"Ryanne is right..." Michelle thought as she adjusted the messy bun of long red hair that sat atop her head. "I'm more than just likes and riz..." Michelle hiked the sleeves of her oversized hoodie up past her skinny elbows. "But like, some times its just tough... Like I wish my brain worked better like Meg's..." Michelle reached down and rolled up the cuffs of her sweatpants so that they didn't drag on the ground. Glancing over to the full length mirror on the wall of her bedroom, Michelle studied herself. "I look like a kid trying on their big sister's clothes..." Michelle let out a sigh and returned to the living room. Millie and Jobe had both changed into comfy clothes and were snuggled up on the futon they had been sitting on earlier, while Ryanne and Adam were stretched out on the other futon still wearing their costumes.
"You gonna finish this?" Meg asked from the mini-kitchen.
Michelle looked over to see Meg holding Michelle's unfinished glass of wine. "Nah I think I'm done, but I'll dry dishes for you." Michelle said walking over to Meg who was in the middle of washing dishes. "Gawd she's tall..." Michelle thought as she approached Meg. Now that Michelle wasn't wearing heels, she felt ever smaller than before standing next to Meg. Grabbing a clean dish towel, Michelle began drying off and putting away silverware as Ryanne's early comment continued to bounce around in her bran. "Like what if I was smart like Meg? What would that be like?" Michelle thought as she placed a fork in the silverware drawer. "Like I don't want to be a dentist, but if my brain could just work better and I didn't have to do deal with Trixie anymore that would be totes awesome..." Michelle grabbed a plate and began to dry it. "Like seriously, that would be fire..." Michelle grabbed another plate to dry off. "I bet if I was a better student I wouldn't care about my socials anymore... And if I got rid of Trixie maybe I could find a good boyfriend instead of just having drunken one night stands..." Michelle thought stacking the dried plates. "But like how?" Michelle moved her step-stool, grabbed the stack of plates, and placed them in the cabinet. "How do I get smarter and evict Trixie?" She thought looking over to Meg who was now tidying up there small kitchen table.
"Here's your public relations notebook." Meg said sliding a notebook across the table towards Michelle.
Meg grabbed her lab coat off the chair and began to fold it up. "What if I had a different major? Like I could be a chemist... or I could major in bio!" Michelle thought as she walked over to the kitchen table to grab her notebook. "Thanks babe!" Michelle said snatching the notebook and heading back to her room. After tossing the notebook on her desk, Michelle began to dig through her messy closet. "Where are they?" She thought as she searched for the lab goggles she had wore in her Chemistry for non-majors lab. "Bingo!" She snatched the googles from underneath a pair of sweatpants and then hurried back out to the common area. "This is totes going to work!" She thought snagging Meg's organic chemistry textbook off the kitchen table.
"What are you..." Meg mumbled as Michelle pulled on her goggles and headed back to the futons.
"Adam or Jobe?.." Michelle asked herself as she came to a stop next to the TV. "I figured out my costume for next year. I'm gonna go as a smartie like Meg!" She said holding up the organic chemistry book.
"Michelle... Really?" Ryanne said rolling her eyes. "I think you need to lay of the Celsius..."
"I'm... So confused... What now?" Millie said with a tired giggle.
"Come on guys. I think it's a great idea." Michelle turned her attention to Jobe. "You're quiet Jobe. Like what do you think of my costume? How could I improve it? You think I should just become a chemistry major to make it more convincing?"
Michelle's burst of late night energy seemed to be overwhelming the drowsy Jobe. "Um... Sure. Yeah. Become a chemistry major... That would definitely make your costume better I guess." Jobe said looking over to Millie who seemed to be as confused as he was.
"My god girl, have you been speedballing Monster?" Ryanne said as she picked up her glass of wine and took a drink.
"I can feel it!" Michelle thought as her brain suddenly felt warm and tingly. "I should ask Adam and then this will all be over with!" Michelle looked over to Adam who hadn't said anything yet about her costume. "Adam you're quiet too, what do you think about my smartie costume it's pretty good isn't it? Trixie could never pull it off!"
"Yeah it's good." Adam chuckling at the diminutive redhead. "But if you are really going to convince us that you've turned over a new leaf you are going to have to completely abandon your Trixie side, and be more of a model-student like Meg. Then your smartie costume would be completely convincing." Adam said grabbing his glass of wine and taking a drink.
Ryanne sat her glass down and stretched back out on the futon. "Michelle... You've got too much energy at this time of night." Ryanne reached up and snatched Adam's wine glass from his hand and sat it down next to hers. Ryanne then grabbed Adam's brown vest and pulled him down onto the futon with her. "Now let us chill Sparky." She said motioning with her hand for Michelle to leave.
Inside Michelle's head it felt like a fog had suddenly been lifted, and her brain suddenly began to buzz with a newfound speed and efficiency. "Holy crap!" Michelle internally exclaimed as she headed back to the mini-kitchen. "My brain feels... It feels... My god, it's hard to put to words how coherent I feel right now. Every thought and observation feels so crisp and clear. This is astounding!" Michelle thought as she walked back over to Meg who was wrapping up her cleaning.
"Michelle you're such a goofball." Meg said stacking a couple of textbooks on top of each other. "Are we still studying for the organic exam tomorrow?" Meg spun the stack of books around and slid it over to Michelle.
"Absolutely!" She said recognizing her quantitative analysis textbooks. "You still want to get one of the study rooms in the library?"
"Does a bear shit in the wood?" Meg replied.
"According to my research they do, but I'm still working on if they always use Charmin." Michelle said with a nerdy chuckle to her much taller friend. Picking up her heavy textbooks, Michelle turned and headed back to her room. "I can't believe I did it!" She thought as she sat her textbooks down on her small desk. "I've... I've completely remade my life for the better." Michelle walked over to the full-body mirror on her wall. "I'm cute. I'm smart. I have great friends. I even had a long term boyfriend up until a couple weeks ago..." Michelle's joyous mood was briefly soured as the memory of her catching her ex-boyfriend cheating on her flashed through her concision. "Fuck Jayden! He doesn't deserve a girl like me..." Michelle closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and refocused herself. "That stuff doesn't matter anymore. What matters now is me and my new life." Michelle smiled at herself in the mirror. Seeing her extremely girly and cute face smiling in the mirror snapped Michelle out of her mini-funk and her body and soul filled back up with good vibes. "Girl I think it's time for bed." She said to herself in the mirror.
