White Noise

Dark clouds covered the skies. It was barely four in the afternoon when Leia woke up from her sleep and looked out of the window in her room at the sky, a tiny smile spread across her lips but it soon faded when the realization of having missed yet another day due to sleeping in, hit her. 'I really have to stop sleeping in so late.' She scratched her head before pulling the covers off of herself and stepping foot onto the carpet of her room.

"Oh, you're awake." Leia heard her mom say as soon as she stepped into the kitchen to get something to eat. A small nod was all she gave before turning to the fridge and pulling out a tub of vanilla yoghurt. Leia closed the fridge and went over to the cabinet next to it, she got out a box of cereal, a bowl and a spoon then went over to the kitchen island. Leia's mom watched her daughter as she put cereal in the bowl and then topped it off with a generous amount of yoghurt, Leia closed the lid of the yoghurt tub and the box of cereal before putting it away where she had got it from.

"We're going out today, Lee."

Leia looked at her mom as she walked back around the kitchen island and grabbed the bowl of cereal and the spoon, "Where to?" She asked.

"The supermarket and mall."

"Why the mall?"

"We need to find things for your apartment, remember?"

A groan left Leia's lips, she stared down at the bowl in her hands and sighed, "Right." With that she walked off into the living room and turned on the TV. There wasn't anything great on but she found a documentary that seemed interesting, about sea animals and settled with that. Nearly an hour afterwards, her mom was pestering her about getting dressed and ready to leave with the rest of the family. Leia slowly washed her bowl and then ran up the stairs to her room where she got dressed into a simple outfit, thigh highs, a skater skirt, black creepers and a maroon long sleeved shirt that hugged her curves perfectly.

As soon as Leia got in the backseat of the car, her sister, Paloma, sitting next to her said, "Leia, you should of done something to your hair." Leia rolled her eyes and shook her head, she wasn't interested in talking to her sister at all. Ever since Paloma had turned 17 she became this annoying, bratty child that only cared about looks and material things, something that really annoyed Leia and made her quite happy to move out next month.

Before going to the supermarket they stopped at the mall and while Paloma and their mom went to look for clothes, Leia slipped away towards the shops where they sold things like bed linen, curtains and all that stuff. She looked at everything in one store, it was quite nice but nothing really fit her taste, she wanted things that were monochrome, lots of black and whites and that one store didn't really offer that, they were much more colourful and not so co-ordinated so instead, she left the store and went to another one where she found the perfect duvet cover. It had a grid pattern on it, the lines were black and the rest was white, it was absolutely perfect and so she picked a pack up from the side of the bed display and dropped it inside the basket she had gotten when she walked in.

Most people walk into a store and grab things because they simply want them but Leia was determined to get everything she knew she needed to create her ideal space and interior in her own apartment. She spent some time checking out curtains and grabbed a few that she liked which were a light grey colour and would match really well with the white walls of the apartment. After nearly thirty minutes of looking around, Leia was finally done and paid for her things; then left to find her mom and sister.

"Wow, how much things did you get, sis?" Paloma asked curiously once they found each other.

"A lot." Leia answered.

"I can't wait to see it all in the apartment."

"Me neither," Her mom commented, "I'm sure it's going to be amazing."

"Thanks, ma."

It was nearly 6pm when the three women left the mall and headed to the supermarket which was right next to the mall. As they neared the supermarket, Leia remembered that she left her phone in the car and told them to go in without her and she'd catch up to them later. Paloma and her mom agreed and left. Leia ran back towards her mom's car but tripped and fell in front of a car that was just about to pull out of the parking space it was in. The man in the car took the key out of the ignition and got out of his car to check up on Leia; when he got to her he crouched down quickly and helped her up to her feet.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, thank you," Leia said, "I have to go."

"Okay..." He let go of her arm and she started walking away when she almost tripped again. He ran up to her and caught her right before she fell and they laughed in unison. "You need to watch where you're going."

Leia looked up at him and laughed as she flattened her skirt. As she looked at him she couldn't help but notice all the tattoos that covered his body... Well, his arms and neck but she was pretty sure that he had tattoos all over. He smiled at her and that was all it took for her to confirm the fact that he is very attractive. They looked at each other for a few seconds before something caught the man's eyes and he looked down at Leia's knee which was bleeding.

"Hey, c'mere, I've got a pack of bandages in my car."

Leia followed him back to his car and waited outside, he came back quickly and crouched down, he took her right leg in his hands and positioned it so he could clearly see the injury and then lowered her sock. He was very gentle and put a large rectangle shaped bandage over the injury, when he came up, Leia thanked him and asked for his name.

"My name's Tony and no worries, just make sure to stop tripping up all the time, I'm not gonna be there next time to help you out and who knows if anyone will."

Leia chuckled, "You're right, I'll be sure to look where I'm going more often, and my name's Leia. Thanks again for helping me, Tony. T'was nice meeting you!"

Tony laughed and said the same thing before they parted ways. Leia carefully walked towards her mom's car and got there without tripping or falling at all which made Tony laugh as he watched her from his car. When he saw that she had gotten there safely he pulled out of the parking space and drove past her, they made eye contact and Tony tooted the horn three times before he disappeared and Leia walked back to the supermarket.

"What took you so damn long?" Leia's mom asked.

"Sorry, I fell and this guy helped me out."

At the mention of the word 'guy', Paloma butted into the conversation, "Was this guy cute? Hot? Ugly-"

"He was very nice in every way."

"Just nice?" Paloma asked and Leia glared at her for a second.

"Fine, he was more than nice."

"Did you get his number?"

Now both Paloma and their mom were looking at Leia hopefully.

"No, I didn't."

Paloma creased her eyebrows, "His name?"

Leia shook her head, she didn't want to say she had because she knew she'd never hear the end of it and it wasn't a big deal to her at all. The rest of the time, Paloma wouldn't stop asking about what Tony looked likeexactly and what his voice sounded like, then when she saw the bandage on Leia's knee she immediately started talking about it and how it must have meant something that he had been so nice to her that he even worried about her health and cared for her to which Leia simply laughed.

"Just because a guy gives you attention doesn't mean he likes you orwants you." She told Paloma.

"Yes it does."

Leia rolled her eyes, "No, it does not. This guy was just doing something that everybody should do when they see someone hurt, it doesn't mean a thing."

"When will you stop being such a depressing... Depressing... Thing?"Paloma groaned, "All you do is put yourself down and others around you. Learn to have some fun, Leia."

"I'm not putting anyone down, I'm being realistic which you would be too if your head wasn't so far up your-"

"Leia, that's enough!" Her mom snapped and both girls stared at her in shock.

"I'm just saying the truth." Leia mumbled.

"Instead of talking like you're some sort of scientist who knows everythingabout the world and the people inside it, have some fun, talk about bullshit and laugh a bit. You don't always have to be so realistic, it's boring." Paloma said.

"If I'm not realistic, who's going to be?"

Paloma sighed, "You're not even realistic, you only use that as an excuse. Stop being so sad and try to see things in a different light."

Leia wanted to say something back but the look in her sister's eyes stopped her. Deep down she knew her sister was right, that she needed to stop being so dark and empty all the time. It had been so long since the last time she had actually laughed about something that was truly funny and acted as if she was inside her own magical world. Now, at twenty years old, things had gotten worse, she couldn't see the goodness in anything and it was hard for her to truly smile or laugh without it being fake or forced.

She decided to say nothing, leave the supermarket and wait for them at the car.

"We need to help Leia." Paloma said to her mother after Leia left.

"How do we do that...? I feel like we've tried everything."

"I don't know... We need a miracle."

"We sure do. She sure does."

Notes