Jack of all Trades, Master of None (Kakegurui Fanfiction)

Chapter 43: Boo!

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Tamara gets a couple of ice on her ice cooler and puts them inside the ice bag her friends bought for her. Her black eye is starting to hurt again as well as her head. She presses the ice bag gently on her black eye as she walks inside her bedroom to open the hidden compartment behind her mirror.

She gets her phone and calls the number written on a sticky note inside the hidden compartment. She sat on the side of her bed as she wait for the other line to accept the call. It's been weeks since she last called the number and she's somehow worried about how the other line would react to her sudden call.

"H-Hello?" Tamara spoke to the other line hesitantly.

[Tamara?! Is that you?!]

"Yep. The one and only."

[I'm worried about you!]

"I figured you would be after our last call."

[I've been trying to find a way to contact you! I've tried calling your school but they said that you're not showing up in your class either.]

"...They were right about that."

[What happened to you?]

"Just got stressed with school lately, that's all," she told the other line. "My school is too demanding when it comes to 'academic environment'."

[I'm so sorry you're experiencing this. Should I hire you an online tutor or something?]

"Of course not!" she refused. "I studied at the top-ranked high school of New York County. I don't need one."

[Okay... Is there anything that I can do to help you?]

"I dunno. It's just too overwhelming for me," she replied. "And I don't want to burden you with my own problems."

[Tamara, you know you can talk to me about anything, right?]

"I know but you're always busy," she told the other line. "You were always out there catching different criminal masterminds."

"I don't want to be a hindrance to you doing your job. There are Americans out there that need you more than I do."

[You were right. But I won't let you deal with your problems by yourself either.]

Tamara rolled her eyes in the background upon hearing the response from the other line.

[Is there anyone there you can talk to? Friends?]

"I do have friends. Lots of it. But just like what I told you earlier, I don't want to burden them with my problems."

[How about your classmates?]

"Don't get me started. They'll just use it against me. As if they haven't done it already just a few weeks ago."

[And the teachers? Student Organizations? Your school probably has one for sure.]

"Oh yeah. My sources of stress would probably help me solve my problems. Great idea, really," she said sarcastically.

[Maybe it's time to talk to your sister again.]

"Didn't I show you the letters I got from them before? They had cut me off their lives a long time ago!" she yelled. "Do you want me to get a restraining order or something?"

[Then why did you ask me to tell them you're sorry for everything you've put them through?]

"I-I..." Tamara stuttered and remembered the things she told her during the Tower of Doors gamble a few weeks ago. She winced in anger and cursed herself inside her mind. "I'm super stressed during that time, okay?!"