My alarm woke me too soon. Groaning, I grabbed my phone, turning it off, before getting out of bed. There was no time to linger in the warmth and comfort of my bed. It was time to face the day. I stretched out, feeling my muscles burn from the rigorous exercise on the pole yesterday.
"You up?" Oliver knocked on the door.
"Yes, I'll be down in a second." I answered, before bending over and stretching my legs as well, which felt good and painful at the same time.
"I'm heading out now," one look at the clock told me it was only 5.45, "I took over from Russell, so I will be working from 6:00 till 18.00 today." I clenched my eyes shut, knowing he was overworking himself.
"You shouldn't work so hard..." I told him, sorting through the clothes in my closet.
"It's alright, Eve," I could hear the smile in his voice, "See you tonight."
"See you tonight." I quickly put on a pair of jeans and a sweater, brushed my hair and packed my bag. School didn't start for another 2 hours, but I always walked there, as I didn't have a car and public transport was expensive. Out of habit, I walked up to the couch in the living room, intending to wake-up dad and get some solid food into him, before recalling what happened yesterday. Immediately, a pang of sadness shot through me. He was at a cold police station, probably freaking out, re-living whatever he saw in Afghanistan while going through signs of withdrawal. I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat. It was outside of my power, I told myself. Throwing one more look at the empty couch, I forced myself to focus on getting ready and walked into the kitchen.

Eating a cracker with some butter on it made me realize once more how badly we needed to do some grocery shopping. As I ate my limited breakfast, I finished the last of my homework. Oliver was right, my grades were extremely high, I had already applied to multiple colleges and scholarships, including some of the Ivy league schools. I knew I was aiming incredibly high, but I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. My grades were excellent, my motivation letter was one of the best the councilor at school had ever read and my determination was unparalleled. The first round of tests were coming up soon and I had already studied for 5 months, dead-set on giving it my best. Even if I wouldn't get into Harvard or Yale, I would be accepted at another university: of that I was sure. I was going to get a better life. I would earn enough to support Oliver as well, ensuring he would finally have some time to live his life. I would earn enough to pay for dad's treatment.
If it wasn't too late by then... I immediately pushed the treacherous thought away. I couldn't give up on him. I refused to give up on him.

After finishing the cracker and cleaning up the kitchen, I grabbed my coat and bag, ensuring I had everything I needed for a day at school -and work tonight, in case I decided to go to the library instead of home after school- and headed out. I took a deep breath, enjoying the peace and quiet of a world that was not yet awake.

An hour later, I finally arrived at the school gates, where William was waiting for me. He was the perfect boyfriend, some would argue: tall, handsome and sweet. He always waited for me before going inside, regardless of how long he would stand there. After he did that once in the pouring rain, I became mad at him and told him he had to take better care of himself. He simply smiled and told me I was worth it all.
"Hello darling." He pecked me on my lips and I smiled back at him as he wrapped his arm around me and led me towards the building.
"You seem to be in a good mood." He smiled as I said that, dimples appearing in his cheeks, his baby blue eyes shining with joy.
"I won the essay competition."
"That is amazing." I drew him into a hug, congratulating him. "So what is the prize again?"
"Nothing much, mostly the honour of receiving a trophy and giving a speech in front of the entire school." He rolled his eyes, "As if anyone is going to listen to a word I have to say."
"I will." I told him without missing a beat, looking him pointedly in his eyes, "So you better say some things that make sense, Will." I tried to look intimidating, but didn't manage to hold my straight face for long as William burst out in laughter and hugged my body closer to his.
"Hmm..." He smiled, before his eyes moved down to my lips and he kissed me again. It was just a few seconds, but I could feel the question and the desire behind it. We had been dating for almost four months now and William had wanted to take our relationship to the next level for quite some time now. He respected that I wasn't ready yet, but that didn't make him less disappointed. I didn't know why I hesitated: he was near perfect in almost every aspect of the word. He was at the top of his class, a star rugby player and incredibly handsome. All the other girls at school were jealous of me and would have given him his wish a long time ago. But I couldn't, for some reason, which made me feel guilty.
"So how are you doing on this wonderful day." My smiled fell a tiny bit as he spoke those words, being brought back to the reality of my father being in prison once again. "I'm sorry." He immediately spoke after asking the question.
"It's fine, Will, truly. It's just that my dad was arrested again yesterday."
"Shit, I'm sorry. And here I am bragging about some competition that doesn't even mat..." I slapped his arm before he could finish that sentence.
"Don't you dare say it doesn't matter, it does, Will. And I'm really happy for you. The colleges will be fighting over you." I forced a smile as he laughed.
"I know you are hurt, Evi. You might be able to hide it from everyone else, but I can see it." I sighed, knowing he was right, but not in the mood to talk about it.
"It was bound to happen again." I simply said. William nodded, clearly catching onto the vibe that I didn't want to say anything else.
"One day, the system will change, and these things won't happen anymore." He spoke, always the optimist. I wasn't as sure: throughout human history there were those who had power and those who did not. Never had it ever worked out well for the latter group. Instead of speaking out my doubts, I simply nodded, not wanting to ruin his happiness more than I already had.
"First period will start soon," I said instead, "I will see you in the break." I smiled, making it the most convincing one yet, and William seemed to believe it as he kissed me once more and ran off in the opposite direction, towards the B building. I couldn't help but smile a genuine smile as I saw him jogging off, realizing how lucky I was to have him.