Sometimes the only way to really forget everything is to go to sleep. Yet in this house it was near impossible to do that. My mother shouted from across the house for me to come and make macaroni and cheese for my little sister, Vianna, and as I stood up from my bed I glanced over to my window, my escape, my way out. I took a deep breath before snatching my small bag out of my dresser and hopping out of my window with no hesitation. My knees landed on the damp grass that laid outside of my window. The ground was pushed in a bit from me jumping out of it a bit more than I feel like I should’ve been. I stumbled up and tied my bag around my waist as I ran down oak street towards Bethany’s house. It felt like hours before I reached her house which was lined with sleek modern panels and a clean exterior. I went to her window which was rimmed with a black windowsill. I knocked on it three times and that’s all it took for the window to come flying open. I climbed over the sill as the window shut behind me. I turned to face Bethany with a smile on my face. My adrenaline ran high and my breathing was fast but when she smiled and embraced me into a hug it was like all my worries faded away as I drowned in her perfume. Her silky blue hair washed over my back as she draped her head over my shoulder. I shouldn’t be feeling this way yet it was near impossible not to. “What happened this time” she asked, with her voice as graceful as always as it cooled the air around her. I took a moment to keep my composure as I bit back a smile and spoke. “Just Mom yelling at me every ten minutes like usual. You mind if I bunk here?” I questioned as I prayed in my mind that she said yes. But before she could respond my head snapped to her door which was slowly opening, letting light from her kitchen fill the room. Bethany backed up, ending the embrace, as her mom entered the room and gave one look to me before speaking in a calmer tone that I had anticipated. “Of course. Don’t forget, you’re always welcomed in this house Valerie.” she spoke as I glanced over her pale skin and brown wavy hair with poorly put-in extensions. I smiled before speaking. “Thank you Larissa.” I spoke before immediately feeling guilty for calling her by her first name rather than ‘Ms’ yet due to the fact that she had adopted Bethany and their last names were not the same I seem to have no prior knowledge of what Bethany’s mothers last name actually is. Her mother sent a smile my way before exiting the room, taking the kitchens light alongside her. The door shut leaving me alone with Bethany again. I fought back the sudden urge to collapse in her arms and rant about everything I hate and everything I love and drown in her perfume and words of reassurance as she would try to calm me down. If I did that then everything would be over. And plus, she has a boyfriend now that we’re in highschool. My eyes darted over to Bethany’s phone as a notification made it come to life. I saw her face light up as she bolted over to it. “Guess who it is!” She giggled excitedly as she opened up the snap. “Nathan..?” I questioned, begging I hadn’t said the right answer. “How’d you know?” She spoke jokingly as her face blushed. She turned the phone to face me showing me a snap he had sent her of him getting ready for bed. He seemed perfect for Bethany. Way better than I could ever be. His dark glowy skin and long black dreads lined his sharp face which had a perfectly-well defined jawline that amazingly matched his sleek and crisp sense of style. He smelled of rich cologne everytime I passed him in the halls and his smile attracted every girl within a twenty mile radius. Compared to my long, fluffy, heat damaged dark red hair and bitten down nails alongside my raggedy clothes and tacky converse, he was the better version for her and her happiness. But even if I did ever put effort into myself I knew that it couldn’t and wouldn’t change anything. After all, im a girl. Why would a girl like her date another like me when she can get all the boy’s she wants with a snap of her finger. If only she was a boy. Then maybe my dreams could be fufilled. But maybe one day I’ll be normal. One day.