"Halley! You can sit on your ass and sleep in once you get a goddamn job!"
"For fuck's sake, Dad! I'm trying!"
"Get up!"
Halley sighed and rolled out of bed, looking at the clock on the nightstand. It was five in the morning. In what world was that sleeping in?
He stretched, put his clothes on, and stepped out of his room, where his father stood with his arms folded across his chest.
"Well?"
"I've got an interview today. Will you get off my case?"
"We'll get off your case once you're out of our house! You're twenty-three years old, there isn't an excuse. You've only got one interview today. What are you gonna do the rest of the day? Sit on your ass?"
Halley gritted his teeth. His father continued before he could say anything.
"God, you're useless. You dropped out of college and for what? So you can mooch off your mother and I the rest of your life?"
"I'm trying to get a job!" Halley snapped. "It isn't my fault! Nobody wants to hire me!"
"Probably because they can tell how lazy you are."
"I'm not lazy! You woke me up at five in the goddamn morning, before anyone's interviewing anyone! I didn't get to bed until one o'clock last night because I was looking for places on the computer!"
"Always spending time on that goddamn computer. Maybe that's the problem."
"The computer isn't the problem and you know it! I just said I'm using it to try finding a job! Just like you and Mom keep telling me!"
"You'd better figure it out quick. We're reaching the end of our patience."
His father pushed past him and walked away. Halley just sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"What patience?" he grumbled under his breath. He turned and went back into his room, shutting the door behind him. What a joke.
Halley couldn't remember the last time he'd seen a "help wanted" sign anywhere. Wherever he went, they all never gave him a call back. At least he got an interview.
He looked at the clock again. The interview wasn't until 9:30. Doing anything but pacing around the house would make his parents mad again. At least he'd laid out his clothes the night before.
Halley sat down on the bed and rested his chin on his palm. Just as soon as he got the money, he'd be out of there. Part of him wished someone would just whisk him away and he wouldn't have to worry about anything again. It wasn't like he didn't want to work–quite the opposite, actually. Maybe he just had terrible luck.
Hell, he even applied at the gas stations and stuff around town, just trying to find anything. Even the shady totally-not-a-mafia-front pizza place! But they all rejected him. He wasn't even sure why.
"We're going in a different direction," they'd say. "You're just not the right fit."
What was the right fit? Where did he ever fit?
Halley looked up at the shelves on the opposite wall, where several model trains sat gathering dust. His parents weren't happy about that, either.
"Spending money on trains instead of putting it in savings." his mother had scolded.
He buried his face in his hands.
Things could have been worse, he supposed. Not that he was trying to encourage the universe to make it so. At least he wasn't out on the street or something, but some small part of him almost wished he was. It'd be better than here. He didn't know how many more times he'd be able to handle his parents threatening to kill him over dropping a dinner plate on the floor.
Maybe his parents were right. He couldn't stop screwing everything up. There was probably some mistake he'd made in all of his interviews that nobody told him about. He was probably just too dumb to know what it was. He probably needed nicer clothes.
But he had what he had.
Dress pants, a white button up he'd made sure didn't have any stains on, and a black tie. It was simple. The problem was he didn't know how to tie a tie.
Halley looked at his bedroom door. His father was probably still too pissed off to teach him for the millionth time. Maybe he'd go without the tie. But then he'd look weird. Was it the tie that was keeping him from getting a job? No, that was silly. But...maybe.
He wasn't sure if he wanted breakfast or not. If either of his parents saw him, he'd be crucified for daring to exist in their vicinity.
Would they be proud of him for once if he landed the job? Or would they keep at it, adding layer after layer after he got through it all? Once he got the job, they'd tell him to get a car, and then a house, and then God knows what. He wouldn't be giving them any grandchildren, that was for sure.
Halley laid back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling he'd been staring at since he was a kid. Things weren't any better then, either. He'd forget to do one homework assignment and it was like he'd triggered the end of the world.
The sun was just barely beginning to rise outside, the world starting to wake up for the day. Tuesday. At least his parents would be leaving for work soon. Or whatever it was they did when they weren't home.
He sat back up again to keep himself from falling asleep.
Something needed to change, but what? Him? His circumstances? Whether or not he wore a tie? Why wouldn't anybody tell him?
Halley stood up and looked out the window behind his desk, putting his hands in his pockets. He had an interview to prepare for. It was anybody's guess as to how he'd screw it up this time.
He didn't have a good feeling about the interview. He never did.
But he needed to find somewhere to work soon, or something was going to give.
