Five Steps | Chaelisa

Chapter 9

Lisa's POV

I head down the winding stone steps of the Cathedral of Learning, dodging students as I smirk at my "crappy phone," Roseanne Park's freshly added contact info staring back at me.

This'll be easy.

Selflessly help Roseanne get with Suzy. Show Samantha I am practically Mother Teresa, and not an emotionally unavailable asshole with an inability to get close to people. She gets the girl. We get back together. Everyone wins.

Whistling, I duck outside, turning my head right and left as I try to center myself, searching for a spot to get a jump on some job applications before my chem class, so I can actually afford the month of rent that I just spent on the textbook.

But... nothing looks familiar.

I squint around at my surroundings. Big trees. Weird little fountain thing.

Grassy park across the street filled with students sunning themselves.

Seems like my best bet.

I shrug and head in that direction, my phone buzzing noisily in my palm. I pull it up and see an incoming call from my mom lighting up the cracked screen.

She never calls.

Unless something's wrong. And I didn't hear from her all day yesterday. Like it always does in these moments, my stomach sinks, and I tap accept. "Mom? Is everything all right—"

"Lisaaaa," she slurs cheerily through the speaker, cutting me off. "How's school? Your... classes. Are they good?"

I pull the phone away from my ear to check the time. It's not even 10:00 a.m. Nothing happened, but something's still wrong.

She's completely shit-faced on a Monday morning. Great.

Still, it's nice to pretend for a second that she's calling just to see how I am. Like I'm a kid again, and we're as close as we used to be, and she is actually interested in how I'm doing instead of when her next drink will be. I let out a long sigh and kick at the curb as I wait for the walk sign. "Yeah. I just had my first one. It's pretty good so far—"

"Roommate! How's your roommate?" she asks, clearly trying to speed the conversation along to get to the real reason for her call. The illusion evaporates.

I crane my neck back to look at the Cathedral of Learning, squinting against the sun. "Not great," I say with a grimace. "But it's fine. I've been trying to keep busy. Stay out of the apartment."

I look down to see the walk sign ushering me forward as silence stretches on the other end. There aren't going to be any follow-up questions. Might as well get this over with.

"So what's up, Mom? Why are you calling?"

She's silent for a long moment, readying her pitch. "Listen, baby," she says, while I circle slowly around the grassy park, students lying out on brightly colored blankets or kicking around a soccer ball, clinging to the final days of summer. I wish I were one of them instead of dealing with whatever this is. "I was going to go grocery shopping this afternoon, and I... just don't think I've got enough to get much past eggs and milk."

Much past a handle of vodka, I want to say, but I press my lips tightly together, taking a moment before I speak.

"You don't have to worry about groceries. I set up delivery. Twice a week. All the essentials."

There's a long pause as she takes that in, calculating her new angle.

"Well, could I maybe still borrow just a couple of bucks? I was thinking about finally going in to see Rhonda this week about a job at that diner over by the train station, so I'd be able to get it back to you for sure this time. Would be good to get some new clothes before I do."