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(Twenty-nine Days)

Anna sat on the soft grass as she gazed at the sunset above her. Grey and black clouds pushed against the golden brushstrokes of the receding sun. Rain again. She sighed and shivered slightly as the wind picked up making the leaves on the trees sway gracefully.

"It's gonna get dark soon."

Anna looked up at the girl sitting on the bench. Jenny, her best and only friend. She was sweet and brilliant and had stormy, grey eyes and lovely brown hair with natural highlights that were to die for. She could be stunning if she wanted to, but she didn't. She was not afraid to be herself and didn't care what others thought about how she should look. Jenny seemed to be Anna's polar opposite, but they were very much alike.

Some of the girls at school, the popular, rich, pretty ones had often asked Anna why she would even speak to someone like Jenny, let alone befriend her. It was obvious that they thought Jenny was beneath her, but in Anna's eyes, someone like Jenny shouldn't be socializing with someone like her because Anna was a screw-up who passed her classes and exams by the grace of God himself and had the most fucked up family in all of Ireland.

"What are we gonna do then?" Anna sat up and started rummaging through her purse, looking for a pack of cigarettes. She picked up her brown, suede jacket from the grass and looked in her pocket for the disposable lighter.

Jenny sighed. "You know how bad those are for you?" She stood up and put on her jean jacket then crossed her arms as she looked sternly at Anna.

Anna rolled her eyes as she lit the cigarette and took a long drag then exhaled slowly. "Yes, Doctor Sullivan."

Jenny sighed and shook her head slightly before looking down at the grass.

"Sorry, Jen." Anna immediately regretted what she had said not only for the condescending tone, she knew Jenny didn't want to be a doctor but if she wanted her family's approval, that was her only career choice. She could certainly sympathize, Anna had once wanted to study fashion design, but her father had quickly put a stop to it.

Jenny shrugged and sat back on the bench.

Anna stepped away and continued to smoke. She stole a quick glance at Jenny, she had invited her to the park because she wanted to talk to her but she was hesitant. She wanted to tell her about her plans for the future, had been wanting to tell her for a while, but it never seemed to be the right time. Anna took a few more drags then looked around hoping to see a decent-looking man close by. But it was Friday night; she was not going to find handsome, single men at a park. Maybe she could take Jenny to do something fun, then talk to her after.

"If you have the driving license I got for you we can go to a pub."

Jenny sat up and smiled. "Yeah, and you can do your American accent!"

Anna laughed. "It's been too long since we've done that." She took another drag of her cigarette and looked around the park once more.

Richard had pushed Anna and Nina to learn how to mimic different accents so that they could blend in, but he had no idea how his youngest daughter misused her skills. Anna liked to use a fake passport (that she would not have known how to acquire without her father's teachings) and speak in her American accent while playing the part of a tourist visiting her cousin. There were always plenty of men eager to buy them drinks and show them a good time. The first time had been Jenny's idea, she looked innocent, but there were times when her wild ways could put Anna's to shame. But God and all his saints help her if her father ever found out.

Anna dropped the remainder of her cigarette on the grass and crushed it with the toe of her boot before going to join Jenny at the bench.

"What the hell?" Anna gaped at her friend when she saw the orange, tabby cat resting on her lap.

"Isn't she sweet?" Jenny looked up at Anna with a grin that made her look like she was twelve years old.

"Where did that thing come from?"

"I don't know, she just came up to me and started being friendly." Jenny stopped petting the cat and it jumped off her lap then began to rub itself against her ankles. "She's probably just a stray."

"Jesus, Jenny, it's like you're Snow White." It wasn't the first time that had happened, Jenny often found herself followed by stray cats and dogs. "You gonna take her down to the shelter?"

Jenny sighed as she picked up the cat again. "I don't know, she's so sweet I might just keep her for myself."

"How can you just pick her up like that, you don't know where she's been."

Jenny shrugged. "I'll just wash her when I get home."

"But now we can't do anything, no one is going to let us into a pub if we have a cat."

"Then I'll call my brother and he can take Petunia home for me," Jenny furrowed her brow as she stroked Petunia's fur, "though I really should be there to introduce her to Maurice, Agatha, and Persephone."

"Why do you give all your cats people names? And you just named her Petunia?"

"She looks like a Petunia, doesn't she? And I don't give them all people names, Petunia is the name of a flower, it's not my fault people are naming their kids after plants, and have you ever met anyone named Persephone?"

Anna shook her head. "I can't believe a fucking cat is ruining our night."

"What's wrong with you today?"

Anna had been in a dark mood most of the day, now she was taking it out on Jenny and she knew that it wasn't fair. She sat next to her friend on the bench and watched the streetlamps come to life as the day turned to dusk.

Petunia hopped onto the bench and curled up next to Jenny. She had such a way with animals, in the two years they had been friends, she had told Anna repeatedly that she wanted to be a vet. But she came from a family of doctors and as such was expected to become a doctor, being an animal doctor didn't count.

"Sorry, Jen." Reluctantly, Anna began to stroke the top of Petunia's head with her index finger, she was awfully sweet, "Nina's home for a few weeks." She had arrived in the morning and that was what had spurred Anna to talk to Jenny about her plans.

"Oh," Jenny crossed her arms and stretched her legs, Anna wished her friend was wearing a skirt instead of jeans, along with the jacket, it was too much denim. "It's not fair that they expect so much from us, is it?"

It was true, it wasn't fair. That was why Anna was so close to Jenny, she knew how it felt to have your father expect the impossible from you and compare you to your own sibling.

"When Nina's gone he barely speaks to me unless we're training, and that's just to point out my mistakes." Jenny nodded solemnly, she had never told her exactly what training was, but her friend was smart, Anna was sure that she had an accurate idea of what her father as training her for. "When Nina's here he only speaks to me to tell me all about Nina's accomplishments. And to point out my mistakes." She felt the need for a cigarette but didn't want to move away from her only source of comfort.

They sat quietly for a moment. The chill in the air became too much and Anna put on her jacket. Her heart began to beat faster and she knew that it was the right time to talk to Jenny.

"Fuck it all, I'm sick of them and I'm sick of this place, on the day I turn eighteen, I'm outta here."

Jenny sat up straight and turned to Anna. "Are you serious?" Anna nodded. "What are you gonna do?"

"I'm moving to Paris," Anna smiled as she tucked her long, brown hair behind her ears, "I'm going to be a model."

"How?" Jenny had a bemused expression as if she were struggling to believe her. "You turn eighteen in a month-"

"Twenty-nine days." Anna corrected.

"And our exit exams are in two months. How are you going pay for a trip like that, I'm sure your father won't approve."

"My mother left me some money that I can have as soon as I turn eighteen." She shrugged. "And fuck school, who needs school when you're famous."

Jenny looked at her friend with concern. "I know I never knew your mother but wouldn't she want you to invest that money instead of spending it on a trip to Paris that will derail or at the very least put you behind on your education?"

"You're right," Anna said bitterly, "you didn't know her, she wanted me to do exactly what I'm doing. And it's a lot of money, enough to make a new life somewhere else."

Jenny sighed. "Fine, so it's a lot of money, but Paris is expensive, and yeah, you're beautiful, but that doesn't mean that you'll be able to get work as a model, and even if you do, you probably won't even be able to make a living out of it. Sorry, just being realistic."

Anna pulled a business card out of her purse and showed it to Jenny. "I met this man at Patty's Cafe last month, he works for a modeling agency in Paris, he says he can get me work if I move there," Jenny took the card and furrowed her brow as she read it, "he says I'll have to start small, but he really thinks I have the potential to make a good living from it, to be famous."

Jenny handed the card back to Anna. "...Anna, those type of men lie to girls our age all the time, God knows we've seen them try, I just don't think-"

"He's legit," Anna could see it from Jenny's perspective, she always had been a realist and Anna appreciated it but her doubt was irritating nonetheless. "I checked him out."

"How did you check him out?"

"Made phone calls to French and local newspapers, modeling agencies, his exes, his acquaintances," she smiled wickedly, "you don't know what I've been trained to do, I know more about this man than the people he sleeps with." Again, it felt like a personal victory to use the training her father had given her in a way that he had never intended or foreseen. "He's legit, his agency is legit, and they do have a few girls who get on the cover of Vogue and who walk the runways in Milan."

Jenny shook her head slowly as she stroked Petunia's head. "What you've been trained to do...are you ever going to tell me exactly what that is?"

There was a sudden heaviness in her heart, the only person she trusted and she couldn't even tell her that. "I'll tell you everything when I'm free of this city and free of my father." She sat up and looked Jenny in the eye. "Join me."

"I don't want to live in Paris."

"No, join me in breaking out on your own, doing what you want with your life, you want to be a vet, be a vet, you can get into a university for free and-"

"Yeah, tuition is free but what about everything else? And I've been thinking..." She turned away from Anna. "I wouldn't do as much good as I'd like as a vet, what I really, really want to do is open a sort of animal rescue center."

"Like a shelter?"

She beamed at Anna. "Better, where animals can get rehabilitated then rehomed and where the ones that don't get adopted can stay in and live for the rest of their lives." She looked down at her shoes and her shoulders fell, "I'd make good money as a doctor, maybe in ten, fifteen years I can save up enough money to build something like that, I think Father is right and becoming a doctor might be what's best."

Anna sighed impatiently. "But you hate the idea."

"So? Lots of people hate their jobs and they trudge on through somehow."

"Do you really want to trudge? Do you really think you have the patience to deal with people who either think they know better than you or who expect you to work miracles? People are assholes, that's why you're here spending Friday night with me instead of going to Mary's party; you hate people."

"I don't hate people, what I hate is socializing with the ones our age, that's why I like older men." She shook her head. "I know how it must look to you, that I'm selling out or taking the easy road by avoiding confrontation with my family, but I'm just being a realist, becoming a doctor is the only way that I can do some good in this world, I know there are other ways, other choices, but this is the only choice I have." She stood and picked up Petunia in her arms. "You sever ties with your family to achieve your goals and I shackle myself to my family to achieve my goals, we both have to make sacrifices, it's part of growing up."

Severing ties with her family was not what Anna called a sacrifice but she kept quiet. She pulled another cigarette out of her pack, lit it and began to smoke, she didn't care if Jenny or the damned cat didn't approve. She had been in a dark mood all day, she had counted on Jenny to lift her spirits and help her have some fun, to be happy for her and encouraging when she told her about her plans, but instead, she'd been met with nothing but disapproval. All the buildup of their talk had been for nothing and she had ended up being lectured.

"Anna…" Jenny spoke softly as she tapped her shoulder.

Anna looked up at her friend and noticed someone walking toward them. "Fuck this day." She dropped the cigarette but it was too late, Nina had already seen her.

"Does father know that you smoke?"