"Sasha."

BANG!

I wince, while my hand involuntarily shoots up, touching my forehead. Looking to the far front of the class, Mr. Lawrence is still blabbering to no end.

I'm safe, then.

And so I turn to my right, being greeted with Rosa's apologetic grimace.

"Sorry."
"It's fine." 

"You're almost asleep. I was scared he'd call you out."
"Thank you." I shrug off her concerned look, and she seems to understand I prefer not to talk about it in the class.

Sleepy might be an understatement.
I'm so tired I can probably skip school today if it's not because of Miles.

He has a test today, and since I'm the one whose school closest to his, I've been the one who's responsible for dropping him off.

Mom thinks her baby boy isn't old enough to go on his own yet. 

She did the same with me and Rachel until we were both seventeen.

So I didn't skip school today.
But I've been having a hard time trying to keep my eyes open since they're heavily seized with sleep. 

I probably need to glue them.

When class is finally over, I gladly remove myself out of it as soon as possible. 

The cafeteria doesn't have coffee, but hopefully, I can find something sour enough to keep me awake.

"Can you slow down?" Rosa grabs me by my shoulder, complaining about how I left her behind. Then she gets into the question she's been meaning to ask.

"You couldn't sleep last night?"
"Nope."
"You got home before 9, right?"
"At 10 actually. I stayed behind for a bit."
"What? Linda didn't send you home?"

"She did," I try to suppress a yawn, ", but I can't possibly leave her alone when she still has customers."
"Oh, Sash. You're always sleepy every Monday."

She's about to say it. 

Her usual 'I think you should cut off your hours' advice. But I need to work. 

I'm 18, and the thought of not having even the smallest income is always haunting me.

I need to work. I need to give something to my family. I want to have an experience I can add to my CV.

Call me a weird 18, or even dramatic. But I can't get the thought to stop haunting me whenever I don't have something to call as a job.

"Ro, I know you mean well but I'm happy with it."
"You're losing sleep."
"A few hours will have to do then."
"Sash! You're still 18. Your family is doing well. You're not obliged to do this."

Our argument is cut short the moment Bryan and Lex come into view. 

They're sitting on our usual table, and Rosa casts me a warning gaze before she greets them with a smile.

It was the first week of school, and I'm still not used to have a job on my weekends.

I think it's fine. 

I'm just not used to it yet. I think Linda isn't used to it either. Even some customers that I've befriended with.

"Mrs. Park asks about you the other day." Linda told me as she sat behind the cash register.

"Yeah?"
"Mhm. Gus, too."

I wonder how Jo will react to it, though. 

He'll probably shrug it off with an 'oh', I reckon as I type out an answer to his text.

And there I am that afternoon, sitting at my study desk. I'm about to go through the pile of homeworks when my phone dings.

Jo

Can you meet me at the bus stop with Red Car Blue Car?

Me
Sorry, I only work during weekends nowadays.

He takes longer than usual to reply. Guess he's still at work or something.

My phone gives out another ding around 5 minutes later.

Jo

School huh?

Me

Yep. You still work on weekdays?

Jo

Eh, I have to.

Me

But how's your school?

Jo

I'll manage.
See you later then

I doubt we'll meet again, the thought involuntarily comes by. 

He rarely comes on weekends after all. Probably since McDonald's is far busier on weekends.

I huff, putting my phone away after sending a reply. 

So what?

I still have tons of other things to worry about anyway.

Like this homework in front of me, I haven't even worked through.

The only good thing I can come up with while school finally starts is that it successfully keeps my mind busy. 

I don't even think of the matter again until my head hits my fluffy pillow.

◐

What a huge dummy.

My hands go up to my temples nervously.

"Sash? You don't have to come in if you have tests or homework."
"Ah, no. I can make it. I'll just study there while managing the booth, no big deal."

It's the second day of the book fair at the mall-meaning, it's Sunday.
Sunday means I only have a few hours left before school. 

Yet, I only know that I'll have a quiz tomorrow just today.

Linda has told me that Sundays are usually the busiest with plenty more visitors at the fair, and how can I possibly leave her alone without assistance with such a short notice?

WHAT A HUGE DUMMY!

I'm freaking out. 

Shoot, shoot, shoot.

How am I suppose to pass the quiz I haven't gotten to study, yet?

But why the heck is Mr. Lawrence only telling us now?

Ugh, I should've known. 

The man is known for his surprise quizzes for goodness' sake.

I'm sure he thinks he's done a very good deed today by telling us just a day before his quiz.

I wouldn't expect less from everyone's least favorite teacher.

That's mean Sash.

Good to know my conscience is still with me when my peace isn't.

I end up stealing minutes to study at the mall's toilet every now and then. 

I know Linda won't let me stay if she catches me frantically studying.

"It's good, you're halfway through, Sasha." I mumble to myself as I sit on the toilet stool with my eyes stuck on my phone.

A classmate has kindly sent some photos of the summary she's made, and I genuinely pray to God I can finish before tomorrow morning.

I probably still seem very panicked even when I try my best to hide it.

Because when Jo suddenly shows up, it doesn't take a few minutes for him to raise a brow at me.

"What's up with you?"
"What?"
"You look a bit pale."

I seriously do. But thankfully Linda doesn't notice it... yet.

"I have a quiz tomorrow," he rises a brow and I explain,"I haven't finished studying."

"So why are you here?"
"Because I can't possibly leave my boss alone with such short notice!"

Instead of being slightly offended by my sudden outburst, he laughs at me as if I just told him a joke.

"What is it about?"
"What?"
"The quiz."
"Probability and combinatorics."

I recognize what he has in mind instantly just by how he's suppressing his smile.

He's about to open his mouth to answer when I stop him.

"If you're about to brag about it, Jo, I swear..."
"What?"

Oh, how dare he to even act innocent about it!

"What are you gonna do about it anyway?" I sigh, massaging my temples.

This Sunday is already full of uninvited surprises, and I can't bring myself to predict what'll happen to me next.

I really hope I can hide