Deciding My Fate

Chapter 5

It wouldn't shut up, not for one second. That nagging, annoying ringing in the back of my head. It grew louder and louder and louder until I was finally brought into enough consciousness that I realized that the annoying sound was an alarm on a cell phone.

Finally, I was able to open my eyes. My back hurt. I was on the floor, on top of a sheet covering the nearly flat air mattress and under a pile of blankets. My pillow was near my feet and there was a sketch pad with half of a tree drawn on it next to me.

My head hurt; I had fallen asleep with my glasses on sometime after midnight. I looked at my phone. Five thirty.

"Good morning," I heard a groggy, deep voice say above me. Alex had managed to turn the God-awful alarm off and sit up in his bed. His t-shirt was wrinkled, and he yawned as he searched the nightstand for his own pair of glasses. "Ready for work?"

"What do you think?" I asked, collapsing back on the plastic and glaring at him.

Alex began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" I asked, my eyebrows creasing.

"You have a little, umm, stuff on your face," he said, trying to compose himself.

I slowly stood up and walked over to the mirror in his room. The right side of my face was covered with black charcoal. I must've fallen asleep before I had a chance to put my art supplies back up. "What? You don't like it? Tons of guys really go for this look," I said to him, trying to rub the crap off my face. No such luck.

Alex continued to laugh, and I gave up on using my hand and quickly found a facial wipe in one of my bags. "Don't wipe it off yet! I've gotta find my camera first!" he said.

I rolled my eyes at him. "You're so mean."

"I know. You do realize that I was kidding, right?" Alex asked me, still grinning.

"Sure, sure." I replied sarcastically. "Is it gonna be hot today?"

He nodded. "It's south Georgia in the summer time. Did you really think it was gonna snow?"

"See? There you go with your meanness again. Is it an I'm-mean-to-everyone thing or is it saved up especially for me?" I looked through my bags and pulled out a blue graphic tee with the words "Free Hugs" written on it, a pair of denim short shorts, and my favorite pair of black lace-up sneakers.

I began to pull my tank that I had slept in off when I heard Alex jump from the bed and literally grab the end of the garment and pull it back down. "What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I was changing. I'm sure that there's nothing here that you haven't seen before. I have a bra on." Annoyed, I grabbed my stuff and went onto the bathroom, pacifying him. It wasn't like I was self-conscious or anything. But I also wasn't going to completely expose myself.

Soon after, I had managed to slap some mascara on my face, get my clothing on, and pull my hair into a high, cheer-leader style ponytail, and the two of us walked downstairs to eat breakfast.

We ate quickly. Well, Alex and his dad ate; I sot of just pushed my food around my plate. I never ate breakfast. We were soon outside, and I was being instructed and introduced. The two things that I hated the most in the world- being told what to do and meeting new people.

"All you need to do is feed the animals, brush them, and then do some poop scooping. An easy first day. Watch Alex and Joshua," Mr. Waters said to me.

"Excuse me?" I asked. Did he just say poop scooping and easy first day in the same sentence?

"It's not that hard. Just watch us." Joshua, a decent-looking employee that seemed to be close to Alex, put his arm around my shoulders. I saw that Alex was trying hard not to laugh.

"If you want to have children one day, I would recommend removing the arm. Now," I said, malevolent tone to my voice.

"Don't worry, you'll get your chance, Josh," Alex said to him. "Ready to scoop some poop, Natalie?"

"What do you think?" I asked him, repeating my earlier answer.

And so began Day One of the punishment that I never deserved in the first place.