Liars Garden

Chapter 6

I didn't look for Hanna on Monday. I hid from her. Lunch time I sat in a closed bathroom stall in a girls toilet across the school from the cafeteria. My lunch was spread across my lap. An apple, a peanut butter sandwich, and a bottle of water. Even though I went shopping the other day it hadn't been enough to get much more then bare basics. I gritted my teeth. When I turned eighteen I would have to get a job. A job meant money which meant more food.

If mom didn't take the cash.

I shook my head. No one pays in cash anymore. It would go into a bank account, an account I had. Dad had took me when I was ten and got a hundred bucks from my grandma for my birthday. I wasn't sure if mom new about that. That hundred bucks was still in there.

That hundred bucks was still there....

Maybe I would go to the bank after school and get a bank card.

A bank card, then a job, and then...

My hands shook. And then what?

The whole senior class was talking about their futures. Hell, even the school itself was talking about them. Pamphlets on colleges littered the desks of teachers and every wall was plastered with smiling faces and text saying things like"Take Your Future NOW" and "Go BIG". It seemed a vague way of saying get a job in fast food once the ink on your diploma dried.

"Why am I thinking of this here?"I muttered. "This is stupid."

I already knew what I would do.

Get a bank card, get a job, and stay at home.

There. That was it. I needed to help around the house. I could use my paychecks to buy better groceries. Maybe I could even get the downstairs bathroom sink fixed. It had been leaking for the last two years and mom refused to spend a dime on it since she states she didn't break it. 

Leslie was obviously a ticking time bomb. I was surprised she hadn't been brought home by the cops yet. And Chris always seemed forgotten next to Leslie's emotional issues.

Besides, mom wouldn't let me leave anyway.

She just needed me.

Did she?

I shoved my sandwich into my mouth, took a bite that was defiantly too big, and focused on not choking to death on it instead of thinking.

The bathroom door slammed open and I froze. The sound of the heavy foot steps on the tiles sounded familiar. I slouched down a bit so I could see under the stall. Those defiantly were Leslie's grubby ass converses stuck on the end of a pair of pale legs. I thought about saying something. This wasn't the underclassman's lunch time, she was obviously skipping. But the door opened again.

"Leslie, you here?"

The voice wasn't familiar, but it was deeper. Possibly a senior?

"No shit."

"Fair."  Another pair of converse showed up. These ones were larger, cleaner, and red. I heard a shift of clothing and the flick of a lighter. I sucked in a breath and smelled the stank of weed. Of course she was skipping class to do drugs in a bathroom. A bathroom she didn't even bother to check if it was empty or not. Was she screaming to get caught?

Mother would personally hang her if she was.

"Okay, so look, I'm really done with all the bullshit at home," Leslie's voice said after a few moments. "I need out. Like soon. Annie is eighteen on Friday and I'm not sticking around to see it."

That hurt.

"Jesus, your mom that bad?"

Leslie gave a dry laugh. "You have no idea. No idea what she's gonna do about Annie. She is a control freak. I doubt she's gonna like having an adult daughter."

I frowned. What the hell?

"Fuck. Like you think she's gonna kick her out?"

"No. Maybe." Leslie sounded vague."As I said, I don't want to see it. So, I'm thinking sometime this week coming by..." She trailed off.

"You can't stay with me, Les," the voice muttered almost too low for me to hear.

"I don't care. I have options."

"Do you?"

There was a loud sigh. "Look, just get me out, that's all I ask."

A long pause happened and then, "Fine. When?"

"I'll text you. I have to get back to class."

The male voice grunted and said something to low for me to hear before the red converse disappeared.The bathroom at this point smelled like a skunk and I felt a contact high started to fog my brain. Leslie's converse were still by the sink. I checked my watch. Lunch was almost over. If I left now she would see me. Did I want her to see me? Did I want her to know that I know?

There was a bang on the stall door and I let out a scream.

"I know your there, Annie."

Fuck.

"You really suck at eavesdropping. Next time lift your feet so I can't see your ratty ass sneakers from under the door."

"Um...thanks?"

She hit the door again and left.