CAKE

Forty-Two

No One 
2 months Later

The ringing of her phone woke her from her slumber quickly and she reached for the device in hopes that it was the one person she'd been hoping to hear from and see. To her dismay, it was only an old alarm she had forgotten to delete. In a fit of rage, she threw her phone across the room, watching it slam into the wall before falling to the floor.

She let out a breath and ran a hand through her messy brown tresses. This wasn't what her life was supposed to be like. Glancing around the dirty room, she could only lay back in bed and hope her nagging best friend wouldn't call her soon. Pretending to be fine was getting harder and harder each day.

She couldn't even remember what the past few days had been like, guessing she had a few episodes where she was no longer in control. Groaning, she forced herself from her bed. The minute she stood, her booming headache made its presence known, forcing her back into bed.

Crying all night, was definitely not such a great idea, she concluded. Once again, her ringing phone grabbed her attention causing her to roll her eyes. She could already figure that this time it wasn't an alarm. Climbing out of bed again, she made her way to her device, frowning at the cracked phone screen.

And as expected, this time it indeed wasn't an alarm but instead the Principal of her school. She let out a breath before clearing her throat. She picked up the phone and answered, placing the cracked screen against her ear.

"Hello?" she answered, not in the mood for a conversation. "Hi Kathryn, how have you been these past few months?" she made small talk, but Kathryn was not in the mood for it. With a sigh, she decided to just entertain her principal in order to get off the phone quicker. "I've been dealing. How may I help you, Mrs. Peters?"

There's silence on the line before the older woman speaks again. "I was calling to remind you that there will be another staff meeting for the upcoming school year. I tried reaching you earlier in the week but I didn't get through."

Clenching her jaw, Kathryn made her way into her restroom, turning the light on and immediately regretting that decision as she shuts her eyes. "I apologize for not doing this in person but I can no longer work there due to personal reasons. I will not be coming back to work for the upcoming school year."

"Are you quitting permanently, Miss Howard?" 

"I am," Kathryn spat before hanging up. She slammed her phone onto the counter before searching her cabinets for Advil, to no avail thanks to a previous episode. Slowly she shuts her eyes and exhales heavily. "What is this?" she hears and groans internally.

Glancing to her left, she spots her best friend standing in the doorway of her restroom, glancing at her bedroom. Kathryn frowns as she notices the pink paper in her hands. Blue eyes land on her. "Is this why you kept meeting me instead of letting me come over?" she questions, holding the paper up.

Clenching her jaw, Kathryn snatched the sheet of paper from her hand, "It's none of your business, Em," she spits.

The blonde scoffs, "None of my business? Kathryn, you're getting evicted and you haven't told us shit! What do you think me forcing you to talk to me is for? Not because I just want to make small talk! Why are you being evicted?" she hisses.

Stopping in her tracks, Kathryn eyes the woman, "Why does it matter, Em?"

"It matters because this will be on your record! You do realize that you won't be able to get another nice apartment if you have an eviction on your leasing record? Maybe we can fix this, is the office open today?"

Kathryn let out a breath as she sat on her bed. "We can't fix it. They were nice enough to let me stay an extra month. I've been late on rent since..." she stopped talking and bit her cheek. The subject was still very sour on her heart and she hated bringing it up. "Since Casey left? Ryn, you haven't paid your rent for 2 months?"