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Her hands were stiff around the documents. She barely read through them, but she already knew the content that they contained. She'd been expecting this for a month now, but that didn't mean she was prepared. With a sigh, she placed the papers down on the floor, and she leaned her head against the cracked wall of the room, her legs straightening from their crossed position.
Aleyah tilted her head back and closed her eyes once she felt the sting of tears threatening to make an appearance. She stayed in that position for so long that she didn't feel herself doze off into an uncomfortable rest until she felt small, cold hands on her cheeks.
"Aye, I called your name fifty times, and you didn't wake up." The young boy exclaimed once he noted the flutter of her eyes.
It took a few moments for Aleyah to respond, but once she yawned and stretched out her arms, she replied, "Then I must've been having a really good dream."
August perked up at that. "Really? What was it about? Was I there?"
Aleyah was now on her feet and picking up the now crumpled sheets of paper, which she assumed was due to August trampling over them. "I'll tell you about my amazing dream if I finish getting ready for school in 15 minutes."
"15 minutes? That's so short."
"Yes, 15 minutes. Unless you don't want to know what you were doing in my dream." Hearing that, August rushed out of the room, and a moment later, the shuffling of objects was heard through the thin walls.
Aleyah then also made her way into her room, which was just a corner in their living room, separated by a drooping curtain. She changed out of her previous clothes and put on an extensive amount of deodorant in hopes that she wouldn't smell terrible by the end of the day. The girl would've preferred taking a shower, but with the limited amount of hot water the house received, she decided to save it for the night once she'd sweated through the day. Not to mention August, who was going through a bedwetting phase and needed more than a few showers.
Once changed, Aleyah made her way to the other end of the room and began to make August's lunch. They didn't have many options other than ramen noodles and a few vegetables. On many occasions, August had complained about the food. He didn't fancy the same meal every day, especially since his peers carried food like pizza and chicken sandwiches. It did make the teenager feel terrible every time he complained, but she couldn't blame the boy. He was young, and he didn't understand their financial situation, though it didn't make her feel any less awful.
"August! We've got to go! You're gonna be late!" Aleyah called out after she packed his food. He came padding out of his room not long after, and he was handed a cold, overly ripe banana before they rushed out of the home.
"Aye?" The boy spoke with some mashed banana in his mouth.
"August, you have to finish chewing before talking. I've told you this before." The girl looked down at him with disapproval.
"Sorry," he smiled sheepishly after he swallowed. "Aye, can I tell you something?" He tugged their held hands.
Aleyah hummed in response.
"I don't think I like bananas anymore. When you go and do the shopping, don't buy them.
They're too squishy, and they smell bad."
"Alright, August."
"And can we get pizza?"
"Sure." She agreed, knowing it would be easier to tell him that she forgot over trying to explain to him that they can't afford it.
"Now can you tell me about your dream?" He tugged her hand again.
After a dozen more questions and statements, Aleyah finally managed to drop him off at his primary school and head into town.
A month prior, she had been laid off from her second job due to the fact that she skipped a couple of times when August fell ill. She then had to buy medicine for him, and that messed up her budget plan, which caused bills to begin piling up.
Once in town, she headed for the nearest restroom so she could fix her appearance. Aleyah wanted to apply to the expensive stores around because she knew the money would be better. However, those stores hired certain types of people. People who were visually pleasant to look at. Luckily, Aleyah was blessed with good genes, one of the few things she was thankful to her mom for.
Aleyah didn't have to wear make-up due to the sole purpose of it being an unnecessary expense. But she did still have a bit left over from her audition days. And it was enough to give her face a bit more definition. After she was satisfied, Aleyah walked out and headed for the first good-looking boutique she saw.
When she walked in, the only person working at the counter was busy so Aleyah stood by the entrance for a while until she started getting questionable glances from the workers. The girl then decided to roam through the large store, stopping at every item that interested her.
After she had walked through the store, she turned to go back to the counter and she was faced with a worker who was seemingly following her. Aleyah presumed he was behind her during her entire walkthrough. The thought made her uncomfortable enough to leave the store without stopping to check if they were hiring.
The rest of her morning was full of 'No, sorry, we're unfortunately full of staff. But you can try...' It was almost comical how many stores repeated that same phrase.
The good thing about being at the bottom was that there was nowhere else to go but up. So by the time her afternoon shift at The Royal Crest began, she wasn't too disappointed by the lack of progress, though she was still worried about the bills, Aleyah knew she would just have to keep trying until she got lucky somewhere.
The Royal Crest was an established restaurant, and it was always busy at noon and therefore required more workers around that time. Aleyah was one of the last people to be hired there, so she was left with cleaning duty and occasionally a waitress on days when the restaurant was super packed.
It was one of those busy days and to make matters more hectic, one of Aleyah's co-workers had called in sick, therefore, she had to clean and take up more tables as a waitress. And due to her quest earlier in the morning, she had come to work a bit lagged so by the time her shift ended, she was exhausted.
To Aleyah, going to pick up August and getting them home felt like a fever dream. Luckily, for dinner, she had brought home some leftovers from the restaurant and she didn't have to cook. And once, August was put to bed she headed for the living and fell fast asleep, this time on the sofa.
A / N
And here's the prologue! This was just to give a general idea of how Aleyah and August live their lives. And how difficult it is to manage this lifestyle. Hopefully, in the next chapter Jude will be introduced.
