Alyssa, Aunt Lacey, and Charles walked the short path home through pissy old Mr. Thompson's fields, making sure to avoid the cows. When they finally returned home, they could hear yelling from the outside, though they couldn't make out what the people yelling were saying. The three quickly rushed inside as quietly as they could, listening to what was going on.
"What the hell were you thinking?! Leaving your siblings to get a tattoo?! And willingly getting hit on my some tattoo man, who will probably hit you up then leave you!" They heard Elise scream from the kitchen as they hid in the hallway.
"Says the lady who got hit up four times by four different guys, which she isn't even with anymore!" Sheena screamed back, her voice filled with spite and anger towards her mother.
"You don't think I feel stupid for that?! You don't think I realize my mistakes and I'm trying to keep you from making the same ones I did!!" Elise yelled, sounding extremely hurt that Sheena would even think of bringing that up.
"Well, ya know what? I'm not you! I can't believe we're related, let alone mother and daughter!" Sheena screeched, followed by stopping up the staircase and a moment later the familiar slam of her bedroom door.
Elise's sigh could easily be heard from the hallway. "I know you guys are there. I heard the door. Just come out," Elise said quietly, sounding extremely tired.
Slowly, Alyssa came out of the hallway to the kitchen, then followed by Charles, and finally by Lacey. Charles could see the surprise on his mother's face when she looked up to see Lacey.
"Oh, God," Elise muttered in terror, obviously afraid of what her friend would say. "Um, hey, Lacey."
Lacey slightly waved. "Hey, Elly. Nice to see you. I see you're going through some... issues with Sheena," she said carefully, as if afraid to provoke a beast.
"A little bit," Charles said quietly, wanting to talk but not wanting to get in the middle of everything.
"What're you doing here?" Elise asked quickly, evidently not wanting to deal with the other issues she was dealing with at the moment.
Lacey laughed nervously. "I, um, lost my job... and spent all of my money... and I can't get a job," she muttered.
Elise nodded slowly. Charles could see that she was starting to understand. "So you're asking to stay here?" Elise asked slowly.
"Erm, yeah, kinda," Lacey said uncomfortably, before quickly adding, "but if you can't I totally understand. Don't worry about it."
Elise shook her head and sighed. "No, you can stay here, but you have to stay on the couch. Mark's already taking the spare bedroom - like he had for as long as I can remember - and the couch is the only place where you could sleep," she said, rubbing her temples. "And you'll need to find a job because we're already tight on money and one more person isn't going to help that. I'll explain the entire situation to you later."
Lacey smiled and clapped her hands. "That's great! I'll of course find a job and I have a little extra money that I had saved just in case so I'll give you that! This is so exciting!"
Elise nodded wearily and sighed. "Yeah. So exciting," she said, nowhere near as enthusiastic as Lacey.
This, Charles thought, is not going to end well.
YOU ARE READING
What If It Was Like This
FantasyA group of friends wished they had a different life, wished they weren't just the little nerds at a big high school. One day, as they were messing around and dreaming, they learned to be careful what you wish for. What happens to them? Read on to f...
