After waking up I slip into the shower and don't even realize I start picking at my thighs again after the band aid fell off in my sleep. The shampoo stinging my thighs once it runs out of my hair and into the picks. I quickly bite my lip and squeeze my thigh at the pain.
"Ohh crap." I say letting the water flow through it and sting as it cleans it out. I shake it off and I look down at my thighs seeing the overall picks I've made. At least 15 separate centimeter wide picks on each thigh. Some with new skin growing over top of them, making me want to pick at them even more. I bite my lip harder to stop myself before I continue to pick at them. Luckily clenching into the towel after the water was turned off helped a lot with not picking at my skin and drying me off.
-
"Destiney you need to quit working here." A student named Daya says. "You can't be a janitor here and miss what could possibly be the love your life's because you had work the next day."
"Da-"
"You work as a janitor for the shittiest school in Ohio. That's not something I would want to tell a boy." She says closing her locker and following me to the storage closet.
"Aren't you supposed to be in class?"
"Ya know if this josh guy is really as cute as you say he is I would quit." She shrugs "the only thing stopping you is this job."
"Why are you smarter than any of my friends?"
"Because I know this stuff. I'm a social outcast like how you were. That doesn't mean I'm not going to pay attention to how the real world works. Plus you're like my only friend here so."
"So that's why I shouldn't quit. I'd leave you all alone." I say.
"I can live and make other friends, you however need to make a boyfriend."
"But I can't do that if I don't have a roof over my head."
"He can pay for you."
"He and I will probably not see each other for another couple years." I say pushing the trash can and picking up trash around the lobby.
"Jesus Christ now you've jinxed it. Good going Destiney."
"I think you should call me Miss Jones here right?"
"I really don't care. You're a janitor, no ones gonna take you seriously until you get a real job and a boyfriend named josh."
"Daya, 1)you should probably get to class 2) there is no shame in something that keeps me alive 3) again josh and I will probably never see each other again. No matter how small the world is."
"Ok but before I go can I just ask what your other hobbies are? Things that could qualify for a job?"
"Umm. I tend to take pictures a lot whenever I'm bored."
"Ok great." She says "invest yourself into that and do that, become better and sell it online and bam you have money and it's something that you like to do."
"I'll consider it." I shrug shoving her shoulder away to the classroom she's supposed to be in.
"If the teacher says anything stand up for me." She whispers, making me nod in return. When she walks in the classroom all eyes are on us and silence over takes us.
"Miss jones. May I have a word?" He teacher says. Daya and I exchange a look before she goes to her seat and the teacher comes to me as if I were a student who needed discipline.
"Listen I'm sorry for d-"
"What are you doing? You're a janitor." The teacher begins. "You aren't a teacher. Don't hold my students back. I never want to see this again or I will go to the boss about you-"
"Geez you don't understand kids much." I shake my head.
"What did you say?!"
"I said you don't understand kids much." I shrug. "I mean sure you may be a teacher and not a janitor but you're not hearing my side of it or Dayas and not to mention you're leaving your class unattended so you can yell at me as if I was a child. So I'd like to have one moment with Daya and I'll be out of your way forever I promise."
"Fine." She says. "Daya."
"Yeah?"
"One last word before you start to learn."
"Ok." Daya says getting up and leaving the classroom with her and I only in the hallway.
"Give me your phone number." I say handing her my phone.
"That's creepy. Why?" She asks typing in her number anyway.
"I want to keep you filled in while I'm not here anymore." I say
"Ohh my god. You're actually going to quit?"
"Yeah." I shrug "you've convinced me." I say sliding my phone in my pocket before getting a small side hug and a wave.
"Have fun in the real world." She whispers before getting back into the classroom. I chuckle a but before going to the principles office and confessing my retirement from being janitor.
-
"Hey Christine you still hanging out with Kyle?" I ask over the phone as I chill out on the couch.
"Yeah why?"
"Well I just quit my job and wanted to let you know." I say tossing some popcorn in my mouth watching Jim Gaffigan crack me up repeatedly.
"Really?" She says "isn't that like anti- Christian?"
"It's called a sin and no it's not against my religion to quit a job what the heck dude?" I say furrowing my brows as if she was stupid.
"Well you never know." She says, I can feel her shrug through her words. "Kyle stop, hey Destiney I have to go I'll talk to you sometime later ok?" She says giggling into the phone
"Yeah bye." I say quickly clicking the end button on my phone. I take a big sigh and take out my old photo albums of all pictures I took. Flipping through and looking at the I made to my old pictures. A small, crooked smile somewhat landing itself on my lips.
