chapter 3

Analia Rayne ||

I take one last sniff of the "white stuff" on the table. Hopefully, this will make things better when I get home.

I step away from the table after wiping off the excess left. I make my way towards my locker labeled "Lia" and open it, grabbing my bag. I shut the locker and make my way towards the exit. On the way, I say a quick "see you later" to Charlotte and she waves in return.

Wait.

I won't be back here. I got a new job meaning no more Charlotte. Now that just breaks my heart.

Leaving the locker room, I run into Ryle.

"Hey there kiddo!" he says huffing and puffing like he just ran a mile.

"You..okay there?" I say slightly considered looking towards the direction he came from, to see what he was getting away from. He raises his hand causing me to pause and he puts his two hands on his knees, breathing in for air.

I look again and see nothing.

Was he running away from a ghost, again?

I don't know how many times I have to tell this grown man, who doesn't very much act like it, that there aren't any ghosts here.

"Were you running away from the ghosts again? Want me to go check it out?"

"No, I was not running away from the ghosts again. That was a one-time thing" he says pointing his finger at me. Sure it was. That's not what the 12 other times said. "And for your information, there are ghosts here."

Mhm.

He needs to hurry up and explain what he was running from, so I can go get my cookies before the shop closes from across the street.

Best cookies ever.

"I was running away from a man who tried to beat me up," My eyes widen.

"Don't worry, I didn't do anything. He thought I was flirting with one of the girls who were with him, but little does he know I'm her boss," he says shrugging.

I can't help myself but laugh at what he just said. God, he's always getting himself into these crazy things.

"Goodnight, Ryle," I say saluting him before walking away.

Now you're wondering why I didn't say goodbye to him. I hate goodbyes. They never ended well for me.

I walk out of the club. Eventful night for sure. Can't believe I was offered to be an assassin.

Wait.

I'm an assassin now. Sounds pretty badass.

I look both ways before crossing the street and make my way towards "Tony's Chewy Dewy Cookies". I step into the bakery and I'm greeted by a young blonde girl at the counter.

"Welcome to Tony's Chewy Dewy Cookies! What may I get for you?" the lady asks. I tell her I want a dozen chocolate chip cookies. She nods and grabs a cardboard box and places a dozen cookies. She hands me the box after she closes it and I give her a 20 dollar bill that I had made today. I tell her to keep the change. I bid my goodbyes and thank you's and walk outside making my way home.

Yeah, I have no car but I don't mind. I like walking, especially at night when it's all quiet. I usually wait till all the guys from the club leave because they like hanging out outside. I'm scared of them when I'm not in the club with Ryle.

It's so quiet at night. So peaceful. I've always loved the night the most, it's just so beautiful. The flaming balls floating in the sky shining. Yeah, that's pretty. My dad always loved the night as well, it's when we would bake cookies together all the time. Maybe that's the reason why I eat cookies so much.

Because he liked them.

I shake my head from those thoughts once again and make my way home while grabbing a cookie from the box. Mm, they smell good. Time to be eaten by the cookie monster. Haha.

I'm the cookie monster btw if you didn't know.

~~

I finally reach home and I'm standing in front of the door.

We don't have the most money in the world, especially since I'm the only one making most of it. So our house isn't pretty but it isn't the worst either. It's pretty bearable.

Before I could grab the doorknob, the door burst open. Oh no.

"What do you think you're doing just standing there looking crazy?" the deranged lady asks. The deranged lady is my mother.

Yes, I called her deranged.

"I was going to go in but then you opened the door. You beat me to it. Not fair," I say taking another bite of my cookie, but before I could bite into it she slaps it out of my hand. And the box of the 9 cookies left.

NO MY COOKIES!

Rip.

She grabs my wrist and pulls me inside the house. The crazy lady over here mumbles something to herself and makes her way to the bottle of whiskey on the table. No. She's been drinking.

She takes a swig from the bottle before she speaks again, "It's 3:30 in the fucking morning Mae," I cringe when she says my middle name. It sounds so different now coming out of her mouth. It sounds so disgusted now.

"You should've been home at 2. Thars your curfew. You are not 18 yet, meaning you can't make your decisions under my roof. Got it?" I nod my head not breaking eye contact with her. I can't let her know I'm scared right now. She cant win.

"I understand, mom," I say dripping with venom, emphasizing the word "mom". She doesn't even deserve to be called that, not anymore.

"Good that you understand. Now go to your room," she says taking a seat in the wooden dining room chair.

Our house is an open floor. So you can see the kitchen and dining room from the living room, and you can see from the kitchen the living room and dining room. It's a pretty nice house. It's not decorated much anymore. I've had to take stuff down because my mom likes to grab things from the wall and break them. Told you, deranged. But it's the drinking that does this to her, I promise she wasn't always like this.

"Why are you still standing here? Go on," she says shooing me with her hand.

Well, here goes nothing.

"I got offered a job and a pretty good job. Like a wealthy paying job," I say thinking about whether I should leave the assassin part out. I think I just might. That catches her attention.

She stands up from the chair and placing the bottle down on the table next to her. "What kind of job?" she asks.

What do I say?! Think Analia. THINK.

"It's a job.. that deals with computers. I have to locate new places, like business-wise, like say if someone wanted to have their own business I would find a perfect location for them.. like a business partner," I say knowing I sound unsure. Is that even a thing Analia? I sure hope it is.

"So you're a realtor?" she asks raising her eyebrows with both her hands on her hips.

"Yes! Exactly that! Except since I'm underage, I just locate the places that are wanted to be put up for sale and someone else does the rest of the hard stuff," I say confidently. She stares at me hesitantly trying to see if I'm lying. She steps closer and looks into my eyes.

"You better not be lying, Mae," she says pointing her finger at me.

What if I just bit her finger?- Never mind that.

What's with everyone and pointing their finger at me today? Is it "Point Your Finger at Analia Day"? I didn't get the memo.

I shake my head, "I'm not lying. I promise."

She gives a little nod and raises her hand to shoo me again. So I start walking towards the stairs leading to my room upstairs.

Phew, thank god today's not like the other nights.

"Oh wait forgot to mention one part," I say making turning around in my heel.

"I have to move out."

She stops what she's doing and runs up to me and grabbing my face roughly.

"Why in the hell do you need to move out?!" she says roughly throwing my face left to right. Causing me to trip backward, but before I could fall the wall catches me. Grab it any harder, please.

"It just caushes the jshob ish pretshy far awash. They donsh wash me travelsh so fash," I say trying to make out the words.

(It's just causes the job is pretty far away. They don't want me traveling so far.)

"I swear Analia Mae if you are lying to me," she says. It's not a warning. It's a threat.

I shake my head. She lets go of my face. Finally.

"I'm not. They're picking me up on Thursday," I say rubbing my cheeks.

"Well, you're lucky I won't be here Thursday. Going in for an interview" she says walking towards her best friend on the table half empty. I give her a thumbs up and make my way up the stairs.

Thank god that's over with. Once I reach the top I walk to my room. I open my bedroom door and set my bag on the floor.

Home sweet home.

I flop on the bed face first and just lay there for a second. I turn over and stare up at the ceiling.

Hey Justin Bieber, how's it going up there?

He's been there for years, don't judge me. Didn't have the heart to take him down.

Yeah.

My life is about to change Thursday.

A whole new life is about to be born. I'm leaving the nest, the place I've grown up in for the first time. The place I grew up with my dad. The place I ran up and down the halls giggling after he chased me. The place where I tripped outside that one time and busted my lip. He ended up making cookies to make me feel better and that's how cookies became my comfort food.

I could go for cookies right now but no. The deranged lady downstairs had to kill them.

Hope those fucking ants enjoy them.

Life would be so different if you hadn't fucking left. Why? Just fucking tell me why you had to go. Mom wouldn't be like this. I sure as hell wouldn't be like this. But I know life doesn't always go as planned.

"When things aren't going as planned, don't use it as an excuse to give up. Get your butt back up and let that be your push to do better." Is something my dad always said to me.

Well, dad, I'm doing something better with it. And that's being an assassin. Hope you're proud.

Slowly Justin Bieber's face started to fade. My eyes were becoming heavy like weights and I no longer could see Justin's face. I drifted into a much-needed sleep after tonight.