Letting You In

Late Night Talking - /6

"In case I forgot to tell you, I have to leave for work in,", Nick checks the time on his phone, "two hours."

"Alright." Over the past week it became our habit to both lounge on the bed. Sometimes I lean against the headrest, sometimes Nick does; sometimes we both lean against the wall on the length of the bed-watching Netflix, scrolling through our phones, reading. I put the bookmark in. "What do you even do for work?"

Nick locks the iPad he was watching some show on. "DoorDash."

"Oh, okay."

"What?", he says and turns his head to look at me.

"I kinda thought you did something different?"

"Like?"

I shrug. "I don't know. Just didn't picture you driving around other people's food."

He smirks as he moves his pillow to lean against the head rest. "I mean, you kinda gotta do whatever pays the bills, right?"

"Spoken like a true capitalist." I lean over his legs to put my book on the nightstand.

"It's true though. I'm fortunate enough to have a scholarship, and my parents pay for some stuff, but I still have things that aren't really covered. So, I'm just trying to at least get some hours in during the weekend, or I guess in the evenings now that I'm playing again."

"Fair enough."

"I mean, don't you also got a job?"

I grimace as I speak. "Actually..."

"You're not working?"

"No, not really."

"How are you paying for everything? Are your parents paying?" He grabs our glasses but hesitates and turns to me for a second. "Sorry, if that's too personal or something."

"All good, the question is just fair." I take the water. "Thanks. Yeah, my parents are kinda helping, and also my grandparents. They passed away a couple years ago and left Troy and me some money for college."

"Tuition and all the other stuff that comes with it?"

"Not quite", I say and take a sip. "I mean, my parents do still pay some parts, but I also got some savings back from high school. I used to tutor and work as a waitress or whatever at this little smoothie bar or whatever. There wasn't much to do in the town I grew up in, so I ended up getting paid more than I could spend, I guess."

"So you're practically living on savings?", Nick says.

"I guess." I look at him, waiting for him to continue.

Instead, he just drinks some water and looks into the oblivion for a while. Just when I wanna check my phone for the time, he puts his glass away. "This might be a pretty stupid question, but aren't you worried about the future? Like how are you gonna finance stuff after graduation?"

Just like that, might pulse quickens, my stomach tightens, and I breathe a little heavier. I let Nick put my cup away, simply cause I'm scared it might reveal my shaking hands. I'm sure they're not shaking. I'm sure my heart is not beating faster. Yet, here I am, using my thumb to play with my ring. "I guess work? I don't know. I don't like thinking about the future."

Though I avoid looking at Nick, I'm sure he's watching me. "But you got to at one point, right?"

I shrug. "It's not like I don't ever think about it. It's just, I don't know. Yeah, I guess I'm really privileged in that aspect. I know that if it comes down to it, my parents would still cover me. But yeah, not sure. For now, my savings are enough, and I'm not spending that much money. Guess it helps that I'm not that much of a party person." I fake a chuckle, and lift my head.