Stadium Woes

A Change In Plans

I sigh as I stand here waiting on my ride to the game for work. "Come on, Kyle, what the hell is taking you so long?"

Kyle is my greatest friend in the whole world, the only friend I have. Unfortunately, I am shorter than him at 6'0 while he is at 6'4. He's got the cliché blond hair, blue eyes, and evenly tanned skin from being athletic all throughout his school days. Then there is me with the dark chocolate brown hair, bright green eyes, and the albino skin to match. I used to be an athlete, but things went wrong.

I hear a horn blasting, looking up from my messages. Low and behold, it is my idiot friend Kyle.

He rolls down the window, grinning like the fool he is. "Hop in!"

"You're late." Is all I reply with as I slide into the front seat, closing the door after me.

"Yeah, yeah. Get over it." He rolls his eyes, turning the volume down a little.

"Kyle, sometimes I worry that you only want to party and you don't care about anything else." I shake my head.

"Yea? And look at you, always on your phone." He raises an eyebrow.

I chuckle. "I have good reason to be staring at my screen and beside so, I can see you perfectly fine. Stop sticking your tongue out at me, what a child. I can be away from my phone, however, I do work besides these crazy fundraisers. I am the primary provider for my household, Kyle, I have other priorities."

"Which I have no idea how you manage. Dude, you never stop working. It bothers me." He frowns as he concentrates on the road. "I never see you taking a break. Why are you on your phone now?"

"My boss is checking with me on my schedule at my first job and the boss at my other job is asking me to cover Michael's shift Friday from midnight to three in the morning. Plus, I am going through my emails and working on scholarships." I reply.

"Scholarships? Man, you are a junior in high school!" He freaks out.

"I've been applying since I was a freshman, calm down. It's no big deal. I've actually won about seven so far. Not very big ones. I get them as soon as I complete my first semester at college. Of course, I might not even need them at the rate my studies are going." I answer and look over at him, my attention no longer divided.

"What did you do now?" He sighs heavily.

"I completed another degree." I shrug.

"What all do you have again? What did you add?" He interrogates me.

"Business, Education, Philosophy because it's pointless, Biology, Chemistry, Information Technology, Criminal Justice, and Nursing. I added Engineering, plus my Masters in all of those." I inform him.

"You seriously need to get a life and relax. Aren't your parents ashamed?" He demands.

"Look, just a little more and I can be exactly who I want to be without all the extra stress. I can get them into a nice home where I don't have to make payments because I paid it all off in the first place. You know they feel horrible." I scowl.

"Yes, I know that, Kamael. I know you're dad lost the use of his left arm and right leg and I know your mother can barely get out of bed. But they worked before, where did all that money go? You're a busy body, but it's sucked the life out of you that you deserve. It's wasted years of your life, consumed it. You've been working these jobs since you were thirteen. You're seventeen and turn eighteen in three months. Almost five years. What is taking so long?" He does not back down.

"I cannot access the money until I am eighteen. You idiot, I pay hospital bills for them, but I have to live somehow and keep them fed. It's not just them I work for, it's myself. Once I turn eighteen and I can access their money, I'll put them in the home. The leftover in their funds is my emergency and in case they need it and my money is my money. I'm going to keep the two jobs for a little while after that to store up money. Besides, I splurged to get my own better working car after trading in two of their three cars and I've had little bumps in the road called household appliances and plumbing I had to pay to get fixed. Though now I can do that on my own." I scold him.