"Bye Melissa," the girl waved at me as I exited the building. "Bye," I waved at the girl, she was sitting beside me in my last class. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I struggled to match a name with her face. Truth to be told, I'm totally hopeless when it comes to remembering names. I continued to clench and unclench my fist as I walked down the New York streets. The professor in our Economics class had given us so many notes to write, that now my fingers felt like they will drop at any moment. And also, he scheduled a test to take place at the end of the week. I mean who does that, it's only the first day of college and we are given loads of work to do. I feel like strangling myself with my book, but it will not probably bend enough.
I continued to walk down the streets as I tightened my coat around myself, trying to preserve the warmth until I reached the subway. Setting my backpack comfortably on my shoulder, I walked down the sidewalk, quietly mouthing the lyrics of Rolling in the Deep by Adele. After walking for about 15 minutes, I finally reached the subway station. And after I boarded the train, it took me just 5 minutes to reach the station closest to my apartment. I exited the train and walked out of the station.
As I was walking down the streets to my home, I came across a cute coffee shop and saw a sign of HELP NEEDED. I should go and try out for the job. It will help me with my expenses. The scholarship will provide everything from electricity to water to tuition and I only needed help for groceries and my personal expenses. As soon as I entered the shop, I was engulfed with the strong aroma of fresh coffee. The place was filled with teenagers and some corporate workers.
I walked up to the counter, a young woman was working as the cashier, she looked to be of 23 years of age, she had a warm smile on her face as she asked me "How can I help you miss?"
"Can I have a gingerbread latte?" I asked her. She simply nodded her head and typed in the cash register.
"That will be $3.50," she said. I quickly took out a $5 bill and handed it to her. She then kept the money in the register and handed me the change.
"I will be right back with your order." She said and scurried off to make my order. Fortunately, I have to wait for only a few minutes for my drink.
"Here is your order," she said and handed me the drink.
"One more thing," I said to her just as she was about to turn around.
"Yes?" she asked.
"I would like to meet your manager," I said as I took a sip of the coffee.
"Why, is there something wrong with our service?" she asked frantically.
"No, there's not a problem," I said trying to reassure her.
"I saw the sign outside, I need a job, so I came here," I added.
She looked a little relieved and scurried away and pretty soon she came back followed by petite, old women. She looked to be about 60 or something.
"Alicia told me that you wanted the job dear?" The old lady asked me while pointing at Alicia, the cashier/barista, who made my drink.
" Yes ma'am," I responded nervously.
"That's so nice if you dear, if you want to work here, then all of you have to do is, fill up this form and give it to me, and if I will find that everything is alright, then I'll call you up, and we can discuss your timing, as you appear to be a student and also your paycheque," she said.
"And by the way, my name is Julia." She added.
I took the form from her and examined it, it was pretty simple, only casual bio-data was asked. "Can I fill it now?" I asked her.
"Of course honey, just take a seat in any one of the empty tables, and if you need anything just call for me or Alicia. Okay?" She asked.
I nodded my head in response and took a seat in one of the tables, located nearest to the counter, and started to fill up the form, occasionally taking a sip or two from my delicious gingerbread latte.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It only took me about 10 minutes to fill-up the form. I stood up from my seat and grabbed the form and, the now empty cup, and walked towards the counter, before disposing of the empty cup in the dustbin.
" Miss Alicia," I called out to her as I located her, attending to some customers.
When she heard me calling her name, she quickly excused herself and came towards me.
" Yes, dear. Are you facing any problem?" She asked.
"No. Actually, I have filled up the form and I should get going, as it's already late." I said to her as I handed her the form.
"Okay then, bye, I hope to see you soon." She said.
I gave her a small smile and walked out of the shop, the chilled air instantly hit me. It's only October and the weather is freezing already. I sighed deeply as I pulled my coat tighter around me. I remembered that how my dad and I used to chat about books and movies and anything else over tea, in all those sleepless winter nights.
Whenever I wasn't able to sleep, my dad will make some tea for us and then we will talk for hours, and sometimes we used to talk till dawn, and then mom will chide at us for staying up late.
Just the thought of them brings tears to my eyes. I just miss them so much. I will call them once I reach home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I put off my bag in the corner of my room, right next to the desk.
I changed into some sweatpants and the large football jersey that my dad bought for me. My dad and I are really big fans of the football team Barcelona, and whenever there was a match, we will sit in front of the tv with our football jerseys to cheer for our favorite team.
I quickly threw my hair in a loose bun, before making my way into the kitchen. I looked at the clock and it was only half-past 6 in the evening. Ryan and Mia would be home by 7. They must be hungry so u decided to quickly whip something to eat.
After much thinking, I finally decided on preparing Mac and Cheese. After collecting all the ingredients, I started cooking.
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After 15 minutes, I was finally done with the food. I quickly poured them into a big serving bowl and placed them on the table. I then took three plates, three forks, and spoons and arranged them on the table.
And just as the clock struck 7, both of them stumbled through the doors and took off their shoes.
" What are you cooking, it smells heavenly?" Ryan asked as he walked into the kitchen.
"Mac and Cheese," I answered as I walked out of the kitchen carrying three glasses of water
Ryan quickly ran out of the kitchen.
I slapped his hand as he was about to dip his dirty fingers in the food.
"Go freshen up first," I ordered him and both of them scurried off to their respective rooms and both of them returned them within 2 minutes. They both served themselves and started wolfing down the food as I did with mine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm not sleepy," Ryan announced as he plopped down on the couch.
"Me too," I said as I sat down on the leather recliner.
"What should we do then, it's only 8," Mia said as she sat down on the carpeted floors. leaning her back against the leather couch.
"We can go out," Ryan suggested.
"Absolutely not, I have morning class tomorrow?" I said, shaking my head in disapproval at his suggestion.
"Or we can have a movie marathon?" Mia suggested, and both I and Ryan nodded our heads in approval.
"But what movie?" I asked
"Let's watch Harry Potter," Mia suggested and both me and Ryan jumped at the idea.
"I'm going to prepare the snacks, and you two get the place ready for our movie night," I ordered them and went into the kitchen to prepare some snacks. I quickly made some popcorns and grabbed two large bags of Doritos, 3 cans of coke and gummy bears, and of course Oreos, because Oreos are life.
And by the time I got back, the whole place was completely transformed. The lights were completely dimmed and the couch was transformed into a bed with bed sheets and pillows.
"Wow, that was fast," I exclaimed as I placed the snacks in front of them. I took a seat next to Ryan and Mia was sitting next to him. We all huddled together in our couch turned bed and started eating the popcorns as the Warner Bro's logo showed up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The darkroom was drenched in the foul smell of blood mixed with sweat. The fluorescent light bulb hanging from the ceiling was the only source of light. I suddenly found my hands and feet being chained to the room's walls. How did I reach here? This all felt like a dream but also real. What is happening? I looked to my right and saw that a young boy, no older than 16, and a young girl, no older than 14 were tied with chains. Their clothes were torn and tattered, with multiple scars on their bodies. Their faces were bloodied and beaten.
I tried to call out for them, but no words came out. It felt like someone has taken away my voice. I tried to scream, I tried to yell, but nothing happened. The boy and girl weren't even able to notice me.
Suddenly a door opened, and in came a man, his face and body features were blurred. His voice boomed across the room as he yelled incoherent words. I wasn't able to understand anything but from the movements of the young boy and young girl, I think they understood his words. The man suddenly shouted for someone and pretty soon, two other men entered the room, the first man then ordered the two other men and they nodded their heads and went straight towards the young girl. They released her from the chains, but grabbed her hair and started to drag her away, all the while the girl was kicking and yelling at them to stop. Suddenly one of the men stopped and backhanded her. The impact was so fierce, that the sun echoed through the room, and then they proceeded to drag the limp body of the girl. Only, when the girl left, I realized that the boy was yelling and struggling to get out of the chains, that confined him. The last man walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
As I started to get up to approach that boy, I felt myself falling from a height, and then everything went black.
I woke up with a start from my deep slumber. It took me some time to adjust myself. After a few seconds, I finally realized that I was in my home, in my living room, with the end credits rolling down the screen.
Ryan and Mia were sleeping peacefully. Somehow Ryan had ended up lying on the floor and Mia and I were sprawled across the two opposite sides of the couch, our heads resting on the hand rest.
Seeing them peacefully sleeping, I too decided to go back to sleep. I switched off the tv and laid down.
The last thought before I went to sleep was
That was one strange dream.....