1 O.D.D. (Part 1)

https://youtu.be/nR13ynLCvs4

Cover Art by: https://instagram.com/cathartist_real?igshid=ez51rzmyb6u6

Violet woke with her alarm blaring from her phone. It plays one of those songs that wasn't just relatable, it was one of those songs that may as well be the theme song of your life. If someone played you as a character in a movie, this would play as they were introduced onto the opening scene. It didn't just play in your head. You didn't just sing it in the shower. It was one of those songs that you turned on full blast as you entered your vehicle. It followed you around in your head while out shopping, or when bored at school or work.

Violet hit the snooze alarm and her theme song stopped. She hid her head under the covers from the morning sun. "She didn't want to get out of bed for history class let alone go through the rest of her college school day." she muttered, as she rubbed her green eyes.

She worried about how her mom would react to her failing grade, her boyfriend, her father who passed away 8 years ago, and about tossing her phone across the room the next time it went off. Which it did, but she didn't.

She turned off the alarm and opened her phone. First she went to Twitter to check in with some friends and laugh at the president and his inevitable stream of foolishly demanding obedience from, while declaring the greatness of, all things American.

Then Violet checked in on all of the bands, she stans. Scrolling through she says, "Nothing new... nothing new... Oh! Yeah! Her favorite band put out a new song!"

She switches apps and plays the video, giving it all her attention as she climbs out of bed walking to her dark, attached bathroom.

Violet trips slightly over the one step she had to go up to reach the bathroom. When she got there, she put down her phone so she could watch it from the toilet, sat down and removed her tampon and relieved herself, while enjoying the video. Then she watched it again, before wasting some more time watching a few TikTok videos. She wipes up, inserts another tampon, and flushes.

Violet flips on the light. She saw herself in the mirror. "UGH! She grunts in frustration at the pimple, right on the side of her nose. Like a wart, or mole or something on the nose of an old hag from a fairy tale." It was as pink as her hair with a developed yellow dot at the head. Her dark auburn eyebrows were all that were possible to see of her natural hair color.

She thought she was unremarkable. She didn't know how she really effected men, she didn't know she was beautiful. Her boyfriend, Tee, called her gorgeous, but she never felt that way. At least not since her father used to say it. Ever since he passed, she found it hard to believe when any boy called her beautiful or similar adjective.

Tee used to say it all the time, but that was usually only before sex, which they hadn't had in over a month; so it had been awhile since she heard, or felt it. This pimple wasn't helping either.

Violet was far from voluptuous. Her stature was a mere 5'2" tall, and while her frame was petite, she had grown into her delicate feminine curves. She had just turned 18, last April 21, 2019, and five months had passed since that day.

She made a variety of faces at herself as she looked over her naked reflection. She liked her thighs and calves, but felt her arm's looked weak. "Maybe she isn't eating enough, or getting enough exercise?" She mumbled again. She liked her big green eyes, but had been told they were too big by one of her ex's so she was a little self conscious of them. She had high cheekbones, like that of a model. Her lips were just shy of being full, but she thought they were too thin; especially in comparison to what was on beauty magazine covers, these days. "Some women get injections to make their lips puffy. How could she afford collagen, as a student? Start working in retail? Maybe she could land a rich husband? Or work hard and get good credit?" She joked with herself and laughed aloud at the current state of the economy. Violet's ears were also cute, but again, she didn't know it.

She adjusts the temperature so it was good and hot, then steps into the shower and closes the curtain. Violet picked up the dollar store bought Vo5 strawberry shampoo and lathered up her pink hair. She used the suds to wash her neck and behind her ears. Rinse. Repeat. This time there were extra suds. There always were more suds the second time. So she used it to wash her breasts and armpits. She rinsed her hair again. Then reached for the same flavored conditioner. This she let set in, as she found her luffa and body wash. She washed herself from top to bottom. She reaches out of the shower to her toothbrush and paste, she then cleans her teeth before finally washing out the conditioner.

Violet's second alarm went off. She reached out and put down her toothbrush and turned off the alarm. Almost perfect timing. She rinsed herself off, from head to toe. Turned off the water and dried herself off.

The rest of the morning was typical. She wore all black clothes, except her gray granny panties, she always wore this time of the month. Black leggings. Black skirt. Black sports bra. Black sweatshirt. Black leather jacket. Black headband. Black sneakers, painted with faded Violet flowers, and Lilly's, for her sister.

Violet then put on her makeup while eating a bowl of Frankenberry cereal. Her mom was still at work until 8am. They haven't seen much of each other since the overnight nursing schedule started. While Violet, on the other hand, had to be in class by 7:55am.

She grabs her bag and keys as she runs out of the house and locks the door behind her. Violet's maroon 1998 Toyota Camry was once her dad's old car. Her mom gave it to her as an 18th birthday present. The tape deck had come with an aux cord for her phone, which she plugs into and searches out that new song she just heard, on Spotify. The repetition of the daily routine kept her from feeling anxious, as did the new music she got to listen to on her way to school.