🤍 Jessica's POV 🤍
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR24pz4gYig
"Thirteen hundred, fourteen hundred, fifteen hundred..." I count through the crumpled hundred-dollar bills in my hand, almost coming to tears.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeTEhSxWhTM
Twenty-one thousand dollars. I turn to my roommate and best friend, Rachel. "Rach... you don't have to do this."
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uK3F2lXuY
"Here we go again. Save it, Jess. You need help, I gave it. End of story. You know I'm more than happy to help," she replies, not looking up from her phone.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5cSieg1Szc
"You're the best. I don't know what I would have done without you. I promise to pay every dime back." I shoot her a grateful smile.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQMCp5hoDVV
Finally, she meets my gaze. "It's a gift. You haven't gotten a job, and the strip club is doing really well. Why wouldn't I help? You'd do the same for me."
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlkrQmSY0mW
For a heartbeat, silence hangs between us—then I surge forward, wrapping her in a hug so fierce it knocks her phone to the floor.
She laughs, a warm, familiar sound, and squeezes back.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu845Qe3Rye
Rachel and I go way back. We trace our friendship to a cluttered library table, sophomore year at Berea College, bonded by chaos, cheap stationery, and mutual blackmail.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNcB5UPgflH
We mistakenly took each other's diaries in the library, and the rest is history.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpyEboL7O3C
Hard to believe, right? I'll explain. Two sleep-deprived losers, hollow-eyed from cramming for midterms, hunched over identical five-dollar diaries from the campus bookstore.
Basically, we had the same cheap-ass diary, and for some reason, thought it was sensible to bring it out while studying that afternoon.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBuiZ8a9k34
Fucking knuckleheads.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxnss1iv8Y
We'd both scribbled our darkest secrets in those flimsy, faux-leather notebooks—hers in reckless cursive, mine in anxious print—too fried to notice we'd grabbed the wrong ones until we'd already dragged our big backs to our dorms.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUskQim8JS
Oh well. I got home and shamelessly read it all. I didn't want to, but dang! Its contents were better than porn.
No kidding. Rachel is the wildest girl I've ever met. And in my defense, she read mine as well. And no matter how boring it was, a reading still takes place. No?
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVr3bWXw5r
Anyways, the next morning, we shamelessly met at that same library table, and I remember Rachel's first words—of course, she was the first to speak. "Don't even lie about not reading my diary! Your eyes tell it all."
I laughed genuinely for the first time that week and proposed a crazy idea.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzuKaHzb0DI
Since we now literally know each other's secrets, we decide to be friends and swear to carry them to the grave.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwVAGep3uoN
A pact sealed in cringe and convenience.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4b65WOfA8Z
We've been inseparable since then, and years later, we're roommates, crammed into a mini shoebox apartment with my younger brother, Ken, trying to make ends meet.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgWO4ffd0cm
Speaking of my brother, I give Rachel a quick kiss on the cheek and go to his little mancave to find him.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dOL5mHiSG
Typical. He is blasting NBA YoungBoy on the stupid speakers.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡas7wDRAx6G
I know it's NBA YoungBoy because that's all he blasts on those stupid speakers at skull-rattling decibels.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQRES313OZ0
I fling his door open for the hundredth time that day, and as usual, I'm hit with the torrid smell of Black Axe body spray and 10-day-worn boxers.
And there the little rascal is, sprawled on the mattress like a squirt of ketchup on the table, singing off-tune.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREioNcDG9W
I rub my temple, counting to three in a bid to calm myself.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UcRPQPddU
It doesn't fucking work.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAGJzUdqpz
"Turn that shit off before I smack your two front teeth down your throat!"
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnSLgW76MG
Whoa. I can't believe my voice was louder than the music. Mariah Carey was found shaking in her Christmas fit.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSs83v8EREZ
Ken rolls his eyes at me before getting up and reaching for the remote.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjm2RpKAbTm
The silence hits like divine intervention, and my left eye visibly twitches at the bliss. All of a sudden, the world seems to be working fine again.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkeUdBeuZzf
Rachel is worried, though.
"Um... Is Ken still breathing?" Her voice comes from the living room.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzCWVDexeN
"Sadly, yes," I reply with a dry tone.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwdvwk8Z8h
"Can a guy get some privacy around here?" Ken asks, looking at me like I've cut off his air supply.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1wgBoIWA6Y
"Can we not have our eardrums perforated?" I shoot back.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQeXs4upMg
"What do you want, Jess?"
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRK6H6URh9K
I lean against the doorframe, arms crossed. "Rent's due. Your turn to bleed cash."
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASaf71L77Y
He flops onto his bed, sending a tsunami of dirty socks and energy drink cans to the floor. "Seriously? Now? I'm in the middle of a vibe."
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9d4dQRxR4
"Your 'vibe' costs just $600 this month, thanks to Rach for covering half of yours" I fire back, gesturing to the house.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhVKUPfpmSQ
"Oh, she did?" He smiles, surprised. "Thanks, Rach!"
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTMA2Qp33Z
"Pay up."
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYE6eglhpW
He groans, dragging a hand down his face.
"Jeez. Calm down, Jess. I'm short, okay? Just take it from my bakery salary this month."
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWPj7oUSaXc
"Ah, yes," I snort. "Let's bankrupt the one business we've successfully been able to grow and manage. Brilliant plan, Einstein."
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8NXF8tiBsb
"Then what do you want? My kidney? My soul?" He fakes a cry.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQpK3AMJCXt
"Hmm... Tempting, but kidneys are harder to sell on Craigslist. Let's stick to tradition." I pull out my phone, already scrolling.
"Let's see, last month it was your vintage Xbox. Month before, your 'limited edition' skateboard—which, spoiler, wasn't limited. You need to sue. What will it be this time? The signed Kobe jersey? The guitar you still can't play?"
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaG3lcDPbg2
His mouth opens in astonishment, and his face twists like I've just found him guilty. "You're a tyrant!"
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡifA8RV2yJ2
"And you're a parasite with a Spotify addiction. Choose before I choose for you."
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJTpamke7Ac
With conflicting eyes, he glares at his closet, a shrine to impulse buys and buyer's remorse. "Dammit. Take the jersey."
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdun2mBfvUL
"Good choice."
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7aLrSGxcM8
I'm halfway past the door when I think of something and smirk before turning back to him. "How much for the speakers?"
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVc9WR6xzt
He whips around fast and looks at me with death in his eyes. Then up he gets, slamming the door in my face.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUgnuc9d8WZ
I burst out laughing before adding kerosene to the fire. "You know, with the rate at which you default on rent, you'll eventually have to forfeit them. I'm very patient."
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpn9hoXKtFV
I continue on my journey out, but not before I hear a muffled thud on his door, likely from his already deflated pillow colliding with it.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQiFt1nHVL
Do I like taking away his stuff? Heck no. But someone's gotta teach him the universe won't coddle him like I did. I've babied him so much in the past because we lost our parents at such young ages, and I didn't want him to lack that love. But at some point, a man's gotta learn responsibility and know that there are consequences for every action.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx10Exu8jyx
I walk back to my desk and reboot my laptop. It wheezes to life, its fan screeching like a tortured gerbil. I click into my inbox, bracing for the usual sermons of rejections.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTi6bRaykLl
'We've moved forward with other candidates...'
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwIk2Crbz8
'Unfortunately, your experience doesn't align...'
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHfTaEWgQg
'Thank you for your interest. Blah, blah, blah'
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5kBB6vdxt
Which, by the way, is corporate language for 'lol. Never, bitch.'
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BEyCDw66W
I sigh. Not in disappointment, because I'm used to it, and I've built an immunity to that particular sting. It's more... um...exhausted defiance with a sprinkle of impotent hurt.
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjn8Lf3Ddj
Like each no is a brick I'll eventually hurl through the window of every HR motherfucker who underestimated me. Yeah.
ns216.73.216.45da2
