In Aid

2. Bad Week

The sun shining through the blinds woke me from slumber. From the lack of warmth next to me, I knew Jeff was already gone. He had work. He was a nursing assistant at the nearby hospital, tasked with checking in on patients and working alongside nurses and doctors. He worked the most ridiculous hours. I could never.

I needed to check my phone. With a stretch, I started looking for my phone. I knew I had left it in the pocket of my hoodie, so I got up and went into the laundry room. It was sitting on top of the dryer. I turned it on and checked my messages. There was one received an hour ago from Peter telling me to stop whoring around and get my ass back to the house before he reported me as a missing person. Even though I was an adult, there was no doubt that Peter would make me sound like a mentally ill patient to get the police to search for me.

With a yawn, I took everything out of the dryer. I wanted to eat before I left because I knew for a fact that there was nothing back home to eat even if I got Peter's permission to have any of his things. While the last two slices of pizza were turning in the microwave, I changed into the now clean clothes. If I took too long to get home, the fucker would just turn me back at the door.

I ate the pizza and, like usual, found the house keys on the bedside table with four hundred dollars which I gratefully pocketed. I left the house, locked the door, and dropped the keys in the mailbox for when Jeff returned. Thankfully, it was warmer, because I had a few miles of walking to do to get home.

"Where have you been?" Peter demanded the second I entered the house.

"Here and there," I answered, unzipping my hoodie once I was inside the house. Usually, he would have been at work already, but I knew better than to ask about it. Curiosity never got me anywhere.

"Diseased..."

"Mhm," I hummed as I went off to my room. When I was younger, hearing my father call me such names used to bother me and make me want to curl up and cry. While they were still hurtful, they didn't pack the same punch they used to.

I had classes to attend and, unfortunately, lots of catching up to do. If I hurried, I wouldn't be all that late for my first class. I could deposit the money I got from Jeff into my bank account on the way. I brushed my teeth and poured myself a cup of coffee in the kitchen. Grabbing the necessary things, I was back out the house, Peter's eyes following me right to the door.

I took the bus to the bank, and then to school. I'd missed a few days, so I needed to catch up on any assignments or notes I'd missed. For that, I usually went to Rikki, a girl that had more or less adopted me since the start of our last year of school. We shared most of our classes which made meeting up easy.

Rikki was a friend of mine. My only friend. One who'd had a crush on me at one point. At least I thought it was over with by now. She'd drunkenly admitted it to me months ago, but then I never heard of it again. She was like a mother hen, always concerned for me and always wanting to take care of me. I liked her because she didn't take crap from anyone. I'd seen her roundhouse kick a guy who was trying to look up under her skirt. There was also her legendary right hook, too. She would be perfect for me if she wasn't, well, a girl. She didn't have the right genitalia to interest me regardless of how awesome I thought she was.

I went straight to my class, sneaking in and finding a seat at the very back. Once it ended, I tried to find her, but I didn't have to look very far because she found me first.

"Zedikai!"

I flinched at the sound of her voice. Her wedge heels of a ridiculous height made a terrifying clunking sound on the tiles as she stomped her way over to me. Her maxi dress flowing in the wind and her high bun of light brown ringlets made her look gorgeous. I didn't know how she managed to make a loose-fitting dress still show off her curves. Her orange eyeliner matched her neon heels and so did the ring on her middle finger. If only I was straight, dammit.