Chapter 8 Only One Option

The door shut behind her, literally and metaphorically shutting her out of the restaurant. Celia lowered her face to the ground. Her breath came out in a heavy rhythm, her chest had a hollow ache. She undid her ponytail and buried her face in her hands.

"I'm so stupid," she said. "I should have known better."

Roy, who had witnessed the whole thing and had followed her out, placed his hand on her shoulder. He stroked it in a way that only a loving, loyal boyfriend could. Regardless, Celia still felt like dirt.

"Hey. The guy was a jerk. I would have done the same thing."

Celia sniffled. "But that's the thing; I shouldn't have done that at all! No one should do that, especially not to a customer!" She whimpered and hurried away from the business she had been fired from.

Roy followed behind her. "Hey. Keep your chin up. This doesn't have to be the end of the world."

"I'm not saying it's the end of the world." Celia turned to face him, allowing her tear stained face to be in full view. "But…" she bit her lip and turned away. "Oh, who am I kidding? This is awful! I screwed up the one chance I had to get by in this world." She lowered her head. "I screwed up," she whispered. Tears fell out of her eyes into a puddle in the dirt path below.

Roy approached. Celia could see his shadow coming up behind hers. He reached out his hand, but for whatever reason, he didn't lay a finger on her. He just stood there, possibly chewing on his lip, possibly dealing with undesirable emotions, and possibly unsure of what exactly he could do.

Eventually, he lowered his hand. "You're right; you did screw up. But...at least you can learn from the mistake."

Celia sniffed. "How? How can I learn from this?"

"Well, you can pick yourself up and get another job. While there, you can tell yourself that the putz's who give you a hard time are not worth you getting fired."

Celia pushed her hair out of her eyes. "You give me way too much credit; I don't have that level of self control."

"But you have self awareness," Roy pointed out. "You can use that to your advantage."

Celia opened her mouth to say something, to argue against the point he was making. Ultimately though, she closed her mouth and scrunched up her brow, letting out a horrible sigh as she did so.

"Ohh, hey!" Roy smiled at her. "Come on, look on the bright side for once! Sure, you might have spilled some water, but glass is still half full. You can turn this around."

Celia shook her head. He really did not understand. "Roy…"

"Cee," Roy protested. He placed his hands on her arms. "You can do this. You've got this in the bag." He smiled. "You can go job hunting when you get home; I'm sure that there are a lot of places that have flexible hours!" He grinned. "That way, you can still have classes with Iggy."

Celia's heart stopped. All of the horrible conversations she had leading up to this moment came rushing back to her, hitting her with the speed and force of a freight train. And with that force falling on her came some physical side effects. Her legs quaked. Her skin ached. Her hands felt clammy and couldn't decide whether they should be open or clenched up.

"Ig…" Her pupils dilated. Sweat poured down her back and face in buckets. "Ig…"

Roy blinked. "Are you okay?"

Celia's heart...it was stabbing her! There was a sharp sensation right in the center of her chest! Her lungs were closing up, making breathing impossible to handle. She dropped to the ground, hyperventilating and shaking.

"Oh my developer, I have to go to regular school now." That job was the only reason her parents said she didn't have to do it. It was the only thing keeping her afloat. Now that it was gone, and now that her classes with Iggy had gone bye-bye…

She had no choice. There was only one option, and it was staring her in the face like a hungry wolf. Its eyes were menacing, its maw salivating, and its whole demeanor not friendly.

"What?" Roy knelt down. "What do you mean you have to go to regular school?"

In that instant, Celia felt like running away. She wanted to run; away from Roy, away from her parents, away from the shame that was hanging over her head...she wanted to run away from all of it. She would go somewhere else. The Starbite Society, for example. Sure, she had been banished from their ranks forever, but seeing how Kamark, theri leader, had a special relationship with her father, she could probably talk him into letting her back in. Or perhaps she could go back to the sewer, and just live out there for the rest of her life. Sure, that had been hell, but it would probably be much less of a hell than…

Regular school.

"Celia!" Roy put his hands on her shoulders and lifted her to her feet. "Celia, talk to me! Why do you have to go back to regular school?"

Celia could have run in that moment. However, she didn't. Despite her gut instinct telling her to run, her body would not obey. Maybe it was because Roy was holding onto her, acting as a restraint of sorts.

Tears streamed down her face. She couldn't run from this, no matter how much she wanted to. She took a deep breath, or at least tried to. With the crying fit she was in the middle of, doing so was more than a little difficult.

"I...I don't have a dream."

Roy blinked. "Um, okay. What does that have to do with anything?"

Celia reached up and touched the hand that was resting on her shoulder. "Iggy said...that if I don't have a dream...that he is wasting his time by teaching me." She wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "And my parents said that...they might have to send me to regular school if I don't hold onto my job." She whimpered as the tears came at an even stronger force.

"Oh, Cee." Roy wrapped her in a hug. "I'm so sorry."

She shook her head. "I hate this. I hate this so much."

"I know. I know." Roy stroked her back. "Regular school, I would imagine, would not be a fun place. Especially for…" he cleared his throat… "no offense but...someone like you."

Celia sighed. "It's not offensive; it's the truth. Any toads who I would encounter in regular school would chew me up and spit me out."

Roy nodded. "They're all meanies; they're all horrible." His face grew sterner. "If only I could stay by your side at a regular school to protect you."

Celia shook her head. That wouldn't happen. Unfortunately, there was no way that could…

"Wait."

Celia looked up at her boyfriend. His eyes were wide as he looked down at her in realization.

"What?" she asked.

Roy grinned. "Why don't I go to school with you?"