Blood Lilly

Chapter 12

Las Vegas was a crazier place then I would have thought. The hustle of city life, along with the crime was something I needed to get used to. It had been almost two years since I had lived in the city. It wasn't the fact that there were so many people, it was the lights and activity that never seemed to stop which I was trying to accustom with again. However it was perfect for losing one's self in the crowd.

The first thing I did after arriving was to find an apartment to rent. I wasn't picky, so that was easily fixed. The place was smaller than the one I had lived in with grandmamma. It was my first studio apartment or 'box' as I like to think of it. The outside was rough and I had a feeling that most of my neighbors were drug dealers, hookers or strippers but that didn't bother me. All I had to do was keep out of trouble. That didn't seem such an impossible task if I could keep to myself.

I dumped my bag on the small double bed and looked around. The place was tiny with only a small table, two chairs, the bed and a thing the landlord had sworn was a kitchen. I couldn't really complain, considering how cheap it was. There were a few holes in the walls and no TV, but who needed a TV anyways?

What I did need though was to get a job, which meant I needed to change my appearance. Ok, so maybe I wanted a change also. I was over being Lilly Vale the dead girl walking. Instead I wanted to be normal. Grabbing a pair of scissors, I tied my long hair back into a ponytail and cut. Eight inches of long black hair fell to the floor. Even though I wanted to, I didn't cry, instead I checked out my new look. It wasn't too bad but not nearly a good enough change. I was going to have to buy some hair dye. Probably a nice plain mousey brown something that wouldn't draw attention to me. I was also tossing up the idea of colored eye contacts, again sticking with brown. I want to be plain and boring which to me meant dull browns...no rich chocolates or caramel colors for me. No, instead I would stick with mud or dirt colors.

Morning came all too soon, the sound of traffic, kids and babies crying was a huge change from what I had been used to at Paradise End. There was some left over pizza in the fridge which I ate cold. It wasn't as good as it had been last night but it wasn't terrible either. I had maybe two hundred dollars left from what I had stolen out of Gabriel's wallet. It wasn't much but it'd see me through for a little longer if I was careful on what I spent it on. So, with that in mind I figured today I would try my hand at couponing. It had been ages since I had helped Grandmamma with clipping coupons, but if it meant I got to eat more for a hell of a lot less, than I was going to do it. As Grandmamma would say "a penny saved is a penny earned, Lilly." I really missed her.

Growing up I was taught the value of money. Now that I was out in the real world without a high school education, I needed to put the skills I had to use. All my money— everything—my mom's car and her house, it was all gone. Therefore finding work and using the tricks my Grandmamma had taught me was the only resources I now had left. It was a good thing I had spent eighteen years learning from one of the most thriftiest people I knew, my Grandmamma.

With coupons in hand and twenty dollars in my wallet, I headed to the store. My plan was to stock up on what would last the longest and not take up heaps of room. Pasta and sauces were high on the list. Easy to cook and cheap to eat and there was always some on sale. Grabbing a few boxes I moved on to the hair dye section. Mentally I tossed out anything that looked too glossy or pretty. I already had a bottle of peroxide in the cart so all that was left was to buy a plain brown dye. Finally I settled on a mute coffee color. There were butterflies in my tummy as I walked up to the register, unloading my items. I had nearly ninety dollars' worth of items, some with coupons other with nothing. My stomach twisted as the girl began to scan. If I had messed up I'd loss almost ninety dollars that was not going to help me survive.