Continuum

VI.

"You're nuts," she breathes. "He looks great and all, but I have my own eye candy to fawn over. Trust me, he's all yours and so are these dishes." She flings the towel she's been using to dry the dishes into the air, and it lands on the counter while she walks away.

"Where the hell are you going?" I demand.

"I would like to be in bed before Ma gets home, and you're taking way too long to wash them. You're on your own."

"Simone!!" I'm responded to with the slamming of her bedroom door, leaving me to grind my teeth in irritation. I look at the clock on the stove-top and see that it's 12:47; close to the time our mother usually comes home. From the moment she steps through the door, she starts nagging about anything she finds wrong with the house, whether we're awake to hear it or not. She drinks some wine, gets too tired to yell anymore, then retires to her room until 4 in the morning so she can go right back to work.

Sheworks her ass off to compensate for the lack of a paternal income. I told her I'dhelp with the mortgage and the groceries, but she told me to just focus ongetting the hell out and going away to school for free. It sounds harsh, butshe means the best. Luckily, I finish the dishes and make it into my own roomjust as she gets through the door. I can evade her questions about my injuryfor a little while longer.

                         𝌀

Over the next few weeks, my life returns to normal. As my studies are getting more vigorous, I'm preparing to submit my college applications. Halloween is approaching, and the school has been abuzz with talk of everyone's plans for that night.

"I can't," I say, causing Aspen to whine like a child that isn't getting her way. She scurries to keep up with my fast walking pace.

"Sabina, I can't go to such an iconic party without you! It's bad enough Kali doesn't want to go, I need you to go!"

"That's not my problem. I love you but I have to work." I've taken on more hours since I got back on my feet after the hospital visit a month ago, partly to occupy more of my idle time and partly to spite Nolan, who wants me to slow down. Aspen is going to this huge Halloween party, but she doesn't want to go with just Nolan. It happens to fall on a Saturday night that I have work, and I'm not playing hooky for a party.

Aspen jogs past me in the school hallway with her hair flowing after her. She forces me to come to a halt by standing directly in front of me. Her brown eyes are ablaze as they bore into mine and she clearly thinks she's going to be able to coerce me into this.

"Look. All you do is work and study, study and work. You never give yourself time to unwind and have fun! You barely take the time to smoke a blunt with us and just relax. I'm not asking you to go for me, I'm asking you to go for you," Aspen turns on her puppy dog eyes as a final resort at convincing me.

I put a hand on her shoulder and squeeze reassuringly, putting a smirk on her face. I smile myself and in the sweetest voice say, "I'm not going to the party," before side stepping her and resuming my walk to class.

"You'll regret this!!" she squeals behind me and I shrug. I really have more important things to worry about than going with her to a ridiculous party.

I hear about the party again later that day at work with Elijah. He, too, nags me about how iconic it's going to be and that there's no way I should miss out on it. I turn him down just like Aspen. I don't understand why they're all making a huge fuss about a costume party. I don't want to dress up for a night of drinking and smoking when I could be working and making money.

"You act like this job and this money are going to get up and walk away if you take a night off to enjoy yourself. Relaxing and detoxing from a mundane routine are necessary, Sabes." Elijah slides the box he just opened in my direction, so I can put the merchandise it contains out on the barren shelves. I shrug as I start with the toothpastes in the box.

"I know that. My not wanting to go is not because I'm afraid of missing work. I just don't want to go. Why is that so hard for everyone to understand?" He slides a couple more boxes in my direction and stands up to assist me with putting things out.

"It's hard for us to understand because a year ago you couldn't wait for the Halloween party. You had your Aphrodite costume months before the party was even planned. You looked forward to your nights of fun," he explains, and I think back to a year ago.

Halloween at one point was my favorite holiday. I loved getting the chance to dress up and be someone other than myself. But this year I'm not feeling the Halloween spirit that I usually feel. Maybe I finally grew out of that phase. I'm too focused on the new chapter of my life that's about to begin to waste my time and effort on a costume for one night of partying.

Elijah breaks me out of my train of thought. "We're not asking for you to go all out with the costumes and everything like you used to. We just want you to come." I look over at him and his eyes are bright and hopeful. When he looks at me like that it's impossible to say no to him, and he knows that.

I sigh and return my focus to the task at handwhile murmuring, "Fine, I'll go." He probably didn't think I heard his silentcelebration, but it's whatever. I just don't have a good feeling about what'sgoing to happen at that party, at all.

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7/9/17

a/n: she's agreed to go to the party although she doesnt have a good feeling about what will go down. What do you think will happen? The character depicted in this chapter's attachment is Aspen Cole. I depart with a loving and temporary farewell readers!

- EDITED -