❛ SUPERMARKET FLOWERS ♪ ❜ - z. herron

thirteen: just a slight change.

Being a second-semester senior does have its perks. You know the basics, don't have to go to many classes and maintain a bare minimum GPA. But when your best friend, and mainly your only friend, lives in the city, it's not all that glamorous. I have to take a 43-minute long train to see her, and that's if I take a train earlier in the day. Without her, I'm stuck with Keagan and Laila as my only friends.

Ouch, that was embarrassing, even for me to admit.

I wasn't ever unpopular but I wasn't popular by any means. I would wake up, go to school, go to work, come home, do my homework, sleep, and repeat. I went to public high school, so I was one of many, no one new or unusual—just Kira in the back of class. I didn't mind though, I was working or studying or taking care of my family to ever think of branching out in high school. In the middle of freshman year, Pops passed away. 

Not to play daddy issues by the neighborhood, but the second my mom got pregnant with my brother, my biological dad dipped, leaving my mom with a two-year-old and the money she made waitressing. She met my stepdad a few months later when he came into her restaurant, and she was the only person in the whole restaurant who spoke Farsi. She learned partly through growing in queens near mosques and partly through shows that would play because of our shitty cable. They fell in love, got married, and raised two (amazing, might I add) kids together.

When he died, I was officially lost in the world. It's like when you just get the wind absolutely knocked out of you, and you can't get it back. You don't want to seem overdramatic, but you literally can't catch your breath. You just silently struggle until you can finally catch your breath, but when you do, the world never stopped for you.

He left both Keag and me a "trust fund." He had saved money and something that he wanted to say to make us feel like we were "Manhattan's elite,". He only referred to it as that because Gossip Girl was my mom's all-time favorite show. Keagan and I both knew it wasn't much, our dad was a construction worker who made the most minimum wage, but we were content with whatever we would get from him. We can only access it when we turn 18, so it didn't do us much good.

To keep the apartment afloat, I've worked almost every job possible. I've cleaned windows, cars, houses. I worked in cafes, restaurants, shopping centers, even farmers' markets. My resume might as well be a receipt from CVS. But, I always pride myself on the fact I've never been fired. I only work temporary jobs, or I quit when a better one comes along. The one I have right now is by far my favorite. 

I am an intern at Billionaires boys club, which is everything I've always wanted to do. I love fashion, but the business aspect has ever caught my eye. I grew up wanting to do business but actually doing it is so much more fun. My internship ends at the end of summer, so wherever I end up going for school decides the rest of my life. Hopefully, decisions come out today, so the second I get my UCLA acceptance, I'll work remotely. UCLA was the school my mom always wished she went to. But she never could afford it, so I knew I had to go. I just need to stop anticipating it, or I'm gonna break my earrings from twisting them out of nervousness.

I decided to take the internship after the whole Zach incident. I realized I need something to push myself out of my comfort zone more often, and it turns out a boyband member was it.

 Sometimes I catch myself looking at the text I sent him, wondering if I should unsend it or not. I doubt it's even towards the top of his DMS. I guess it really didn't even mean that much to him. He didn't even look for me at all after.

I'm taken out of my thoughts by Keagan slamming my door, "KIRA, IT'S SNOWING.," he says out of breath.