60

The steam escaping from the shower finally gave me my signal to get rid of my clothes and as soon as I got a foot in the shower, the water immediately warmed me in a pleasant way that left me absolutely relaxed.

I took my time more than usual. I even washed my brown hair twice and then reluctantly turned off the faucet. I could have indulged in the sizzling heat for hours, but my father had problems paying all the bills anyway, so a high gas bill was out of the question.

Taking a deep breath, I climbed out of the cramped cabin and pulled on my fluffy white bathrobe, eyes on my feet. But instead of going straight to the kitchen as usual, I looked at my reflection in the mirror again.

Deep circles appeared under my eyes and I held my breath for a moment when I suddenly realized how pale I looked that morning. Something was definitely wrong because I rarely got sick and I slept much longer than usual. It seemed to be something else, but after a quick look at my brown hair, I shook my head and tried not to think about it anymore. It was probably due to the weather change in the last few days. With this idea in mind, I slowly made my way into the open living room.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," my dad smiled lovingly at me and at the same time approached me to immediately pull me into a safe hug.

"You feel warm, are you sick?" he asked in a concerned voice while he had his hand on my forehead and eyed me skeptically.

I deftly pulled out of his embrace and grabbed his full cup of coffee, grinning.

"No. I just got too much sun yesterday," I replied reassuringly and sat down at our small, round dining table, which was right between the front door and the kitchen counter. He shouldn't worry. Especially not since he had accepted a second job as a gardener.

He squinted at me thoughtfully, but luckily he turned back to the counter to pour himself another coffee.

Apparently he believed me and it really was like that, because I didn't feel ill. I was just exhausted. It was never warm for long here in the west and we rarely got as much sun as yesterday, so I blamed my exhaustion on that. If only I had known better...

After taking a sip of the coffee, I noticed my father suddenly eyeing me again with concern.

"Daaaaad!"

I rolled my eyes at him while my pitch sounded assertive but also sweet as candy. I didn't like it at all when he worried about me, so I wanted to give him a good smack so he would stop staring worriedly.

"I'm really fine!"

"Okay. I have to go now anyway. I hope I can make it home before the ball. I would like to take a picture of you. Is Melina coming?"

"Yeah. At 6pm with all her makeup cases," I smiled and immediately he rolled his warm brown eyes with a grin and put the empty cup down on the counter.

"So, see you later, little one."

He gave me a gentle kiss on my warm forehead before he quickly left the house and drove out the driveway in his car.

I looked after him out the window for a moment and drank the rest of my coffee, lost in thought. A glance at the clock told me that I still had far too much time before Melina would show up, so I decided to try on the dress in peace.

I padded excitedly through the narrow hallway to my room and let the bathrobe slide off my body. I pulled the dress out of the bag and held it to my body in front of the mirror before I slipped in and looked at myself in the mirror with wide eyes.

It was beautiful and for a brief moment I understood why girls like to dress up. I was proud and felt special.

The light blue color just went perfectly with my skin tone and the brown hair that I would wear open tonight for once. But when I looked down at myself with a smile, my eyes widened in horror and my smile immediately disappeared.

I do n't have the right shoes ...!!!!

Looking down at my bare feet, I was annoyed with myself. I kept going through all the shoes I owned, but none even remotely matched the beautiful dress.

Melina was my last resort, so I frantically reached for my phone, which was lying on the bed, but I banged my knee against the hard bed frame with full force and cried out loud in the stabbing pain.

It hurt so bad I took a deep breath and a pathetic whimper escaped my lips, and as if my bad luck wasn't punishing enough, my phone fell as I grabbed my knee, causing me to lose my balance and on my now aching one too ass landed.

Why always me ...

Annoyed, I fell onto my back and just lay there, stunned at my stupid clumsiness. My display was probably broken, my knee was throbbing with pain and I still didn't have the right shoes despite everything.

what a shitty day ...