rae archibald : d5 : fin

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rae archibald
18
female
district 5


I look exactly like my mother. She looked exactly like her mother as well, who coincidentally looked exactly like her mother. I suppose that's how genetics generally works, but we all look like twins. So I've heard. I've never actually met my grandmother, or her mother. We all apparently share that "thin without even trying" thing. Well, I'm not sure how they got so thin, but mine is because of childhood sickness. Even now, no matter how often I stuff my face, I never gain a lick of weight. My bones all point out at ugly angles, like I've got shards of glass poking out from underneath my skin. My cheekbones rest higher on my face than the average persons. They reach to almost right under my eyes.

My eyes are pretty small, and so dark you can barely see the pupil. In contrast, my lips are large, and sit right underneath a soft nose. I always, always wear makeup. My lips look great with some light pink lipstick on them, and my eyes get a good lift from some winged black eyeliner. I fill in my eyebrows sharper than they naturally grow. My hair is definitely something I get to have fun with. It normally lies flat and straight, but once I get some heat to it, I can style it up in bouncy curls. That's not to say it doesn't look good just plain old straight, either.

People tell me I'm vain like they expect it to insult me. Look, if I know that I'm good looking, why should I have to hide it? I don't feel like being forced into feeling ashamed about my body. Even though I'm grossly skinny, I can make it look good with different sorts of outfits. I guess people don't take too kindly to me complimenting myself at every chance I get. That's just something they're gonna have to deal with, because I don't change myself for anyone.

Just because I'm pretty doesn't mean I don't work. In fact, it's the complete opposite. I could almost be considered a workaholic. I've got a job at a bakery that I absolutely adore, and I'll gladly take on any odd jobs that people ask me to do. I can't stand sitting around doing nothing, I've always got to have something to keep me occupied. When I'm alone, or not busy, I go into these weird self-loathing episodes. So, to avoid those, I throw myself into anything that keeps me busy.

I like being self sufficient. Not having to depend on anybody is the greatest feeling in the world. Nobody tells you this when you're younger, because everybody wants you to follow the rules. They never tell you that being independent is one of the most amazing things that a person could experience. It's a shame, really. We teach these kids to grow up following everything they are told, and to depend on everybody else to make decisions for them. They won't know the grandeur of getting to decide for yourself.

When I was really little, I was a sickly kid. From birth to around age 13, it always seemed like I was contracting another weird illness every other week. Since my family is pretty well-off, I avoided death simply by being sent to good doctors. I was on various medicines, in physical therapy, and had strict daily routines I had to adhere to. It was all pretty boring. Get up, shower with my special soaps, put on my daily disinfected clothing, go downstairs and eat food on a special diet. After breakfast, my homeschool teacher would come around, and after homeschooling I'd have a couple hours of physical therapy. Eat more special diet food, take my pills, take another shower, go to sleep. No interaction with anyone besides parents, teachers, and doctors.

All the medicines eventually did their jobs, luckily, and I had considerably improved by the time I was 13. I was barely getting sick anymore, and the times I did get sick, they were never bad enough to be fatal anymore. I begged and begged to be allowed into school with all the other kids, and my parents eventually allowed me. I only attended for half a day, and I left early because of physical therapy, but I was just happy to be there. It felt like the one place I could finally be free, after all those years of being cooped up in a house that was more of a hospital than a home. I worked my ass off in school, achieving near perfect grades the whole time I went. When I reached 15, I was able to go for whole days.

Moving out of the house was scary, but I wanted to do this for myself. My health was finally in tip-top shape, and I wanted to show my parents how independent I could be. After years of therapy and medicines and parents that hovered nonstop, I wanted something for my own. I got a cute little apartment, a cat, and a job at a bakery. It's a much nicer job than oil rigging, which seems to be my only other option. Even though I'm all independent and moved out, I'm not completely grown up yet, and I know I've got a lot to learn. I apparently missed quite a bit in my 13 years of endless illness, but I'm sure I can manage.



codeword: odair
faceclaim: jourdan dunn

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