Bryce was busy boxing cupcakes for a customer.
Lucinda decided to use this as the perfect opportunity to teach me how to work the register. When the customer was gone she pointed a finger at Bryce. “You. Back. Now.” She tossed her thumb over her shoulder.
Bryce bowed his head. “You’re so mean to me.”
“Well,” she called to his retreating form, “if you didn’t do stupid stuff all the time, I wouldn’t have to worry.” Lucinda sighed with her hands on her hips. “I swear, if he wasn’t family I would’ve killed him by now. He’s a pain in my—”
“I can hear you!” Bryce yelled from the back and it sounded like a bowl dropped.
Lucinda shook her head, her gray hair falling forward to frame her face.
She took a breath and sobered, going back to my training. She was really nice and took her time explaining everything so that there was no chance that I would forget it.
Soon, she left me on my own. For the first few customers I dealt with on my own, I was insanely nervous and my fingers were clumsy, but I quickly calmed down. Most people seemed to be regulars and took the time to stop and chat with me since I was new.
At the end of the day, I was exhausted. My bed was calling my name, but I still needed to shower and work on my paper. It was due Friday, so there was no time to spare. Thankfully, I knew it was close to completion.
I drove home slowly, a part of me wanting to drive right by and go to Jude’s or even Rowan’s. I knew with every fiber of my being that I didn’t want to set foot in that house. But I did, because it was what I had to do.
My mom was in the living room when I walked inside. Just sitting there, staring off into space.
My dad didn’t seem to be home, unless he was in his office and I wasn’t going to go in there to check. No way was I going to risk that with the way his temper had been lately.
But not just lately, I had to remind myself. I had to remember that he had been like this before. I just hadn’t been the one dealing with the brunt of his temper.
I helped my mom up and sat her down at the kitchen table with a bowl of soup I warmed on the stove. I knew she’d eat eventually if I left her alone long enough. It was pretty sad that I couldn’t even remember the last time my mom spoke. I knew she wasn’t completely out of it, because she could still get around on her own if she wanted, and sometimes I’d find things moved when I knew she was the only one home. But whenever I was around, she just…stopped. It was like it was too much effort for her to function around me.
I went upstairs and showered, changing into a pair of sweats and a tank top.
By the time I checked on her again, she’d eaten. I helped her into bed and turned off the light in her room.
I closed and locked the door to my room when I stepped inside. After what happened with my dad I wasn’t going to chance leaving it unlocked again. Lesson learned.
I sat down on my bed with my laptop. I pulled up the word document, read over the last thing I’d written, and began to type. The words flowed easily now and I even found myself smiling as I typed.
After a good hour, exhaustion overcame me. I saved my paper and put my laptop in my backpack.
It took me a little while to fall asleep. I missed Jude’s warmth surrounding me.
???
I fell into a pattern that week.
School.
Homework.
Work.
Homework.
Sleep.
Finals were killing me and I wanted to curse myself for getting a job now, instead of waiting till after graduation. At least I’d have almost a month’s worth of pay saved up, so that was better than nothing, but it left little time for anything else. I barely saw Jude, which meant I hadn’t seen his grandpa in a while and that made me immensely sad.
Luckily, all seniors were in the same boat. Jude was just as busy as me, cramming in as much study time as possible in-between tests.
Jude, Rowan, and I sat in the school’s library at one of the tables with papers, books, and computers scattered around us. All of us had dark circles under our eyes and Jude looked like he hadn’t shaved since last week. At this point my brain was so dead that I couldn’t even remember when I showered last.