(There was an edit in Chapter one. So in case you have read the book before today please go check that out. Apologies for the inconveniences. ~Klaxosapien_)
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Hazel ran out of the alleyway with the puppy in her hand. She heaved a sigh as she walked into the pet store, relieved that she has lost the man.
She put down the puppy to roam about the store on its own since the door was shut. She walked up to the counter where the storekeeper stood arranging some money in the cash register.
"Hello, please I'm here to get some dog food for my puppy." She stated, pointing at the puppy that was sniffing around the store.
"Sure. It's down that aisle." The storekeeper replied and pointed toward a bunch of shelves.
Hazel walked to the shelves and look through the different brands of dog food and had no idea which one to get. She wasn't a dog person. She loved cats, so this is her first time having a dog.
She picked out her phone from her back pocket and searched the internet for what brand was okay for puppies. The search brought out a bunch of brands and she searched the shelves for them.
Her eyes caught sight of one of them and she picked up the medium-sized bag of dog food, a cute little bowl, and she walked around a little more and picked up a cute purple and black leash.
She walked around a little more and saw some adorable dog collars. She scanned through the different designs and selected a purple collar with black stripes on it.
Hazel excitedly picked it off the shelf. She was very obsessed with the colour purple. She put them on the counter and the storekeeper scanned the bar codes on them to denote their prices.
"That'll be $36.50." The storekeeper stated, "will you be paying cash or credit?"
"Cash," Hazel replied, handing her the money.
The storekeeper bagged Hazel's purchase and gave it to her with her change. "Thank you, have a nice day."
"And you too," Hazel replied and pulled out the leash from the bag. She looked around for the puppy and saw it playing with a squishy toy. She walked to it and put the leash on it. The puppy was refusing to leave.
It barked and whined and wanted to keep playing with the squishy toy. Hazel smiled and picked up the squishy toy to pay for it.
Once she bought it, she put it in the bag and put the leash on the puppy. She clapped in delight at how cute it looked.
She attached the leash to the collar and walked with the puppy out of the store and back home. It was already evening as the air was starting to get cooler and the sky possessed a beautiful mix of orange and blue.
When Hazel opened the front door to her home, she met Aunt Mabel laughing at something she was watching on her phone.
"Hi, Aunt, I'm back. Why don't you turn on the TV and watch whatever you like?" Hazel asked while disconnecting the collar from the leash.
"Oh, nah. There's hardly anything good on TV these days y'know. Don't worry I'm alright" Aunt Mabel replied.
Hazel nodded and set out the puppy's food before going up the stairs to her mother's room to check on her. She carefully opened the door in case her mother was asleep so she wouldn't disturb her. And sure enough, her mother was fast asleep under a blanket on her bed.
Hazel smiled warmly at the sight of her sleeping mother. She looked so stress-free and peaceful. Seeing her mother in front of her reminded her how much she needed her to be okay.
Her mother was all she had since her father left when she was just 2 years old. She decided that she was going to look for a really good job to start raising the money for the surgery.
'But where can I work to arrange such an amount?' She thought as she walked into her bedroom.
She plopped down on her bed and pulled out her phone from her pocket to begin searching for job openings that would take her with just a Highschool certificate.
'Part-time jobs don't pay as much as full-time jobs…' She stated while continuing to surf the web for some good opportunities.
A few minutes later, she fell asleep and her phone slipped out of her hand.
"Hazel? Are you home, dear?" Her mother called out from behind her bedroom door, "Haz-" She paused when she opened the door and saw her daughter fast asleep.
She smiled, her eyes narrowing as she did. She walked over to Hazel's bed and covered her with a blanket to keep her warm and gently kissed her forehead, "I love you," She muttered quietly to not wake her up, got up and left her bedroom.
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One week had gone by,
An alarm clock suddenly went off and Hazel slapped it off her bedside table causing it to fall and break, and the noise stopped.
Hazel rubbed her eyes and yawned. She picked up her phone to see what time it was. '7 am. I haven't been in school for a week.' She thought to herself as she got off the bed.
Suddenly she heard scratching noises and whimpering behind her door and she opened it to see the puppy whining in front of her. He walked into her room and got comfy on a furry little rug in the middle of the room and fell asleep.
Hazel giggled and walked into her bathroom to get ready for school. When she was done, she had a light blue sleeveless dress on with a white transparent net jacket and white converse to match.
She sprayed some perfume, curled her hair, and lightly touched up her face with a little makeup before picking up her bag and walking out of her room.
When she got downstairs to the living room, she met her mother and Aunt Mabel sitting, chatting and laughing. "Good morning, mom," Hazel greeted, running to her mom and gently hugging her,
"Good morning, Aunt," She smiled widely at Aunt Mabel who was seated on the couch opposite her mother.
"Good morning, my darling girl" Her mother greeted back, planting a kiss on her cheek, "You look gorgeous. Finally going back to school?" She asked, scanning Hazel's outfit with an approving expression.
"Yep, and thank you" Hazel giggled, flattered by her mother's compliment.
"She wants to knock 'em dead one by one today." Aunt Mabel snickered letting out a loud chuckle.
Hazel and her mother chuckle simultaneously. She waved them goodbye and walked out of the house.
At school, Hazel parked her bicycle and went into the school administrative block. She wasn't in school for classes but asked to take at least a year's leave from school.
She needed that time to focus completely on getting a full-time job to arrange the money for her mother's surgery.
"Good morning. Can I please speak to the student affairs officer?" Hazel asked a woman who stood at the reception of the administrative block.
"Let me put a call through to be sure if he's on his seat or not." The woman replied and picked up a telephone placed on the side of the reception.
A few minutes later Hazel was asked into the Student affair office. She knocked on the door and walked in. A strict-looking man seemingly in his 60s was seated behind a desk signing on some documents.
"How may I help you?" He inquired not looking away from the papers once.
"Uhm, yes, sir. I am here to request a leave form. It's a family emergency so I can't be in school at this moment." Hazel explained, fidgeting with nervousness at the man's facial expression.
"How long do you wish to be gone?" He asked, adjusting his glasses.
"About a year, sir…"
He looked up at her from the papers on his desk, perplexed at how lengthy her leave request was, "So you will be dropping out of college? Or do you wish to repeat the year when you're back?"
"If it would be possible to repeat this year when I'm back I'll be extremely grateful"
He paused for a few seconds, an awkward silence consuming the room. After what seemed like 5 minutes, he finally gave her an answer,
"Take and fill this form by the end of today and submit it at the front desk after you're done"
"Thank you so much, sir. I appreciate this." Hazel greeted beaming with joy.
The man waved his hand motioning for her to exit and she did as he instructed. A look of satisfaction took over her face once she got out.
"Yesssss" she muttered to herself.
On her way to the parking lot, she spotted Kyle going into the college. "Hey, babe!" She called out. He turned around and when their eyes met she didn't see the glow his eyes usually bore when he saw her.
"What's wrong?" Hazel asked, walking over to him and kissing him on the cheek.
"What's wrong!? You just ran off out of nowhere and disappeared for days!" He yelled in anger "No calls or texts? Do I mean that little to you? Really??"
"I'm sorry…I've been dealing wi-" She tried to explain but got cut off by Kyle.
"Don't even think about lying to me. You're cheating, aren't you? You met someone else?"
"No no. If you just let me explain…"
"I'm not letting you explain shit! So much for loving someone again. It's an endless cycle of heartbreaks with me" He stated, his voice lowering as he went on, "Fuck you…we're done"
Hazel's eyes begin to fill with tears as she watched him walk away from her. It was one challenge after the other and she could feel her heart weaken.
Tears streamed down her red cheeks as she rode back home. When she opened the door to her house her red and swollen eyes met her mother's and she ran quickly up to her room and shut the door behind her.
She started to toss and throw things around. Suddenly a card fell out of the pile of clothes she threw to the side. She picked it up and it was the card the sketchy man had given her before.
"I have been searching for a job but non seem to have as good of a pay as this one…and I don't know how much longer mom has…" She thought to herself.
At that moment, her worried mother called out to her from the other side of the bedroom door. Hazel quickly stuck the card in her back pocket and hopped on her bed.
When her mother opened the door, the sight of her sad daughter laying on the bed broke her heart.
"Darling? What's wrong?" She inquired as she sat on the edge of the bed next to Hazel, "..what happened at school?"
Hazel got up and hugged her mother, "It's Kyle. He broke up with me and I don't even know why. He thinks I'm with someone new"
"Oh, dear. Whatever gave him that idea?" Her mother asked, confused as to what led to that allegation.
"Cos I had been gone a whole week. So he thought I was avoiding him"
"Did you explain it to him?"
"I tried to…but he didn't give me a chance…" Hazel explained as her eyes started to fill with tears again.
"Oh don't cry my little cupcake. I'm sure he'll come around soon, alright?" Her mother held her tightly and patted her back.
"Even if he does, I don't think I'll give him a chance again….he doesn't care about me..that much is obvious"
Her mother knowing she was just caught up in her emotions simply kissed her on the forehead, patted her back softly and started to hum slowly.
Meanwhile, Hazel who was stuck in her head decided on reaching out to the sketchy man from the other day. It was the only way she could get the money to treat her mother. She couldn't lose her, she'd do any job they offered her.
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