1
Kari
I lie on the sleeper sofa in a room that no longer holds the familiar childhood memories I thought would live forever. No more boy band posters papering the white walls. The bulletin board once covered with concert stubs and dried corsages is now covered with Dad’snotes to self… and a newspaper clipping announcing my sister’s engagement.
I’m not the tall one, the thin one, the pretty one, the gainfully employed daughter who’s well on her way to adulthood with a husband and two-point-five children in her future.
Ugh. I’m an absolute failure.
I roll over so I am not reminded of my shortcomings and continue doom scrolling on social media searching for potential clients.
A few months ago, I was well on my way with a good job, my own place, regular nights out with my bestie, and the start of a savings account I could be proud of. All of it ruined in a heartbeat when Feds raided the office, arrested my boss and confiscated every piece of equipment and office furniture in theplace. And the bank accounts that should have paid my last paycheck.
After the initial shock I scrambled for another job, but when potential employers got a whiff of the stench my former employer left behind, I was damaged goods. No one would hire me. I spent months in denial, living off my savings until even that dried up. I swallowed my pride, told my best friend goodbye over sappy movies and chocolate chip ice cream, and moved back home.
When Darby took the internship and moved to Chicago, I was on top of the world. It was like the band got back together and we hadn’t missed a beat. Until my no good boss was arrested for tax fraud.
Tell me again how adulthood is supposed to feel like freedom when I’m back in my childhood bedroom living under my parents’ roof.-Kari
Three dots pop up immediately.
Look on the bright side. No rent. Free meals. LOL. -Darby
While that’s technically true, the highlight of living in Dad’s office for the foreseeable future is the stack ofSports Illustratedmagazines filled with man candy.
If I start wearing socks with sandals, stage an intervention.-Kari
Could be worse. You could be engaged.-Darby
I snort.As if.
A notification pops up at the top of the screen. I click and immediately regret it. Comment number three hundred forty-two pops up on my sister’s engagement post. The one the entire family’s tagged in so I get an alert for every heart emoji, congratulatory comment, and bridal GIF.
I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror on the closet door. Messy bun. Oversized hoodie. Leggings that lean more toward emotional support than a fashion statement.
I’m happy for my sister. Really, I am. But…
Perfect Kelly, flashing a ring the size of a small home’s down payment. Glowing, beautiful, and happy.
Congrats to Kelly for winning life while I win unemployment bingo. -Kari
Stop. You’ll get back on your feet. How’s the call center job?-Darby
Easy for Darby to say. She’s off living her best life with an all expense paid internship at her dream job while I’m crammed into Dad’s home office, broke, while Googling diet plans and exercise routines that I know I’ll never follow through on. What I need is inspiration. Not… this.
It’s depressing as hell. I listen to complaints all day long. -Kari
If it makes you feel any better, my internship is a glorified coffee run, my brother’s still annoyingly perfect, and I’m homesick. It’s hard making new friends.-Darby
That gets my attention. The part about Grey, Darby’s perfect brother. Nothing annoying about him. Not in my book. But I can’t say that to my best friend. It’s too weird. We all hung out as kids. Grey was older, but only by a few years. It didn’t seem to matter until he graduated high school while Darby and I were freshmen.
And then he moved. Rarely came back for visits.
My thumb pauses over the screen. I haven’t seen him in years. Not since Christmas my senior year. But things were different then. We seemed a whole universe apart that Christmas. And then I left for college, graduated, got a job… and lost it because of my felon boss.
You still there?-Darby
Yeah. Just thinking.-Kari
