Nicholas Overwhelmed [Published Version]

Chapter 12: Selection

I head up to my room, and I take out a sticky note.
I write down:
    Tell Julia to meet me in the basement at 7.
Once I set that down on my desk, I look at the clock. Then, I see mom coming home crying.
"Uhm...kids...can you come down?" She asks. I walk down the stairs, and ask, "Everything alright?" She shakes her head no.
"I lost my job. We have no money. Noah took all of our money in the divorce." She says.
"Wha..wait...what," Julia said, "what are we going to do?"
"I don't know, I need to find a selection of jobs and see what would be available first. We are broke, we only have something like almost one thousand dollars. For now, can we all just stay calm? Please. Don't get me stressed out!" Mom exclaimed to us. Then, I see someone new moving into the house down the street. "NOAH!!!" I yell, "Mom! Look! Look at their house."
Then after I say that, a U-Haul truck comes, and the people that were inside come into our house and start taking our furniture.
"Mom?" I ask. But all she is doing is looking for a selection of jobs.
"Don't worry Nicholas, they are only taking the table and the couch. Anyway guys, I'm going to an interview at three today to work for a coding company called Datum Coding." I nod when mom says that. Then I realized something, we need to pay for electives at school. I walk outside, then I see something on the tree. It's a drama club poster. It pays five hundred dollars a month. I head inside, take the phone, and call the number.
"Hi! Uhm...I found your flier on a tree, can I join please?"
"Hi! I'm Jayden, what's your name, and why are you interested in the drama club?" The guy says.
"I'm Nicholas," I answer back, "my mom just got divorced and we lost all of our money. I need to make money fast, so that's why I'm interested."
Jayden said I start tomorrow and surprisingly it's at my city's drama club's theater! It only takes forty-five seconds to walk there!
I head into the basement, and Julia is already there. "Okay, so I was going to say something else, but something new came up." I say. I explained everything to her, and she said, "Cool!" Then, I stood frozen for like two minutes. I remembered something from the past, but my memory was bad. I know I was on stage.
I searched up acting opportunities, then I saw an opening. I went into our office, and found a folder labeled, Nicholas's Acting Photos. So, apparently when I was four, I was an actor in some show, but I don't know much because my memory was bad. I took a couple photos, and went to mom.
"Uhm...mom...I think I wanna be an actor. Can I? Please." I hold up the photos. Then she starts crying. "Oh! Honey," Then, she runs up to me, "of course!"
"Oh! Really? Thank you! Okay look, I'm going to audition for a show called Fairlife Ground. I'm auditioning for the main character, Nicholas." I chuckle.
I went up to my room and went to text my friends. I text them everything and I remember to tell mom about drama club. I go to tell her. I go downstairs and get dinner. I think to myself, "I can't believe I was an actor. It's amazing." Then, my mom gets a text from Noah. It says:
Come Quick! I know we don't get along at all...but I need your help. Gloria is pregnant!
    "Uhm! Kids! Hurry! I got a text!" I stand next to mom. I run upstairs to get my coat when I get a text:
Your audition is tomorrow at ten o'clock for the role of Nicholas.
    I start to worry. Drama club and the audition are at the same time! I can't do drama club and audition for the show! Mom tells Julia and I to hurry, but I stay still, staring at the wall trying to figure out my life. The problem is not me right now, the problem is tomorrow, Thursday.
    "NICK! GET DOWN HERE!" Mom yells. She comes upstairs. "Everything okay?" I shake my head no, "No, nothings okay." I close the door on her and lay down on my bed. Nothing...nothing...nothing is okay right now. Everything is a disaster.