🤍 Jessica's POV 🤍
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkZjOwy2m4M
"Thirteen hundred, fourteen hundred, fifteen hundred..." I count through the crumpled hundred-dollar bills in my hand, almost coming to tears.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNuw0ea06W4
Twenty-one thousand dollars. I turn to my roommate and best friend, Rachel. "Rach... you don't have to do this."
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLabMiFP0q
"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.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWaUV2W4PAF
"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.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiFPjmpVGFm
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."
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVsuVhhTfP
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.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoIfcHsaVdG
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.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0WnqHTmdP
We mistakenly took each other's diaries in the library, and the rest is history.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhs7PLkTCfv
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.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKZcAmXuXH0
Fucking knuckleheads.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkHsTcBIrO
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.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVnsN1VoUD
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?
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YRNdBusK2
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.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9SuWWomF2
Since we now literally know each other's secrets, we decide to be friends and swear to carry them to the grave.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPW6j8A1wa
A pact sealed in cringe and convenience.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmqtfpWEAfc
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.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp74AxadaFP
Speaking of my brother, I give Rachel a quick kiss on the cheek and go to his little mancave to find him.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIU4rJ8Hkp
Typical. He is blasting NBA YoungBoy on the stupid speakers.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKoY0ADAdjN
I know it's NBA YoungBoy because that's all he blasts on those stupid speakers at skull-rattling decibels.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfhnFLNXXKJ
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.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GhFO9sHQy
I rub my temple, counting to three in a bid to calm myself.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpoweZnluw1
It doesn't fucking work.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtFMgse4o8g
"Turn that shit off before I smack your two front teeth down your throat!"
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbnxqaAlbn
Whoa. I can't believe my voice was louder than the music. Mariah Carey was found shaking in her Christmas fit.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJiN2KeftD
Ken rolls his eyes at me before getting up and reaching for the remote.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH7C4WlyPfU
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.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8DQZX7cSUf
Rachel is worried, though.
"Um... Is Ken still breathing?" Her voice comes from the living room.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmV7vwOHQ3V
"Sadly, yes," I reply with a dry tone.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeHkesUNq8T
"Can a guy get some privacy around here?" Ken asks, looking at me like I've cut off his air supply.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd2qawZmP8q
"Can we not have our eardrums perforated?" I shoot back.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91h7hvQ3XR
"What do you want, Jess?"
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡemiTpLfEmG
I lean against the doorframe, arms crossed. "Rent's due. Your turn to bleed cash."
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1aJxvRsVM
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."
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1XNMTyTd2
"Your 'vibe' costs just $600 this month, thanks to Rach for covering half of yours" I fire back, gesturing to the house.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfmp8p2yhij
"Oh, she did?" He smiles, surprised. "Thanks, Rach!"
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxByLkWTIiG
"Pay up."
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YKW66Yhjd
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."
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡInawfhiZwf
"Ah, yes," I snort. "Let's bankrupt the one business we've successfully been able to grow and manage. Brilliant plan, Einstein."
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFRUmxPt1g
"Then what do you want? My kidney? My soul?" He fakes a cry.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTExv8hfEJ4
"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?"
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRvIYdXEEm
His mouth opens in astonishment, and his face twists like I've just found him guilty. "You're a tyrant!"
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQe3g5XzrtR
"And you're a parasite with a Spotify addiction. Choose before I choose for you."
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAd6OSSoZ85
With conflicting eyes, he glares at his closet, a shrine to impulse buys and buyer's remorse. "Dammit. Take the jersey."
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfNUnCUdrC3
"Good choice."
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQn97brfOSF
I'm halfway past the door when I think of something and smirk before turning back to him. "How much for the speakers?"
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFiwuhB4rOi
He whips around fast and looks at me with death in his eyes. Then up he gets, slamming the door in my face.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZ3e7hCOGm
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."
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLpQEPldje
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.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1TBA4HWTf
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.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7cPBT6UG4
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.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zqQfyn4k3
'We've moved forward with other candidates...'
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGmcjYKdFS
'Unfortunately, your experience doesn't align...'
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYPfHfI2ta
'Thank you for your interest. Blah, blah, blah'
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67T6WGE3NL
Which, by the way, is corporate language for 'lol. Never, bitch.'
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVQc6FFJZ7
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.
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekd7lSB1wr
Like each no is a brick I'll eventually hurl through the window of every HR motherfucker who underestimated me. Yeah.
ns216.73.216.82da2
然後按「加至主畫面」