Shadow of the Beast

The Quiet Before the Storm

On the way home, Aunt Kate kept on staring at me and smiling. Eventually, she said what was on her mind. 

'You know, you've always been beautiful, Liv. Today you look extra pretty though. I mean, I'm always bloated, pale and full of pimples on my period, but you just look gorgeous and glowing!' 

I smiled shyly. 'you always look beautiful, Aunt Kate!' I said. 'I've never seen you look anything short of perfect!' 

She chuckled to herself. 'Thanks Liv. I just also wanted to say, I'm really proud of you. There was never anything wrong with you, but I knew that with a few little tweaks to your lifestyle you could really start to love yourself and feel more comfortable in your own skin.' she paused, mulling it all over.' I hope I wasn't too hard on you, or that I made you feel pressured or not good enough.'

'Of course not!' I exclaimed. 'you were just what I needed. You helped me out of my well of self pity and for the first time in my life, I feel like I can love myself and feel confident!' 

We exchanged nervous glances, and started laughing about our random, deep emotional sharing of pleasantries. 

The rest of the week was fairly uneventful, in terms of weird occurances or explosive secrets. We did some shopping, and Aunt Kate must've noticed that the clothes she was buying for me were a few sizes smaller, but said nothing. She spent most of the week working on her project, and cooking up a storm to ensure that I had a meal in the freezer, ready to be heated and eaten, for every night she was away. 

Just before she left on her trip, she handed me a credit card with a ridiculous amount of money pre loaded. 

'This is in case you need anything' she said. 

'Like what? I said, incredulously. 

'I don't know, maybe we forgot a textbook you'll be needing or something? '

'What, a GOLD PLATED textbook?!' I said, trying to control my laughter. She'd laughed too. 

'Whatever you need, honey. Maybe you make some friends and they tell you they're all wearing neon green legging and tie dye shirts on Friday, and you need to go and buy the outfit', (cue more giggles) 'but really, anything you need. If you want an outfit, or food, or toiletries, or to go out for pizza with friends, whatever you want. I won't question what you spend this money on, I just want you to have a bit of freedom and fun without having to worry about how to fund it. '

My aunt had always had plenty of money, and she'd always been so generous. My whole life was turning around because of her. I was so incredibly grateful, and made it my mission to show and tell her that every day. 

She joined me for a run a couple of times before she left, knowing that I was itching to get out. We hadn't ventured anywhere even remotely close to William's cabin - in fact, it seemed that she would steer me in as much of an opposite direction as she could figure out. I said nothing, and still had my own plans and ideas that I would set in motion once Aunt Kate was away, but for now I pretended that I didn't notice and was completely unfazed. It was a nice, normal end to a weird few weeks, and I just hoped and prayed that this normalcy (bar the new, rocking body) lasted through to school as well. 

But seriously, what were the chances that it would?