Chapter 3: Skylar

I haul my groceries up five flights of stairs to my apartment. I felt as if I had taken a bath in my sweat. It's times like this that I wish this building had an elevator. I know it's an old building, but somehow it has its charm. I love it here, well, except the staircase. I usually don't mind because I am used to living here, but today it's brutally humid outside, and the stairwell is hot like a furnace.

It's fall in Charleston, so why is it so humid? I hope it cools down within a week or two.

I hear my phone ringing just as I reach my apartment, panting. I yank open the door and race to the kitchen, dropping the four heavy bags on the counter.

I grab the phone from the wall, and with a huff, say. "Hello?"

"Hi, honey, it's Mom." I can hear her cheerful voice fill the silent room.

"Hey, Mom. I just got home from grocery shopping. I'm a little sweaty and out of breath."

"We told you to move to a better location, where there is an elevator, and you don't have to struggle like this."

"I don't need to. You know how I feel about that, plus it's a good workout, and you know how desperately I need one of those." I chuckle, trying to take her mind off the subject.

I'm a Culinary student at Trident Technical College. Its dorms were full by the time my scholarship was accepted. Hence I decided to take an apartment a few miles away from the College. It is budget-friendly.

"Your dad and I miss you; one week just doesn't cut it. Please come home soon." my mom says.

"I know, maa, I miss you guys too, but look at the bright side, I will be home on Thanksgiving. I just hope Dad is not planning on trying to make a fried turkey sandwich." I am from Texas, and my parents live on a farm there. Last year my dad almost burnt the whole place down while trying to fry an entire turkey together. My mom has officially banned him from the kitchen after this incident, but dad was dad, bought a fryer, and kept it in his barn.

My mom's voice gets me back to the present, " The turkey is strictly going in the oven this year. No more experiments." I assume that dad is nearby, eavesdropping on our conversation. Hence, mom got the opportunity to throw this at him. I laugh at their childish behavior and start unpacking my groceries, starting with the food which would go in the freezer.

"Oh, before I forget, your father wants me to ask you about the graduation date so that we can pre-book the tickets. Last-minute booking will cost extra, and in case you are moving back with us, then we will just bring the truck out there, help you pack, and drive back together." My mom says, trying to be subtle. She has been dropping these hints here and there about me moving back closer to them so that she can keep an eye on me. Not that I am incapable of taking care of myself, it's just that she is overprotective about me since the demise of my twin sister three years ago.

My sister had a cyst in her brain, which had gotten fatal before we could get it diagnosed. I miss her a lot. Just thinking about her brings tears to my eyes. She was my other half. We were going to move here together, graduate together, work together, get married together, have kids together, grow old together. But now I am living for both of us.

Now, mom doesn't want me to be alone because she fears that she will lose me too. She doesn't even let me purchase a second-hand car with the fear of me meeting with an accident. Yeah, I know she can go a bit overboard sometimes with her protective attitude, but I love her to bits, and I understand her concern.

"Maa, I've lived here for a year now, and I love it here. Life is different here, and you know I just turned 24, and finally, I feel my age." I try to reason with her. I loved living with my parents, but mom's over protectiveness just made me feel trapped at home. They still think of me as a kid who is incapable of growing up. " Maa, plus you know I have a part-time job at the restaurant here, and I am hoping to become the head chef here one day. I want to utilize my degree maa. You know that. Just go ahead and book the tickets for October. I have already gotten the permanent job here at the hotel once I am done with my graduation."

I reach at the bottom of my grocery bag to get my ice cream tubs. One of the boxes just pops open as it has melted, and it spills all over my floor. "Mom, I just spilled my ice cream. It has created a terrible mess. I need to clean it up. I'll call you later. Tell dad that I will call him later. Bye."

My mom takes a minute to respond to my sudden topic change. She says, "I will tell him, honey, Love you. Take Care. Bye."

I keep the phone and take a cloth and start cleaning up. Once I cleaned the mess up, I wash my hands and got to turn on the air conditioning on high. My air conditioning is second-hand, the fan gives good air, but it isn't cold enough in this heat.

I unpack the remaining groceries and remove one of the chocolate chip ice cream tubs that made it to the freezer safely and take a big spoon. I then take a bag of Oreos and crush them in a bowl, pour my ice cream on it and make it look like a sundae. I absolutely love ice creams. It's one of my favorite desserts. It's almost 8:15, so I should technically be eating dinner, but I really need this.

I go to my tattered couch and turn on the second-hand TV. I don't have wifi, so my options are pretty limited. As I am flipping through the channels, I hear the police sirens blaring outside my window. That happens a lot, given the area I live in. It's not the safest, but I am meticulous about locking my doors and not going out at night.

It's good my mom has not seen where I live, or else she would drag me back to Texas without even hearing me out. My own building consists of many drug dealers and people who have just gotten out of prison. I don't let all this affect me, and I believe that everyone is good. It's just that they lose their path sometimes, and they deserve a second chance. By doing so, we can all get them on the right path again, or maybe I am just naive.

Hence, every weekend, I set up food stalls, giving away the remaining unused food from the restaurant. Don't worry, my manager and a few other colleagues have also come to give me a hand. I also visit the shelter here and teach reading, writing, and drawing to whoever is interested. Some of these people could not afford to go to school, and because of that, they were unable to get a decent job, which made them homeless. Some of them are prisoners who want to turn their life around, and I want to help them do that. But, I haven't told my parents about this. They'd approve of me helping these people but not approve of the place I visit. The shelter is located near a very eerie place. At a distance from the shelter, I think everyone can hear wolves howling once in a while. No one even dares to go near the white fence which surrounds the entire area over there due to the fear of being dragged away by wolves.

The air conditioning is finally cooling down my room, but I am sticky all over from sweating while climbing the stairs. I go to my room and take a nice quick shower. My stomach growls for food. I am low on cash, but I am not in the mood to cook today, so I just go and order a large pepperoni pizza combo. My stomach growls with approval of my order.

Suddenly, while keeping the phone, I hear a girl yell in the hallway, "Shit!". "Fucker!"

I jump back in fear and slowly make my way to the door. I look out from the peephole and see a girl my age struggling to open the neighboring door. Boxes are lined up at her feet. It seems like she is moving in. All the apartments in the building are furnished, so you just have to bring your stuff to settle in, without worrying about the furniture. I open the door and say, "Do you need some help?"

The girl drops her key as she gets startled by my voice. I guess she didn't see me coming out of my apartment. She is still struggling with her keys, and it seems as if the door handle is stuck. She gives up frustrated and says in a small voice, "Maybe."

I walk up to her and say, "These doors can be tricky. Here let me help you." I show her what she has to do while explaining to her the same. " You need to push the handle a little bit inwards and then turn the key." I am finally able to open the door, and I say, "Voila!!" She hugs me tight and laughs, "So I have been doing the exact opposite of that!!! Wow, no wonder it won't budge."

I hug her too and say, "Yeah, kinda, just practice it a few times, and you will be a pro."

She takes her key back and puts it in her shorts back pocket. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Lisa, and I will be your new neighbor." She says, putting out her hand for a shake. I take her hand and say, " I am Skylar, and I have lived here far too long. I am a Culinary student at Trident Technical College." Her smile brightens, and she says, " Oh my God, I have moved to the right place. Please, please teach me cooking. I suck at it." I laugh at her childishness and say, " Sure, you are most welcome to my place anytime."

"I work as a secretary in the admissions department at the College of Charleston. So you must be terrific to have gotten an opportunity to study at Trident." She says. I blush at her compliment and say, " Not that good, but I managed to get a full scholarship, so maybe."

She nods understandingly. I happen to look at the number of boxes and offer her help. She says yes, and we proceed to start moving things in her apartment. Her apartment is very hot, probably because her air conditioning is not running. She wipes the sweat off her forehead and goes to switch on the air conditioning.

I take this time to study her. She is about my height, mostly 5'7. We have the same body type; thin, but we still manage to have curves at the right places, although her boobs are a lot bigger than mine. Her yellow crop top barely covers them. I hear her say, " Why is it so fucking hot? I thought that winters were near!! Damn the weather."

I tell her that my place is cooler and she can come with me if she likes till her apartment cools down. She looks at me as if I have grown a pair of three heads and asks me, surprised, "Where the hell are you from?" I tell her, "Texas. Why?" She laughs out loud and says, " I somehow knew that you were not from around here. You are way too nice. So… Texas. How was it growing there?"

I reply saying "I grew up on a farm in Texas. My parents still live there." She seems amazed at the fact that I am a farm girl. We go on to collect more boxes. She then very slyly asks me, " So you are a wholesome Texas girl. How many cowboys have you done it with?" she wiggles her eyebrows, her eyes showing mischief. I giggle and tell her that I have had boyfriends but giving details is something that I do not believe in.

We hear someone knocking on my door, and I jump up, realizing that it is my dinner. I tell her, " I have got to go. It's the pizza guy. Please join me. I have ordered a large combo." She literally falls off the couch while attempting to jump. She gets up and says, " You are offering me dinner? I officially love people from Texas." I laugh at her excitement and ask her, "So, where are you from?"

She sighs and says, "From here only. I never got a chance to leave and probably never will."

I tell her that I have drinks in the fridge, so not to worry about them. The pizza guy looks at me with disgust for making him waste his time. He tells me that it is 10$. I slip out the cash from my shorts and hand it over to him. We go into my apartment, and Lisa says, "Nice apartment." We have identical flats, and her sarcastic comment makes me snort. I played along and told her, " Well, since you liked my expertise in interior design, I could come over to your place and help you with the same as well." She nods like a little girl who has gotten her favorite candy. We laugh at our little joke and sit across the TV.

I suddenly jump up. "Oh Fuck!!Forgot to get the beer!!" I head to my kitchen, yank open the fridge and remove two beers. I pop them open and take them to the couch. We start watching a sappy romantic movie that shows how a girl was rejected for not being perfect, and then the guy realizes his mistake and begs her for her forgiveness.

We finish the pizza and the beers, along with the movie. While cleaning up, I ask her, " So what about you? Do you have a boyfriend?" She just shrugs her shoulders and says that she is not interested in a relationship. She just dates. By the way, she is talking. I guess that she was hurt in the past and is still not over the relationship. I do not pester her more on the subject. She will come around when she is ready.

She suddenly asks, "Do you believe in the concept of Mr. Right? That there is someone made only for you?" I say, " I don't know, I never got a chance to even think about Mr. Right. Whichever guy I dated, the relationship just found a dead end." We both sat on the couch, depressed at the thought of never finding anyone for us.

I look at her and feel that she needs my remedy. I say, " Let's sit with a tub of ice cream and ponder over things. Ice cream always makes things better. What say?" I get up to get the ice cream, and she gets up and walks towards the door. I ask her, " Where are you going? I am getting an ice cream tub!!" She laughs and says, " Darling, I need wine if we are talking about feelings." I laugh and nod. She goes to her apartment.

I like Lisa. I guess we can be terrific friends. I don't really have any friends here. Given my social life is minimal, but Lisa seems like a girl who would become my best friend. She comes in with a wine bottle and two wine glasses. " Now, girl, let's talk about feelings." Just as she finishes saying this, her phone rings, indicating a message. She takes her phone out and reads it. Her eyes glaze over. I worriedly ask her if everything is alright. She just shakes her head and gives a nod trying to smile. But her smile is forced. I can see that.

She simply says, " It's my mom, checking on me." Boy, I thought my mom was overprotective. Changing the subject, I ask her, "What do you want to watch next?" Before she could respond, her phone dings again, indicating another message. When she opens the message, her entire body freezes as if something terrible has happened.

"Fuck," She murmurs and starts to move to the door. "I got to go. I'll meet you tomorrow. Thanks for dinner, babe." She says. "Oh, almost forgot," she comes back to the kitchen and takes a huge bite of the ice cream, and then without another word, she leaves.

I was shocked because of the way she reacted after reading the message. I look at the clock and see that it is almost 11:30. Where was she going so late at night? She was shaking all over even when she was leaving. It must be a really bad message to have gotten her all tensed up. Something does not add up. I say to myself, " I need to ask her when I see her next time."

With that thought in mind, I retire for the night.