"Fuck,fuck,FUUUUCK!! "

I scream on the top of my lungs in the public bathroom as I desperately yank out another tissue paper from the spool and try to wipe her lipstick marks off my face.

"WHO THE FUCK APPLIES MAKEUP FIRST THING IN THE MORNING?!?!"

I scrub my face, my upper lip and my chin in particular, with fingernails poking out of the damp tissue, as I grunt and throw it in the trash can. I've managed to get rid of her nail marks that were on my cheek, but these? These aren't gonna go any time soon. I scrub my face with another tissue with annoyance, walking back and forth looking down at the white tiles intersecting with each other. The door creaks open and I dart back to the sink and start splashing water around my face, so as to not appear like a crazy crackhead.

-

I rush out of the bathroom and feel the bright sunlight hit my face. I squint and instinctively raise my hand to shield my face against it, as I wait for my eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight.

"At least people won't give me weird looks; the rays are blinding my face as is"

I mutter, shuffling down the sidewalk, before I come to a sudden realization: I have a cap in my bag. I swing my backpack in front and start rummaging through the compartment. I plunge my hand even deeper, and just when I'm about to give up, my fingertips brush against something soft, like cotton. My neurons fire off, and with a triumphant smirk, I pull out a mask. I didn't find a cap, but I've stumbled upon the perfect solution to save face on this weekday.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

-

I seat myself carefully on the last row of the seats in this enormous hall. The seats go higher, and higher with each row being a few inches taller than the other, as the last row being the tallest. Me sitting at the very end means that none of my friends would sit past or near me and find bright-red kiss marks all over my face. I wouldn't want that, no fucking way. I sigh and pull out my phone as I read my emails and go through the college notifications.

"I see...midsemester exams are starting in about 2 weeks. Damn. It feels like yesterday when the new semester began..."

I talk to myself in my own mind, leaving out a heavy sigh, before Jay startles me.

"What're YOU doing on the last row? This row for delinquents and wanna-be gangsters only, you know?"

Jay's tone is playful.

"Shutup, I just wanted to not answer the professor's questions. That's all.

Jay's face shifts to neutral as he asks about the mask.

"What's with the mask? Are ya sick?"

He says with his hand slowly reaching for my mask, obviously wanting to pull it down. I pull back immediately and fake cough.

"COUGH COUGH YEAH COUGH VERY SICK, I ALMOST COULDNT GET OUT OF BED TODAY"

Jay looks at me with concern before sitting down, looking forward putting his bag on the bench and putting his head down on it. Jay's been a pretty close friend of mine. We've been friends from 5th grade to 8th grade, before I started studying religiously. We didn't talk or see each other as much later, but I was surprised to see a familiar face at the welcoming ceremony at this institute. We've been pretty close ever since.