Her Hope

Chapter 9

The mindless chatter of people who are having lunch in the restaurant was high enough to drown my thoughts in them. However, by the time these words reached me, they were incoherent, so I couldn't exactly pick up any gossip. I'm honestly not the type of girl who like gossiping but having the same conversation with different people over and over again turned out to be extremely boring and definitely not as fun as Lana made it out to be before I was hired.

Speaking of Lana, she finally turned up today on my second day at this job, and when I asked her why she didn't come yesterday, she told me that she had to buy a dress for her school's homecoming dance, so she went shopping with her friends after school. This made me think back to my homecoming dance that I never really went to. My foster parents at the orphanage didn't have enough money or resources to allow me to buy a new dress, and the mother didn't think that I would take care of one of her 'fancy' dresses if she would've let me borrow one. So instead, I spent the night cleaning up the kitchen since apparently it wasn't 'shiny' or 'clean' enough for my foster parents.

However, those days are now behind me, and hopefully, tonight I will be able to rent a room to finally be able to fully move past all these bad memories. My shift seemed to pass by unexpectedly quickly, and by six in the afternoon, I was collecting my tips from Mr. Smith before bidding Lana, who I didn't have any chance to talk to tonight since she was always swamped with customers, goodbye before leaving the restaurant after my second successful day at work.

The feeling of pride was filling me and was urging me to go to the orphanage and show the foster parents that I could succeed at something. I wanted to show them that the words they said while kicking me were meaningless and that I wouldn't always 'fail at everything I do'. Maybe, I have this urge because I was always trying to make them proud of me as a kid, but they never were, even after I came in the top five all through my middle school as well as my high school years.

You are probably wondering why I wasn't offered any scholarships. Well, I got a lot of offers, but they were never full scholarships since they only gave them to the one person at school who was the most successful in academics and sports. And, I never played any sport, for I didn't have the money to buy the equipment needed. But, it wasn't really that much of a tragedy, as I didn't even like playing sports. Not to mention that the foster parents wouldn't have allowed me to accept the scholarships I got, for after all, the power of their punishment was just too much to go against.

However, those scholarships along with my life at the orphanage are no longer of any significance to me. I am now building the life I deserve while setting my own rules. Walking out of the restaurant, I was faced with an extremely cold gust of wind which once again reminded me of the importance of buying that sweater that I keep talking about. So, instead of going to search for a room straightaway, I decided to pass by the thrift store and buy the cheapest warm sweater that they have.

The walk towards the thrift store consisted of lots of shivering to the point where I ran into the store the moment I saw it to try and raise my body temperature because at this rate, I would be a human popsicle by the end of the night.

The thrift store had all types of jackets and sweaters which made me literally swoon because of how warm and fluffy they looked. But, I decided to buy only one sweater today with the promise that I would come and get a jacket and another sweater when I receive my paycheck. After quickly purchasing a soft black sweater, I put it on then started my way towards the third apartment I'll look at. This apartment is only twelve minutes away from the restaurant which is not bad at all.

I arrived at the building and stopped for a minute to look at it closely. It definitely wasn't as fancy as the two I saw yesterday, but I didn't have any luck in those two buildings, so maybe, things will run smoothly here. Luckily, the building had an elevator which was an advantage since the apartment is on the fifth floor and going up and down those stairs everyday would just be too tiring.

Standing in front of the apartment, I crossed my fingers before hoping for the best and knocking on the door. The door opened instantly as if someone was standing directly behind it, and I was faced with a girl who had a huge smile on her face.

"Hello, can I help you?" The girl said sweetly.

"Yes, please. I saw the advertisement about renting a room in the newspaper and I was wondering if you leased it out or not. If not, I would like to rent it after we talk about the monthly cost and all that." I quickly answered all in one breath.

"Oh, of course. My roommate and I didn't rent the room yet. Why don't you come inside and we can talk over a cup of tea."

I walked inside the apartment and looked around to take its design in. It was a really simple apartment with white walls and black furniture making me like it a lot.

"Well, first of all, my name is Iris. But, let's get straight to business before the introductions. The room is small and doesn't have a lot of furniture in it, only a single bed and a closet. You will have to use the bathroom that's in between the rooms, as that room is the only one that doesn't have a bathroom in it. The rent is five hundred and fifty dollars a month. It's usually more, but the landlord didn't raise the rent recently, so that's it. You can see the room if you want, and if you like it, you can move in today. What do you think?"

"Yes, I would like to rent the room after seeing it first. But, if I move in today, can I pay the rent on the weekend after I get my paycheck?" I asked hopefully.

"Yes, of course. But, you will have to sign a contract. I already drew it just in case anyone came to check the room out."

There was a pink fluffy cloud of overwhelming happiness floating around me as I toured the apartment. Then, half an hour later, we were singing the contract while drinking hot chocolate. And, for the second time in the same week, I was hopeful, for I now have a job and a roof over my head. All that's left is going to college which will happen soon if things continue at this rate.