It was the middle of September and the day had an air of misery about it. The sky was gray and cloudy, threatening to rain, and the weather was starting to turn from the heat of Summer into the briskness of Fall. The children of LA were back in school, and it was starting to sink in that this would be their lives for the next nine months.
Devon Kouri’s feelings matched the gloomy weather. It had been a bad day. She hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before, because she was too cold. At work, she had to touch a candy bar covered in some kid’s snot and nearly vomited, which
very nearly gave her a panic attack. Upon coming back home, she realized she had locked her keys inside her apartment and her landlady was nowhere to be seen.
Back in the lobby of
Salty Dog Apartments, she caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror on the wall. Still weirdly skinny, ears still too big for her head, still hairless. It seemed like the bags under her eyes were bigger than usual. Looking at herself, she almost started reconsidering her film project, because who would want to watch a movie starring that face? She shook her head and pulled her beanie down lower.
Stop it. You’re being overdramatic.Devon was tired, as she always was after work, and now she couldn’t get to her bed
(more like mattress with a blanket and pillow on it), so she would have to make do. Her stomach turned a little when she glanced at the ratty, stained couch on the far side of the room. Fatigue won out over disgust, though, as she dropped her body onto the soft cushions.
Sprawled out on a couch too small for her, Devon silently
dared anyone who may pass through to judge her.
❝Don’t believe everything that you breathe❞