See You at the Library

Chapter 1

Deep breath in, slow breath out. Over and over Caelee repeated these six words trying to slow down her racing heart. Closing her eyes as tight as possible and trying to tune out the 15 others on the bus. So many different conversations and sounds made her head spin. She always swore growing up once she turned sixteen she would never ride the bus again. She started saving for a car since freshman year. Although, when her family lost the house last year in the fire she decided to give up her savings so to help her mom. Due to it being her dad's fault they did not get any insurance help. Also, he went to prison so they lost their only source of income. Her mom had to get a job but since she never finished high school the only job she could find was waitressing at a local diner. Caelee hoped after her job at the pool ended she'd be able to find work somewhere close to school so she'd be able to walk straight there but nowhere was hiring.

Abruptly, the bus came to a stop and she was jerked forward almost out of her seat. She gently opened her eyes and looked out the window to see that this was her stop. She pulled one of her headphones from her ear and walked down to the opposite end of the bus. She thanked Darleen, the bus driver she'd had since Middle School, and started walking into the motel her family was still having to live in. No one was home yet because her little brother and sister walked to the diner together after school so to ride home with their mom once her shift ended at five. She unlocked the old, green, door to their tiny room. Caelee and her mom shared the queen size bed that was on the left wall in the room. The little ones shared an old, worn out air mattress on the floor on her mom's side of the bed. By the time they woke up every morning the kid's mattress was completely deflated. Even after Caelee used almost an entire roll of duct tape patching what she thought was the hole but it still slowly lost all the air.

She tossed her book bag onto the bed and walked over to what they had turned into the kitchen area of the room. She grabbed a pack of ramen and filled a plastic bowl with hot water from the coffee maker. She stirred in the packed of flavor and walked over to the built in desk on the far end of the room. She grabbed her laptop and opened up her socials when a chat box popped up.

Phil: "Hey C, your ramen ready yet?"

Caelee: "Am I really that predictable???"

Phil: "Well I don't know if you got chicken flavor or beef?"

Caelee: "Neither! Shrimp!"

Phil: "Oh, look at you, Miss spontaneous"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Not expecting anyone for another hour Caelee jumped up and started to panic.

It was a tall lady at the door. She had on a light gray, suit jacket with a white shirt underneath. She had on a matching skirt and a pair of black round toe kitten heels. She had dirty blond hair that was pulled to one side in a tight bun. Caelee stared at her for a while with the door just barely open. They lady smiled coldly and quietly greeted her, "Hello, you must be Caelee, is your mother home at the moment?" taken aback that she knew her name, Caelee responded timidly, "Uh, no ma'am...she's...uh, at work." The lady looked down at the wooden clipboard she was holding and looked through the papers attached, "Okay, well do you know what time she will back?" Caelee did not reply right away, but just stared more trying to figure out who this lady could be. She tried to look at the clipboard to see if she could get some kind of clue, but she tilted it closer to her as Caelee leaned forward. "She...she doesn't get back until later" she finally replied, "But I don't know exactly when." She knew this was a lie but she didn't want to risk this lady asking to stay until five. The lady looked at her gold watch on her wrist and then back at her clipboard. "Hm. Alright well here...." She pulled a business card out from her bag and handed to Caelee "Could you call me when she comes home?" Caelee took the card and read the name in bold letters across the top. "Elizabeth Farms" she read it to herself. By the time she looked back up from the card Elizabeth was gone Caelee stuck her head out of the door and looked both ways but she was gone.
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Thank you for reading my first chapter. I've written in the past but this is the first time I've ever posted something for someone outside my friend group to read. I'm kind of proud of it, even though I know it has a lot of issues. I hope it brings a lot of smiles and feels but most of all I hope you do enjoy it. Please leave your comments and let me know if you have any questions or requests. I'd love to hear everyone's input! Thanks in advance!