I: It is what it is.
I: It is what it is.
“One triple choc mint with caramel sauce and sprinkles along with some whipped cream and chocolate fudge.” Peyton keyed in the order and with a sigh she turned to prepare the customer’s ice cream.
As she added all the components to the ice cream mixture she couldn’t help but pull a face at how disgusting it not only looks, but will probably taste.
‘People have really messed up taste buds’ she thought to herself as she handed the boy his ice cream with a fake smile and then took his cash before he walked away satisfied.
“Yuck!” She exclaimed when she saw him take a bite and appreciate it “high school kids” she rolled her eyes and found herself bored and alone in the store again.
Peyton worked at an ice cream shop in the mall, it was always filled with kids from school and she was more than happy when she had an off day and got to work her other job; a cinema clerk.
Not fancy, but it helps her get by. In fact she wouldn’t have her rutty little apartment without that job.
Peyton might live in an apartment where everything is broken and she might have to work like a slave to bratty teenagers, but there are no jobs available for people in finance.
Not only that, but Peyton absolutely refuses to let her parents know about her terrible finacial state.They would just throw it in her face and she would never hear the end of it.
She might have a hard time paying bills, but she is happy and she is proud. She doesn’t need a mansion or a friend or her parents or a fancy job.
She has a degree and she has a brain!
A smile forms on Peyton’s face when the timer goes and she can finally clock out, grab her things and go home.
The teenage boy who works here and also hates Peyton arrives and rolls his eyes when he sees her.
Obviously he doesn’t understand how a 25 year old can work at a shop where a teenager also can.
Without one word passed between the two, Peyton grabs her sling bag and lets it hang from her shoulder and she makes her way out of the mall and down the long street.
Cars and busses pass by her as she walks and she can’t help but feel a bit sad with not having her own car yet.
‘It just isn’t possible’ she reminds herself and looks up at the sky in worry. It’s going to rain soon and she needs to get home before that happens.
With a new found determination in her tired and hungry body, Peyton starts to walk even faster to the subway.
Not only does she need to dodge the rain, but she also has to make a ten minute walk in five minutes or else she will miss the last subway which goes to her area for the day.
That can’t happen.
Deciding that she won’t make it, Peyton starts to sprint her way to the station; bumping into people and turning many corners before she finally makes it to the station and runs down the stairs almost falling on the second to last step.
She quickly scans her card and makes it into the train as the doors are closing. No seats are available so as the train starts moving, Peyton bends down grabbing her knees and takes big gulps of air.
When she has calmed her breathing, she slides down the side of the train and brings her knees to her chest for the rest of the ride.
Peyton can’t help but wonder what life would have been like if she did do what her parents expected.Would she have to live like this, only eating when possible? Or would she have some friends? Maybe she wouldn’t have to live in a run down apartment building full of stoners.
Soon the train stops and Peyton runs to the bus stop also making it just in time and taking a seat in the front.
She stares out the window the whole ride long, staring at the trees and trying to find her place in her thoughts.
They are just all over the place on today of all days.The day that she just wants to get home and sleep, her thoughts are all over the place and she knows that she won’t be getting any sleep.
Soon the bus comes to a stop and Peyton is the first one to leave the bus and walk home, she won’t be late for anything now so she can calmly take the twenty five minute walk home with ease.
No more running.
She starts to walk home in the bad neighbourhood of hers and greets people as she walks by them.The people in the shops and the people in the streets all know her and she knows them.
Here everyone helps each other and everyone knows each other, maybe not their whole life, but they know each other well enough to help each other.
Soon, her apartment building is in sight and she also starts to feel raindrops causing her to groan in irritation before she takes off at full speed again.
She makes it inside the building within thirty seconds and as she closes the doors, the rain starts to pour terribly making her happy she did track when she was in school.
Walking to the stairs, she slowly and tiredly walks up the stairs to level 5 where she lives and then she unlocks the door cringing when the hinges squeek from being old.
Slamming the door shut, she throws her bag onto the counter and walks to her fridge opening it and glaring at the only thing inside; a microwavable pasta.
She takes in and walks to the microwave opening it and closing it pressing the buttons and then she presses start “stupid!” She shouts noticing that her microwave has now also broken.
As she is about to hit the thing she hears a knock and shakes her head after staring at the door for a few moments.
‘It’s nothing’
She hears a knock again and waits a moment before hearing it again and then within five seconds, it turns into banging.
“I am coming!” She shouts and opens the door staring at the person on the other side confusedly.
