I laugh with her, though it makes me a little sad to know that this quad relationship can’t last forever Having to say goodbye to either of them will be hard. I wish I could live in the moment a little while longer.
“Do you know what you're going to do?” Emma asks me after we’ve been silent for a little while.
“What do you mean?” I ask her.
“Have you thought about you at all? You talk a lot about their futures, but what about your own? You have a life outside of them, and focusing on that is how you get through it.”
“I’ve registered for the basic classes for my first semester. I’m hoping an epiphany will hit me sometime soon. What about you?” I turn my attention to her because, in my head, my future is just a blank space. I can’t see anything past the summer, and it’s frustrating.
“I’ve signed up for cosmetology school. My program starts in two weeks.”
I raise my eyebrows in shock, “Like for doing hair and stuff?”
“Yeah.”
It’s surprising but not wholly unexpected. Emma has always liked to experiment with her looks. She’s the one that helps all our friends get ready for any event. “I can see you being successful at that.”
“Thanks. Maybe you should get your degree, and we can go into business together.”
“I’m not great with numbers and money,” I tell her with a shrug, then decide to be honest. “I like to take pictures.”
“Like a photographer? I never knew that.”
This summer I took a lot of pictures. Once Talon saw some of my work, he asked me to shoot his band at some of their gigs. They used them for social media. Foster and I took drives outside of the city so I could get shots of nature. I’ve also tagged along with Cole to the rink to capture him doing what he loves. They all three embraced my interest.
“I’ve dabbled, but I’d like to get more serious about it. I love to capture people and their emotions.”
“I hope it works out for you.”
We enjoy the rest of the afternoon together and I almost forget the dread of what is coming in less than two weeks. But in the back of my mind, the fear and anxiety of the future won’t go away.
Chapter 7
Now
It’s been almost two months since the funeral fiasco, and everything swiftly returned to normal. My three ex-boyfriends disappeared back to their lives, and I went back to mine. Work has kept me busy with Valentine’s Day.
Thanks to word of mouth from the funeral, I’d even landed a few photography gigs doing family portraits. The money hasn’t been enough to save us financially. Sitting at our dining room table, I stare at the notice we’ve just received. Mom is out with Mrs. Thorne, and I’ve taken the time alone to review our financials. The mortgage payment is behind. I knew I couldn’t pay a time or two, but I hadn’t realized we were a full two months past due. I sent everything Tiffany Ward had paid me, but it wasn’t enough. My credit cards are maxed out, and many other bills are behind. No one makes it easy to dig yourself out of the hole of late payments once you’re in there.
In the first years after the accident, car insurance covered a lot of the medical bills and damages, and my dad’s life insurance helped, too. Unfortunately, that has trickled off in the last few years. Mom gets disability, but she wasn’t the breadwinner. Without Dad’s income and skyrocketing costs on everything, we’re spiraling toward financial disaster.
It’s time to decide whether to sell the house or wait for it to go into foreclosure. The housing market has slowed, so it’s a gamble either way. I can’t believe we’ll lose my childhood home and have nowhere to go. If we can’t afford a mortgage, we definitely can’t afford rent. Maybe filing for bankruptcy is our best option.
I know I’ve been financially irresponsible, but can you blame me? I was thrown into this mess at just eighteen while heavily grieving. It’s been an uphill battle to get back on track. Spreading all of the late notices on the table, I see that I have been failing miserably.
Someone knocks at the door, and I drag myself away from the bleak situation laid out in front of me. I open the door and am shocked by who I find standing on my front porch.
“How did you know where to find me?” I ask.
Talon rocks back on his heels, hands in his pockets. He looks more like himself in tight, ripped jeans, a black T-shirt, and a leather jacket. “Took a guess that you’d still live here. I guess it paid off.”
“Why are you here?”
He looks behind him to the sleek, black sports car in my driveway and points to it. “I was hoping you’d want to go for a ride with me. I wanted to show you something.”
I groan, “That is the worst pickup line.”
He chuckles and holds up his hands, “It’s not my dick, I promise. Though if you want to—”
