32. Easy A

Another day, another Tuesday. Sometimes she wondered what would happen if they named a new day. What would they call it? Fondrousday, Telalayladay, Kokunaday… she could go on forever making up names and it was kind of fun too.

"Thalia?" someone called. Thalia looked up from her doodling to see her teacher standing in front of her. She sat straight as she pulled her textbook over her drawing of a bird crapping on a boy, whom she visualized as Percy.

"Yes?" Thalia said embarrassedly. The teacher sighed.

"You need to pay more attention, Thalia," she said before she turned her attention to the rest of the class. "Anyone would think you guys are still freshmen! I expect better," the teacher went on and Thalia hid her face behind her hair. She's been doing that a lot lately. Zoning out and missing half the class and then being the focus of attention when the teacher picks her out. She just wanted to crawl in a corner and hide. She still had about 8 weeks left of school and she couldn't wait. Let the weeks go by quicker, please.

That's when she started thinking about her graduation. She had politely asked Mr. Brunner if she could've skipped the graduation ceremony, but he had told her no. She had tried so hard to make a good case (I don't have friends, I don't know anyone, I don't have money), but he had an answer for everything. She sighed. But despite the fact she was graduating without much money, she was waiting to receive letters in the mail. She had applied to a few colleges, not expecting to go to any of them, but she just wanted to know. And if the gods were smiling, she might just get a chance. But she never let her hopes get too high.

She had decided that with a baby on the way, college seemed like a good yet somewhat farfetched idea. Not to mention, she had to start looking for a good job. The money she got from her babysitting and dog walking isn't nearly enough to support another member of the family, especially not a baby which were like money devouring monsters. She frowned as she made minor calculations in her head about how much it might cost, and the numbers were staggering, at least for her. She wondered how she would ever get through it. She started making a list of places she could apply to. It wasn't very big, since she was still only seventeen and many places wanted eighteen year olds, which she thought funny because she was way more mature than many of the twenty year olds that worked at stores she'd been to.

The bell rung and she gathered her things, but she couldn't follow the group of seniors heading out the door because her teacher called her.

"Yes, Mrs. Towry?" Thalia said as she reluctantly turned to her.

"Please come here," she said. Thalia left her belongings on her desk as she walked over to her teacher's desk. She stood in front, but Mrs. Towry gestured for her to come around. Thalia did so as she chewed on her lip.

"Look at these grades," she said. Thalia leaned over and squinted at the computer screen. It took her a moment, but once she found her name she scanned the row of grades and not all were good.

"What about them…?" Thalia asked hesitantly, though she already knew what Mrs. Towry was trying to tell her.

"Thalia, you were an A student, what happened?" Mrs. Towry asked as she spun in her chair to face Thalia. Thalia felt a little bit upset. It was hard enough to keep her A's up since learning for her wasn't as easy as it was for others, but she's had a lot of stuff going on in her life; her mother, the baby, Cindy and everyone else who had suddenly popped into her life. She shrugged. Mrs. Towry frowned and took off her glasses.

"You cannot get more than two zeroes, or you won't be graduating," she said sadly. Thalia shifted from foot to foot.

"Okay," she said quietly. She began to turn.

"Thalia, I wish you luck with whatever is going on," Mrs. Towry said. Thalia nodded and felt better knowing that Mrs. Towry somewhat understood. She might not know what was going on, but she knew something was going on. "I'm here after school if you need help. I'll be giving out some extra credit soon," she added. Thalia sent her a small smile.

"Thank you, Mrs. Towry," she said as she grabbed her things and left. She sighed as she walked home. She would definitely need to use that extra credit. She reached her apartment and walked in. She pulled out cereal and sat at the island eating when she suddenly remembered something.

"THE MEETING!" she gasped. She knew her mother probably wasn't going, so she jumped off her chair and ran into her mother's room. Nothing. She checked the bathrooms, the bedrooms, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Dammit!" Thalia said under her breath as she stomped her foot. She knew. She knew! Her mother probably ran out before Thalia got home to avoid going. She was about to scream when she heard the door to the apartment open. She gasped and walked into the living to almost fall to her knees in shock.

Her mother was standing there in a simple, cotton, yellow dress with spaghetti straps and pale yellow heels. Her black hair looked like someone had tried to brush it, but they couldn't quite fix it and she still had dark circles under her eyes, but she looked better without all the make-up on. She still didn't look pristine or elegant, but she didn't look like a lowlife drunk anymore. It took a while for Thalia to realize her mouth was open. Her mother looked up and suddenly looked defensive.

"What?" she asked sharply.

"Where did you get those clothes?" Thalia asked in amazement from seeing her mother look so different. Then she grew suspicious. "You didn't steal it, did you?!"

"No! Of course not!" her mother said defensively. "A- a friend loaned it to me," she stuttered as she looked down at herself, suddenly self-conscious. The dress flowed, but it seemed tighter around her abdomen. She was starting to get more of a baby bump, but the dress covered it up nicely. You couldn't notice it unless you really studied her.

"Tell her thanks," Thalia said, still not over her shock. Her mother hadn't dressed decent for years, and Thalia gave up hope she would ever stop wearing stained t-shirts and broken dresses, but now, she looked like her version of a million bucks.

"Well?" her mother said. "Aren't we going?" she asked sarcastically. Thalia rolled her eyes. She walked into her bedroom and grabbed the address to the meeting she had taped to her mirror, grabbed her bag and left the apartment with her mother. As they walked down the sidewalk (since the car is out of gas) Thalia couldn't help but feel good. Sure, her mother was still a sour grape suffering from withdrawal and hormonal changes and she carried all the uncertainties of the future on her shoulders, but she was on her way to a better day, when she didn't have to get up in the morning and feel like crying because of how screwed up everything was. The storm was clearing and she couldn't wait to feel the sun shining on her.

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