I Guess They Never Disappear

Chapter 2

Jared POV 

Y'know what's fun?

Not being able to pay for your own housing due to stupid fucking student loan debt. Or get a job that actually pays well for actually okay hours. 

Which is why I'm currently on the phone with my mom.

Fortunately, Isabel Kleinman is a generous person, which means that I will be able to move back to her house. And she's not making any comments right now about the fact I chose to get a Masters in Software Engineering. Which, to be fair, is a pretty lucrative field apparently at any other time, but right now there just isn't anything nearby. 

Fuck you, dad.

"Jared, sweetie, you still there?" 

"Yeah, mom."

"So, you sure you want to come back here? I mean, I can see if anything else can be put towards this. I know Penfield isn't the best place to get a job in software."

She's not wrong. I'd have way more opportunities out here in Ann Arbor, but I can't really afford to stay here where the rent goes up and the roommates aren't the best. I mean, I want to go out on my own, but that's not really practical for me right now. 

I guess I could probably stay here with Tim Who Doesn't Shower for another few months, but I don't really want to. 

Not when I'm leaving anyway. 

But I probably won't be back in Penfield forever; I just need to live somewhere for a bit and get a nice, online job in the software industry so I finally have some of that experience that companies crave. Then once I get enough money I can move out somewhere nice, preferably somewhere warmer. 

"Yeah, mom, it's fine," I say. 

"Well, okay then, darling."

The conversation drifts from there to less interesting aspects of my moving back to New York, not that it was particularly the most interesting conversation to begin with. 

I wonder how many of my former classmates are back in Penfield. Probably not that many. There was a reunion last year. I didn't bother to go. There isn't anybody there that I miss. Plus, it was scheduled right around when I was having finals. 

Excuses, yay! 

I stand up from my desk and exit my room. 

I hold my nose as I walk past Tim's door. 

Dude really needs to learn how to take a shower. 

Checking the kitchen, I note that there is only a glass jar of cheap pasta sauce, some stale looking crackers, a Tupperware of something, and a few other oddities that don't really amount to an edible meal. 

I mean, there is a pack of cookies on the counter, but there's only one left in there. 

If Tim is passionate about one thing, it's his pre-packaged cookies. 

Weird kink man, but okay.

Point is, somebody needs to go grocery shopping, and it's probably not going to be Tim, who if you haven't picked up what I'm putting down, doesn't do much outside of his room.

I put on my shoes and grab my wallet and phone. 

I tend to do our shopping at this little corner store down at the end of the block. It's fairly cheap, and seems to have pretty much everything we need. 

Five minutes later I open the door to the small store, the little bell above it tinkling as I do so. The man at the counter looks up, silently makes eye contact, and looks back down at the counter.