On the first day of Christmas, Zara Fischer's 'true love' gave to her... a breakup.
The day before seventeen-year-old Zara takes off for the Christmas holidays to the other side of the world--cold, dreary London--her boyfriend of two months dumps he...
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Tuesday: December 7th, 2015
When you're bored, it's amazing the things you can notice. Laying on my bed, my eyes were fixated on a slight crack running down the middle of the ceiling. A small part of me began to worry about the reality of it caving in on me during my stay, but the other thought relished in the little bit of excitement that might come with such an event.
On the seventh day of Christmas, I was bored out of my mind. The house was echoingly empty with the little ones at daycare and the adults at work. And within me, I was also empty. Jojo and Ria were having them-time. Mum was already asleep. Rowan... well you know. And Jasper... Wait. Why is he even in my mental list?
The glimmer of hope and warmth that had permeated through me yesterday at the thought of the competition filling my days was replaced by a chasm of despair. I felt like over the past week too many things had disappointed me.
To make matters worse, I had finished binge-watching all of my movies and shows lined up on my Netflix list. And now that I was laying here staring at a stupid crack in the ceiling, I lacked the will to search for more options on the streaming service. Right now, nothing sounded fun.
Just as I began to ponder the thought that maybe the crack had widened during my period of inner turmoil, a shrill ring from my phone on the bedside table dragged me out of my mind.
"Hello?" I said, not bothering to check the caller as I brought the phone to my ear.
"Hi, Zara," the female voice started.
Eyebrows furrowing, I said, "Who is this?"
There was silence for a moment. "It's Clare. Did you not save my number? I thought your dad gave it to you the other day."
I sat up and pulled the phone away from my ear, confirming it was indeed her. "I did. Just didn't check who it was when I answered."
"Oh. Well, I was calling because I have a favour to ask."
A small part of me still bitter about the idea of having a new family urged me to say I don't owe her any favours and she should do it herself. But I knew she didn't deserve that when she had tried so desperately to be kind to me. Also, the favour was most likely going to get me to stop staring at the growing crack in the roof. So I said, "What do you need?"
"I've been asked to stay late and I don't know if I will get time to stop at the shops on the way home. Me not being home means your dad will be juggling both kids when he gets back, so I don't want to ask him to do it—"
"You want me to grab you some things?"
"Would you mind? I'm really sorry to ask this. I'll give you the money for it when I get home, of course. It's just that we need nappies for Hunter and these things can't really wait so—"
"It's okay, Clare. Just text me the list and I'll grab them. Where's the closest shop?"
She heaved a sigh. "Well there is a Co-op nearby, but they are a little pricey."
