Months Later
Karu sighed. She sat down on her futon after another long day. It was hard for a fifteen year old girl to try to live on her own. While yes she had the freedom of choosing what things she wanted, sometimes it was too much. She still attended school, but her grades weren't doing very well. In fact coming to this new school was almost the same as her old school. The people acted the same. The teachers looked down on her. Friends were hard to come by. And the work was strenuous. And on top of all that, she had to find a job, very soon.
Karu flipped through her mail, again. She murmured to herself, "Bill, bill, bill, bill, bill, BILL! RAUGH!!"
Frustrated, she threw all of the papers into the air. The bills and the other mail fluttered down around her. She brought her knees up to her chest and stared at the papers. She then picked up her bank statement. She nearly threw it down, but stopped herself. She stared at it and then put it down carefully. As she stood up to turn off the lights, tears welled up. She turned the lights off and pulled the cover over her. Her sobs were not seen but heard through the night.
There was only enough in her account to pay for one bill. She had two weeks to find a job and get paid enough to pay off the bills.
The Next Morning
She was running, again. She ran in the building grabbing her school shoes without even looking. She ran into her classroom and into her desk right before the bell rang. Just then, she noticed the other students laughing. Not just laughing for the fun of it, but at her. Karu would have checked why, but the teacher just walked in. There was no hope in asking the teacher for going to the restroom. This teacher was already pissed off at her. Karu had made some remarks that, in a way, offended the teacher the week before. Now, Karu was at her mercy. Karu buried her face in her hands and decided to wait out the sniggers and crude remarks until break.
The break bell had rung. It wasn't even lunch, and Karu felt that she could go no lower. She had failed her last quiz because she slept through it. She also found out why the students were laughing at her through the teacher. Someone had scribbled all over her school shoes with a black permanent marker. Karu did not notice this, since she was in such a hurry. And since the teacher saw it, she was given a twenty minute lecture on neatness, cleanliness, and other things good students should be capable of.
This day was horrible, not to mention that she was dead tired. Her head hit her desktop. She hoped to get at least fifteen minutes of sleep, but that was shattered soon enough by a sharp call, "Ms. Sanaki! Come here."
Karu pulled her head off the desk. Her forehead bore a red mark from hitting her head. She stood up and started to walk to the teacher's desk. "Don't be so slow!" the teacher barked at her.
Karu fastened her pace. Once she reached the teacher, she tried to smile, which instead made her look angry happy because of her tired face. "Yes, sensei?" she asked as politely as possible.
"Don't look at me like that!" the teacher snapped. "Anyways, it seems that you have been dropping even more than usual. Get it together, already. There's a study group today afterschool. Be there."
Karu stood there staring at the teaacher who had already turned away. "Afterschool?" she asked. "I have something to do! I have to go look for a job!"
The teacher's face glared at her. "I don't care. Besides, who would want to hire you?"
As the teacher turned away, again, Karu's fist shook. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I HATE YOU! Karu bit into her lip as she went back to her seat. She could almost taste the blood.
After school and after the study group, Karu went off to look for work. The only places that would take in a high school student with her grades were a few fast food places, and even then, they would pick other people.
One Week Later
The outcomes were still the same: horrible treatment at school and no work. Karu stared at her phone from her futon. Should she? Did she want to? Of course not. But at this rate, it was the only thing she could do. Swallow her pride. Karu finally picked up the phone and dialed a number. She made sure she called the right number. It would be horrible if Naru picked up the phone. The phone on the other end was ringing. Finally, someone picked up. "Hello? This is Yuuri Sanaki's phone!" a cheerful and bubbly voice answered.
"Umma?" Karu asked uncertainly.
The voice suddenly hardened, "Yes, Karu?"
"I'm... I'm having some trouble."
"With what?"
"Bills and school."
Karu could swear that she heard her mother say, "Figures."
"Well, what do you want me to do?"
"Could you help me out, please?"
"Why? If I remember correctly, you left us. Apparently, you didn't need our help."
"I did need your help. I left because you never gave me help. You ignored me. You ignored Naru. You ignored the fact that we were bullied. You just told us it would be okay. It never did turn out okay! It never did! I couldn't take it anymore! I couldn't take it! I couldn't watch people constantly bullying Naru! I couldn't take the bullying without hitting back! I couldn't stand the faces people would give me! Not just for my hair, but also for how I acted! As if my personality was going to destroy their precious order! They wouldn't leave us alone!" Karu yelled as she slowly started to sob.
There was silence on the receiving end. "So you ran away to a place where you're having the same problems, but you're even more alone. Did you think that if you ran away, you would be happier? Karu, think for a moment. I did see your problems. I may not have understood them, but I knew about them."
Karu snapped back at her, "Really? Then why didn't the bullying ever stop? Why was it constantly done by the same people? If you saw, then why didn't you do anything about it?"
Karu was seething. The anger and stress built up in her for years were making their way out.
"You know what?" Karu yelled, cutting off her mother from saying anything. "You never helped me! I did everything for myself and Naru! I don't need you!"
Karu slammed down her phone. Large tear drops fell off her cheeks and splashed onto her hand. The warmth of the tear quickly cooled. Karu slid to the floor and covered her face.
One Week Later
Karu was in front of the landlord's office with her bags packed. She breathed in deeply and knocked on the door. The landlord opened the door and was suprised. "Ms. Sanaki?" she asked, "May I ask why you have packed up all of your things and are standing in front of my door?"
Karu blinked at the woman. "I wasn't able to pay the rent."
"What are you talking about, silly girl? You paid the rent about a week ago. I have to admit, I was worried that you weren't going to be able to pay for it by the deadline."
She noticed the blank look on Karu's face. "You didn't pay for it?"
Karu shook her head. "Well, that's strange because someone sent me a letter with a check. The letter was very short and didn't have a name. The check was also enough for a year's worth of rent. Well, have a nice day!"
The landlady closed the door and Karu stood in front of the door astounded. Karu ran to her apartment and picked up the phone. She dialed the number and waited for someone to pick up the phone. Her mother's cheerful voice answered the phone.
"Umma? Did you pay for my rent?"
Her mother's voice hardened again. "What are you talking about, Karu?"
"My rent..."
There was a pause on the other side. Karu held her breath. Was it possible? Did her mother actually help her? "Karu," her mother started softer, "that wasn't me nor your father. We still think you should come back."
Karu was silent. She thought she had heard a familiar but rare giggle in the background. Was she the one?
Karu's thoughts and questions were cut off by her mother. "Well, if that's all you need, then good-bye. Oh, and Karu, you owe her. She doesn't owe you anything."
Karu stood in her empty room with the phone in her hand. The dial tone drowning out the city.
