Chapter 1

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Grace
Okay. I know I said Erica is my best friend in the world but I'm taking it back. She is the worst best friend in the world. I will kill her! She set me up with a dude who probably still lives with his parents. I'm not kidding. He's wearing glasses and suspenders and keeps pulling out his inhaler for every time he talks too fast.

"And then," he pauses to use his inhaler, "I said, 'that's not the circumference of the circle.' " He starts laughing like he's just told the best joke in the world when I didn't understand jack squat. So I do what anyone else would do...I gave it to him straight.

"Look, John is it?" He nods. "Look, you seem like a really nice guy and all but I'm just not interested in you. I'm sorry about you having to come all this way to just get rejected but it's true." He takes a puff of his inhaler.

"Oh." He says in his squeaky voice. "I-I am sorry you feel that way" I just give a slight smile and nod. He starts to sweat a little bit. "Are you ok?" I ask him.
"I-I'm fine". The food comes and he looks like he's about to explode. "I", he starts to say. "I need to leave." He puffs his inhaler one more time before getting up and leaving me alone at the table. Well, that was certainly interesting. Poor guy, I probably freaked him out by rejecting him. But hey, I finally get to eat in peace since Erica made me skip lunch. That bitch kept me at the mall until five o'clock trying on dress after dress. Ugh, I need a new friend.
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I ended up finishing my meal and paying for both. Thanks, John. I finally make it back to my apartment around eight o'clock and unlock my door. My apartment isn't much but it's not piss poor either.

My grandfather, who died about five years ago, left me a good amount of money to sit on. He was always vague about what he did for work; he claimed he worked in construction, but even I know construction doesn't let them leave their granddaughter a good 30,000 dollars to sit on. I never got a chance to ask him what he really did before the accident. He was killed in a car crash driving home at night. I was devastated; I never got to say goodbye. He taught me everything there is to know about the real world. How be smart in certain situations, how to read people, and how to fight. I never knew why he taught me these things, but now I understand. The world is cruel and dark. "You either let yourself be on top, or you let people walk all over you like a sidewalk." That's what my grandfather use to say. I miss him.

I don't speak to my parents. Considering they disowned me for not taking over the family company and spending more time with my grandfather than learning how to run Sanchez Empire. I know that my last name is Collins, and it is, because I changed it. I am full Puerto Rican, five foot six and I have long dark, dark brown hair and hazel eyes. I didn't want anything to do with my parents after they told me to not bother coming home anymore and to stay at college. Therefore, I legally changed my last name so my parents, or anyone else for that matter, could say I was a nuisance. I am not an only child; I have a brother named Anthony and he is taking over Sanchez Empire soon. Lucky him, always the golden boy for Mom and Dad.

I decide to hop into the shower because I walked all the way back home, and I was sweating like a pig. After a nice long show of karaoke in the shower, I slip into my onesie and curl up in a ball as I slide into my twin bed. Tomorrow, work. Yay me. I look up at the broken plaster peeling off the ceiling. I let out a sigh. It will get better. I just have to keep pushing forward.
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Beep! Beep! Beep! Bee- Crash!

Stupid alarm clock. I sit up and my back makes this awful cracking noise. Ugh, come on back. I'm not even thirty and you're already giving me a hard time.
I get out of bed. No, scratch that, I crawl out of bed and make my way to the bathroom. I brush my teeth, put my hair into a ponytail and put on my scrubs. I look in the mirror. "I'm no Gisele Bundchen but it'll do. I'm surprised this mirror hasn't shattered yet, it's seen me so many times." I grab my wallet and a banana and head out the door.

As I'm walking to the hospital I bump into someone. I scoff, "Oh, I'm sorry" The person turns around. It's a man. He's roughly thirty maybe older, he's not very tall maybe five ten, and he has a beer belly. Gross.

"Watch where you're going, bitch," He spits back.

"Excuse you? I was just walking and at least I said sorry!" He starts walking over towards me. Bring it on fatty. He reaches for me and I dodge quickly, just like my grandfather taught me. He throws a punch and I catch his fist. I twist his arm behind his back. "I suggest you walk away before I sneeze and "accidentally" snap your arm." I let him go and he scurries away. Grace one, fat dude zero.

I finally make it to work and check in. My boss tells me to head to room 222 and not to ask questions. Whatever that means. I make it to the room, and I don't believe what I see.
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*Pops confetti 🎉*
I did it! I made chapter 1. Woo-hoo I'm so happy right now. More is coming tomorrow. As always, don't forget to vote and comment. Much love ❤️
-Lily

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