"Hey Asha."

"Hey Briana," I said going through my locker.

"You got work today?" She asked.

"Yea."

"What about tomorrow?" I shook my head no.

"Ok cool, you wanna go with me to the mall tomorrow?"

"Uh-"

"Please," she begged. After a lot of begging, I ended up agreeing. I planned on doing homework all day tomorrow, but it's cool. From out the corner of my eye I could see Kennedy glaring at me. I ignored her and closed my locker.

"Why is that bitch Kennedy glaring at you so hard. I thought she would've stopped by now, but it's been like 5 minutes nonstop damn."

"Umm, I don't know," I lied. No one actually knows that Kennedy is my sister. Why would they anyway? It's not like she talks about me to anyone, and if she does, it's nothin good. I damn sure ain't talking about her. As far as I know, she ain't even my blood. My mom probably transferred me to this school so she could use Kennedy to spy on me. The good thing is, I don't ever have to worry about Kennedy coming up to me in public because she despises me just as much as I despise her. She'd hate for people to know we related.

.....

I walked out of the stall to wash my hands. I nearly froze when I saw Kennedy standing in front of the mirror putting on some lip gloss. I ignored her and washed my hands.

"I heard you was at Brandon's party on Saturday. Interesting he would invite someone like you and not me."

I didn't say anything. "I also heard you was all up on Cairo. Wait till mama find out you was out here being a hoe. Wouldn't be the first time." I gripped the sink so hard my fingers were turning numb. I kept reminding myself that I couldn't do anything to jeopardize me graduating early.

"You're so fucking pathetic," she laughed. I turned to her so fast. She only ever talks to me when she tryna get a rise out of me.

She scoffed, "why would Cairo want to be with some fat insecure hoe like you. If you think you got a shot with someone like him, you're gladly mistaken."

She brushed past me and to the door.

"Stay in a child's place," she said before leaving. I let the frustrated tears fall immediately after she left. She gets on my fucking nerves. I don't ever say shit to her, so I don't know why she's always so quick to put me down. I ain't ever do shit to her. It's like my utter existence irks the fuck out of her. She ain't never gave a shit about me, so I stopped expecting anyone to. I went back into the same stall I came out of and sat on the dirty toilet. I tried to calm myself down, but it wasn't working. I even tried counting to ten a bunch of times. That didn't work either. So, I turned around and stuck my fingers down my throat until I could feel the bile rise. I puked up what little I could. It burned but it also gave a good distraction.

"Asha!?" I jumped at the sound of pounding on the door.

"What's going on?" I quickly fixed myself and wiped my mouth with some tissue and unlocked the stall door. Briana popped her head in. She bent down to my slumped form.

"Are you okay? I was looking for you. Are you sick? What happened?" She pulled me up off the floor.

"It's nothing. I might have eaten something bad."

"Are you sure? I can go get the nurse for you," she said placing a hand on my forehead. I scoffed. What's the nurse gonna do anyway? Give me an ice pack and tell me to lay down? Fuck that. I pried her hands away from my forehead.

"Do you have some gum?" I asked trying to change the subject. I went over to the sink to rinse my mouth out. Briana gave me a stick of gum and I thanked her.

"I'll be fine, seriously. Just let it go." I gave a forced smile and we walked out of the restroom.

The rest of school went by in a blur. I stayed to myself all day and didn't really talk to anyone.

Twenty minutes later D pulled up in front of me. I quickly got in.

"I know you got work today so wassup." I didn't say anything.

"You want me to take you to the diner?" I nodded my head yes. I told him I was having a shitty day and that I didn't want to talk about it. I just wanted to be around a familiar face. He dropped me off at work and I told him I would give him a call later.

.....

"Asha?"

"Asha."

"Asha!" My head snapped up at my name being called.

"Yea," I said shaking off my thoughts.

"Did you not hear me? I was calling your name," Joanne said with an annoyed look on her face.

"No sorry. What did you say?" She's sighed out in annoyance and pointed at a tray of food.

"The food been ready." Oh right. I forgot where I was for a moment.

I just know Kennedy already said something to my mom, and I'm honestly not ready to get chewed out by her. I'm dreading the encounter. Just the thought of it is fucking with my head, and I can't seem to function right. I grabbed the tray and after almost delivering the food to the wrong table, I took a break. I was on my way back from refilling my drink when Quincy stopped me. "When you done with your shift, boss wants to see you."

I mentally cringed. What did I do? Earl, my boss, is amazing, but he don't play about his business. For the rest of my shift, I made sure I wasn't slacking. Once it was over I made my way to Earl's office. I knocked before entering.

I sat in the chair in front of his desk. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Are you doing okay today? Everybody agrees that you seem off." I burst out into tears. Here I thought he was gone scold me for my mistakes today, but instead, he is asking me if I'm okay. I'm honestly not.

Earl leaned forward and grabbed my hands.

"What's wrong child?" I looked up at my boss. He aged well considering he was at the ripe age of 68. His face that usually held a warm smile, was now mirroring a frown. Not being able to meet his eye, I looked down at his wrinkled hands as they caressed mine in a lovingly way. If it wasn't for him giving me this job last year, I don't know what I would have done. Instead of turning me away because of my age, he took a chance on me. For that, I was grateful to him.

"School has just been getting to me." That wasn't really true. I didn't mind school. It was kinda like my getaway even though I had to deal with Kennedy now.

"You know, school is not for everyone. I dropped out my senior year and ain't never looked back. School is a nightmare. I don't know how you kids do it."

I chuckled at his light airy mood. It made me feel somewhat better.

"You make any friends yet?" He asked.

"Umm, just a few," I said shyly.

"Well damn, slap me on the head and call me a fool. I told you, you was gone make some friends this time around."

"Are they good friends?" He continued. He's always so nosy.

"I think so," I responded.

"You not still hangin around that drug dealer are you," he said referring to Dashawn.

"His name is Dashawn and we're cool."

"Ion care what his name is. He ain't good enough for you. You think you grown hanging around a man seven years older than you. He must be a pedophile."

"Sir," I gasped. "We are just friends and he has been there for me when I needed it."

"Mmmm. Don't let me catch him." I just laughed.

"See, that's the smile I wanna see when you in my establishment." He gave my hand one last squeeze before sitting back against his chair.

"Whatever is going on witcha, you know you can talk to me."

"Yes sir," I whispered.

"Ok, now gone get out of here." I gave him a small smile before I left. I clocked out and it was only 7:30. If I hurry, I can make it home before it gets dark. I hated catching the bus at night.

I made it home and it was nearly pitch black outside. I walked into the house and it was quiet. I rushed up to my room. Thankfully, no one bothered me the entire night. I was praying that Kennedy forgot about today but that was wishful thinking.

I did all my homework and even worked on my online class.