Karen clutched the bag to her chest as she stumbled down the street back towards her apartment. Tears stung at her eyes. Why did she have to be so ugly?

She sniffed. No one would ever call her beautiful. The rustling of the paper bag against her near-flat chest was just a reminder of how much of a freak she was. She was built like some of those old Eastern European weightlifters who used steroids back during the Cold War. Worse, really. Thick arms, flat chest, a voice that’s too deep…

Karen looked down into the bag at the voluminous dress she had bought. It was all crumpled up now, but when she got home, and put on her new padded bra…

Oh, who was she kidding. She’d always be an ugly freak.

Her hands tightened on the white bag as her tears began to fell. As she turned down the street to her apartment, she bit her lip. Maybe she should just step off the sidewalk. There were plenty of cars here. All she had to do was take one step, and then it would all be over. No more laughs. No more rejections. No more stupid attempts to make herself beautiful.

She hesitated on the curb. Just a few more steps…

No. She wouldn’t. Not today. The dress would be beautiful. She knew it would be.

Whirling on her heel, she turned and ran to her apartment as fast as she could. Taking the metal steps up the side of the building two at a time, she dashed up to the third floor before slamming her shoulder into her door, breathing raggedly.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why was she such a screwup? Setting her head against the door, she leaned against it, pinning the bag between her stupid flat chest and the cold metal of the cheap doorframe as she fished in her pocket for her key. Clenching it tightly between her fingers, she slid it into the keyhole and twisted.

It was unlocked.

Stupid. Shawn was home already, and she was a mess.

Reaching up with her hand to rub at her cheeks, she twisted the handle and leaned against the door, shoving it open. Swiftly kicking the door shut behind her, she pushed her face down into her bag as she fled to her room.

“Hey! You alright?”

He'd seen her! “I’m fine,” she lied. Stupid. She tossed the bag on the floor and slammed her door shut behind her.

“You don’t sound fine. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“You sure?” Footsteps stopped outside her door.

“Yes.”

“You looked like you were crying.”

Karen glared at the flimsy wooden barrier separating her from her roommate. Why hadn’t she gotten the lock fixed? Why the hell did the apartment manager buy such cheap doors anyway?

“I just got something in my eyes!”

A muffled groan came from the other side of the door. “Did you forget to take your medication again?”

“No.” Karen flumped down on her bed.

The footsteps retreated for a moment, then returned. “It doesn’t look like it. The box was shoved all the way to the back of the cabinet, behind the vitamins.”

Fuck. “Yes,” she grumbled.

“I’m coming in.”

Karen put her head in her hands as Shawn stepped into the room. His footsteps were quiet on the bare floor as he walked over and sat down next to her, her bed creaking loudly under their combined weight.

“You okay, dude?”

“No,” Karen sobbed.

“Look. You need to take your meds. Do you need me to give them to you?”

Karen didn’t answer, her shoulders shaking. She didn’t look as the box was pulled open. She didn’t spare a glance as the syringe was pushed in through the hole in the top of the bottle, and filled with amber liquid. She didn’t flinch as the prick pushed the needle into her shoulder and pushed.

Shawn patted her on the back. “You feeling any better?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“You really had me scared there. You know how you get.”

“I know.”

“You can talk to me about it, if you want.”

“Nah. I’m good.”

“Alright.”

Shawn rose from the bed and walked out of the room, pushing the door shut behind him. “You really should call the building manager and get this fixed. I mean, what if you brought home a girl?”

“Heh. Yeah.”

Ken stared at the bag on the floor for a moment and shuddered before kicking it under the bed with his foot.