ELIZABETH
I nearly jumped out of my skin as my alarm blared, bringing me out of my deep slumber. I wondered how it was 6am already. It felt like I'd just fallen asleep a few minutes ago. Quickly, I rolled out of bed, still yawning. I had to be at work in an hour so I would be able to round up all I had to do before my first lecture which would hold by 10am.
Getting up and stretching, I made my bed, taking a second to glance at the opposite bed. It hadn't been slept in. I guessed that Sharon had spent the night somewhere else. It was a normal thing now so I ignored it. After all, it wasn't like we were the best of friends or anything. When we had been paired to share this room, she made it pretty clear to me that she disliked me and didn't want to be friends with me. I thought it best to not mention that I really didn't care. Besides, I actually liked the peace.
Three hours later, I was done with my shift at the store. I all but raced down the street to hail a taxi as I was late already for class. I hurried to my seat, books in hand, just as the lecturer walked in. I placed a hand on my chest to calm my breathing. I made it.
I zoned off at some point during the lecture. The urge to sleep overwhelmed me as I tried unsuccessfully to muffle the yawns that escaped me at intervals. I exhaled in satisfaction when the lecturer finally ended the class. I checked the time on my watch. I still had an hour before my shift at work. Maybe I would use this time to get some sleep.
"Hey."
I looked up to see Scott watching me.
"Hey," I whispered back. I hadn't seen Scott for a while now. He was the only friend I had managed to make in college.
"Where have you been?" He asked, looking me through. "You look terrible."
I found myself chuckling. "Thanks!"
He laughed along. "But seriously though, what's up? I haven't seen you around for a while now."
Although Scott and I were friends, I didn't think it necessary to give him any details about my personal life. Talking about myself or my family was never a fun topic for me. So I kept it all to myself, telling him only what I deemed necessary.
"I've been around, just a little busy." Well technically, it wasn't a lie. I had been busy actually.
He gave me a strange look. "Okay then. Anyway, some of us are going out for lunch in a few. Would you like to come along?"
I felt myself stiffen. I knew the group he was talking about. They were all a bunch of snobbish, entitled rich kids. The thought of coming tagging along to a restaurant where the food cost twice my salary was definitely not appealing. So, hard pass.
"I have plans for lunch already. Maybe next time?" I replied, smiling sweetly.
"Okay then," Scott grinned, nodding as he walked away. "See you later, Elli."
As soon as he was gone, I grabbed my bag and headed out. As I stopped to hail a taxi, my phone started to ring. I whipped it out of my pocket with the hopes that it was Stephen calling. The smile that had begun to form on my lips disappeared when I saw that it was Mom.
I frowned. This couldn't be good. There were only two situations that warranted Mom to call. Either she needed money, or dad had gotten himself in trouble again. I had given her the part of the money I reserved for them both when I stayed over, so that couldn't be it.
What did Dad do this time?
"Hello?" I answered.
"Beth.."
I clutched my backpack tighter. Dad only sounded this anxious when there was a serious problem. Plus, he was calling with Mom's phone, which meant he had lost another phone.
"Did something happen? Are you and mom okay?" I asked him.
"They...they found me. They threatened our lives, Beth. I don't know what to do..." He trailed off.
I inhaled sharply. "It's okay, just relax. Don't go outside for now. I'll come over later and we'll talk about it."
"Okay?" I added when there was no response.
"Yes. Okay."
"Good. I gotta go, I have work now." Without waiting for him to reply, I ended the call. What I really wanted to do was scream my heart out at him, then shake him until he came back to reality.
Sometimes I wondered if my whole life just before I turned fourteen had been a dream. We had been comfortable, happy, we didn't lack anything. I remember attending one of the most expensive high schools in the state.
Then suddenly we had begun to lose everything. I had to transfer to a different school. Dad had to sell off his car and the house to be able to foot our bills. And when he ran out of things to sell, he began to take loans. But it was never the same anymore. He would leave the house early to go job hunting. When he encountered another failure, he would spend the rest of the day in a bar somewhere and come back home reeking of cigarettes and cheap liquor.
Mom had always been the clueless housewife, jobless and unable to stand up for herself. At some point, it felt like Dad had given up on our family... given up on me.
So I had to get a job to be able to take care of our family, since no one else was willing to. No one else cared about my dreams of becoming a lawyer anymore. But I fought for it, taking on more and more jobs until I was exhausted.
Meanwhile, Dad had acquired a new hobby; gambling. With all the loans he had taken, he tried to double it through gambling, which was more unsuccessful than not most of the time. When his friends had refused to give him any more loans, he had begun to borrow from more influential, dangerous people, cutting off all communication with then when he was unable to repay. Which was why they were after him now.
I held back the tears from spilling down my face. How was I supposed to get that amount of money? I was almost like my parents were intent on making my life even harder than it already was.
Wiping the tears away with my handkerchief, I flagged down a taxi. I would have to get another job.