Her hair wasn't smelling like mold anymore and it gave her a feeling of accomplishment, it was sad that she had to find hope and joy in the littlest things like washing her hair and not smelling like her problems.
She opened her room door to be greeted once more by four pair of eyes that stared at her hopefully, she sighed, both internally and externally tired as their eyes followed her every steps. These ones had separation anxiety and couldn't do without seeing her.
It made her annoyed but still served as a purpose for her to continue living in this cold and harsh world.
She watched silently as they all sat on her bed without a word, they knew not to disturb her when she prepared for class or else they would be sent out and forced to spend the upcoming night on the cold and dreary living room floor that held the ghosts of many people who OD'd on things too big for them.
Dressed and prepared for class, Jenna handed them a hundred dollar note and winked at them, a sign that they had fostered over time that meant that the money should be kept a secret and spent in discretion unless they wanted their junkie mother to steal it and use it to get pills.
"Why did you do that?" the voice asked, irritation lacing its voice.
Jenna knew she would have to walk since she gave them the last money she had but she couldn't help herself, she was just giving to them what she wished had been given to her, compassion.
"Be back before 9" her father called out to her as she headed for the living room door. She didn't stop this time but continued walking.
She walked past torn furniture that housed drugs so great she couldn't name them, the old and dirty rags that decorated the floor only served as a covering for the things hidden under the floor board.
She walked past one of the teenagers that was seated on a beat down cushion, he was smoking weed and flipping through channels on the tv with a flippant expression. Jenna couldn't understand how someone could be comfortable living in the horror that was their life.
*
She panted painfully as she finally reached the gate of her school, she could feel her heart beating painfully in her chest, a heavy sign that she was out of shape. It wasn't like there was anything she could do about it since she didn't even have the luxury of time to indulge in personal growth.
"You're a student here, right?" a voice asked from behind her.
Jenna paused her panting, painfully aware of how uncultured she might have looked, she smoothed her painfully straight hair that she had spent time straightening before leaving the house.
"Yes" she answered, her voice coming out as a croak which startled both her and the man standing behind her. Had she been white she knew without a doubt she would have been red from the root of her hair to the tips of her toe. She attempted to clear her throat but only ended choking on her saliva and coughing.
The man standing behind her handed her a bottle and slowly patted her back to calm her down, she jolted, the touch of an unfamiliar person sending warning bells into her head and putting her on high alert.
The man looked flustered and ran his hand through his jet black hair, he smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry miss, I didn't mean to startle you"
His voice sounded like honey and dark chocolate mixed together, a combination that was dreadful to others but a guilty pleasure to her.
"Its fine" she replied after she had stopped coughing, she attempted to hand him back the bottle but retracted her hand back immediately.
"Do you think he'd want it back after you had sullied it with your filth?" the voice asked, "save yourself the embarrassment and just toss it away after he leaves or maybe even burn it"
The voice was right, in fact it had never been wrong before, "Do you need something?" she asked
"Do you know where Adamas hall is?" he asked
"I do" Jenna answered, "I'm on my way-" she stopped speaking, it felt like there was something stuck in her throat that wouldn't let her speak.
"Do you actually think he wants to walk with you there?" the voice asked, it came this time like a whisper in her ears, "Who would want to walk around this campus standing beside filth like ourselves?"
"Are you alright?" he asked and waved a hand in front of her. Jenna stood with her eyes facing forward in a trance like state, an effect of communicating with the voice in her head. It was one of the many reasons people avoided her.
They thought her to be weird, they thought her to be like her drug peddling father, her junkie mom and crack baby siblings. But she wasn't, she was just in her own world, her comfort zone, with the three people who truly understood her.
"It's at the back of the economic faculty which is the big green building to your left" Jenna answered, without wasting a second she walked past him and way from his confused and yet intrigued stare.
*
He didn't know why but he found her interesting, there really wasn't anything about her that stood out to him from her dull brown eyes, to her slightly crooked nose, down to her lips that were constantly in a pout.
She was small, her head barely reaching his shoulder. But that wasn't the only small thing about her, her body was small and not in the stature sense but in the body mass sense.
It had him thinking about her as he walked towards the building she had directed him to, he knew where it was but something about her bent figure panting for breath had him walking towards her in a daze.
He'd met his fair share of women and had dabbled here and there, but something about her had him feeling funny in his chest.
"You know, curiosity killed the cat, right?" a voice said from beside him.
"I know" he said and laughed as the owner of the voice, his secretary handed him his suit jacket and a cup of coffee, "but if I'm a cat then it means I have many more lives to spare and I think I just might spend this one on her"
"Mr. Smith-"
"I've said this many times Mallory, just call me Adam" he corrected her as he watched the professors rush out of the building to welcome him in.
"Alright Adam" Mallory said after a pause, "Always remember your actions affect not only you but the whole company"
"I know Mallory, but what's the harm in a little fun?" he asked as he stretched his hand out to shake the Chairman of the university.
"You could never imagine" Mallory mumbled under her breath.