I looked at myself in the mirror, unimpressed by what I saw staring back at me. An average looking girl with brown hair, and blue eyes. Average height for someone my age, 18. It was my senior year, and nothing really had changed. The most that had changed was my skintone from being outside in summer too much.
“Liliana!” my mother shouted at me from the bottom of the stairs. “You’d better get a move on up there or you’ll be late.”
“As if that would be a problem, mother,” I said sarcastically. My attendance at school had been pristine ever since I was old enough to walk myself there. I avoided the bus and other students. The only student I tolerated was my friend Genie, who I had known since I was a baby.
My mother, Etta, waited for me in her frilly blue baking apron, at the bottom of the stairs. “You have exactly twenty minutes to get there before they lock those doors.” Ever since a raid happened a few years prior, the high school had made it a point to lock the doors as soon as the first bell rang.
“That’s enough time to stop by Genie’s house to pick her up,” I said with a sly smile. My mother rolled her eyes and handed me my crossbody bag, which I slung over my shoulder. I briefly kissed her cheek in an attempt to seem like I was a warm and loving daughter.
