Beauty Queen in Tears

"What are we doing today, mom?" I asked cheerily, plopping down on one of the stools in front of the kitchen counter.

Anna didn't bother looking up from the stove as she answered, "I'm going out." My eyebrows shot up immediately; it wasn't often that Anna went anywhere that didn't involve homeless people or helpless animals. I leaned forward, trying to make out the look on her face but she was absolutely unreadable.

"Where are we going?"

Anna scoffed, hands pressed against the counter as she looked over at me. I grinned at the sight. She was trying painfully hard not to burst out into a cheesy grin. Perhaps it was a date? I knew that if I asked she wouldn't tell me anyways.

"I'm going out with someone."

I gasped. Literally gasped. I hadn't expected her to actually admit it, especially not without turning fifteen million shades of red.

"No fucking way. Who?"

Anna shrugged, turning back around to stir whatever it was that she was cooking. "I'm making you dinner so you don't starve tonight. I'll leave the dishes to you--" I groaned and without missing a beat she sent a glare in my direction. I raised my hands defensively, consider it waving a white flag.

"Fine, fuck. I'll do the dishes."

She smiled passively, wiping her hands on a rag that hung from the oven's handle. I couldn't help but wonder all the specific details. Where was she going? Who was she going with? Was it really a date date? Or was it a 'friend date'? Anna was the type to exaggerate certain details if it helped make her look a lot better. A large part of me hoped that the date was with Jaime, the center of Anna's school girl crush.

"So do you have any plans tonight?"

I shook my head, scoffing at the idea itself. I had no friends outside of the circle Anna shoved me into and even then I hated half of the pretentious fucks she let hang around her house. Not to mention work was kicking my ass and I was tired more often than not.

To make matters worse I had no other means of meeting people our age.

"Vic's back in town." She stated casually and I almost choked on my own spit.

Suddenly I felt like a child, face warm and the tips of my ears red. "So? What does that have to do with me?" I muttered, annoyed with the fact that everyone seemed to think there was something there when there wasn't.

Well, something more than there actually was.

"I'm just saying."

I bit down on my bottom lip, hands wrung together as I debated throwing the fruit bowl at her. How is it that she knew me so well? I had been fighting myself on whether or not to text him. Vic sent me a text a few days ago to which I hadn't replied to yet. I didn't know what to say. I was absolutely terrified.

SCARED that we were moving entirely way too fast. I didn't know what I wanted from him. I didn't know what I wanted from the situation. I didn't much of anything really. This had been the hardest two months of my life. Being shoved out on my own with no idea of how difficult life really was... It was a shock that I made it this far without having a complete mental breakdown.

Anna turned the stove off, smiling proudly as she stepped back. "I'm going to go now. I have to get my hair done. Also, Sydney..." She chuckled nervously, "do you still have that black Alexander dress?"

I smirked, "Wang or McQueen?"

Anna looked like she was at a loss for words. She didn't know much about designers, one of the downsides of living an average life. She whined gesturing at her body as she tried to paint an image of it. "It's really casual... it's strappy and it has -"

I stopped her there. "Oh yeah, I know which one you're talking about. It's my Alexander Wang tank dress. You wanna borrow it?"

She nodded shyly and I couldn't help but bust out into a fit of laughter. This was definitely an important date if she was trying THIS hard. I walked over to the living room, pulling one of my suitcases out from in between the couch and the wall. It didn't me long to locate the dress, fingers careful as I brought it over to her. She squealed at the sight of it, quickly bouncing off towards her bedroom.

Before I could even stop myself I was making my way (excitedly?) towards the living room, plopping down onto the couch as I pulled my cellphone off the charger. I scrolled through my contact list, pausing when I reached Vic's number. I hit the call button immediately, knowing that if I gave myself a chance to think things through I would ultimately choose not to call.

He answered on the third ring, voice groggy like he had just woken up. "Hello?"

"Hey... sorry, were you sleeping? I can text you later I ju-"

"No, no. It's fine. Hey, Sydney. What's up? You never call. Every time I call you get mad and tell me to text you." He laughed.

"Yeah, I know. I don't know why I called." IT was my sense of urgency, but I didn't want to tell him that. "What're you doing today?"

Vic yawned, "nothing." There was a slight pause before he added, "why? Wanna do something?"

"Anna's going out and I'm off today so..." I didn't bother to mention that I refused to be alone. He could probably tell that much by the tone of my voice.

"Wanna Netflix and chill?" He started laughing as I stared at the wall in confusion.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

He took a deep breath, letting out a few last chuckles before replying. "Nothing. But we're having a little get together at my house if you want to come. We're making food and all that good stuff."

"Anna made me something for dinner."

"So? Bring it. Knowing her, which I do pretty damn well, she made way too much."

I chuckled, mind wandering back over to the huge glass baking dish she left on the stove. "Yeah, okay. That sounds fine."

"I'll pick you up in a few hours then. Okay?"

I nodded, forgetting that he couldn't see me. "Yeah, okay."

"Can't wait to see you then."

I smiled to myself, feeling like a damn idiot for getting so excited over the mere idea of seeing him later. "Bye." Without another word I hung up, shoving my face into the cushions as I squealed (much like Anna earlier). Was this stupid? I felt stupid.

This whole situation had 'potential to be catastrophic' written all over it and I wasn't ready for another life-changer so soon.

To hell with it. My heart had already been shattered into a million pieces. What was the worse he could do?

Notes

ahhhhh this is a filler but it's needed.