Brenda wanted a normal school year. Instead her mom died.
Salma needed space from her sister and terrible ex. Or else she'd lose her mind.
Delilah didn't think she'd have any more problems after moving far from her hometown. That was until she becam...
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❝Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can't build on it; it's only good for wallowing in.❞
—Katherine Mansfield
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✋SALMA ✋
Scott called the roommates into the living room, saying that we needed a house meeting. It was five minutes past nine in the morning—far too early for my liking on a weekend. I didn't have work until later into the afternoon, meaning Scott was cutting into my precious sleeping time.
"Where's Ziyan?" Brenda asked, muffling a sigh.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Scott snickered.
"Huh?" Brenda snapped her brown eyes up to him, completely perplexed. She hadn't heard what he said. I wondered why Scott would say something like that—and more importantly, why he was so sad in the face. He looked cheerier yesterday. The life and light in his eyes were leached out of him, dimly twinkling in the morning sunlight streaming in from the large bay window.
"Oh, nothing." He backpedaled. "Ziyan wouldn't wake up. And when I walked back toward his room, he locked the door so that I couldn't get in."
I yawned while fixing the velvet red rope on my robe. "This better be important."
I barely got a wink of sleep. I was up for a lot of the night, fidgeting around in my satin bedsheets over the dreadful news about Jaxon. Though we weren't close, it was a human reaction to be concerned for another person's well-being. Luckily, we learned that there wasn't any serious damage that would alter his way of life.
During Scott's surprise meeting, he informed us that Jaxon got out of surgery and was fully responsive and conscious of his surrounds. He broke his leg in the process, banged up his head pretty bad, and wouldn't be able to race. Which meant, inevitable, that he wouldn't be able to make this month's rent for his apartment.
"What's he going to do about that apartment of his?" Delilah said the question we were all dying to ask but weren't bold enough to say. "To my knowledge, racing is his only form of income. He can't possibly be able to get back on his feet for four to six months."
"Six months?" I gulped. Everyone's eyes hit me, yet it was Scott's gaze that burned the brightest. I cleared my throat. "I didn't know bones took that long to heal."
"Well, he broke his femur bone; it wasn't a fracture," Brenda interjected. "It's a very dense bone and needs more time to heal completely. He won't be able to race for a long, long time."
"And that's why I brought you all down here this morning...well, most of the roommates. I have something I need to announce to you—especially you Salma." Scott nodded toward me, knitting his hands together. "Until Jaxon can get back on his feet, he'll be staying in the basement with you."
