The Game

Chapter 1

Susan was lying upside down in her bed with her ponytail end just brushing the floor when she heard her her mom call out, "Susan! Did you get the bread?"
Oh shit.
Her mom had asked her to buy bread on her way back from her part time job at the café. And she had forgotten.

She ran down the stairs and into the kitchen where her mom was preparing that day's dinner as well the breakfast for the next day. If she had to apologise, she better do it with a puppy face. Not that it ever worked on her mom.
"Great. No breakfast tomorrow then", said Janice Wellington. That face was enough to tell her that a long apology was on its way from her daughter's mouth.
"Sorry Mom, I promise I'll get it first thing in the morning tomorrow. As for breakfast, we'll save some of today's dinner?" Susan hoped it would be enough for both of them.

"Do we have a choice?" She sounded tired. Janice worked hard to make sure her daughter wasn't going to end up with the same fate that she had. Unemployed and married to a man who she had thought she loved but who was clearly incapable of handling the miseries of life.

As did Susan. Working a part time job after school and occasionally doing odd jobs when time permitted, Susan needed all the money she could save for her University education.

"Do water the plants tomorrow, okay?" Her mom tells her.
"Promise", Susan says, "Their life depends on it."
"And so does ours."
Her mom had to do two jobs to make both ends meet. Her official job was being a nanny to the Bluefills kids. A bunch of snobbish children, all of whom were born with a silver spoon in their mouths. But the job paid handsomely and that was all that mattered. She also worked,  on the side, as a florist. It was her childhood hobby to grow plants, watch as little buds rose from the stem nodes, and then wait for them to bloom into beautiful flowers. But when times became desperate, this hobby had to be turned into a side job. And it was Susan who would go everytime to Bridges, the flower shop at the market to sell their growth. It had made her into quite a businesswoman.

"Tomorrow is Sunday, Mom. You have to be back from the Monsters' Mansion"- she said referring to the Bluefills Manor- "before 7 o' clock so that we can watch The Game together." It was seriously the best game show ever. They hadn't been really creative with  the name but shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, they say.

"I promise I'll try to get back as soon as I can but I can't guarantee it. I am  going to work on a Sunday for you, honey. Once you get to college, we'll watch T.V. together everyday."

Susan let out a sigh. Her mom was always talking about her college and don't get her wrong, she wanted to go to college as bad as her mom wanted her to as well. But it hardly seemed like things would be as peppy as her mom made them sound. They would still be faced with shortage of money and Susan will probably have to get another job in addition to her cafe one to pay for her education. They would never be able to save enough in the few months that were left.
The only worry was whether they would have to part with their beautiful house as well. It was a modest house, nothing compared to the Monsters' Mansion, in Susan's words, but it was the only thing that was their own. Her mom had bought it with her dad, when he was still in his sober days. Before he had completely given himself in to the alcohol.
With the tiny but beautiful backyard where  they grew their flowers, and two floors, the mother and daughter loved their home as much as they loved each other and neither were willing to sell it off for money, even if it meant an easier way to pay their bills.

Brushing aside her fears after her hardly filling dinner, Susan pecked her mom on her cheek a goodnight kiss and went back upstairs to her small bedroom. Tomorrow she had to be alone at home till her mom came back. That meant doing all the household chores which she hated doing and that was definitely not an easy task. She needed to read a novel before going to sleep, otherwise sleep might not come at all.