I woke up the next day feeling exhausted. Since my hair still looked good from my makeover, I didn't touch it. Instead, I got on my most comfortable pair of sweatpants and a matching sweatshirt.
Fashion is out the window when you haven't gotten any sleep. I can't really recall when I got home because Remy took me to the local general store to get a snack after the makeovers.
I could have told him that I wanted to go straight home, but who has the self control to deny free snacks? Chips and candies are probably my greatest weakness in life.
I used my new skincare routine from, "Mommy". She never did share her name or ask for ours, but who cares? I was looking like a new woman, even without my beauty rest.
I hobbled onto the bus once it arrived and took a nap on the way to school. Some random sophomore woke me up once we arrived and I said my thanks before setting off for my locker.
"ELORA! You got a makeover from Mommy and didn't even invite me! How could you!"
I would have assumed that Eleanor was crying from the shaky tone in her voice, but the playful smile told me that she was doing okay.
"Wait, how did you find out?" I asked, flushing a little from embarrassment.
"Your hair doesn't look like a bird's nest." She called back.
"How do you know I didn't just fix it?" I asked, a slight tinge of embarrassment flared in my voice.
"That's impossible, besides Justin already told me the truth." Eleanor laughed.
"I'm gonna have some choice words with him later." I declared.
"You have to take me to Mommy! I need her! What did she look like anyway?"
"You have the address. Why don't you make Conroy take you, like you do for everything else? And she looked like a literal goddess. Way more beautiful than Renaissance painting man." I replied.
"You think Renaissance painting man is beautiful?" Remy croaked as he approached me.
"In terms of meeting societal beauty standards, yes." I swallowed hard, knowing that an honest response was best. Regardless of what I said, he would probably be hurt so there was no point in lying.
"Is he prettier than me?" Remy grabbed my arm, a sense of urgency raised in his voice.
"No." I lifted my hands in defense.
"WHAT?" Eleanor interjected, "your sooo lying. He looks like a model!"
"I'm taking Eleanor's side on this one, and girl, I'm taking you to Mommy's house after school." Justin interrupted.
"Justin, you're the only one who truly cares about me!" Eleanor cooed.
They embraced frenziedly as they shot me and Remy the death stare. Me and Remy glanced at one another, silently agreeing to ignore them and their antics.
"Anyway, Elora. I came over here because I brought you caffeine. I didn't know if you liked tea or coffee better, so I have both. Pick one and I'll take the other. I also have donuts." Remy held out both options.
"I love you," I declared as I grabbed the coffee and began to drink it.
Unfortunately, Remy wasn't able to get his caffeine fix because he immediately dropped the cup of tea. He also dropped the donuts too, but I made a point to catch those.
Remy flushed a deep pink and stood there in silence for a moment. I could hear Justin gasping behind me.
"Is he okay?" Eleanor inquired.
"I broke him again. Justin will fix him and he will be back to normal soon." I said with a chuckle. Without realizing it, he had really grown on me.
"Fix him. Girl, this is all you. You declared your love for him, he's your problem now." Justin said with a snap of his hands.
"Love isn't always romantic. He was your best friend first!" I argued.
"I'm with Elora, I'd declare my love for a stranger if he gave me coffee and donuts after a late night." Eleanor said, taking my side over Justin's.
Justin looked over at the other side of the hall, and then back to me before bolting. Eleanor and I chased him down, abandoning Remy altogether.
"Keep me out of your situationship!" Justin yelled back.
"You've already gotten yourself involved!" I said with a faster bolt forward toward him.
"I want to shout too!" Eleanor laughed out as she followed up.
We zoomed down the halls, slowing down to a speed walk in front of teachers, until we finally hit a dead end.
"You can't escape now!" I said, lunging at Justin.
"Look, Remy fixed himself!" Justin pointed behind me.
I turned my back and Justin bolted again, this time successfully escaping me and Eleanor. Thankfully, Justin was telling the truth.
"Elora. I love you too!" Remy said, looking me straight in the eyes.
Now I was the one who was broken, having no idea how to respond to the situation I seemed to have put myself in.
"I'm gonna go find, Justin," Eleanor escaped. Now it was only me, Remy, the cup of coffee, and the bag of two donuts. I tilted the bag toward him, "you want a donut?"
"Yeah, that'd be great," he reached his hand out for one.
After that our day went on like any other. Our relationship title still, unaddressed. We didn't have much time to think about it once we got home though, since both me and Remy were spammed with angry texts from Eleanor and Justin who claimed the house we visited the day before was left completely vacant. Justin even picked the lock, which was completely unfair to me, and peeked inside noting that the entire place was empty of people and furniture.
Remy and I checked that they had the right address, and they did. This was the moment we realized that the entire "Mommy" situation went from funny to concerning.
How did she move everything out of her home overnight? Where did she take her stuff? Where did she go? And most importantly, why did she leave her house?
Endless questions seem to be making their way into my mind each day we continue our investigation. Aside from breaking into my mother's clinic, which is still too risky to do with its security cameras and my mother always being there—we can't risk letting her know what we are doing—we followed all the leads we possible could. Was our investigation hitting a dead end?