Sunshine (Student/Teacher Romance) 18+

26

Ari

I saw Johanna down in the subway

She took an apartment in Washington Heights

Half of the ring lies here with me

But the other half's at the bottom of the sea...

I kick my heavy feet back and forth as they dangle off the edge of the stool, watching Maya do her usual dance to this song with Sassy. If I didn't love them, it'd be really obnoxious.

"Ey, Ey, Ey, Ey, Ey!" They both belt out at the top of their lungs, hopping around on their front stoppers.

I mean it still is obnoxious, but quite the distraction from the hell reigning over my current thoughts.

Work and school, and work and school. It's all I do. I try to stay out of the house besides when it's time to sleep. And even then, I'm practically sneaking through my window to get inside without Diana noticing.

She's been demanding half of my paycheck each payday. I give it to her, but after Thomas stole my savings, it's really set me back.

My birthday is just over a month away, and I'm no where near ready to move.

"Come on, Sunny! It's a slow day, slow days are for dancing!" Sassy snatches me by my wrist and flings me out into the parking lot until we're gliding in circles together.

Slow days aren't for dancing for me.

They're for going hungry and fighting back tears at the end of my shift as I pray for a better day tomorrow.

Stacey pokes her head out from her office. "Why don't you guys call it early? It's mid week, we'll make up for it by Friday. You know how it goes."

I swallow over the knot in my throat, rolling slowly to the register.

"You got it boss-lady," Maya says giddily.

The two of them hightail it to the break room while I tap my fingers on the red countertop, my bottom lip tight between my teeth.

The girls are loud and giggly and excited, pulling off their skates and chatting over plans they've just come up with for the remainder of their day as I stand idly by the register. Without a single clue.

She and Maya have gotten really close lately. It started with me overhearing some plans they'd made, to me hearing funny stories about others where they went out, probably while I was home, babysitting my foster mom after shed had too much to drink.

It stings to watch her gravitate toward someone else. Not like it's intentional, it's just what's natural at this point.

Let's face it, I'm not much fun. I'm a stressed out mess, more focused on carrying the weight of the world on my back and surviving than hanging around the mall on a Friday night and trying on outfits I'd never be able to afford.

And Sassy's a fun, cool college girl who still has time to do such things even with a toddler and husband waiting on her at home.

Normal things.

My eyes swell up the longer I stand here, no matter how hard I fight it back to avoid being questioned. It's just one of those days where I'm just too tired of staying strong to continue keeping it up.

"Ari," Stacey calls, her keys in hand. "I'll take you home."

I sat uncomfortably in the passengers seat of Stacey's car as we rode. My eyes stayed fixed out the window while the flat land turned to hills, turned to buildings, turned to houses.