Debt

five

selyse harrison

I stared out the window, being able to hear Jack's phone call echo throughout the house. He was yelling and I didn't understand why. He's not a yeller. He gets aggravated quickly, but yelling isn't his forte. It's almost more frightening that he never raises his voice though.

It was raining today which is weird because if I've learned anything about LA, it's that it doesn't rain. The rain meant I couldn't follow my usual routine of leaving the penthouse to have a walk in the park. I normally stop at a coffee shop and get the same order everyday. I've embarrassingly become a regular. But I need to find a way to keep myself occupied.

The yelling stopped before footsteps entered the living room and stopped right beside where I was seated. I sat on the floor in front of the large windows.

"Why're you on the floor?" Jack questioned like he cared. So I ignored his question and continued watching the raindrops slide down the glass. Pros of being this high up means when it's sunny, you have a beautiful view of the city. Cons are when it rains, the clouds and fog trap you in and you can't see anything. "Now you're ignoring me?"

"I'm sure you're familiar with the act," I got off the ground to go to the kitchen. It's not like Jack and I pretend to like each other. The lapse in both our judgments happened over a week ago and we chose not to acknowledge it. By not acknowledging it, I mean we just never see each other so it's not like we've had time to talk about it. But I would rather not talk about it. I don't know why I did it, but I don't plan on letting it happen again.

Belinda was gone for the day, meaning Jack and I were going to have to cook or order food. I'm not a cooker but there was a recipe book here I'm sure I could follow.

"That's no way to treat your husband. The husband who just got you enrolled into UCLA," he followed me into the kitchen and my movements froze. So that's what he was yelling on the phone about. My first thought was he must be baiting me. He wants to see me smile only to take it back. It seems like something he would do. He still calls me Sely every opportunity he can, and he knows I hate it.

"How?" I never applied to UCLA, let alone any university on the West coast.

"Because I'm me. And because you have high grades, which made the process easier. Even without your amazing GPA I still could've gotten you in. I saw you were supposed to attend the University of Virginia as a business major so I enrolled you in the same program at UCLA," he continued to inform me and I felt my heart at my toes. I gripped the counter to stop myself from falling. UCLA isn't a school I ever thought I would attend. It seemed so out of reach.

"Oh." I didn't have words. I was completely speechless. While I wanted to be happy and excited, attending this amazing school would only suck me in further. Developing a lifestyle here with Jack would make it harder to escape him. This felt ironically bittersweet.

Jack walked around the kitchen, going into the drawer to pull out a box. A box for a new cellphone. My entire time with Jack I haven't had any means of communication with anyone.

"If you'll be attending school, you need a phone. So here. But you still have to keep Kent and Davies," Jack slid the phone over to me and I stared at it without touching it. He's aware of how much I wanted to continue my education, but I thought he simply didn't care. But he was handing me a cellphone and allowing me to attend university.

"What's the condition?" Deep down I knew he expected something from me in return.

"I want hourly texts. One missed text and you're withdrawn from the school." There it was. His unreasonable requirement. I understood the security, but having to text him as well? He couldn't be serious. Texting him once every hour isn't difficult, but it's definitely a chore.