The school went by pretty fast, but the next thing, I have a job at the cafe from 6 to 9 pm. Pretty long, huh?
I usually don't get time to complete all my homework after work, and it will get 10:30 when I come back from work. So, I have to wake up super early so I can keep my grades high.
The bell ringed as I stepped into the cafe. I slightly smiled at Mrs Weldon, in which she nodded as a reply. Every time I see her, I'm strongly reminded of professor McGonagall. That severe expression on her face and the spectacular, rectangle glasses perfectly suits her.
______
"Hey, Mrs Weldon, how are you-" I began.
"I have something to tell you, Miss," she said, raising her eyebrows indicating the seriousness. There was something wrong. I could tell from that face.
"Yes, Mrs Weldon. Tell me," I said.
"It is that, another Miss who has claimed to know you told me something about you,"
My heart skipped a bit. Oh, my God-
"What is it?"
"You are fired," she said severely.
"What? Wha- what are you talking about?" I stammered.
I don't care if she has the age to be my Grandmother, but I can't seriously afford to live without a job right now. I can't... live.
"It's that-" she began.
"You stole the money from here. From Lilith's cafe," said a familiar bitchy voice from behind.
"What? Madeline? What are you doing here?" I yelled at the familiar-looking sloth standing behind me.
"What, I had to confess some things to Mrs Weldon. You know, it for her good to get rid of pests like you," she said innocently. Her eyelashes batting like she knew nothing.
"You got some proof, Madeline?" I asked as I glanced behind her.
Her minion, Lucinda and Madeline's boyfriend, Ethan were there with his two best friends, Noah and Liam.
Ethan and guys already went to grab a seat with Noah and Liam. Lucinda was standing behind Madeline, wearing a victory smile over her slutty face. They knew the victory was theirs.
"Where's your backpack, Walters?" she asked suddenly, a glint of revenge in her eyes.
I scanned her and hesitantly gave her my bag. There was no way the money could be in my bag. I never took any money. I don't want any stolen money. I know I will never be sane with a bag of stolen money under my pillow.
Mrs Weldon was watching us closely. I didn't know what to do. I was failing.
She grabbed something from my bag. A package. A package covered in a newspaper issue.
"Well..." she drifted off.
Tears flooded in my eyes. I looked at Mrs Weldon, who was looking at me with a glint of disgust.
"You wench!" I yelled at her and stormed out of the shop, my eyes heaving with tears, and my chest seemed to go exploding any second from now.
Now, the only income for my life, that is 4 dollars per month has stopped. I'm not a pennyworth now. There's nothing that can keep me alive except some memories of my adopted dead mother. I felt insane.
****
I don't know how much time I have been sitting here. On this park. With broken swings and see-saw. We used to come here all the time when I was a kid.
The cement benches, the trees, tweets of birds and bright sunshine, with a mixed scent of chocolate and blossoms. I used to love my life.
How can I get it back again?
I wept loudly. I didn't care how many people saw me crying, but I don't care. I don't wanna go back to that house. The place I have been alone for half a year.
Alone.
Sobs and sobs. My face wrenched. Tearstrained. My life was tearstained. Now I don't have a way to pay off the debts and rent. I already have six months of rent to pay. God, kill me, please.
I covered my face in my palms and cried. Still, I had a ton in my chest. I had to cry it out.
Suddenly I heard twigs break, and footsteps. I quickly wiped my tears and looked forward to seeing who it was.
"Don't you dare touch me, or I will rip you in two," I said, gathering all my courage at once.
"I'm not touching you, Blue," said the silhouette.
That voice sound strangely familiar.
"Who are you? Show yourself, dumbass," I said.
He stepped into the light of the streetlight.
Ethan. Ethan Baxter.
"You! Tell your girlfriend that she will be dead by tomorrow for bringing up a downright lie," I almost yelled at him.
"First thing, I'm here to apologize for whatever she said, because I wasn't there when it happened-"
"You were there when it happened! You and your friends were sitting at a stall! I saw it,"
"Woman, let me finish first," he breathed.
I nodded, frowning.
"I didn't hear anything you guys said, and I thought it was definitely serious when I saw you storming out of the cafe,"
"Ethan, it wasn't like my life wasn't catastrophic enough for your slutty girlfriend to play revenge," I said, tears dripping down my cheeks. I felt Ethan gazing down at them
"Second thing, she is not my girlfriend anymore. And I noticed that you know my name," He said, adding a bit of sarcasm to the last one. I chuckled softly.
"Just because you don't even know that I exist, it doesn't mean that I shouldn't know you. After all, you are the most popular boy in the school," I hissed.
"If you don't mind me asking, can we go back to the cafe or something? Only that I'm freezing to death," he said with a glint of a smile.
"I'm good, thanks though," I shrugged.
"Sure. Do you need a ride back home?"
"No. I will walk," I said and walked out of the park.
"No, I insist. You don't have to walk alone. It's already late. Please come with me," he pleaded.
Before I could say something, he grabbed my wrist and started walking. I opened my mouth to argue but closed as I saw no point in arguing.
The atmosphere was cold. Very cold. The moisture of the air swooshed through my hair, which was already shuffled from the crying. The walk from my school to my house is 10 minutes. My school in the cafe is 15 minutes.
But, in Ethan's car, it just took 5 minutes to reach my house. He pulled over to my driveway, and I unbuckled my seat belt and got out of the car. I peeked my head through the window. We didn't get much time to talk or something, but he just kept saying sorry for whatever Madeline had done. Somehow, by the time we reached my home, I was feeling a teeny-tiny bit of happiness. Was it because he saved me from walking 7 miles?
"Hey, Ethan. Wanna come inside?" I asked, with a little smile.
"Hm, no thanks. I got to get going," he shrugged.
"Come. At least you are the one who saved me from getting raped," I said sarcastically.
He chuckled and said, "Fine," and got out of the car.
We walked as we talked nothing. Eerie silence. The wind whooshed as a car passed by.
"Excuse me?! Why is my door opened?" I almost yelled as I saw it.
"Oh, My God! There's absolutely nothing to rob!" I continued, standing beside a complete startled Ethan. "You stand right here. Don't come inside," I added to Ethan.
My heart was pounding.
I ran as fast as I could and opened the door real fast as it spammed hard to the other side.
"Whoa, Mr Scells? What are you doing here?" I panted as I tried to catch my breath.
"Well, actually darling, I came to visit you." He said, his eyebrows slightly raised, and he adjusted his spectacles.
"You gave me quite the scare, Mr Scells. I was so scared," I said, as I put a hand over my chest.
"Don't be, dear. But I have something to talk with you," he said, gesturing over me to sit.
"Yes, Mr Scells,"
"Well, it's been six months since you last paid your rent. I'm sorry, dear. But the house owners don't want you here anymore," she said pitifully.
"But, they do understand my situation, don't they? I don't even have enough money to buy myself meals! I can only pay the bills if I'm alive, Mr Scells!" I almost yelled at the old man.
"I do understand you, sweetie. But they don't. I'm sorry. And, they also asked me to tell you that the second reason is that they got information that you've been bringing boys to this place, which they told you not to do," He said.
"Wait- what? I don't even talk to any students in my school! I don't know anybody, and there are no boys!"
"Hey, Scarlett, is everything okay? I thought I heard raised voices," said a masculine voice behind me. Oh, no.
Mr Scells gave me a questioning look.
"Mr Scells, I swear to God, today is the first time I'm talking to him!"
Ethan stood there confused.
I gulped.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. But since I think you're guilty, you have to find another place to stay. It's better if you move out in less than 48 hours," he said, adjusting the spectacles which have drooped down to the tip of his nose.
He gave Ethan a sharp, piercing look before going out.
I collapsed to the moth-bitten torn sofa, which creaked. Tears were falling. My face was soaked in a flash of time, and this big lump in my throat and chest was so disturbing. It felt as if my brain was exploding. Maybe it was.
"Hey, Scarlett. I'm... uh, sorry," he said pitifully.
"It's okay. It's not your fault. It's mine. All mine." I said, wiping off my tears giving him a weak smile.
"I should've worked hard. I went to one job, and got 4 dollars a month! Can you believe that? A girl, like me, who has a lot of dreams to fulfil, has 4 dollars as monthly income! And I have other debts which are all about 1500 dollars! How am I ever going to survive through this?" I sobbed.
"Hey, hey, Scarlett. Scarlett. Listen to me," he conveyed, sitting beside me, putting a hand over my shoulder. "Everything's gonna be fine. But, now, till you get a room or a house to stay, you can stay with me. If you want, of course."
"I will think about it, I guess. I will... I will let you know," I imparted.
He nodded slightly and got up to go.
"Ethan?" I suddenly blurted out.
"Yeah?" he replied.
"Do you think- yo- you can...stay?" I asked.
Wait. What?
What the hell was I thinking?!
"Um, yeah. Of course.." he trailed off.
"Do you think...you can sit down? Besides me?" I said, moving a little so he could sit.
He came to me without hesitating. And the next thing he did made the butterflies go crazy. He held my hand in his palms.
"Well, Madeline will become way too mad at me that she will not rest till I'm dead. So, either way, its for the best," I said, blowing my nose into a kerchief.
"Why does she ever want to kill you, Blue?" he asked, with a tone of curiosity in his voice.
"Hm, if she ever knows I spent a night with her boyfriend-"
"I'm not her boyfriend-"
"Wait. Did you call me Blue?"
Silence. AWKARD silence.
I stared at his dark eyes while stared back at mine.
"Ye-yeah. Your eyes are blue, which reminds me of someone important in my life. Once. Can I call you Blue?" he asked innocently.
"Yeah, I guess. Who's this important person by the way?" I asked as I wiped away my tears.
His eyes abruptly lowered and a meditative look spread across them.
"Do you have any groceries? Maybe I could cook," he said, clearly as though changing the subject.
"Yeah...there's not much, but there is some oatmeal in there. But you don't have to cook for me,"
I stood up inelegantly and walked to the kitchen way too awkwardly.
As I said, I just had oatmeal which would've lasted for me two days, and that was the only thing left.
"Hey, Ethan! It's ready," I called from the kitchen as I stirred the oatmeal and took the cooking pan off the gas.
"Mm-hmm," he hummed as he paced to the small kitchen.
He took a bowl and walked out.
I stared back at him with disbelief.
Is he seriously being nice to me?
A considerable dork, nerd, a way too poor and not-cool-to-hang-out girl like ME?
Well, it's unbelievable. Really it is.