thought were true. It felt like I wasn’t even worthy to be teased by the in-crowd. I was the epitome of an everyday dodger of the unknown world. I was nothing then. I didn’t have the fairytale life those princesses had.
In classes—some with Maria, some with Leila, some with both of them, but one class without them—I was acting as unnoticeable as I could. By Lunch, my ‘carelessness’ yesterday was top news. I sat with Maria and Leila for Lunch, and ate my tots quietly so I could think. Doesn’t matter what I thought of, because I, myself, don’t remember.
“Hey. Are you okay?” Liam asked, joining us on the table.
I smiled at him and said, “Lately, it seems as if that’s the only question I hear from you.”
He sat beside me and I felt okay. I saw Liam as the closest guy friend I’ve ever had.
Maria and Leila were teasing in every way, as they watched over Liam and I like real bestfriends. Everything was going fine until I felt woozy…
“Are you okay?” Liam asked again.
“I’m fine,” I said, now feeling like collapsing—which I did when I tried to stand up… Everything went blurry as I saw Liam catching me from falling.

Next thing I knew, I was in the hospital, lying in a hospital bed.
“You’re awake,” mom said.
“What happened?”
“You fainted in school earlier today, the nurse contacted me and I panicked. I rushed you to the hospital because you wouldn’t wake.”
“What’s wrong with me?” I asked my mom.
“You’re anaemic, dear,” she said. “You shouldn’t be tiring yourself.”
I just nodded my head and wondered… Where’s Liam? I didn’t really think of what the time was and I absolutely didn’t think that Liam might’ve been at school or at home.
“Michael was the one who carried you to the nurse’s office…” mom said. “Did you know that?”
I lied and shook my head. “No.”
“Well,” mom said. “Just for the record, I really like him for you…” she smiled.
I smiled at her just the same, and asked, “When can we go home?”
“A little bit later on.”
I nodded again and saw the time on the wall of the hospital room. It was 2:30pm. I checked out of the hospital before 4:00 and got home by then. Two consecutive days I was in the hospital for two very different reasons. *Sighs*
We arrived home with Lea watching TV on the living room couch, and Eliza, Liam’s older sister, in the kitchen finding something for Lea. Mom had called Eliza to babysit for a while, since Lea would’ve been left all alone in the house.
“Hi, Aunt Olivia,” Eliza said. “Hey, Michelle. You okay now?”
I nodded my head and smiled at her concern.
I got to know her a bit more than the last time when we just talked. She’s already a graduate—22 years of age.
I went up to my room after we talked and I just lied down my bed. A little bit later, I fell asleep.
Me sleeping all the time wasn’t really a big deal for everyone. It was normal for me to miss meals and miss half a day of nothingness during days I could oversleep. I didn’t think that it was because I was and still am medically and physically weak. It’s life; fate. It can’t be put in words. You really can’t make people accept it.
I woke up at 8 something pm to the sound of the ringing phone downstairs. I rubbed my eyes a bit, and walked around my room to wake me up. Chris opened the door, surprised to see me up.
“Phone for you,” he said.
He handed me the phone, and it was Leila and Maria calling to check how I was.
“Hey!!!!” Leila practically shouted.
“Hello to you too,” I said, my voice much subtler than hers.
“Maria’s here…” she said.
We talked more and more and we finished by almost 11. Our conversation was merely a tell-all on most of our imagination and fantasies; except for Maria who had a fairytale instead of a dream that both Leila and I desired. We were happy for Maria, very much, but it just made us want that kind of flawed perfection in life. I longed to see that in my life… and through Liam in some cases.
I went downstairs and tried to find some food to eat because I was starving, when suddenly, somebody knocked on the front door. I walked over to check who it was through the peephole. It was my uncle Richard—single, no kids and a drunkard like I’ve mentioned before.
I opened the front door, shocked as hell because I thought he was in Minneapolis with my grandmom and grandpop, and let him in. He had two suitcases and a backpack.
“Uncle Richard!” I exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
I could feel and smell his drunken aura so I helped him to the couch and carried his luggage.
I ran upstairs and entered mom’s room to wake her up. Once she was, she grabbed a night robe and rushed downstairs with me. She talked to my uncle as I stared and listened at the both of them.
I didn’t like my uncle that much, but I would never get to the point of hatred where I don’t respect the person… I just didn’t like how he handles himself and his inconsideration. I used to think of him as a hero when I was younger and he was still unchanged. He wasn’t like that before.
Uncle Richard was just sitting there after my mother had given him a good scolding. I didn’t know what to do so I just looked. Before my uncle could tell my mom the real reason why he was there, mom told me to go to kitchen or to my room; so I didn’t get the info straight on.
I walked to the kitchen and found some cereal. After getting a bowl to put the cereal and milk in, I took a spoon, readied my snack and went upstairs. I heard some music playing in Chris’ room and so I knocked and entered. I saw him in front of the laptop watching My Chemical Romance play ‘Bulletproof Heart’ live.
“Hey,” Chris said. “What’s going on downstairs?”
“Uncle Richard, he’s here,” I told him. “Don’t go there anymore, mom will just send you up again.”
I walked over and watched with him.
“I really like this song,” I told Chris.
I sang the song and he got his guitar. I liked how we sounded and it relived my goal of wanting to be the vocalist of a band. I’ve wanted to be that since I could remember. I wasn’t the typical 5 year-old. I was influenced by my mom since she loves David Bowie, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi and that kind of music. I fell in love with music. All sorts of them… I loved singing with all my heart, and singing in the shower was an everyday thing.
While having a sudden burst of enthusiasm for singing, I was thinking how drastic the changes would be. From that moment on, I was sure that I everything was be going to be different. No matter different for the better or for the worst.
I was also sure that this was just another place to stay for Uncle Richard… and probably ruin.