Once Upon a Rainy Day

Once Upon a Rainy Day: chapter 9

I watched the rain trickled down my window seal. It's the only thing that calms me down after all the pain. Something about the rain caused my body to shut off for awhile and forget everything. Every pain I've ever felt, every heart break, every doctors appointment, everything.
I fell back into my bed after I finally retained a normal breathing pattern.
"Brittney! Get out of bed!" Maddie yelled. Maddie's my roommate. We've know each other since the seventh grade. She's the one that keeps me in line. And she was right, I had stayed in bed for a couple days. Although it did seems like yesterday that Harry Styles asked me out on a date. I felt so terrible for standing him up like that, but I couldn't contact him and tell him I couldn't make it. He didn't even leave a number. I had forgotten I had said yes to have dinner with the wrinkly old man with arthritis in his left arm who lives downstairs, when I had also said yes to Harry.
I do always keep my word and since Mr. Thomas had asked me first, I sacrificed going out with the gorgeous man who was voted hottest man of the year in tween magazine. He was famous anyways. I bet it was all just an evil scam to get me into bed with him. I still don't understand why he chose me to ask out, though. I'm nothing special. Plus, Mr. Thomas is a very old man. He could break at any moment and I like knowing that I'm always there for him.
Such a sweet old man. Currently, the whole building thinks he suffers from short term memory loss, but he pleas otherwise. He never forgets to mention that I remind him of his "beautiful granddaughter Veronica who is studying medicine at Harvard." He says we could almost be "twins". Except for the fact that she was top of her class as well as valedictorian, and I barely made the cut for graduating.
"Brittney! Don't make me come in there because you know it won't go down well." Maddie yelled once more. I really have tried getting out of my room this week, but I can't. I've called in sick from work for the past few days. I've had symptoms of some type of flu for awhile now, and they haven't gone away so I decided to take a break from work. Maddie threatens she's gonna rush me to a hospital if I don't get my "lazy butt out of bed." I finally used my hopeless feet to pry myself out of the beautiful queen sized bed of mine. "I swear if you don't get out of-- oh! You're up!" Maddie smiled as she opened my door ready to yell at me. "Britt, you don't look too good. You've lost a ton of weight. Let's get some food in you." She yanked me from my standing position. The pounding in head got progressively worse as Maddie went on and on about obtaining a healthy diet and staying fit. Yes Maddie I know, I thought. I get this talk at least once a week. "This is why you have no energy! Because you eat this kind of crap!" She shouted, throwing my favorite flavored skittles in the plastic rounded trash can. I hadn't said one word this whole time, and she hasn't even noticed. "Are you even listening to me?" I was finally confronted. I laid my heavy head on the wooden table and rested my arms on either side of my head in exhaustion. "We need to get you out of your dumps. How bout going for a run?" She smiled putting her thumbs up.
"I think that will literally kill me." I laughed. She giggled and walked to the cupboard, pulling out her protein powder. One by one, she pulled out every ingredient that she needed to make a disgusting mixture she calls food. She piled it into her shiny blender, watching all the vegetables and fruit and powder mix together to make some type of alien juice.
"I can't believe you actually drink that stuff." I rolled my eyes. She poured the last of the smoothie into a tall glass cup.
"Oh, I'm not drinking this. This is for you." She smirked. My eyes widened in disgust.
"No way am I drinking that! You're going mad if you think I'm gonna pour that poison down my throat."
"Britt.. Please! It'll make you feel so much better! I know you'll love it!" Maddie slowly pushed the drink closer and closer to me until it was directly in front of me. I looked down to it, I swear it was moving. My tired eyes peered up to her glistening smile smothered in piña colada lip gloss. No way I'm drinking this, I thought. As Maddie glanced down for a second to look at the green smoothie, I booked it to my room. Running as fast as I can before Maddie could notice I was gone.
"Don't you dare, Brittney Joy!" I could hear her purple, polka dotted running shoes pound on the floor, getting closer and closer. She was much faster than me. As soon as she caught up to me, she reached out to grab my baggy T-shirt, but it was too late. I locked my door behind me. "C'mon!! It doesn't even taste that bad, and it'll give you all the protein you need!" She banged on the door. I laughed as she continued to wiggle the doorknob in hopes that it will magically unlock. My back to the door, I remembered the bag of cheddar cheese ruffles I kept stored under my bed in case of an emergency. My tummy rumbled saying, feed me! Feed me! Ugh I'm starving, I thought. I crawled over to the deep hollows under my bed where I stored everything from worn out purses from my grandmother, to an old moldy sandwich that I forgot about weeks ago. I shuffled through the piles and piles of pointless crap that I kept under there until I came across the sealed package of chips. My delicate fingers slowly peeled the plastic open revealing a certain delicacy I wasn't permitted to have. My nose hairs burned from the glorious, cheesy sensation. I could feel the drool in my mouth build up as I reached my right hand in to grab a chip.
"Brittney! Open the door! Now!" I heard yelling from the other side of the door. Shhh.. I'm eating.
It's quite sad that the highlight of my month has been this bag of chips. There's nothing I have to look forward to these days except for the thrill I get from just a few extra cheesy calories. I glanced around my room to old soccer trophies and pictures of old friends. Oh how I hated this room. I hate the memories it stores. I hate the smell it has. I hate the teal wallpaper. I hated everything about it. Scratch that, I hate everything about my life. I hate being pushed around. I hate my job. I hate this town. I hate the people here. I hate the same old thing happening every day.
As I was throwing myself a little pity party and Maddie was still banging on the door, an alert from my computer made me snap back into reality. It was probably just the weekly Skype call I got from my mother. I crawled across the auburn wood floors to my desk where my laptop was. I pulled it down the to floor to type in my password, "daddysgirl101" I've been using that password since I was seven years old. The screen opened to an email. Weird. The only email I get these days is from Facebook and twitter. As I read through the email, my eyes grew wide. An email from a publishing agency I had contacted a few months ago. I emailed them just to see if I could get a response, and sent them a copy of a goofy little romance book I had been writing. I just wanted feed back on what I could do better on. I thought there was no way that they would every reply.
"Dear Brittney Parker,
On receiving few pages of your book, it has shocked us on what an intelligent young writer you are. Your descriptive beauty and word choice really make all the difference for your story. Sorry for the long wait for a reply, but my colleagues and I have fervently thought about you for awhile now. If you are willing to fly over to England, we are willing to have you publish your book, and continue writing many more. It'd so much more accessible for you to move up here, but with the inconvenience I could recommend you to other publishers in your area. We could set up a flight and pay for all the traveling costs. Please keep us in your mind. We'd love working with you. Sincerely, Thatcher Publishing."
My mouth hung open as I carefully read the message over and over again. Thatcher Publishing replied to me. Oh my goodness. My sadness suddenly escaped my soul for a moment as I jumped around for joy. They want me to move to London. This is the big break I've been waiting for! An escape from this old rainy town. I wouldn't have to be a baker anymore. I would get to live in London. I could finish my book. I'd get to live in London. I could meet new interesting people. I would get to live in London!
Suddenly, I noticed the pounding at my door. "BRITTNEY! OPEN UP!"
I ran over to the door and unlocked it, letting light and Maddie into the room.
"... Are you eating that disgusting bag of chips?!?! Oh no no no no--wait a minute, why are you smiling?" She asked noticing the gigantic grin plastered across my face.
"Maddie, we're going to London." I smiled.