The alarm rings at exactly 9:03am like it usually does. This time the melody is different. Before it was a classic beeping against her ears but now it rings softly like a song.
Note to self: ask about the alarm sometime. It's weird. The alarm clock itself is not weird but the fact that it wakes her up at 9:03 every morning even though she never sets an alarm is alarming. No pun intended. Flowers laughs because she realizes if the alarm was set at 9:00, she wouldn't be as worried. How little details can change everything. Right after the sleepy hase around Flower's mind lifts, she immediately looks for her phone and an excitement takes hold of her. Yesterday she'd been too confused to even think about what happened. She has Cindy's phone number and is in the group chat for the girls. She opens her phone and looks at her messages. 56 whole messages! The young girl knows they aren't for her, they are part of the group chat, but still her heart flutters at the idea of actually having someone to talk to on the phone. Or in real life for that matter. Three messages are from Cindy.
'Hello Flower, I hope you are well rested after the incident that happened yesterday.'
'Don't forget to put the cream on your back and don't work too much'
'Last night they made an update for the date of the business dinner.'
'It will be two days from now on Saturday night. You are still invited.'
'As for class we have canceled it for today considering all the girls' health and wellbeing while the building is being fixed'
'Have fun! Explore The Sheero! Do something you love!'
-Farewell, Miss Cindy
Today must be a gift from heaven. Miss Cindy has texted her privately and talked to her. She sounds worried and Flower appreciates it even if it's fake. Why else would they have had the phrase 'fake it till you make it' Deeper than most people think. The girl decides to name the contact. She wants to make it unique only to the person. What should Flower call Miss Cindy? The girl thinks for a bit, then upset that she can't find a proper name, calls her Miss Cindy. Unique. Flower says, rolling her eyes at herself. She then goes to the unknown group chat and reads the messages, which are essentially the same thing. The class is told what will happen to the business dinner and today's classes. The girls complain about the date of the dinner, saying two nights is so much and they should have just done it tonight. Though Flower doesn't think the FF is ready because the building that partly collapsed yesterday is theirs. The triplets along with another five girls that are also apparently part of minion families decided to group together and go on a trip out of state. For one day! What a culture shock. They give out the details of their trip in the group with a message that says "whoever wants to be with us register and pay for the hotel and find us there." The link was clicked 12 times. Twelve other girls are killing to be with them. Interesting. Maybe she should take notes. Or maybe not. As she clicks out of the group another unknown number is present.
'I think you're good. She does not'
What kind of a message is that? Since Flower doesn't know who this message is from, she decides to ignore it. She closes her phone and looks around for something to do. For the past week she's been here, she's only remembered 2 days of it, in which she didn't have time to be bored. She had cleaned and washed everything yesterday because of that dream. Now she has nothing. Then Flower thinks again and remembers how excited she was to explore The Sheero with her class. Now, she'll have fun alone. The young girl rushes into her cramped closet. On the hangers, there are seven outfits. That is all she owns and was able to take with her. Looking at her clothes, Flower wonders how she is going to show up to the dinner on Saturday. The humiliation would be worse than before. Suddenly the idea of meeting the FF during the dinner doesn't sound so appealing. However, that has nothing to do with what she's doing right now. She choses a pair of comfortable and baggy pants along with a thin long sleeve shirt. She wants to have fun while being comfortable. She quickly wears the clothes and brushes her hair. Correction. Tries to brush her hair. Although her hair is a strand past her shoulders, it takes a strong and patient girl to comb through her messy locks. While Flower is in a battle with her hair, a soft knock barely audible sounds at her door. Brush still hanging in her hair, Flower opens the door. A maid is standing there with a tray of food. This maid isn't the normal one but the food quality is the same. Cheese and scrambled eggs. What a meal. As Flower takes her food she realizes that this is the lady that was between the first maid that came to her and is lower in ranking. The young girl tries smiling at her, but she only nods her head and scurries off. Flower stares after her. Why is it that every time someone else goes down these stairs it seems like they are flying, but every time Flower goes down, it takes an hour? She can't be that unhealthy. She closes the door and eats her meal, while still attempting to get her hair to look at least a little decent., but it refuses and curls around itself. Wonderful. But today there is no rush and she calms herself down enough to slowly think of a way to do her hair. She decides to split her hair into tiny sessions and brush each one by itself so that the knots are easy to smooth out. After about 23 minutes, the girl is ready to leave her apartment, bag in hand. She walks out of the door and right into her nightmare; the stairs. She jocks down to make it easier and quicker and on her way down, she sees an apartment by the door; the owner's room. The girl carefully walks to the door and knocks, doubting her actions. Flower tries her hardest to be a polite girl and wait, but some part of her is just so stubborn and gets her in so much trouble. The door is thin, Flower can tell that when she knocks, but no noise can be heard. Flower presses her ears against the door and knocks a second time which almost busts her own eardrums. Who knew a knock so soft can leave you deaf if you feel the direct vibrations. Again, there is no noise and Flower leans closer. The girl wonders if she should just leave, but decides to knock one last time. When she was very young her parents had taught her if no one answers the door after the third knock, it isn't polite to continue. With that, Flower brings her hand up to the door so hard that it actually opens. For a split second, Flower worries about her excessive strength and how she will control it, but then an old man appears. He is the same one that she met her first day. He looks kind and even though white has colored itself on his hair, he looks incredibly young for some reason. No older than his mid twenties. Flower takes this as a sign that he is in good health and finally speaks up.
"Hello Sir, are you the owner of this apartment complex?"
"Yes indeed Miss, do you need anything?"
"No Sir, I just wanted to see you because you seem very kind."
"Thank you Miss. Are you doing anything today?"
"Nothing important, just observing my surroundings," Flower says in a plain tone though her insides are jumping. The man smiles and points her into his house.
"Come one in, come on in." when Flower hesitates, he adds, "Don't worry I can't hurt you. Besides, we live in the same building." Naturally, the man's room is almost identical to hers. Except that he has the money for more clothes, furniture, chairs, and tables. His kitchen is larger and so is his closet and bathroom. He is the owner after all. Flower doesn't want to disturb the old man and instead sits on the couch closest to the door, forcing him to sit with her. The man hands her a small patch of chocolate chip cookies, and boy do they smell good. Flower can't remember the last time she had something she couldn't wait to do. Now, she can't wait to devour these cookies. He finally settles down next to her and sits there smiling. Is it just me or is this situation very weird? What did I even come here to do?