I hate how right he is.
“And the solution to her work issue is to pay her,” he suggests simply. “Tell her to take some days off until you figure this out. Bam! Your problem is solved. You’re welcome.”
“You act like it’s that easy.” Though it does sound like it is, but would Anna agree?
“I’m just saying, she must need the money. It can’t hurt to ask. Stop being a little bitch and ask her.”
I flip him off as I consider it.
14
ANNA
Saturday, December 14
My wet hairis dripping onto the floor, creating tiny puddles every time I pause to gather my panicked thoughts.
I had no time to dry it or put it in a towel because Jenny had blown up my phone with egregious news.
“You still there?” Her voice crashes through the chaotic shouting in my head.
I pace our apartment from the entrance through the living room and kitchen and down to our bedrooms and back up. Every so often, I struggle to breathe and not lose my shit again and have to stop. “Yeah, here. I’m…thinking.”
We just got an email from our landlord, Jerry, stating he’s raising our rent again but this time by five hundred dollars. He wants to renovate the building to make sure the tenants get the best living experience, among other things. It’s a load of bullshit. They gave that exact reason last year, just worded differently.
Jenny went to see her grandma again, so she’s not here to freak out with me.
I know I have the money Sylas gave me, but after giving half to Jenny as promised, I planned to save the rest for culinary school and bills.
“I don’t know how we’re going to manage,” she breathes out. We’re barely hanging on as it is. “We could…” Her voice wavers and she murmurs something under her breath. “We could…This is bullshit,” she grumbles, then goes silent. I drag my phone away from my ear to make sure she didn’t hang up. “I have an idea.”
The hesitation in her voice has me on edge. “Yeah?”
“We could move in with my grandma.”
“You moved out for a reason,” I remind her.
Jenny’s grandma lives with other family members who know no bounds of personal space. They hardly have space as it is; I don’t want to be the reason they have less of it. She also lives an hour from here, so commuting would be a nightmare.
“I know.” She sighs. “That’s the last place I want to go back to, but it’s the only option that comes to mind.”
My socked feet squelch with every step I take, the puddles larger than I had realized.
I compile a list of apartments we’ve looked through before, but I know they’ll either cost as much as we pay now or more. They’ll also be smaller, but that’s the least of our worries. I don’t know if they’ll even be available this time of year.
“I don’t know what we’ll do.” Dread pierces her words.
“I—I,” I stammer, tipping my head back and staring at the brown water stains on the ceiling. Tears prick my eyes and my nose burns, but I refuse to let myself cry. If I do, I’ll do the stupid thing and call my parents, and that’s the last thing I want to do. My head throbs as I try to think of something, but nothing comes to mind. Except for not wanting to stress out Jenny more than she already is. “Let me think it through. You just worry about your grand?—”
“No, I can drive back and?—”
“No,” I insist. “Stay with your grandma. She needs you and I know you want to be with her. Let me think it through, and once I come up with something, I’ll call you. Okay?”
Jenny is the most selfless person I’ve ever met. She has gone above and beyond for me, and I want to do the same for her.
She goes silent again, but I know she hasn’t hung up. She’s thinking it through and at her groan, I know she’s going to concede. “Okay, but I’ll be thinking too. We’re going to be okay.”
“We are. We’ll be okay.” I force a smile despite her not being here to see it. “Say hi to her for me.”
