Teresa closed her eyes as tightly as possible. She wrapped her blanket tightly around her body. She turned off the lights. She turned on the AC. She listened to the softest music she had on repeat.
She still couldn't go to sleep.
She finally gave up on trying to sleep. She turned the lights on and cranked the AC to low. She headed to the bathroom with her pills and locked herself in.
She looked at her pale reflection in the mirror. Her face was completely clear; without any pimples or pores or anything like that. Every girl in her old school either bullied her or complimented her on her beauty; both in envy. She chuckled as she remembered a girl who was so mad about Teresa's skin; one could almost see green auras of envy glowing around her.
Next was her hair. She was satisfied to see that it now reached her waist. It was soft and shiny and wavy; the perfect hair for a teenager in her sweet sixteen. Her teeth were still perfectly straight, to her huge relief. Her lips were naturally a rosy color. Her eyes looked brilliantly green. Her cheeks had a slightly pinkish tint to them. She remembered her skin having a peachy color, though. It wasn't as ghostly pale like this, usually.
A smile lit her face up when she remembered her sixteenth birthday celebration. It was just a few months back. Her mother insisted on the idea of a sweet sixteen. Jessica insisted that everyone celebrate her beauty. Her mother ordered a gown for her. It was an emerald green dress with spaghetti straps. The skirt dragged on the floor when she walked. The skirt was rather puffed up; with many layers one top of one another. There were tiny green stones embedded on the skirt; like that of Cinderella's. The top was tightfitting and single layered, with pearls and white gems stuck on the front and the back. The whole thing was made of silk. She wore beautiful green heels; with pearls covering the front. Her mother hung large, diamond earrings from her ears. She also styled her hair into curls and kept half, braided and half tied. A third of the hair was kept loose.
She giggled when she remembered jealous gasps and sighs filling the room as she had appeared in the main hall.
She took the bottle of sleeping pills in her hand as examined it for a moment. The family doctor prescribed it to her last year; when she began to lose sleep. Her mother protested at first; saying they were harmful. But she grudgingly gave her approval when she saw that Teresa actually needed it.
She popped a capsule in her mouth and swallowed it with the glass of water she had kept on the sink. The pill would take fifteen minutes to work; Jessica insisted that Teresa be give sleeping pills with the least strength. The doctor couldn't do anything but agree.
She washed her face with ice cold water to keep herself wide awake for a while. She had to write in her diary. She brushed her teeth once.
She checked her brown wristwatch. Ten minutes remained until the medicine would come to affect.
She went to her safe and quickly pressed the keys. The safe mad a clicking noise; indication that it opened. She pulled the opening and took out her diary.
Teresa sat on her bed and flipped to the new page. She took a pen from her desk and started writing.
'Entry 1950, date 16th of June, 2016. Reporting from Teresa Lisbon
Dear Diary,
Well it's two in the morning right now and I'm writing. Nothing weird for someone like me.
I...don't know what to do about tomorrow. I mean...I know I've got this. Honor student with a pretty face; I'm not supposed to have difficulty getting through tenth grade. But...I don't know sometimes I just feel so vulnerable about these kind of things.
Mom told me so much yesterday. I should've just listened to her and relax; she's never wrong. But I still don't know why...I feel insecure.
I need to start helping my family to get through what happened. Sometimes I feel that I'm not doing enough. I need to give them a good life, too. I need to repay my mother for all the suffering she went through for me and my brothers. I need to care for them.
Also there's the other matter to talk about too, you know.
I've seen so many things throughout my life. One of the many things is a happy ending. Real or not, I've just seen so many happy endings. I know this because I've spent nights trying to know why I didn't get one.
Every happy ending has one thing in common; love.
I've noticed it countless of times. Whether it's a Snow White story or a real life experience, I've seen that love is a common factor in happy endings.
Mom always tells me not to make the same mistake that she made. After what I saw, I must admit that she did make a mistake. I still have to find the one for me. Even with all my imperfections, there must be someone perfect out there for me. What's the point of living with having someone to share your life? In the good way I mean.
Will I ever find the one for myself?
I hope I do. I know I'm ready for love. I'm ready to let someone take care of me. I'm ready to care of someone too. I need someone who'll watch my back and will always be there for me.
I really hope I find someone to love. Life without love is pointless.
I know this because I've seen evidence. That too in my own house.
It really, really sucks; not having someone to love.'
That's when she stopped writing. Her eyelids fluttered and her body became heavy. She glanced at her watch. Her fifteen minutes were up.
The diary was a humungous thing, and it had so many pages that it was almost uncountable to Teresa. The weight wasn't anything petty, either. With the minimal strength she had, she lifted the diary with great difficulty. She shoved it into the safe and quickly locked it. With only a few seconds of consciousness left, she turned off the AC and crashed into her bed.
Sleep took her over almost immediately.
