"Come on, Sophia! We gotta go!" I called from the kitchen.
Sophia, as usual, was taking forever to get ready for school. I don't know why it always takes her so long. It's not like she has to put on make-up or impress anyone at school.
She finally came running out of her room wearing purple leggings and a blue dress. Her blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail and her pink sketchers lit up every time he stepped.
"What's for breakfast?" She asked me, sitting on the couch.
"Well, since you took so long getting ready, you have to eat in the car," I told her, grabbing my coffee and a pop tart for Sophia.
"Okay." She shrugged. She grabbed her book bag and ran to the door.
We left the apartment and I locked the door behind us. The bar let me have last night off to get settled in so I actually got a decent amount of sleep.
Once we hopped in my car to drop Sophia off, she asked, "Can we play music, please?" As she munched on her pop tart.
I put in a Kidz Bop CD and turned it up so she could hear. The kids on the CD were singing Shake it Off by Taylor Swift.
When I looked in the rearview mirror, I could see Sophia jamming out to the song. She loved Taylor Swift.
After five minutes of remixed songs, we pulled into the preschool parking lot at exactly 7:30. I unbuckled my seat belt and walked around the car to Sophia's side.
When she hopped out I picked her up into a hug. "I loooooove you," I told her.
"And I loooooove you too, Mommy." She said, squeezing my neck in a hug.
I sat her down and she ran towards the front doors of her school. She turned as she ran and waved bye to me. I waved back and watched her disappear into the school building.
I hopped back in my car and drove the fifteen minutes to the university. Now I get to endure a whole day learning business management. It's not my first choice, but it's definitely more reliable than other majors.
My last class got out two hours before Sophia's pre-school. I decided to go home and continue unpacking before Sky came over to watch Sophia for the night.
I stepped off the elevator to see Mr. Rude stepping out of his apartment. Hoping he wouldn't acknowledge me, I walked up to my apartment and pulled my key out.
"Hey." The male voice spoke, breaking the silence.
I looked over my shoulder and said "Hi." I continued to mess with the lock, not wanting to cause attention to myself.
"You're that girl that fell yesterday, right?" He asked me.
"Yup," I said, trying my best to not start a conversation.
I got my door unlocked and open. I turned around, planning to tell him goodbye and go inside, but instead, I was met with the most perfect pair of green eyes.
He stared back at mine, but shook himself out of it and put a smirk on his face.
"Like what you see, huh?" He said arrogantly. His arms were crossed and he was leaning against his closed door.
With blush rising to my cheeks, I apologized. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare." I looked at my feet, embarrassed.
"It's fine, a lot of girls can't help falling for me." He shrugged.
I couldn't tell if he was serious or not. I looked back up to him and he gave me a wink. Something tells me he was dead serious.
"Sorry I bothered you," I told him with a stern voice and turned back around to enter my apartment. I didn't want to be around this guy any more than I had to.
"Zack." He called after me.
I turned back around with a confused look on my face. "Excuse me?"
"That's my name." He said as if it was obvious. "Zack Evans."
"Oh, well... It's nice to meet you, Zack. I'm Naomi Jackson." I told him, sticking my hand out to shake.
Like last time, he ignored my hand but continued talking.
"Naomi. That's a weird name." He commented. "Anyways, I was thinking maybe sometime me and you could hook up." He said, trying to be slick.
I'm not sure why I got so mad at the comment, but I did. It infuriated me.
"I can assure you we will never be hooking up," I told him as seriously as I could.
"And why's that, Hot Stuff?" He asked, not trying to hide himself checking me out.
"Because I have standards, Sweet Cheeks," I told him, crossing my arms.
"You're fiery. I like 'em like that." He said as if he had no dignity to lose.
"And you're an ass. I don't like 'em like that." I mocked him.
All he did was laugh, as if it wasn't directed towards him. He continued to stare at me after he stopped laughing. I felt extremely uncomfortable.
"Just don't talk to me, please and thank you," I told him, rolling my eyes and turned to enter my apartment without another word.
I slammed the door shut and locked it. The last thing I needed was that prick trying to break in for some ungodly reason.
While I had the free time, I decided to open my textbooks and study as much as I could. I love Sophia, but the girl will not let me study.
After an hour of studying, I decided to stop and start unpacking again. I managed to get the bathroom all set up with towels, toilet paper, shower curtains, etc...
Before I knew it, it was time to pick up Sophia from school. When I left the apartment, I was relieved to not find a man whore in the halls.
Sophia was ecstatic about Sky coming over to play with her. Apparently, it's been way too long and she and Sky have to catch up on all the latest drama with her class. I swear Sky is turning my child into a diva.
I didn't have to go in for work until five, which gave Sophia and I plenty of time to go grocery shopping. Seeing that we just moved to the area, I didn't know the store as well so it took us even longer to get what we needed.
Sophia persistently asked for minion shaped macaroni and cheese so I finally gave in and bought two boxes. I hope Sky likes mac and cheese because that's what dinner is gonna be.
We made it back to the apartment without any rude interruptions, which I was glad about. After what Zack pulled today, I really didn't want Sophia around him.
Sophia ran to her room to continue unpacking. I filled a pot with water and set it to boil for the macaroni. As I waited, I began to fill our small pantry with what we got.
Someone knocked on the door and I assumed it was Sky. Who else would be visiting me anyways?
After checking the water to make sure it wasn't boiling, I ran to the door and opened it.
In front of me was a girl with greyish blue eyes and kool-aid red hair. Sky was tan and a whopping 5'5 tall.
Before I could greet her, Sophia came running up screaming her name.
"Sophia!" Sky screamed back, pushing me out of the way and entering the room. Don't I feel loved.
Sophia ran into her arms and Sky picked her up and spun her around. She sat her down and Sophia immediately began gossiping.
"So you remember Tommy, right? Well, yesterday in class he peed his pants in the middle of class!" My daughter exclaimed.
"Oh my gosh, embarrassing!" Sky said, adding to the diva factor.
"I know right! I'd never do something like that." Sophia said, crossing her arms.
"Nice to see you too," I added in.
Sky turned around and realized she had completely ignored me. She came back, gave me a hug, and return to my daughter.
"Rude," I said loudly, but not seriously. I knew Sky was purposefully ignoring me for Sophia. She knew Sophia thought it was funny.
"Haha, your best friend likes me more." Sophia sang, pointing at me.
"Keep the attitude up and you don't get your mac and cheese tonight," I told her. She could be silly but she needed to know it wasn't appropriate all the time.
All she did was giggle and run to the couch. "Come on, Sky! Let's watch Wild Kratts!"
"Is your room clean?" I asked her. I didn't expect all the boxes to be unpacked, but most of them at least.
She slowly shook her head and said "No..."
"You need to clean your room before you get to watch TV," I told her.
Sophia began to pout but Sky walked over to her and grabbed her hand.
"I'll help you. It'll go by way faster so we can watch Wild Kratts sooner!" Sky offered.
Sophia's eyes lit up and she nodded her head. "Okay!" She yelled and they both ran to her room.
I went back to the kitchen to find the water boiling. I poured in the hard noodles and set the timer.
What I love about macaroni and cheese is you only need two extra ingredients that don't come in the box.
Dinner was ready in no time. I called Sky and Sophia to the living room to eat. We didn't have a dining room table so we would most likely be eating in here for a while.
"Why just mac and cheese?" Sky asked, picking around the cheesy noodles. "What about the other nutrients?"
"I'll buy more nutrients when the bar gives me a raise," I told her. I want to feed my daughter healthier food, but I can't afford that every night.
After we finished eating, I cleaned the dishes and put them away. I had to go get ready for the night shift at the bar which meant I had to leave in less than an hour.
I debated taking a shower or not. I decided not to because I would come home smelling like alcohol anyways. I pulled on a pair of black work pants and black tennis shoes. I rolled the sleeves up on my white, button-down shirt. After throwing my hair up in a bun, I headed back into the living room where Sophia and Sky were.
"It's time for me to go," I told Sophia, walking up to her.
She ran into my open arms and I lifted her off the ground. After spinning her around a few times, I sat her back on the floor. As usual, she overreacted being dizzy.
"You know, you really are a handful sometimes," I told her, ruffling her hair.
"But I'm a great, princess handful," Sophia claimed, shooting me a big cheesy smile.
I laughed and said, "You are definitely a great princess handful, Sophia." I turned to Sky and said "Make sure she's in bed before nine. She has school in the morning."
"Don't I always?" Sky said, trying to remind me.
"Actually, no. You don't." I reminded her of the multiple times Sophia wouldn't wake up in the mornings.
"Just go to work." She deadpanned but smiled anyway.
I rolled my eyes and walked to the door. I called back behind me, "Goodnight, Sophia!"
"Bye, Mommy!" She yelled back at me.
I walked through the door and closed it behind me. Unfortunately, Zack was standing in the hall as well.
When he spotted me, a smirk grew on his face and he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Cute outfit, going to work at IHOP, I assume?" He snickered.
I crossed my arms over my chest and corrected him. "Bartending, actually."
"Well aren't you just a busy bee, Hot Stuff." He commented, flicking my nose.
"Don't call me Hot Stuff and don't touch me," I told him. I moved past him and towards the elevator.
Then, a familiar little voice echoed in the hall.
"Mommy! You forgot your keys!" Sophia shouted. I turned around and saw her run out of the apartment and towards me.
She handed me my car keys and I said "Thank you, sweetie. Go back inside, please."
She turned around and ran back inside the apartment, not bothering to close the door.
Zack had a shocked expression on his face. Without actually entering my apartment, he leaned closer to look inside.
"What was that?" He asked, confused as ever.
"It was a child," I told him with an obvious tone. I pushed him away from my door and slammed it shut. I didn't want him snooping around my place.
I turned around and walked to the elevator. Zack quickly caught up with me. Ignoring him, I pushed the down button.
"Why is there a child in your apartment?" He questioned.
"Because she's my child." I clarified, staring at the metal doors.
He was confused at first but then started snickering. Fed up with him already, I turned to face him.
"What's so funny?" I asked him, crossing my arms.
"It just that, the little girl had to be at least three or four-"
"She's four," I told him.
"-and you can't be over twenty-four-" he continued.
"I'm twenty-two." I clarified for him again.
He smirked and said "By that math, you had her when you were eighteen. Which means you most likely got knocked up when you were seventeen." He crossed his arms and leaned against the elevator doors, his stupid smirk still on his face.
Furious, I snapped at him. "Just because I wasn't the smartest kid when I was younger doesn't mean I still am today. I've made mistakes and frankly, Sophia was the best mistake ever."
"Damn girl, I'm not judging, much." He mumbled the last word.
"I don't care what you think of me," I told him, lowering my voice so the whole floor doesn't come out and yell at me. "I wouldn't take her back for anything. I'm really trying to start a life for us, so if you could just leave us alone, I'd appreciate it."
Just then, the elevator doors dinged open. I stepped inside, leaving Zack in the hall. I pressed the lobby button and then the button that makes the doors close faster.
I looked back up at Zack to see his smirk gone, just a slightly guilty face was showing now.
The doors finally closed and I released a breath I didn't know I was holding. I usually don't snap that fast. I should've just kept my mouth shut. People always judge me for the decisions I've made, now he's just an addition to the list.
The elevator came to a halt and opened on the lobby floor. I left the apartment complex and walked to my car.
Hopefully, tonight won't be so busy. Or maybe it should be. I could use a distraction from my brain but I also need to study. On slow nights, the manager lets me study behind the counter.
In all honesty, I just want to go back home and sleep. But sadly, that's not an option.