Chapter 3.

I opened up a pack of gum. It was my second, and last pack of gum. This one tasted of cinnamon, even though it was supposed to be minty as well. I always chewed a ton of gum whenever I was stressed. Like now, for example.

The lunch bell rang. I heard the sounds of a stampede coming down the stairs and right past the library and I heard the echos of the herd as they trampled into the cafeteria

"Aren't you going to go eat lunch? You've been slaving off at your work for the entire two periods! You didn't even pause once!" (Note: I'm assuming that they only have 4 periods in a day, though sometimes it only seems like they have one period a day!) The librarian asked me, slightly shocked. I smiled at her. A halo could be seen above my head, I was smiling so angelically.

"Why are you so surprised?" I questioned. It was the same question throughout the years, but I still loved hearing the answers I got. How hypocritical people could be. In moments like these it really showed. They would say you can do anything, and age wasn't a problem. That you could apply yourself a bit more. That you can soar through the skies like all the other kids in those news articles, or on television. They never understood it was all propaganda, and they never think that you can actually do it. And even if you do it all, they still smile at you and pretend it never happened. "You haven't succeeded yet" or "You're only starting. Just wait..." They downplayed your achievements. Tried to make you feel like you were worthless. After awhile it stopped having an affect on me. Some days, I wonder where those feelings went. Had I become more confident in myself? I sure hoped so.

"Well, I've never seen a student work so hard before! Especially at lunch!" She laughed. I smiled and nodded back. Weird...

"I'll just text someone and ask them to get my lunch. Don't worry about me. Go eat your lunch with the rest of the staff." I replied, smiling even wider. Her eyes widened a little. Students weren't allowed in the library without an adult, but she wanted her lunch, and she saw me slave through my workload.

"Alright. Don't wreck the room! I will be back soon!" She chirped, and fled the room. Once she was gone, I pulled out my phone. I didn't have a lot of numbers on it, surprisingly. Lucky for me, I had Rosa's number. I vaguely remember exchanging phone numbers when we first became friends.

Get my lunch for me. I'm in the library! I'll pay you back when you get here. I sent to Rosa, hoping that she would.

A minute passed, until my phone buzzed.

Burrito? She asked.

Burritos are wonderful. I love Mexican food. I texted back. Lunch obtained.

Five minutes later, Rosa came in to the library.

"Sierra? Where are you?" Rosa called out.

"In the back, where all the book shelves get all squished!" I yelled out. I heard her walk around a bit as she tried to find my alcove. Finally she found it. She put down a burrito next to me, and seated herself down at the table as well.

"What happened? I've never seen you act so sassy towards a teacher!" She asked before even starting her lunch.

"Work called. That's why I'm stuck in here. I was procrastinating this for awhile, and then my deadline got shortened. So now, I have way too much work to do. This is a skipping school amount of work, plus I have a conference for the game plan or whatever after school tomorrow. On top of that, I'm going to be super busy after school. I won't even have time to sleep. With the conference tomorrow, I have to be at least three fourths of the way done and I'm not even half way there yet! I knew the deadline was coming and now... UGH!" I yelled.

"Wow! That's a lot. Do you need any help?" Rosa asked sympathetically. I paused, mulling over the question. I chewed, swallowed. Then took another bite of my burrito. Chewed, swallowed. How could Rosa help me, using her profession, her skills... How could I offer something she would enjoy doing...

"Well, I need a business casual suit thing for tomorrow. If you could buy that for me and get it to me tonight, that would be excellent. Let me text you some pictures so you know what I mean." I replied already whipping out my phone. I sent the pictures really fast.

"Great! This will be so much fun! I didn't expect this!" Rosa exclaimed. She was on cloud nine, as I suspected.

"Oh yeah! Here's my credit card. I'm trying to empty this account. There should be enough money in here to buy what I need. The pin is 4782. Now as for right now, you can type up what's written on these papers." I passed over the tablet and papers.

"Oh... You've got other work for me. Maybe I should get Nathanial or someone else..." Rosa deflated. I rolled my eyes. I can take back my words. It's really 'Rosa or the art of escaping work!'

"Sure." I said turning my full attention on the task I had in hand. Rosa picked up her lunch and began to walk out. She stopped at the door.

"Good luck on all your work! You can pay me back for the lunch when I hand the clothes over to you. See you!" She called out before I heard the door slam.

My phone buzzed. I sighed.

"Nobody wants me to get any work done today!" I growled to myself. Swinging out my phone I looked at the caller ID.

798-3840. I froze. A second went by. Maybe a minute. I pulled out my phone battery, then snapped it back in. The call went to voicemail.

"That did not happen. I will continue to work. I am a workaholic. I only receive work calls. It was not Arsen that just called me. Nobody called. I only receive important calls." I chanted to myself silently. Then I looked back down at the math I was doing.

"Where's my calculator?" I murmured.