CHAPTER FOUR
I woke up the next day, feeling stiff all over. I groaned, stretching out my limbs until every single one of my bones had cracked. I rubbed my eyes. They were still wet. Had I cried throughout the night? I got up, about to wander through the kitchen when I noticed the time on my mother’s grandfather clock. While I had been forced to sell a lot of our things. I never had the heart to sell her most prized possession.
“Shit.” I cursed under my breath. I only had twenty minutes to get to class. I scrambled to put on my clothes, but of course, I didn’t have anything clean. I had been putting off laundry for weeks and now, I had to rummage through the basket, looking for something that didn’t look like it had already been worn once or twice. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I spritzed them with some perfume, hoping it would make things a little less noticeable. Feeling gross, I combed my long black hair. It looked greasy. I frowned at my reflection. My usually fair skin had an almost gray tinge to it. I looked like a ghost…
I could feel the minutes ticking away. I would have to worry about my appearance later. I shoved my things into my bag and rushed out to my car, hoping I would get to school on time.
***
Somehow, I managed to get to class just in time. I was breathless as I sat down beside my lab partner. The professor gave me a dirty look before she started to explain today’s experiment. We would be purifying some compounds. Since I had done this kind of work in undergraduate, I was hoping it wouldn’t be a problem.
The materials were passed out and soon enough, everyone was hard at work. I grabbed my pipette and slowly transferred the compounds to their own respective wells.
“Hey, are you okay?” My lab partner, Rosie, suddenly broke my concentration. I nearly knocked over everything that was in front of me.
“Huh?”
“It’s just that… I couldn’t help but notice that your eyes are a little puffy. Have you been crying? Last week, you didn’t show…” She trailed off.
I sighed and looked at her. Rosie was beautiful. She was one of those model-ready girls who looked like they owned the entire world. “It’s just…” I felt inadequate sitting next to her. While my hair was disheveled and greasy, hers was voluminous and bouncy. Sometimes, I envied her blonde locks. They just made her look so pretty.
“You can tell me…” She rested her hand on mine and I looked into her hazel eyes.
“It’s just that things have been rather rough lately. My mother’s in a nursing home, getting treated for Alzheimer’s and I can’t quite afford the proper treatment… and since I have been late on some of the payments, they’re threatening to stop caring for her… I have no idea how I’m going to get all that money… I can’t risk working any more hours as it’d take a toll on my education.”
Rosie’s face softened with compassion. She was silent for a minute, her hand still on top of mine. “I understand…”
“Huh? How could you understand? Aren’t you rich?”
Rosie chuckled and shook her head. I glanced down at her body. It seemed as if every other day, she was wearing the best designer clothes on the market. She always came in dressed nicely. I had been so sure her parents were making bank. Now, I just felt confused. Maybe she had a rich boyfriend or something. With a body like that, I wouldn’t put it past her.
She fished through her bag and pulled out a little black card. “I had it rough at one point too.” She said, her lips curling up with mischief. “But then I made a choice that completely changed my life. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re desperate for money, it might help.”
The professor walked around to our lab bench and Rosie let go of my hand. I quickly shoved the small piece of cardstock in my pocket. The professor eyed our progress with suspicion. “Hurry it up, girls.” I nodded and continued to purify the compounds, but my mind just kept thinking about Rosie’s words. I wanted to question her further, but she was too focused on her experiment. I didn’t want to disturb her.
I was one of the last people to finish the lab, despite the fact I was one of the few with solid experience. I sighed, placing my wells in the refrigerator. During our next class, we would use those compounds for something else, but I didn’t know what just yet. I hadn’t bothered to look ahead. If I was still an undergraduate, I would have, but now, I had more pressing matters to worry about.
I walked out to my car and was about to drive home when I remembered the card. I took it out and looked at it.
Inscribed in small, golden letters was the name Breslyn Auction Club. On the back was a web address and a password. “Huh?” I tilted my head to the side. “Rosie was an auctioneer?” For some reason, I couldn’t picture the sexy blonde selling off antiques at an auction. Still, what else could an Auction Club be? But, if it made her enough money where she could wear designer clothes all the time, then it wouldn’t hurt to check it out, right? After all, I could speak quickly when I really wanted to.
As I drove home, I practiced fake auctions in my mind and found that I was exceptionally bad at it. I kept tripping over my numbers and forgetting how to count. Maybe I was just nervous. Maybe there were other jobs that I could take.
“Breslyn Auction Club…” I repeated the words over and over again, wondering if it would truly be the solution to all my problems.