Excitement bubbled in me as Monday rolled around. I had spent all day Sunday texting James and it seemed like he was back to normal after I had opened up about the whole Dexter situation.
It was probably stupid that I was giddy over seeing him at school, but I couldn't help myself. He had seemed so overwhelmed when he was dealing with Pink Streak in all her drunken glory but after she was gone and we finally talked he seemed to relax with me. I had hoped he would come over Sunday, but he was busy with his family, so I didn't push it. I had put extra effort into myself just so that when he saw me, he wouldn't be able to stop thinking about me. It was almost a relief to have him back after the hellish week I had avoiding him and taking sh*t from my mom about anything and everything. Our electricity got cut on Friday morning because we had not paid it. It took me all f*cking afternoon looking through a f*ck ton of mail to find the electric billAfter practice was done, I drove home and was surprised to see James' car parked at the curb. I grinned, remembering his face and smiled when I saw him hop out quickly. "I don't remember having any past due homework to do." I said as soon as I opened my car door. He grinned sheepishly and shrugged one shoulder. "I just wanted to come and give you my apology kiss." "Oh! That? Well...seeing as you're here, you might as well." I winced as I placed my weight on my hurt ankle and he looked down at my foot. "What happened?" "Twisted it at practice. Might have sprained it." "Yeah...looks pretty swollen." He placed an arm around my waist and helped me inside, even though I knew I could walk on my own. Once inside I set my backpack and shoes by the door and took his hand and led him upstairs. I could hear my mom talking on the phone so I raised my finger to my lips and he nodded. We walked into my room
I rubbed my temples and looked down at all of the numbers. We owed over fifteen grand in bills for the month and that wasn't even everything that was being paid for. Mom was tearing through the groceries like crazy, so I would need to go shopping soon again and I knew that we had streaming services that were being automatically drafted. I went over all of the bills and couldn't believe that half of them were credit card statements. Mom was online shopping and I didn't even notice half of the sh*t she bought. I had begun looking over the bills to figure out if I would be able to try out for the dance team and stumbled upon thousands of dollars worth of bills and rising blood pressure. I took a drink of my ice-cold soda and rubbed my eyes under my glasses. I had been sent home early from practice because my leg was still sore and I couldn't do sh*t. I also didn't want to be there. But now all I wanted was to escape the reality that I didn't k
"I'll be back. Make yourself comfortable." He nodded and I went upstairs and felt dread fill my chest. I hated that that was the feeling my mom gave me any time I was near her, but since she hit me, I was scared of getting too close. "Yeah?" "The cable is off. Why is it off?" "We haven't paid the bill. Do you have a bank card and everything? I have other bills I need to get done too." "Just use your credit card." "Mom, no. I just looked at the statements and we owe over a grand on all of them put together." "Kelly, just f*cking use the credit card! I have a show I need to watch!" "No! It's too much money on the cards! We're already past due on Dad's car payment and we are past due on the mortgage. I need the actual bank card." "No. You're not using my money." "What money do I use!? It's not just yours! We need a home to live in and cars to drive!"
I waited for her call from jail for hours. I sat in my room, staring down at my phone, anxiety crippling me. I was scared sh*tless. What in the hell would I do without her? How long was she going to be in jail? What she did was stupid, but would she be there long? It was her property. Did she do something else that would make her stay longer? I looked up her name on the jail's database over and over again, refreshing every few minutes to see everything she was being charged with and nothing popped up. Finally, at about three in the morning, I got the call from the jail and answered it immediately. "Kelly. Get me the f*ck out of here! I can't stay in here. Post my bail. My purse is hidden under the clothes in my closet by the shoes. I need a f*cking cigarette." "What did you do?" "I don't need stupid questions right now. Just bail me out and come pick me up." "How do I do that?" "God, why did I
By the time lunchtime rolled around, I was dead on my feet. Chloe tried asking me what was wrong but everything was so embarrassing to even tell her so I just told her that I stayed up late doing homework and left it at that. Usually, for lunch, I would go out with Chloe, but since she thought I had ditched this morning, she had made lunch plans with her boyfriend, so I was stuck at school. I walked to my locker because I knew I hadn't brought money to buy any lunch put my books away and then wandered down the halls to pass the time. I had no idea what to do when I didn't go out for lunch. It hardly ever happened. If I had my car here, I would have sat in my car but that was ruined. I could have brought my mom's Range Rover, but I didn't want to piss her off more. I needed to get the money out of her purse before she got out though. Now that I knew where she had hidden it, I could get in there and start paying our bills. I thought about
The next morning I woke up and walked to my mom's bedroom. I don't know what I had expected to see, but when I found it exactly how it had been the day before I felt a twinge in my chest. I got dressed for school even if I felt like didn't want to go and texted James that I was going to take my mom's Range Rover to school instead of hitching a ride with him. I decided that it would be for the best in case I felt like complete crap like I did the day before then I could escape without witnesses. When I got to school I sat in my car and waited. The back still smelled pretty rank, but it beat having to go in. My dance coach had come up to me the day before and asked if I was going to make auditions after school. I missed them yesterday because of the crisis with Mom, but after seeing the bank account last night, I figured it couldn't hurt to do one thing I wanted. I hoped she would still let me audition even though I would be a day late. Dan
They stayed the night that night, staying in the guest room, and in the morning I waved them goodbye. My uncle had sent the Porsche to be fixed and told me he would be taking over the car and payments. I agreed that it would be good to take some of the payments off of my shoulders. I would miss the car, but I would be okay. After they left I laid in bed for a bit longer until lunchtime and then called Chloe to come over. When she was busy, I called James. He was out trying to find a costume before Halloween with Michael, so I joined them in their search. Despite feeling crappy about my mom being in jail, I felt like it could be a good thing for her sobriety. So I was trying to be positive. While the guys tried finding Halloween costumes at the Halloween store, I walked around. I figured I would stay in that night. Dad always sat on the front porch in full costume and handed out candy to all of the kids. To honor him, I decided that I wou
Children walked around everywhere, dressed in various costumes, grinning and laughing as they walked up to my doorway. I stood uncomfortably in my Elsa dress, my hair braided off to the side. I smiled brightly at the kids and their parents as they grabbed fistfuls of candy from the bowl I had set up. Children hugged my legs and stared up at me in wonder as their parents complimented me on my costume. I grinned at each of them and gave them candy and hugs back, but the entire time I thought of my dad. I thought of how happy he would have been if I had ever just taken the time to hand out candy to him. I wish I had done it more often. Sure, the dress was itchy, but the kids all loved it and I loved seeing their excited faces when they looked at me. I was busily handing out candy for a few hours already, happy that I had thought ahead and bought a sh*t ton the night before when some familiar faces popped up. One was a tiny pr