Scattered Dreams, Billionaire Promises.

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xt

en childh

they hand you a diplom

ts you toast your broken dreams wi

th the silence after th

sed certificate that smelled faintly of ink and resignation. There was no one at the gate. No balloons.

sil

low pit where celebr

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he kitchen, her eyes foggy with exhaustion. Liam and Nia were squabbling over the last heel of bread in th

d, "Congra

n noticed

wind was gentle, almost mocking. I sat on the chipped concrete steps in my fraying blazer,

of childhood,

-

away," Maria had whispered t

lea, as if wishing i

poured the tea. We hadn'

otel," she offered, her voice br

d quickly.

ny times had we ha

g sign. Her skin had gone dull. There was a tir

er, forcing steel into my voice. "If you collap

art. The way her eyes would dart off, l

uch her. To hu

ere was no room

-

hunt was

ets. But I didn't expect

s I owned, handing out CVs that were really just thin lies on cheap paper. I wasn't sixte

an at a supermarket told me I had "too pretty a face to be stocking shelves." I smiled,

fieds with a ruler and red pe

was a bruise. Bu

-

be an opening at Rosie's Diner on 8th. I

ith tired eyes and a cigarette that neve

wo hands?"

es

w how to

es

n't be late. Unif

e that, I wa

-

next morning

it last. My hair was tied back in a tight ponytail, and my shoes-hand-me-

fast rush

uted, the clang of the b

dodged spilled syrup, and tried not to gag when a man c

ffee, sw

my toast,

l! You'll get mo

led.

kept the el

ol supplies didn't

t work, Maria woul

-

om carrying plates. My back screamed from standing twelve hours straig

surviving on insta

didn't

, and collapsed into bed fully clothed. Nia would curl up next to me sometimes, her t

promises i

meday I'll give yo

-

urred into

Work. Sle

dances I was n

ay hangouts a

and morning gossip and car

being a

he realization that no one

-

in can und

ookies from a Christmas lo

th a fading Sha

to that can. Tips. Extra shift

k was a li

d go back

'd get a

leave this

stayed a whisp

-

ame Ri

ly did. Her suit was powder blue and tailored within an inch of its life. Her heels clicked like punctu

smile. No

he wa

wed me-not in the way men did, not like she wa

her coffee, she said fla

ed. "Ex

an a diner girl," she added, slip

& Co.

ang, D

lean clothes, ponytail,

ke that, sh

-

Turned it over. Held it under the flickerin

had anymore. But maybe cu

ust tired of sme

-

riday,

wed one of Maria's blouses from when she worked full-time-cr

nist barely

and phone list and said, "Temporary work. Schedules. Ca

al," I

mean

-

s chaos dress

le clients. Glitter and d

learne

ge like it was a military command. How to smi

tability, but it came with

time, I wasn't

clim

-

check went back

new shoes fo

utgrown h

s had doubl

lf. A used paperback. The pages were yellow, the

-

ving. Kept counting day

here I wan

at Rosie's an

meant s

-

nce danced in the halls

to a name that m

s someth

who ke

ho didn't

ht of three lives on her shoulde

en when chi

ad turned that broken ending int

was waiting for m

s still

ometi

that had t

r