undo// 5SOS

1

Maya

"You're a nightmare to live with. Pick the clothes up now,"

"I'm too tired, mum,"

"Then give me your phone,"

"I'll pick them up in a minute,"

"Now,"

"I just did a 12 hour shift,"

"Now,"

I hauled myself off my bed to pick up the single sock, and tshirt, from the floor, shoving them in the washing basket before climbing back into bed.

"I shouldn't have to keep telling you this, you're 18 now,"

"It was a fucking sock, mum!"

"How dare you," she said, snatching the phone from my hand, "Use that language again and you're out of here,"

"Whatever,"

"Don't whatever me!"

"I'm sleeping now,"

"You need to wash the dishes,"

"I'm sleeping now,"

She slammed my door shut and I yawned, bringing my duvet to my chin. Night time was the only time I got peace here, but I was usually too exhausted from work to be able to appreciate that.

Being the least favourite child was not pleasant. I mean, I deserved it, for dropping out of school and not being able to get a decent paying job to pay decent rent. I was pretty much a failure. In fact, I was.

Especially compared to my brother. Michael was a doctor, and he owned a fancy car, and a fancy house, and all his friends were loaded too. He never disappointed mum and dad.

He lived quite far away, and was 15 years older than me, so we weren't exactly close. We had nothing in common, and I mostly just saw him during celebrations when he visited us. If he event visited at all.

I tried not to compare myself to him too much, but life wasn't exactly amazing right now, and I always wondered why I couldn't be seen the same way as him.

"Maya, are you at work tomorrow?"

"In the morning,"

"I have a list of jobs for the afternoon,"

"I'm going to sleep now," I said, annoyance shining through my voice, "Night,"

Once I knew I was in the clear to not be bothered again, I put a pillow over my head and fell asleep, not knowing nor caring how early it actually was.

As it was a common occurrence for mum or dad to take my phone, I had an alarm clock already set to wake me up for work. Honestly, the alarm was probably the only inconvenience them taking my phone caused, for I didn't really have anyone to talk to, so didn't miss out on anything socially.

Like I said, I had dropped out of school, and I didn't see many people. I hung out sometimes with my workmates, but not too often as it tended to be an evening thing and mum wasn't fond of that.

I didn't talk to Mike much either, for there wasn't much to say.

I changed into a black shirt and black jeans, then tied my badly bleached hair into a bun and put concealer on as if it fixed any of the spots on my face. Quickly, I also made my bed, then put my converse on and grabbed my bag. They were black too, and used to belong to Mike ages ago, probably like, before I was even born. He had left them for me, and they were the only decent black shoes I could get hold of.

Neither mum or dad were awake, so I silently left the house and grabbed my keys, heading towards the bus stop. It was chillier than I had expected, but not too bad.

The bus ride was about twenty minutes, then I walked to the restaurant I worked at and headed inside to get ready for the breakfast rush. I tied my apron round me, then washed my hands and started setting all the tables, sliding my pen and notebook in my pocket.

Honestly, I hated my job. My managers sucked, the customers sucked, and my hands were always burnt from the plates.

It was also too early for me to start, and I felt a bit queasy- I wasn't a morning person. In fact, I had thrown up a few times lately in the morning, and I didn't always get much sleep.

As the customers started flooding in, I was rushing round taking orders, and already some complaints. At 8am in the morning, I always wondered why people were already grumpy. Not even I was that grumpy.

My shifts never flew by. People who said they did must be lying, I thought, because they dragged and dragged. I got whined at, and the same table would ask for 15 different things one after another instead of all in one go, then they even had the cheek to ask me to stay an extra hour, which I said no to despite needing the money.

I always got out of there as soon as possible.

Mum and dad made me pay rent ever since I dropped out of school, and said if I didn't then I couldn't live there. It took most of my wage, but I got to keep a small amount for myself, and usually spent it on books.

As I wandered past the book shop, I took note of any I might like, as well as the price. Usually I could get a new one each month, or at least I had been able to for the last three.

When I got home, both mum and dad were out, so I put some music on and took a quick shower. Once my hair was up in a towel, I made myself some lunch, then sat on the kitchen counter to eat it, finding my phone left on a long list of chores for today and tomorrow.

The only message I had was from Michael, which was a picture of his new car, asking if i wanted to take it for a spin with him. I guess i kind of exaggerated when he said he lived far- it was a 40 minute drive, but when you relied on public transport that was far.

Besides, he always showed things off, and made me look even worse.

I left him on read.

While I still had some peace and quiet, I dried my hair and put on an old face mask, then hoovered upstairs as I waited to wash it off; afterwards, I took the hoover downstairs and did the living room.

The kitchen needed mopping, so I did that, then cleaned the surfaces too. Our house was rather tidy, so it wasn't hard for me to clean at least.

Usually I took a break to watch tv, and managed to start a new chore before mum got home and caught me, however this time I wasn't so lucky. She took my phone again.

"You need to learn how to be an adult, Maya! You can't have fun until everything is sorted,"

"I was just taking a break, mum,"

"You've dropped out if school, you get plenty of break. Adult life is hard, you don't exactly seem to be giving yourself an easy path either,"

"I'm 18, I have time to figure things out,"

"Your brother went to med school at 18, and looked after himself and all his friends. You can't even clean a toaster,"

"I'll take a bath with one in a minute," I mumbled.

"Enough, get to your room,"

"I'll do the rest tomorrow like the list asks,"

"I hope so,"

I went upstairs and climbed into bed with a book, one that I had read before, but I didn't mind. Reading was like an escape.
Sometimes it was nice to be in a world other than this one.