7:15am. To most people that isn’t an absurdly early time of the morning. The average worker bee would probably already be showered, sipping a cup of coffee, and checking the traffic report to see how long their commute was going to be. Wondering if they should leave now or take the time to warm up their car. Adult things, adult thoughts.

7:15am for a twenty-one-year old college student? It might as well have been 4am after an epic party involving an attempt to test the limits of YOLO.

Quinnlynn Sutter dragged her hand out from under the warm down comforter and swung her arm in the general direction of her phone. The alarm was a lyrical chime that someone at the cell phone company must have thought was soothing—it wasn’t.

“Gawd, where are you?” Talking to an inanimate object was probably the first sign of insanity, but her roommate was already pretty certifiable, so no one would notice.

Sharing a dorm room was one of those life experiences that was torture and at the same time vital for learning patience, acceptance, and how to resist the urge to commit grievous harm on another human being.

“Oh my goddess, turn that thing off!”

That voice was muffled and came from the lump under a pile of afghans on the other side of the room. Quinn opened one eye to look for her phone and saw the lump that contained her roommate Harmony, and probably her boyfriend, moving around on her bed.

“Got it, got it.” She found her phone and pulled it close to her face to see through her blurred vision. The snooze button was so tempting, but she had to get up. Her first class wasn’t until 10:30am, but she had promised to be at the SCAM before eight.

Quinn threw back the covers and shivered at the cold that had seeped into the room overnight. The thin window panes let in far too much of the damp Seattle weather. It didn’t help that the addition of constantly damp clothes to the warm environment created a unique rainforest effect.

With a groan she pulled herself from the bed and stumbled to her small closet. Finding a purple UW hoodie to cover the tank top she had been sleeping in, she pulled it on. It definitely didn’t match the black fuzzy PJ bottoms with squirrels on them. They were a score from the local Goodwill that still had the original store tags on them. Shuffling down the hall she pondered what kind of bribes it would take to get the committee to change the name of SCAM. Quinn wasn’t even sure who had shortened it originally. The Seattle Coalition for the Advancement of Mothers was, apparently, too long and too confusing. Among the students it became simply known as SCAM.

She couldn’t fault them really. Her generation were masters at finding the path of least resistance or better known as the easy way to go. They also lived in the city that named a new trolley service the South Lake Union Transit. Yep, SLUT. Of course, the t-shirts that said SLUT were highly coveted. There was no accounting for taste in the city that developed grunge. Having a group on campus called SCAM only raised eyebrows to those who were upset that it wasn’t a new indie band touring the local bars.

The name aside, the students in SCAM offered free babysitting services at odd hours so that low income or unemployed mothers could go on job interviews, and it was more than worth the hassle of getting up early and finding a chipper smile for kids who needed friendly faces.

This morning Dominique, a recovering drug addict who had lost her kids and then spent the last year and a half getting them back, was going on an interview at 8am. Dominique had worked so hard to get clean, and the interview was a golden opportunity for a job with regular hours, on the bus line, and it came with insurance. It was the holy grail of jobs in Seattle. This job could be the lynchpin in her keeping her kids and her sobriety. It was important, and Quinn wasn’t going to let her down.

Quinn knew how hard a mom had to work just to keep their kids fed and clothed. If a father was in the picture, sometimes it was easier. But in Quinn’s experience, fathers who stuck around were few and far between. Dominique had a chance to show her daughters that being a strong woman meant being brave, fighting hard, and believing in yourself, and your dreams. It was a chance at a new life.

Quinn finished up her morning routine, not bothering to shower since she was cold and getting wet sounded like a terrible idea and headed back to her room. She opened her door quietly and pressed it closed carefully. She found her clothes, a vintage Ivar’s Keep Clam t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of thick soled Doc Martens. Her skill at dressing in silence came from the desire to avoid any drama with Harmony. Quinn didn’t like mornings, but Harmony was downright homicidal anytime before ten.

Her mother had once said, “Never wake a sleeping bear,” and Quinn had thought that was a silly thing to say until she met Harmony.

Quinn grabbed her backpack and lifted it off the chair to make sure her books were in there. She had developed a rather handy skill at assessing what was in her bag by the sheer weight of it. Dressed and ready, she left the room as silently as she had entered; giving the doorknob an extra twist to make sure it was locked behind her. She headed down the long hallway, her eyes on the mustard-colored carpet. It was rare to pass anyone at this time of the morning and today was no exception.

On the bottom floor she took a fortifying breath before pushing open the double glass doors. The cold instantly wrapped around her head and made her wish she’d grabbed a hat.

She had a few spare minutes to grab a coffee from the cafeteria before rushing over to the empty classroom in the building that held the psychology classes. It was an oddly bright room, carpeted with padding halfway up the walls. The students liked to speculate why this room existed, but Quinn was just glad that it was clean and the Psychology department let them use it for the childcare. A few charities had donated toys and coloring books. There was a bright carpet on the floor that had a town with roads weaved into it. Give a kid a car and they would drive it for hours over those curvy roads.

This morning was easy. Dominique’s daughter Tatiana was all about princesses and anything that was pink and sparkly. That meant princess movies and cuddles. Quinn turned on the lights when she got to the classroom and clicked up the thermostat. In the corner was a huge TV, the older kind that weighed three hundred pounds and took multiple people to carry. There was an old VCR and a small DVD player on a stand next to it.

Popping in Tatiana’s favorite movie, she sat down in a beanbag chair and sipped her coffee. It wasn’t good coffee, but it was strong. In Seattle you were allowed to be a coffee snob. It was encouraged and congratulated. College coffee was hit or miss. It depended on the barista and the level of enthusiasm they could muster in the mornings.

“I’m so nervous!”

Quinn looked up to see Dominique pushing through the door with her arms full of blankets, a sippy cup, a stuffed bunny, and a sleepy looking Tatiana.

Jumping up she ran to get the half awake little girl out of her mother’s arms. “You got this. You know you do. You have glowing references; you’re smart, and you’re at the top of your computer class. Be confident and sell your skills.”

Dominique raised her eyebrows. “A few classes compared to other candidate’s years of experience?”

“Experience isn’t the same as enthusiasm. You tell them how hard you’ll work and why. They will see that you have every reason to make a success of this job. And you know if you ever need me to babysit, I can help you out.”

“I know, I really do, and I know how lucky I am. I’m just worried that I’ve had too much help and the universe is ready to give me a smack down.”

“Nope, this universe helps those that help themselves. And those that are smart enough to accept help from others. You’re going to be a success, I’m sure of it.”

With a nervous laugh, Dominique gave Quinn a side hug. “Thanks, Quinn. I will fake it until I make it.”

“Go, get a job already,” she teased. “Ms. Tatiana and I are going to snuggle and watch Cinderella.”

“Cinderella?” The sleepy girl lifted her head from her shoulder and blinked.

“Yup, all ready to go!”

Quinn gave a nod to Dominique as a cue to slip out. Walking over to the beanbag chair she dropped into it and pushed the remote to start the movie then handed the girl her sippy cup. A few hours of Disney never hurt anybody.