I stumbled on that Help Wanted sign a few weeks after I came to this small college town. When I got here, I had to scramble to put together anything resembling basic necessities because I left that too big house in such a rush. Luckily, this little shop had plenty of fun, funky secondhand offerings for really reasonable prices. Otherwise, I would have had to go to class in my bathrobe. I was also fortunate that Mercer McKay, the owner, and I clicked right away. When I saw that she was hiring and asked about the job, she didn’t hesitate to offer me a part-time job, partly because she was nice, but more because she knew I was desperate to be here. I wouldn’t bounce on her if schoolwork got overwhelming and intense. I was reliable, which I’d proven to her time and time again. Over the summer, she let me crash in one of the back rooms that she’d set up as a bedroom while I put my plan in place to move into Huck’s fortress. The room was approximately the size of the walk-in closets back in that house I never thought I would escape, but it was infinitely more comfortable. Nothing at that house had been pleasant or homey. I hated that my mother refused to live anywhere else. We might not have been able to afford anything in that tiny New England town, but we could’ve lived elsewhere. My mom was too attached, too committed to serving a family that hers had worked for over generations. She felt she owed them, even more so when my father took off before I was born, leaving her alone and terrified. Huck’s grandparents let her live in the small servants’ quarters and paid for all her medical expenses, as well as my primary education, as long as she agreed to stay on staff and help with their son’s children. She was a housekeeper and a nanny, but really, she acted like the only real mother those boys had. She practically raised all three of us on her own, and it wasn’t until she was gone that I realized one of the main reasons she sacrificed her life and her own happiness and fulfillment was because she wanted to make sure I was guaranteed a better life than she had. She suffered so much solely so I could succeed.
I pulled at my curls with one hand and squeezed the bottle of water with the other as Mercer took a seat next to me. She had her hair pulled up in twin pigtails, and her bright, vibrant makeup always made her look like a kid playing dress-up. I knew she was nearly a decade older than I was, but she looked like she could be my younger sister. Her carefree and easygoing personality made her seem more youthful than I ever felt. I was honestly envious of her ability to see the good in everyone and the positives in any situation. Mercer wasn’t really a hipster or a new-age hippy-type. She was simply someone who marched completely to the beat of her own drum and didn’t care at all what others thought of her song and dance. She was quite possibly the happiest person I’d ever encountered, and I knew I wouldn’t have made it when I showed up at this school without her to lean on and confide in.
“I mean, I got tossed out on my ass as expected, but Vernon was nice enough to let me leave my stuff in their garage.” I didn’t have much, but what I did have was precious to me, and I wasn’t going to leave it behind.
“You knew he was the nice one going into this. You should’ve tried to work that angle even more.” All of her stacked bracelets jangled and clicked together noisily as she reached out to pat my back in a conciliatory manner. “You knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but you took the first step, and you need to give yourself credit for that. Now that Huck knows you’re here in the same city and plan on going to the same school, things are going to get interesting.”
I groaned and pulled harder on my hair. “I don’t want interesting.” I’d had that, and it had gone horribly wrong. “I want boring and safe.” I wanted what normal was supposed to look like.
Mercer patted me a little bit harder and sighed. “So, what’s the plan now? You’re sort