From the short story "Buzz, Buzz"
By Me!

“Buzz, Buzzzzz.”
“I don’t need to read it.” She said out loud in the solitude of the back room. She prepared the dye in her little bowl, held her brushes and walked confidently back to the lady.
I already know what it says, Charlie was thinking as she prepared the lady’s hair.
IT will say something about how she’s cheating on him, and it will read caps lock ANSWER ME. Or it will tell her she’s a piece of trash and he would rather be with the girls at his lacrosse parties. Then, there will be a voicemail apologizing for how wrong he was. Eleven months, and twenty four days. Six more days will be a year. A year Charlie spent watching him change and dismantle her comfort; his manner had constricted Charlie’s happiness and the go-lucky little sophomore who had now grown into a tattered fearful junior. The scars ripened with her memory, and she knew she wasn’t going to be the same. Her eyes filled with tears, form the harsh fumes of the hair dye and her own self disappointment. She couldn’t touch her face with her dye ridden hands, so the tears continuously rolled down her cheeks. As her makeup ran, the bearing of he bruised cheek began to appear, as well as her insecurity. She stopped. “I will be right back.” She left the lady, almost finished with her hair and fled to the back room.
She ripped the gloves off and threw them into the sink, took a deep breath and slowly sobbed. Vinny ran to the back of the room.
“What’s wrong?” He said exasperated from running into the back room. The little junior took her cell phone out of her pocket. Vinny held her shaking hand as it still clutched the vibrating cell phone.


Look for it in the Art Against Abuse Section of this year's Impressions 2009 Edition