eLate

Tara stepped into the bleach-filled air and took a seat on the spotless white leather seat. As the rest of the students sat down, she pulled out her iX and scolled through her playlists. Once the heavy automatic doors slid shut, Tara’s tense muscles began to relax as the slow instrumental music began playing in her EarPods. The slow and quiet rumble of the train as it picked up speed combined with the lilting vocals in her ears lulled her groggy mind to sleep as she rested her head against the cool window.

Tara suddenly awoke as she train pulled in front of the schoolyard. She saw Ivy waiting in the main plaza tapping violently on her own iX, most likely in a heated discussion with someone. 

“What’s the drama today?” Tara asked as she approached her best friend.

Ivy groaned, “I need to see Sasha for my nails, but my mom can’t get an appointment until next week.”

“That sucks,” Tara said, although she didn’t feel that much sympathy for her friend’s troubles.

“Maybe we could get an appointment closer to your place?”

“You wouldn’t like any of the salons near Pittsburgh,” Tara said, looking down at her own nails which were short and bare.

“True, nothing beats New York City salons,” Ivy mused while she studied her own beautiful painted nails that were shaped like almonds. 

They stood in silence for a moment until Ivy said, “I like your jeans. They complement your hips.”

“Thanks,” Tara laughed sheepishly as she looked down at the worn denim covering her legs. She hadn’t thought much of them before, but now they feel perfectly right. 

When the bell rang, the two friends said their goodbyes and headed for their separate classrooms. Tara walked straight past the Academic Scholars board and the crowd of students that surrounded it. She kept her head down in order to avoid seeing her name and the corresponding score that listed her well below everyone else. She fell into a deep silence as she walked towards the North Corridor. She remained quiet for much of the day, only speaking to teachers about her assignments that needed to be made up.

So far, so good, Tara thought as she sat down in her desk for the last class of the day. Ivy and her new boyfriend, Dex, walked into the room hand-in-hand. Dex clomped his oversized Outland boots to his seat while Ivy set her Priotti bag down on the desk next to Tara.

“You and Dex?” Tara asked skeptically.

“Yeah! He’s really cool and the whole school loves him,” Ivy beamed.

Not the whole school, Tara thought grimly.

Ivy noticed the sour look that took over her friend’s face and asked, “Are you okay? You’ve been cranky all day.”

“I guess I’m just tired,” Tara responded, slumping further down into her chair.

Across the room, Dex and his buddies erupted into laughter and sneers. Because they were known to be loud obnoxious assholes, Tara could hear everything.

“Did you see her score on WhosHot.com? She only got a 40! I bet it’s because of her huge nose”

“Or flat chest!”

“Not to mention she’s the dumbest girl in class. Have you seen her academic score? And I thought I was dumb.”

“Ugly and dumb is not a good look.” 

Tara’s face burned as if someone had started a fire on her cheeks. She prayed the subject of their torment was someone else, but of course, that never works. 

Dex, finding all this information highly amusing, shouted over to his girlfriend, “Yo, Ivy. Why do you hang around such a loser?”

The so-called loser sat in agony as she listened to her best friend laugh like she had just been told the funniest joke in the world. Tara put her head on her desk and wrapped her arms around her face so they wouldn’t be able to see her cry. She remained in that miserable position until the end of class. When the bell rang, she bolted for the train to take her home. 

Tara walked into a cold and lonely house. She trekked up the stairs with tears cascading down her cheeks and dripping off her chin. She jumped at the sight of the unnerving sight of herself in the bathroom mirror. The dark circles under her eyes made her look like she had just risen from the grave, and her hair had been turned into a bird’s nest on the side of her head. Tara closed her eyes and tried to stop her shaking hands. Her chest ached from sobbing, and her head throbbed like someone smashed it on the concrete. The pain was unbearable. She opened the medicine cabinet and took out the bottle of eLate pills from the top shelf. The bottle was almost empty despite the fact that her mother had just bought it three days prior. I’ll run to the store to get more so she won’t notice, Tara rationalized. She emptied the bottle into her palm and winced as the pills scraped her throat on the way down. The effects took a bit longer to kick in this time, but after a few minutes the familiar warmth wrapped its arms around her. The pressure in her chest lifted, and she felt the urge to laugh at all her troubles. The boys’ behavior today seemed to trivial to her know. Those jokes were kind of funny. With her bountiful energy, Tara ran to the grocery store to pick up more pills. When she arrived, the bright colors of the candy section stole her attention away from the drug aisle. She forgot all about the pills and ran home with multiple bags full of sugary candy and snacks. The chocolate overload added to the blissful warmth in her stomach. For the rest of the night, she danced and flailed her arms in the middle of the quiet room until she fell onto the couch and let her exhausted mind fall into a deep sleep. Tara’s mother didn’t take much notice of her daughter passed out on the couch when she came home from the office later that night. She didn’t take much notice of the empty pill bottle, either.

The next morning, Tara made her way to the train station to endure another day. She stepped into the bleach-filled air and took a seat on the spotless white leather seat. Scrolling through her iX, she found the perfect song to fall asleep to while waiting for the rest of the students to file in. The calming melody filled her ears as the train slowly rumbled off.