Trust Issues

Chapter 4: Open Up

Several weeks have passed, and my endless shifts at the casino continue. That also means, pay checks have rolled in. Though it is no prestigious job, it feels damn good to finally have some income. Still, money is tight and just enough to pay for the rent and necessities.

Then Cat bursts into the apartment.

"CJ I got a job, I got a job, I got a job!" She screeched in excitement.

She looked like a toddler jumping up and down.

"A job? Where?" I asked astonished. I was not even aware that she was looking for a job.

"This old record shop near my school was hiring a part time associate so I went in to apply. They gave it to me almost instantly! Didn't even want a resume. Something about 'having the right look?'" She giggled.

Wow, it took me weeks to do what took Cat a coincidence to get.

"I want to help you pay for rent and other things we need." She continued.

My heart hurt for a second, at the thought of my baby sister having to balance work and school to help us basically survive.

"Cat, I'm really happy for you and grateful for your help, but you didn't have to. We can manage with just my income. I don't want you to have to miss things and be overly stressed."

"CJ, I'm doing what any other normal teen is doing. It's not uncommon and I'll manage just fine." She responded.

I guess she is right. So I gave her a big congratulations hug.

"I'm a little under budget this week and I get paid tomorrow, so I'm taking you out on a celebratory lunch!" I decided.

She jumped up and clapped, then we made our way out of the apartment. We settled on eating at this cute local diner called Mama's Diner close by that made some amazing burgers and sandwiches.

The rest of the day Cat went to the library to study with some friends.

In these past weeks, I have grown closer to Lily at work. She gave me her number just last week and we have been texting quite a bit. Lily is incredibly sweet and we have a lot in common from our love of art, similar music tastes but also bonded over out totally polar opposite styles. She was very girly and preppy and I guess the word to describe me is, grunge, a little rough around the edges.

Since we both had today off, we made plans for Lily to show me the city. This will also be my first time riding the infamous New York subway. Not sure how I will manage to navigate through that.

***

"CJ!" Lily waved at me from just down the street that I was told to meet her at.

"Hey Lily" I greeted her with a warm hug.

We walked around the downtown area, stopping at a couple places that she wanted to introduce me to. We sat down to grab coffee at this sweet, indie cafe just big enough for five small tables and a bench against the interior brick wall.

"So CJ, what's your life story?" Asked Lily taking a cautious sip of her steaming coffee.

"Well, what do you want to know?" I responded.

I am not exactly open with my previous home situation and not exactly proud of my current situation, especially not this early in a friendship.

"Not to be nosey, but you seem to have an interesting backstory. It's pretty unusual that someone is just 'okay' with any shift, any time of the day, however many times a week. What's going on?"