Gloom and Glow

Rent Issues

Terry

        2 weeks had passed ever since then, and out of the sadness I started to binge-drink on blood packs in the fridge every night and it was just so Selena wouldn't find out that I binge-drink on blood because that girl would definitely complain a lot about it.

      Usually, I'll sell the paintings I made, but today I had no idea what to draw, so I am pretty screwed. Especially I have been standing for about half an hour in front of this blank canvas with my mind as blank as the canvas in front of me.  Despite all my efforts, I couldn't think of what to paint today and I have to submit my painting soon enough.

       Then, I heard a loud thump from the door as I heard fast and loud footsteps going down to the basement, the place where I draw most of my drawings. It was Selena, she stood at the doorway looking exhausted and shocked, she had a panicked look on her face and an exam paper in her hands, "Terry, I failed!" She screamed in terror, and I just looked at her by the corner of my eyes, silent.

      I have no damn clue what I am supposed to say here.

    "I am guessing you are going to repeat?" I asked, probably the actual reason why she was looking so panicked.

      "YEAH!" She said as she started throwing her hair around making her already messy hair into more of a mess by every moment. Then when she started calming down, she went closer towards me as I pretended to be busy, but she still talked in the end.

        "Even my mom, she told me to give it up, but I don't--"

       "There are other exams..." I said.

       It so hard to believe that this girl who used to score top ten in the high school exams is just struggling and tossing her hair around because she just failed an exam in college. People used to even call her genius when she walked around the school ground but those were just old times by this point.

          From what her doctor wrote, she'll have difficulty remembering what she read from books especially, it's not permanent but she'll take some time to recover. So, with that, I ban her from drinking the human pleasure drink called 'alcohol'.

           After she finished speaking about things that I couldn't hear because she was speaking in the sound of light. I sighed, and I remembered about the mail, "go get the mail first, and make sure you don't forget your umbrella," I told her looking at her. She nodded, "okay!" She said, as she started running upstairs and I could've sworn one of these days, the wooden stairs is going to break if she keeps on running up the stairs like that.

          I started sketching random things, trying to get an idea, and then she came back minutes later with a lot of letters in her hands, she looked pale and I just remembered there was going to be a storm outside, so I could see the midnight blue hoodie she was wearing was wet, it was probably raining outside.

        "Here are the letters and bills," she said in a weak voice.

      "Oh," I said, reaching my hand out as I walked towards her, "give me all of those."

     I snatched it away from her hands the moment she held hers, I didn't want to touch her hands, I rather stay away, if I got closer to her. I don't know how I am going to feel about it.

      "Likewise," I said, while tearing up the bills while Selena listened attentively, "you better pay half of the bills."

       She nodded, "okay!" 

      I chucked the bills out from the envelope and looked at it for one moment before calculating the amount she has to pay. "75$, you, go get 75$, I told her."