Dinking Around

Rain's place to share her writing. What my brain is thinking when it has free time to think. *Disclaimer: These stories are not publishing ready, many are first drafts and many have names that aren't final.

[treygotguap]

Girls will say they busy and be in their bed relaxin or sleep

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Sounds busy to me

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Reblog if you are busy 

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Oh Boy Here We Go

June 2250: Day 0 Around three in the morning, I wake to the quiet tapping of lava rock hitting my window pane and smile, hopping out of bed and pulling on the clothes that I had set out the night before for the day of all days. Its the summer solstice, and I can barely contain my excitement as I drop from my window and into Jesse’s arms. He sets me down and I wave to Dylan, who is walking over from his house next door. I hear Jesse groan in exasperation as Dylan approaches.

“Hey guys, sorry I’m late. Sneaking out tonight was a bitch.” He holds up his arm to show us a nasty looking scratch as we starting walking down the street towards the volcano. I sympathetically smile at Dylan as I pull my bag off of my back and hand him the first aid kit. He gives me a grateful look as he hands me back the kit and puts a purple bandaid on his arm.

“What a puss” Jesse laughs while Dylan glares at him, and I look at the ground, not wanting disdain from either party. Jesse notices my quiet behavior, and elbows me hard in the ribs so I will join him in laughing. I laugh forcefully and Jesse shoves Dylan too hard for it to be playful before stomping off back in the direction of the volcano, lengthening his stride to keep the lead. I fall behind and join Dylan, who platonically bumps my shoulder with his.

“Just so you know, I used the purple bandaid because I know how much you hate purple” He winks at me as he throws an arm around me, and I lean my head onto his shoulder.

“Sorry about inviting him. You know, he’s territorial. A true Fire Spirit.” My words are quiet and calculated so that Jesse can’t hear what I’m saying over the distance between us, but I surprise myself with the disdain in my voice. Dylan catches this tone, and squeezes my shoulder.

“It’s just because I’m too hot.” I giggle, and look up at him. He isn’t wrong, Dylan is the most attractive person I know. If the combination of his dark hair and blue eyes isn't enough, he is tall enough to intimidate nearly anyone, but is so gentle he wouldn't hurt anyone or anything unless they have done something to someone he loves. Ever since we were little, everyone has suspicions that Dylan isn’t a Fire Spirit like the rest of us because of his looks, and honestly, I don’t even know if he can fire bend, I’ve never seen him even want to.

“Hey, ‘Liv c’mere” Jesse calls to me when were about three blocks away from the volcano, and I have to psych myself up before jogging to catch up to him. I join him on his right side, and he grabs my ass while we keep walking. I try to hide my embarrassment as he starts ranting very loudly about something unimportant. I stop paying attention as I look into his face, which is far from perfect. His sandy red hair is overgrown and greasy, spilling onto his forehead, accentuating the immense amount of pimple scars all over his face. He is shorter than me, which seems to be the source of his immense aggression.

“What the hell are you looking at? Is there something on my face?” Theres the aggression I told you about. I try to answer but he scoffs at me a lengthens his stride once again.

Its nearly half past four when we finally make it to the first enclosure, and we jump fence after fence all the way to the top of the mountain. We aren’t the only one on the mountain either. All around us, people are jumping fences and making their way to the top of the volcano, all aiming for a good spot around the opening before sunrise. We’re almost halfway up when we hear the screams.

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NEW STORY ALERT

Hey guys! Long time no see!! I have some new fun ideas for starts of stories, so if you want to give them a read, feel free. I know they're long, but I think they're pretty good. This next one is based off of an Avatar: The Last Airbender type world, so the names are kind of similar, but its a different storyline, so I hope you guys enjoy! Feel free to send me (constructive) criticisms, and suggestions, I would LOVE to hear what you guys think!!

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Hello! We are a fellow writing blog and we wanted to give you a shout out! Is that all cool? Ps love your blog ❤️❤️❤️

GO FOR IT! And thanks! I try really hard to put out good content!

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Chapter 3: Cassia

I gasp at the sight of so much money, and immediately shove it back into the envelope. I know I can’t possibly keep the money, but I’m really late to ballet, so I decide I’ll deal with it later. I stick it in my bag and pull my hair up into my signature bun, and head out to the studio.

I squint into the bright lights glinting off of the walls of mirrors and take in the class for the year. Its small, probably 15 or so students, and none of them really show any interest in being there. I excitedly walk to the bars to begin my warm ups and stretches when the teacher walks in. Much to my surprise, I haven’t met her yet. She has a slight build and pale complexion, and her bright red hair is pulled tightly into a bun. She walks directly up to me, and its seems to me that her personality is very much like her hair: bright.

“Hello, you must be Cassia! My name is Mrs. Brown, but you can call me Megan. I’ll be your ballet teacher for the year!” I shake her hand and apologize for being late, which she brushes aside like its not big deal. I explain to her my past experience with ballet, and she finds it very impressive. She then begins class, teaching everyone the basics, and letting me practice on my own. This is ging to be a great year.                           *   *   *   *   * When I arrive back in the locker room after class and begin to change, I notice that the envelope has disappeared. I search through my bag frantically, praying that it just sunk to the bottom when a group of girls comes back from the showers, holding the envelope. Its the cheer girls, and, from the looks of it,  I’m not going to get it back without a fight.

“Hey Cassia, where’d you get this?”

“The welfare booth?”

“Or was it bumming”

“Definitely bumming.”

They all chime in, snickering and laughing as they pass the money around and contemplate how I got it. I let them keep guessing, knowing that if I say anything I will dig myself deeper and deeper into a hole I already can’t climb out of. I begin to protest when they decide to call the number on the front of the envelope.

“No that’s not a good idea. I don’t know—”

“You don’t know what, Cassia? Did you take this money from somebody? I wouldn’t expect even you to stoop so low.” The captain of the cheers says incredulously, almost mockingly. Thankfully, Megan walks out of her office, ready to leave right at that moment.

“You have no right to accuse Cassia of stealing. In fact you guys stole from her, and if you dont give her back her things, you will regret it.” Megan threatens them, and I almost laugh as all the color drains from their faces and they begrudgingly give me back the envelope before walking away. Megan turns to me.

“Do they do this to you often?” I nod. She sits down next to me. “I know what your going through. The principal told me to not charge you any of the ballet fees because you can’t afford them,  but this is what you love, and I wish someone would have done the same for me when I was your age. My family couldn’t afford my ballet classes when i was in high school, so I would sneak into them. I got kicked out of so many of them, but I was determined because I loved to dance, and its what I knew I was going to do for the rest of my life.” She pulls a business card out of her purse. “If you ever need anything, and I mean anything, don’t hesitate to call me. I’ll always be here for you, even when others aren’t.” She smiles at me, and helps me gather my things before walking me to my next class.

“Thank you so much for all the help, Megan. I really appreciate it. I’ll see you tomorrow in class.” I smile to show my appreciation and walk into my next class.                            *   *   *   *   * When school ends, I walk home quickly, my hand in my bag holding onto the envelope through the streets beriddled with bums. I walk inside and hug my mom, whose already slaving over chicken empanadas for dinner. I walk into my room and flick on the light. I watch it carefully, watching the sparks and waiting for the light to illuminate. After ten minutes, I give up and sit down on my bed in the dark.

I pull out the envelope and my torn bag as well as my ancient flip phone and dial the number I’ve read countless times over the course of the day. I hesitate before pressing talk, but I know its the right thing to do. The phone only rings once before he answers, almost as though he was waiting for me to call.

“Hello, this is Asher”

“Hey, its Cassia. I can’t possibly keep this money, you need to take it back.”

“No, I can’t. You need it more than I do,  and you keeping it will prevent me from spending it on something stupid. ”

“Look, I appreciate your concern, but my family and I are really fine without the money. Please take it back.”

“Fine, I'll  make you a deal. I’ll take the money back, but you have to let me drive you home for the rest of the school year. Don’t think I don’t notice you walking towards the bad neighborhood on your way home, thats not safe.”

I panic a little bit. I don’t want him to see how I live, but I don’t want to keep his money either.

“Is there any other option?”

“Well, how about you keep the money and it can act as a payment for some tutoring maybe? I really need math help.”

I think this option through. I coukd use the money for some new clothes or something, and that way I would be offering a service and not just taking it,  but that still leaves the fact that I don’t want him to see my house.

“That sounds like a deal, but we can’t do tutoring at my house. Do we want to meet at the library right after school for the next two weeks so its my normal $10 for two hour sessions?”

“That sounds good to me. I’ll meet you there right after school.”

“Great, talk to you then.”

“Sounds good, bye.”

“Bye.”

I hang up my phone and scream into my pillow, trying to calm the butterflies bouncing around in my stomache from talking to Asher.

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Chapter 3: Cassia

I gasp at the sight of so much money, and immediately shove it back into the envelope. I know I can't possibly keep the money, but I'm really late to ballet, so I decide I'll deal with it later. I stick it in my bag and pull my hair up into my signature bun, and head out to the studio. I squint into the bright lights glinting off of the walls of mirrors and take in the class for the year. Its small, probably 15 or so students, and none of them really show any interest in being there. I excitedly walk to the bars to begin my warm ups and stretches when the teacher walks in. Much to my surprise, I haven't met her yet. She has a slight build and pale complexion, and her bright red hair is pulled tightly into a bun. She walks directly up to me, and its seems to me that her personality is very much like her hair: bright. "Hello, you must be Cassia! My name is Mrs. Brown, but you can call me Megan. I'll be your ballet teacher for the year!" I shake her hand and apologize for being late, which she brushes aside like its not big deal. I explain to her my past experience with ballet, and she finds it very impressive. She then begins class, teaching everyone the basics, and letting me practice on my own. This is ging to be a great year.                           *   *   *   *   * When I arrive back in the locker room after class and begin to change, I notice that the envelope has disappeared. I search through my bag frantically, praying that it just sunk to the bottom when a group of girls comes back from the showers, holding the envelope. Its the cheer girls, and, from the looks of it,  I'm not going to get it back without a fight. "Hey Cassia, where'd you get this?" "The welfare booth?" "Or was it bumming" "Definitely bumming." They all chime in, snickering and laughing as they pass the money around and contemplate how I got it. I let them keep guessing, knowing that if I say anything I will dig myself deeper and deeper into a hole I already can't climb out of. I begin to protest when they decide to call the number on the front of the envelope. "No that's not a good idea. I don't know---" "You don't know what, Cassia? Did you take this money from somebody? I wouldn't expect even you to stoop so low." The captain of the cheers says incredulously, almost mockingly. Thankfully, Megan walks out of her office, ready to leave right at that moment. "You have no right to accuse Cassia of stealing. In fact you guys stole from her, and if you dont give her back her things, you will regret it." Megan threatens them, and I almost laugh as all the color drains from their faces and they begrudgingly give me back the envelope before walking away. Megan turns to me. "Do they do this to you often?" I nod. She sits down next to me. "I know what your going through. The principal told me to not charge you any of the ballet fees because you can't afford them,  but this is what you love, and I wish someone would have done the same for me when I was your age. My family couldn't afford my ballet classes when i was in high school, so I would sneak into them. I got kicked out of so many of them, but I was determined because I loved to dance, and its what I knew I was going to do for the rest of my life." She pulls a business card out of her purse. "If you ever need anything, and I mean anything, don't hesitate to call me. I'll always be here for you, even when others aren't." She smiles at me, and helps me gather my things before walking me to my next class. "Thank you so much for all the help, Megan. I really appreciate it. I'll see you tomorrow in class." I smile to show my appreciation and walk into my next class.                            *   *   *   *   * When school ends, I walk home quickly, my hand in my bag holding onto the envelope through the streets beriddled with bums. I walk inside and hug my mom, whose already slaving over chicken empanadas for dinner. I walk into my room and flick on the light. I watch it carefully, watching the sparks and waiting for the light to illuminate. After ten minutes, I give up and sit down on my bed in the dark. I pull out the envelope and my torn bag as well as my ancient flip phone and dial the number I've read countless times over the course of the day. I hesitate before pressing talk, but I know its the right thing to do. The phone only rings once before he answers, almost as though he was waiting for me to call. "Hello, this is Asher" "Hey, its Cassia. I can't possibly keep this money, you need to take it back." "No, I can't. You need it more than I do,  and you keeping it will prevent me from spending it on something stupid. " "Look, I appreciate your concern, but my family and I are really fine without the money. Please take it back." "Fine, I'll  make you a deal. I'll take the money back, but you have to let me drive you home for the rest of the school year. Don't think I don't notice you walking towards the bad neighborhood on your way home, thats not safe." I panic a little bit. I don't want him to see how I live, but I don't want to keep his money either. "Is there any other option?" "Well, how about you keep the money and it can act as a payment for some tutoring maybe? I really need math help." I think this option through. I coukd use the money for some new clothes or something, and that way I would be offering a service and not just taking it,  but that still leaves the fact that I don't want him to see my house. "That sounds like a deal, but we can't do tutoring at my house. Do we want to meet at the library right after school for the next two weeks so its my normal $10 for two hour sessions?" "That sounds good to me. I'll meet you there right after school." "Great, talk to you then." "Sounds good, bye." "Bye." I hang up my phone and scream into my pillow, trying to calm the butterflies bouncing around in my stomache from talking to Asher.

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An apology

Hey all! I’m terribly sorry I haven’t kept up with my oath of updating every week, but there will be writing coming soon! Also, from now on, the chapters won’t be pre-written, so they may be longer or shorter depending on how much I feel like writing for the day. Thank you all for baring with me, and I hope you all are enjoying the content so far!

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Chapter Two: Asher

     I’m such a bad kid. First day back and I’m already slacking off. At the end of last year, I promised myself that I would change my ways, but its still the same old me, making the bad decisions I told myself I wouldn’t ever make when I was in grade school. Immediately upon re-entering the premises of the school for another hellish year, I immediately went to the place where I told myself I wouldn’t go this year: the sewer. The pressure of being a senior came way too premature for me, and I couldn’t handle it; I had to get out, and the sewer is really the only place that seems like a haven to me. I lean into the crumbling wall in the same place as always: as close to school property as I can get and as far away from the tobacco-ridden stagnant water in the so-called creek as I can get. I pull my backpack into my lap and reach into the front pocket to grab the altoids tin inside. I set the bag down and open the tin, inhaling the skunky odor that I have grown so accustomed to. I carefully pick up one of the perfectly wrapped joints and place it between my lips while I shut the tin and put it away in my bag. I pull my lighter out of my pocket and light up, inhaling the smoke deep into my lungs. It burns in a way that makes me cough, so I exhale prematurely and try again, choking worse on the smoke. I tell myself to let the weed help me relax, but I’m tense and jumpy, and the smell of the weed isn’t helping, so I angrily put it out and toss it into the creek.

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      I make it into second period Government right after the bell rings and sit in the closest seat, trying not to draw attention to myself. I pull out a notebook and pen, and act responsible as the teacher, Mrs. Wessley gets up from her desk and begins pacing the room. She is a very severe looking woman with a tight bun and a bright blue pantsuit, and she seems to be coming my way.

     “Ah, it seems that someone thinks that they are too good for my class, hm? I bet you’re going to be a load of trouble this year, aren’t you?” She asks, brandishing a ruler like a wand.

     “No, ma’am.” I respond, fighting the urge to roll my eyes at the ridiculous woman. I clear my throat as she begins addressing the whole class, and I zone out. It’s going to be a long year.

                                                 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

     After a seemingly endless second period, I meet up with one of my closest friends, Jay. I avoided him all summer because he is constantly pestering me about smoking and getting my life together, but there’s no avoiding him during school because he has this insane ability to know exactly where you are in every hour during school and so when I walked out of Government he bombarded me.

     “Oh, you got Wessley? I heard she’s a real witch.” He says, snickering as she walks by, holding her ruler like a wand.

     “Yeah, she is. Its the first day back and she already has me labelled as a bad kid just because I was a few seconds late to class. Maybe that means she won’t expect much from me.” I joke, hoping that what I’m saying could turn out to be true in any way.

     “Hold up, you were late to class? Dude, it the first day back, so smoking can’t be relieving stress, there isn’t any to relieve. It’s habit now. And I will tell your parents if you don’t stop. It isn’t good for you, and I would like to keep you around, bro.” Its the usual lecture, but for some reason, I feel more guilt than normal. The first warning bell rings, so Jay waves goodbye as we part ways. 

     Not knowing where else to go, I head back to the sewer and pull a cig out of my pocket and hold it with my teeth. I hesitate before lighting it because of the guilt, but the pull of the nicotine forces my hand to flick the lighter. I go through the motions: Inhale once into the throat then again into the chest, but the smoke seems to keep getting stuck in my throat and making me cough, so I put the cig out and act like I’m smoking when the boys arrive. 

     They’re loud and boisterous as ever, and each one greets me with a punch in the shoulder. When the second warning bell rings in the distance, the boys all settle down for a smoke when I notice a very blonde and very skinny figure hustling towards the sewer. The speed of the figure suggests that they are trying to get somewhere quickly, and I assume its the North Building, as the sewer is a well known shortcut. I’m not the only one that notices the figure, however. One by one, the guys begin to notice the person, obviously a girl now that facial features can be seen. Typical blonde hair blue eyed trash that go to this school, yet she seems different than most of them. She isn’t wearing makeup, which gives her a kinder appearance compared to the intense eyebrows that most girls draw on, and she is alone. The girls here at Palomino Creek always travel in groups with their fake friends, but she is utterly alone, and entering dangerous territory. She’s walking fast, and is cutting towards the shortcut path, much as I suspected. 

     Then, the cat-calling starts and I feel my stomach drop to the ground. The boys all begin yelling very demeaning names at the terrified girl, who has slowed down and is out of breath. She’s almost in the safe zone when the guys decide to close in on her, knocking her stuff to the ground and blowing smoke into her face. Her freckled face is turning green, and she sinks to the ground to try to compose herself. I feel my face go red with anger as the guys continue to let her suffer, and my impulse takes over. I walk up to the group of guys and begin gathering her things, hearing the final bell ring in the distance. 

     I see a panicked look on her face when I begin to pick up her things, and then she yells at me to not touch her things, because it is all her family could afford. This breaks my heart, so when the boys flip towards me and block her view, I scribble my number and a note on an envelope and put all the cash in my wallet into it. I then stick it in her bag and offer her help up. 

     “I’ll walk you to class.” I say, trying to be kind and considerate. She gets up without my help and tries to grab her bag from me, which I refuse to give her. My mom has always told me that carrying things for women is the polite thing to do, so I intended to do the polite thing. I then picked up my own bag and we walked to her class in the North Building. I handed her things back to her upon arrival to the women’s locker room inside the North Building and went on my way before she discovered the money in her bag. 

     By impulse, my feet carried me back to the sewer, and when I got there, I was relieved to see that the boys were gone. I set my backpack down on the wall to pull out the altoids tin for the second time today, and took a short walk down to the creek. Looking into the murky water full of cigarette butts and decaying leaves, I made myself promise that this experience would be the last time I would ever come down to the sewer for the rest of the year, and in a defiant manner, I proceeded to dump my weed and cigarettes into the creek. I have found my reason to quit.... she just doesn’t know it yet.

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Chapter One: Cassia

On that first day back to school, a lot happened to me. Over the course of the first three periods of my senior year, three major events took place: 1) Brody explained to me his exciting summer, 2) Emma told me about her peppy new life, 3) I met Asher. Here’s how it all went down.

I got to school at my usual 6:53 AM and walked inside, in search of Brody. Unfortunately, I stumbled upon Emma instead.

“Hey Cass, you won’t believe what I decided to do this summer: I tried out for the cheer squad! And, I MADE IT!!!!! Isn't this the most FABULOUS thing like, ever?!” She squeals into my ear, deafening me with her ‘pep’.

“Uh, sure. That’s great Em. I’ll catch you later, k?” I say, rubbing my ear and pushing past her, avoiding a conversation with her and looking for my locker, which was conveniently near my first class of the day, AP Stats. I open it up and snicker at the graffiti inside: ‘G+L 4ever’, ‘I h8 math’, ‘756-9890, call me' and just as I place my empty notebooks over it I feel a tap on my back. I whirl around and come face to face with Brody, who looks dapper as always. He has on a green polo shirt with a pair of Bermuda shorts and loafers, and his light hair is purposely disheveled.His warm chestnut eyes are looking right into my soul, attempting to conceal a look of pain and arrogance. He speaks before I can greet him.

“Hey, we need to talk. I know I couldn't hang out much this summer because we were at our summer home in Mexico, but the truth is, I've changed since last year. After my grandfather’s death in June, I inherited a quarter of his money, and I need someone who has credit as good as mine is, and, seeing how you don’t have a quarter of a million dollars sitting in your bank account right now, I going to have to call it quits.” My jaw drops, and I begin to talk him down from the pedestal that he has been sitting on all summer when he leaves me with one last remark: 

“It’s not me, Cassia, It’s you.”  I sigh as I hear the first bell ring and begin my walk to first period. After the first fifteen minutes of my senior year, I guess that it won’t be as fun as everyone says it will be. 

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My first two periods drag on like trying to swim a 500 m in molasses. I can’t focus, and I feel crappy after such a sucky morning because of Brody. When the first bell for third period rings, I’m in the midst of my third daydream in AP Econ, and I awake from my stupor three minutes into passing. Third period is my ballet class, which I’ve been looking forward to since this morning, but its all the way in the North building (all normal classes are in the South building), so I decide to take the shortcut through the ‘stoner sewer’. Its not an actual sewer, just a muggy little creek that cuts the school property in half, and serves a beautiful playground for the sexually active and those needing a smoke.

I look down and walk fast, like my mom taught me to when walking through a sketchy area, when the stoners come out to play. A group of seven seem top appear out of midair, and the leader, the notorious Benjie, steps in front of the group and flicks his blunt into the muddy water.

“Looks like we got ourselves some fresh meat, boys.” his raspy voice covered my body in uneasy goosebumps and his crew begins to cat-call and whoop at me as he begins to move in. I’m on high alert as his posse surrounds me and he knocks my belongings to the ground while sweet talking me with his whole (yet somewhat limited) vocabulary. His yellowed teeth and horrid breath are just inches from my face when I hear the bell go off in the distance. I sink to my knees, trying to escape between the legs of the guys and the smell of weed and tobacco overwhelming me. I cover my nose with my shirt as I notice movement back at the wall the stoners were hiding behind when I arrived. A guy with dark hair is putting out his cigarette and putting on his backpack over at the wall, and he seems upset about something, but he is the least of my problems. The stoners surrounding me have begun pulling on my clothes and continue to call me degrading names, so I stumble towards my bag to find my pepper spray only to see that it is gone. I begin to panic when I see that the stoner not participating in the derogatory name calling has begun picking up my things, so I speak up for the first time since encountering these guys 

“Hey, leave my stuff alone! I worked really hard to get enough money to buy that stuff!” I say, desperately trying to save my life’s savings from being taken by a stoner that obviously has enough money to get the necessities in life, unlike myself. Benjie looks towards the guy and says:

“Great idea, Asher, we’ll take her stuff.” He grins malevolently towards me as the guy- Asher finishes picking up my belongings and throws my bag over his shoulder. He runs his hand through his dark hair and offers me a hand up.

“C’mon, I’ll walk you to class. Where are you headed?” I ignore his hand and get up, trying to grab my bag back from him, to no avail.

“Advanced ballet in the North building” I rely and he leads the way through his friends and across the field. While we walk, I take some time to study his face. His icy blue eyes are hid by jet-black bangs, and his pale lips are pressed together tightly. His pale complexion is speckled with light freackles, and he is going pink from either being out in the sun or being angry, I can’t quite tell which.

After the quiet walk to the North building he hands my bag back and apologizes for his friends’ behavior.

“They just don’t know boundaries, is all. They didn’t mean you any harm. I’m sorry again.” I shrug off his excuses and thank him quickly before going into the locker room. I dig through my bag looking for my leotard when I come across an envelope that I know was not there earlier. The outside has a note on it followed by a phone number: 

                               ‘If you ever need anything, call me’

I open it up and five twenties fall into my lap.

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Author’s Note

Hey all! I’m usually a pretty private person when it comes to my writing, so sharing this with you all is a step out of my comfort zone. I have written the starts of this story over the course of the last few months, and I have really fallen in love with the characters. I hope to update at least once a week, and feedback on the story would be very appreciated. Also, the story is completely fictional, so events and characters in this story are not intended to pertain to any person in particular. So, without further ado, enjoy!