"Ring!"
"Stupid alarm clock," she mumbled before shutting it off. She turned on the bed, lazily opening her eyes. She did her normal morning routine of staring at the mirror and kissing her mother's picture. On the table lay the letter she had received a month ago. She couldn't help but laugh every time she saw the location of the school. Her grandparents went mad when they heard it. Not really her grandparents, but her grandmother. She knew her mother schooled in Summer Bay. Dropping the letter back on the table, she walked back to the bed. Slumping on it, she decided to catch a few minutes of rest.
The door was forcefully opened. Constance stepped into the room. "Why are you still asleep silly girl, do you know what the time is?"
"Five more minutes Grandma," she whined, hiding her self under the sheets. However, Constance wouldn't take no for an answer. She walked to the bed, pulling the drowsy girl out of it.
"Do you know what day it is?"
She stretched, before rubbing her sleepy eyes with her fists. "It's Wednesday, as least that's what I think."
Constance couldn't believe what she just heard. Face palming herself, she said, "It's the day of your trip, you are leaving today!"
She suddenly felt rejuvenated, all evidence of sleep leaving her face. "Are you serious Grandma?"
"Do I look like I'm joking child?"
Without wasting a second, she dashed into the bathroom and was out in record time. Constance was sitting on the bed when she came out. Dropping the magazine in her hand she said, "Why do you like dressing like that?"
She looked at the loose white shirt and baggy jeans she was wearing. "What's wrong with my clothes?"
"You dress like a boy Julianne, what if you don't get any suitors because they mistake you for a boy?"
Her response amused her. "I feel comfortable in these clothes. Besides, we don't have the time to talk about marriage, I'm running late."
"I hope you know where your passport and travel papers are."
She stared at her grandmother for a few seconds, frozen to the spot. When reality finally dawned on her, she screamed. In a desperate bid to find them, she pulled out her drawers, searched through her clothes and looked through her shoes. While she was doing this, Constance spotted them on the bedside table where the alarm clock lay. She shook her head before picking them up.
"Looking for these?" She said, waving the passport and travel papers at her.
She ran to her grandmother's side, retrieving the documents from her. "You are a life saver Grandma!"
She put her things together in her classic haphazard manner. Once again, her grandmother shook her head in disbelief as she watched her scramble around the room, packing her things. She shoved her accessories, clothes, shoes and books into a bag. Seeing that they wouldn't fit, she stood on the bag, jumping on it. Her grandmother once again, face palmed herself.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm..."
"Stop child, that's not how you pack a bag. Here, let me..."
The door opened once more. Doreen stepped. Once she had greeted Constance, she ran to her friend, hugging her tightly.
"Thank goodness you're here Doreen," said the exasperated Constance, "Please help her sort her things out, she's so disorganised."
Constance left the room, leaving Doreen and Julianne alone. They sorted her things out, separating it into different bags.
"I'm so happy for you Jules," she sniffed. "Are you crying?"
"I'll miss you a lot," she cried.
"Relax Dory, it's only for a while. When I'm done schooling, I'll come back, I promise!" She assured.
Doreen cleaned her face and slowly nodded her head. They picked up the bags in the middle of the room before going to join her grandparents. Soon, they were on their way to the airport.
"Don't forget to study hard and do your best," Constance said to her once they got to the airport.
"I will."
"Remember our rules..."
"They're pretty hard to forget Grandma, especially since you say them every time," she giggled.
"Say it with me."
She sighed as they said them together, "No drugs, no clubs and no boys."
"Especially the last one," Constance chirped.
"That's fine with me. I've got to go..."
"Wait, one more thing..."
She took her aged hands in her granddaughter's youthful ones. "If you need anything, don't forget your way back home," she said in a choked voice. After a short while, tears flowed from Constance's eyes. Doreen followed suit. Only her grandfather controlled himself, although she could see his eyes were reddened. She tried to hold back her tears but soon, they poured down as well. They hugged each other before finally saying their goodbyes. As she walked into the plane, she looked back. "I will miss this place," she thought.
****
"What do you mean someone's going to live with us," he barked.
"Calm down Jack. I told you, everything has been paid for. He's going to give us a whole lot of cash, I'm talking a hundred grand each month. We'll be home free!"
"Shut up Rachel!" He shouted at the woman. "Why didn't you tell me about this in the first place?"
"I tried to tell you but you wouldn't listen. She coming today!"
"And who is she?"
"Her name is Julianne... Heathrow? Weird, must be a popular name where she comes from. She won that scholarship initiative and I'm her caretaker."
"This is stupid, there's no way I'm letting some stranger live in my house!"
"We can't back out, the first installment has already been paid. We've used thirty thousand out of it!"
"How did we use so much money?" He said, scratching his stubble.
"You didn't bother asking where I got the money from before you spent it. I only used a thousand and fifty bucks out of it to get some groceries, you ate the rest up!"
"So you're blaming me now?"
She shivered, sensing the rising anger in his voice. "I'm not, it's just that we can't back out of this! We could get arrested!"
He walked into the kitchen slowly. Grabbing a bottle of whisky from the drawer, he downed it down, drops falling on his greasy shirt. The shirt was once white but due to it's constant usage and washing, it had turned brown. When he was done, he used his shirt to cover his exposed flab.
She watched him walk out of the kitchen. He was still clutching the empty bottle. "I have to get to the airport to pick her up," she said to her distracted husband, "I'll be back soon!"
He gave her a subtle nod. Knowing that was all she would receive from him, she sighed and walked out of the house.