Exactly Opposite (On Pause)

Genesis: 3

The first time Genesis saw Carly she was catching some 'ME' time at Clinks. Between her Dad, little sister and work, she barely had time to breathe, so a couple of times a week she would get her neighbor to watch Desirae on her day off and spend an hour or two at the diner. Kate, Genesis' neighbor was nice. She'd been there for her allot over the past several years. Her and her husband Donald had helped her so much with Des in those first few months after her mom died and her father lost his will to do anything but drink.

Gen had only been eleven when she lost her mom and quickly had to take on the responsibility of caring for her new sister. At first her dad had been a functional drunk. He'd still been able to go to social events, work, even help a little around the house and with Des. It was after he'd been involved in an accident at work and he'd sustained serious injury to his back over three years later that he'd completely given up. Gen had been fourteen at the time.

She struggled, juggling school and home life for the next two years before she finally decided that going to home school would be better for everyone. She didn't have to worry as much about daycare or babysitters. Money was tight, but her moms' life insurance paid off most of the mortgage on the house. They currently only had five years left as opposed to twenty.

As soon as Gen was old enough she got a decent paying job to help alleviate the weight of the bills that her and Des's survivor benefits and her dads' disability didn't cover. She really wanted to go to college, but as things stood, she just didn't have the time or finances.

After two years working at the Wal-mart, she'd finally made assistant manager, the youngest ever at her location. That rubbed a lot of the older employees the wrong way and it didn't help that she was a punk Goth or that she was openly gay. She toned down on the make up when she had to work and even started removing her facial piercings once she'd made management, but it was a fight every day just to get any kind of respect, especially from her male colleagues.

Sometimes Gen just felt so stuck. She tried not to hate her life and how it turned out. It wasn't her fault that her mother died. She didn't know that her father was going to cope by becoming an alcoholic. Desirae was a blessing even though her being born had cost so much and Gen just hoped that she was doing right by her.

There were times when she'd miss her mother so much that her soul ached. She wished she had her there to talk to, to help her out. She felt so lost. When Des had come home from the hospital, Gen hadn't a clue what to do with her. Baby dolls had been one thing and she hadn't even liked hers, but a real live baby! And she was only eleven at the time, going on twelve. She remembered calling Kate, shedding tears of her own while Desirae wailed in the background.

The sweet woman left work and rushed right over to help Gen and her dad. She spent the night in the guest room for the next two weeks until she was comfortable that Gen was able to handle things and even then, she came over every day to help clean and cook and make sure the girls were alright.

Robert, Gen's dad, may not have been in the best state then, but no one had wanted to remove the two young girls from his care. They weren't sure what that would do to his mental state and to be honest, the child welfare system didn't care back then.

It wasn't until the last few years with all the child endangerment cases being publicized in the news that children were being abused, neglected and endangered on a fairly regular basis that child welfare started stepping up their game. Gen understood that what her father did could be construed as negligence and child endangerment, but she made sure that Des was always taken care of, fed, well dressed, her homework was always completed and turned in on time.

Gen quickly moved around the kitchen as she finished getting dinner ready. She had to be at work in less than an hour. Kate was supposed to have been there twenty minutes ago to watch Des, but she was running late. This was one of the nights they alternated and stayed in the house as opposed to Des going over to Kate's. It was also one of the few times that Robert interacted with anyone outside of a bar or liquor store.

Her shift was earlier than usual and she wasn't going to have time to stop at the diner like she usually did when she worked nights. Gen loved going to the diner. Not for the ambiance or because the food was great, but because she got to ogle Carly and watch her tight behind as she walked away from her.

Gen was seriously crushing on that girl, but she knew from day one she'd never have a chance with her. The first time she'd seen Carly it was an extremely busy night at Clink's and she came rushing through the door in her cheer-leading uniform. She rushed to the back did a quick change and was back in front in less than ten minutes taking orders.

She didn't usually go for the perky blondes with dimples, but when Carly approached her booth, it took Gen a minute to remember how to breathe. If she hadn't seen her in the cheer-leading outfit she may have even asked her out, but she had. Carly had always been nice enough, but Gen attributed that to Carly just being really good at her job. After knowing she was a cheerleader she was sure that Carly was great with everybody. The smile she flashed Gen every time she saw her was probably the same smile she used to disarm everyone else.

She was probably charming and outgoing and just damn likable to every person who gazed into her moss-green eyes. Gen rushed upstairs to get showered and changed for work, her thoughts lost in the many colors of Carly's eyes. The way they sometimes looked hazel, smoky grey, dark green or her usual moss-green.

"Stop it. Never gonna happen." She verbally chastised herself. Besides, even if she wanted a girlfriend, she had enough going on in her life to make it near impossible.