One Night With The President

m mirror buzzed. It was a low, mechanical hum t

he plastic stic

ink l

olors she had ever seen in her life

ed from her face, leaving her skin the color o

grip. It hit the bottom of the tras

into the trash, and snatched the stick back out. Her hands shook so hard she coul

iti

like a physical b

r knuckles turning stark white. She gagged. Her throat spasmed, bu

shut. She tried to f

. The gradu

e music vibrating in her ribs. The blinding flash of strobe

remembered her roommate, Isla, holdi

th

space. It was like someone had taken

nds hard against her forehead.

adow. A b

cologne that college boys bathed in. It was t

eyes. But there was no face. Just the eyes, and th

he sting did nothing to clear the fog

ount her intimate experiences on one hand, and they

couldn't even put a name or a fac

and pulled out her phone. Her thumb

e Balanc

r. She was a senior in college. She worked twenty hours a week

she rais

en know who t

ight shifts as a security guard. Her mother scrubbed toilets at a downtown hote

She could not be another heavy

it up in her palm.

are yo

n hard on the inside of her cheek until

yped

. Just h

edge of the sink and looked in the mirror. Dark purple circles bru

to do so

r fingers hovered over the keyboard. Sh

was a sponsored ad for a women's

ded with soft pastel colors and wo

er the button that r

ed at her lower abdomen. It was a physical remin

ed on the way into her lungs. She close

d. An email notification poppe

onfirmed. Tom

the sink. She was entirely