Square One

6

Melissa couldn't feel her feet, numb from trudging through the snow. She felt deflated, her shoulders falling forwards. She reached the center of town, raising her head slightly, quickly scanning for Carmen.

She found him sitting on a bench, a sandwich sitting in his lap. He was looking down at it like it was the last meal he would ever have. Melissa sat next to him with a huge sigh.

"You find anything?" She asked.

He looked up at her, his hair falling into his face. "One."

She felt a quick rush of hope, sitting up straighter. "Really?"

"They need this and last month's rent."

The hope faded, as she slumped back into her original position. "I guess we could pay it..." She said, thinking of the lump of money in her suitcase. 

"Do you really think we should spend that much so fast?"

"Well, we have to live somewhere, right?"

He sighed. "You're right." He looked back down at his untouched sand which. "I'll go back tomorrow. Maybe I can convince them to lower the rent for this month, or something."

His head turned back up to Melissa. "Did you get anything?"

She shook her head. "I went to every place I could find. I even checked at a McDonald's."

Carmen's nose wrinkled. "Are we that desperate yet?"

Melissa shrugged. "Sure seems like it."

They were both quiet for a minute.

"You know what I think really turned them off to the idea of hiring me?" She asked. "It was the suitcase."

"What about it?"

"Well, I came in, and I was just holding this suitcase. And of course they would ask about it, and I didn't know what to say, so I told them the truth. I did at first, at least. The first people I saw didn't take it very well, so I started saying I was about to drop off a bunch of stuff at the Goodwill."

"Did that work better?"

She shrugged. "Not really. I wanted to leave it outside, but all my money's in this thing..." She looked down at it, as if it was chained to her ankle.

"How many places did you go to?" 

"Five. Well, I went to a lot more, but I only got five interviews."

Carmen nodded in understanding. "Half the places I went to had already been bought."

"Oooh." Melissa's face scrunched up, as if she was in pain. "That bad?"

"Not the best."

Melissa looked at the sand which in his lap. It was turkey, cut clean down the middle, with lettuce trim around the edges.

Noticing her stare, Carmen held up half the sand which to Melissa. Her face broke out in a tired smile.

"Thanks," She said, taking it in her gloved hands.

The two of them stared out at the dull street of cars and people moving past, Melissa taking small bites of her sandwich, Carmen shoving his hands deep into his pockets. 

Carmen sighed. "So I guess we shou-"

Suddenly Melissa started laughing, spewing bits of bread and turkey in front of her. Carmen pulled away slightly, raising his eyebrows. Melissa kept laughing.

"Are you ok?" Carmen asked, looking down nervously.

Melissa gasped between laughs. "This- this was-" She dissolved into laughter again.

Carmen kept staring, wondering if he should try to snap her out of it. She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes.

"This was the worst decision I've made in my life," She said, still smiling. 

"What?" 

"I didn't need to run away. My life was absolutely fine. I cannot believe I would do this to myself. It's basically self sabotage."

Carmen opened his mouth, about to respond, but found himself without words, so he instead turned back to the street. 

"I cannot believe I would do this," Melissa repeated.

---

EVERYONE LOVES A SHORT CHAPTER RIGHT???

Ok, so, good news, I won nanowrimo (I know amazing), which means I now have this giant heap of awful first-draft writing to fix up (and it's very gay, so get excited for that). But then I remembered I haven't updated anything on wattpad in a month, so... here????

Sorry it's short. I tried. I have 3 auditions this week and 5 PERFORMANCES, so I'm slightly overwhelmed.

Anyways, I love y'all, thanks for not hating me for my horrible updating skills.

Sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes.

(You're all my faves)

XOX