School's Out Forever
#4 The Girl Gets to Choose
The Girl Gets to Choose is a story about love, in all its messy forms. You can find more of my work on my website.
This is a story about how young love is intense and impulsive, trusting and naïve, and how mature love fulfills a deep need within us. It is about love overcoming obstacles and how friendships are bound together by love.
Most of all, it’s about the importance of loving yourself.
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Some days it was too much. She couldn’t keep up with it all.
It was hard enough to go to school every day and keep up with assignments. Then she had to work evenings, to make ends meet.
After her shift, she would walk across town to the apartment she shared with her boyfriend. He was always up, watching a game on TV. A couple of his friends were usually there too, sometimes with their girlfriends.
This night was no different – she walked in, dropped her keys and purse on the counter, and put a carton of eggs in the fridge. Usually, she didn’t bring food home from work, but there were two cracked eggs in the dozen and they were unsellable. They were supposed to record it and throw it out, but she wasn’t about to do that when they were perfectly fine. Besides, they needed the food. They were short on money again and rent would come due before payday. And she was tired of being hungry.
She grabbed a beer and popped open the top, taking a long cool swig before hiding another one in the crisper. The first one was going down fast. She wanted to be sure there was a second one.
“hey Lisha, how was your shift?” She could see Rick sitting on the couch with a couple of friends, watching hockey. “The Leafs are slaying the Penguins tonight, you should come and watch.”
“Hey Jeff, hey Bob”, she nodded at the guys. “I think I’ll sit in the kitchen, I’ve got an essay to work on.”
Mr Creasor had already given her one extension but she didn’t think he’d give her another one. He came across as a tough guy but she’d charmed him before. Maybe she could do it again.
“Well, have a toke, it’ll inspire you”, said Rick, holding the joint toward her.
Alicia took a long drag, held back a cough, and then slowly exhaled, feeling herself relax. She leaned back into the couch. “Maybe I’ll stay here for a while, I’m beat.”
She was lying in bed, listening to the birds waking up when she realized she had partied the night away, forgetting the essay.
“That was a stupid move,” she thought, “You’re never going to finish high school at this rate. You’ll end up working in crappy stores for the rest of your life.” Rolling quietly out of bed, she grabbed some clothes and went to have a shower.
“I’m sorry Mr. Creasor, I didn’t get it finished, I had to work last night”. She smiled, pleading with her eyes. , “can I get an extension?” She moved a bit closer, looking downcast. “I’m really trying.”
“It’s the fourth time you’ve been late and I told you last time that I wouldn’t be able to give you any more extensions. You’ll have to take an F on this one, young lady.” He packed up the papers on his desk and walked out.
Alicia sat down hard, feeling the weight of her failure. Her mother’s words echoed in her head.
“You’ll fail if you leave home. You’ll see, it’s harder than you think it is. Taking care of you kids alone has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”
Alicia shrugged her backpack onto her shoulders and walked out of the classroom for the last time.
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