A Thin Line

It was another bustling day at the family restaurant as Katy quickly cleaned and waited tables. She was beyond exhausted but she managed to drag herself for another hour, thus completing her shift. As she got in her car and left the restaurant, Katy was feeling physically and emotionally drained from her anxiety and trying to do everything at once.

On top of that, she was in college and caring for her two sisters since her grandparents were always busy with the restaurant and their parents had abandoned them. As she pulled into the driveway, her two sisters; Jenna and Sam ran out and gave her a hug as she trudges into the house, tired. Sam was 14 and Jenna was 8 but both didn't act their age. Sam was the most mature and generally took care of Jenna so that Katy could study when she wasn't working at the restaurant, but there were still times when they needed their older sister's guidance.

Katy went up to her room and collapsed into her bed, too tired to eat but fortunately for her, Sam had her covered. Despite being a very beautiful brunette with long silky hair and perfect white skin, she was lonely. She had social problems when it came to guys so she'd mostly avoid them which didn't matter since none of them seemed decent to her...they only wanted one thing. Her train of thought was broken by a knock on the door; it was Sam and she had a plate of spaghetti. Sam walked over to her sister and said "here's your favorite now eat up". Katy groaned into her pillow, before Sam pulled her by the arm, forcing her to sit up.

Katy finally gave in and ate her food as Samantha giggled and said "sometimes I feel like the older one" before leaving the room. After eating, Katy mustered up enough strength and took a shower before falling asleep watching kdramas. The next morning started as a regular day with Katy waking up at 8 am to cook breakfast for her and her sisters before getting started on her schoolwork.

After finishing her schoolwork a few hours later, she got dressed and prepared to head in for her shift at the restaurant. After her shift, it was late in the evening when she got home, ate dinner, and watched TV. She never could understand why she would torture herself watching "kdramas" but she did and each time only reminded her how much love sucks.

Despite working like a dog every day, her family was not poor, the restaurant turned a good profit and they even had a giant two-story home. Katy worked herself to death trying to take on so many roles because she really couldn't trust anyone else to do it properly. She had grown so used to her life that she would just pat herself and say "this is life... someone has to do it".

The next morning, Katy was called into school by her professor for a face-to-face meeting, which would change her life. As she headed to campus, she knew it wasn't good, her grades had been slipping, assignments had been turned in late and she already had multiple strikes. After pulling into the parking lot, she was greeted by her two friends Stacy and phoebe. Stacy and phoebe were Katy's best friends and only friends since she was just plain terrible at socializing.

She had met them in her final year of high school at a dance after her date had dumped her and left her crying outside on a bench and they have been friends every since. Stacy and Phoebe were both goofy, immature social butterflies but still supportive and caring friends. Phoebe hugged her and said "what brings you to campus today?" and Katy sighed and said, "professor Jefferson wants to talk to me...I Know it's not good". Stacy smiled and said, "hey don't be so glum, all you can do is hope for the best". Katie sighed and said "I suppose so ". Phoebe looked her in the eyes and said "no matter what happens, we're both gonna be here" and Stacy chimed in and said, "exactly, so don't worry, we got you". Her friends held her hands, as she took her dreaded walk of shame to her professor's classroom.

Katy felt utterly helpless as she was getting ready to watch her entire 4 years of hard work come crashing down before her very eyes and to make things worse, she'd still have to pay every cent back. When she opened the door to the classroom, the professor and the Dean stood at his desk at gestured for her to take a seat. The two men looked at one another before professor Johnson sighed and said "Katy McDowell, me and the Dean have discussed it and we feel we've given you enough chances".

The Dean sighed and said, "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to expel you from the university". When Katy heard those words, her heart skipped a beat and she fainted.