New Perspective [A Jessie J Fanfiction]

Chapter 6

Two weeks have passed since my Dad's funeral. To say my life feels empty and pointless would be the understatement of a century. On the bright side however, I managed to get a job at a Daycare center in the heart of London. It was about 30 minutes from our apartment on feet which wasn't bad. What worried me though was how far away it would be from our new apartment.

My mom and I had been searching for cheap apartments nearby but it seemed London was just too expensive a place to live anymore, considering how shitty my new job paid. Despite this, I knew better than to complain as I knew I was in no position to be picky.

As expected, college was put on hold as my job required 8 hours out of me every day except Sunday. Honestly, I wasn't even sure how I'd gotten this job. I wasn't very fond of kids. I mean, yes I do love Lily but I just don't know how I felt about being around kids for so long every day. I figured the lady I spoke to just felt bad for me. Yes I used the 'my Dad just died and we're broke' card but what else could I really do? It's not that I wanted anyone's pity, I was desperate and as much as I hated to sound desperate, what choice did I have?

Monday soon came and today would be my first day working. My phone alarmed, letting me know it was 6am. I got out of bed lazily and strolled down the stairs towards Lily's room.

My mom had already been up and so I said a quick good morning to her as she continued cooking breakfast. My family and I were close but we never talked about stuff that bothered us. Not a word about my Dad was said after the funeral. It's not that we pretended everything was okay, because we didn't. We just accepted the fact that we were miserable and nothing would ever be the same again. No candles, no prayers, no words, nothing we ever did or tried to do could ever fill the hole in our hearts where that person we loved so much used to be. Then, we moved on and dealt with it in whatever way we knew how to.

"Lily, wake up," I shook her slightly and kept chanting her name in a sing song voice. After about 5 minutes, she was finally awake and I led her towards the shower before retreating to my room to take a quick shower as well.

Within a few minutes I stood in front of the full length mirror in the bathroom, gazing at the reflection that stared back at me. My light brown eyes showed no depth, no light. They were empty, along with every other part of me. I brushed my shoulder length dark brown hair, pulling it back into a pony. It was days like these that I appreciated how straight and low maintenance my hair was. I quickly jumped into a tight, light blue jeans and pulled a red T-shirt over my head before once again, retreating downstairs. I wasn't one for makeup. I did like to wear it sometimes but for the most part, I didn't care much.

I grabbed my cellphone, and checked the time before quickly slipping it into my jeans pocket along with £10. I decided to skip breakfast as I realized it was getting late. "Come on Lily, let's go," I said before grabbing her backpack and heading for the door, Lily trailing closely behind me.

Her school was in the same direction of my new workplace and so I decided I would walk her to school every day. Not much was said between us. Sometimes I wondered what went on inside her head. I figured she understood a lot more about what was going on than she led on. She was young but circumstances always pushed people to grow up faster, something I was trying to protect Lily from. Let's face it, growing up sucks. You study; get a job you most times hate then go home and do the same thing over and over.

******
20 minutes later, I stood in front of a bright neon sign with the words, 'Panda's Daycare'. Why they named it that, I will never understand. I took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. The same woman who interviewed me a couple days ago opened the door and smiled widely as she saw me. "Mia! Good morning! I hope you're as excited as I am." I groaned inwardly at her uncalled for enthusiasm. Isn't there a saying about not trusting people who smile before 8am? I forced the best smile I could before following her into the building.