It was a brand new day, but the events of last night stuck with Alissa like glue. She couldn't even sleep throughout the whole night without thinking about what had happened. Alissa tried to make sense of the whole situation, attempting to slow down the incident. What made it worse, was the audacity Wyatt had, thinking it would be okay to be sleeping next to her as if he didn't threatened to kill her.

She slipped out of bed, having a pounding headache raging through her head from the lack of sleep, which was accompanied by dizziness. Alissa dragged her feet to the bathroom, sighing as she rubbed her eyes open, hoping that would keep her awake throughout this weekend's first shift - also look a bit more appealing to the customers that were to choose her as their cashier.

Once she was done with her morning routine, she slipped on some formal, black jeans that were specifically meant for work, as Wyatt wouldn't want her wearing any tight like that anywhere else. She wore her army green colored polo shirt, which had the logo embroidered on the left chest area. Her hair was tied in a slick back pony tail, that would have people averting their attention from Kim's.

Alissa slipped on her black Vans that were her prized possessions - she paired them with almost anything she wore, even her work outfit which required more basic shoes. She tied the fresh white laces, and headed downstairs for her and Celare's breakfast.

Sometimes she wished that this was all a joke. That Wyatt would stop acting passive-aggressive and reveal this whole thing as one sick joke. She wanted Syd to laugh as she walked up to Alissa's shocked face and have Celare wrapped cozily in her arms. But it would've never been like that - and the sooner she would accept that, the better.

Alissa grabbed a cold can of Coke from the fridge, not bothering to make anything to eat that morning. While she had some time to spare, she lifted her shirt up, unclasping her black, lace bra and letting off one cup. She squeezed the breast milk into the small bowl that was meant for Celare when Alissa would be off at work. It was the only contact she would have with Celare, seeing that bowl empty by the end of the work day.

———

"Hi, did you fi- oh my God, Lily?" Alissa exclaimed as she saw her old friend from high school - Lily Saunders.

Lily Saunders was once the popular girl in Wayne High School - were both Alissa and Lily met. It was during Freshman year when the two started to hang around one another, they were completely inseparable. Besides her foster parents, Alissa felt like Lily was the only source of happiness she had left. That was until Senior year in high school, where Lily had cut off all ties with the girl - due to the rejection Alissa gave her when she came out as a lesbian and asked her to be her girlfriend.

She was biracial, half Haitian and half German - which gave her sort of a benefit due to the systematic racism that ran rampantly in Indi. Lily always sported straighten hair - some say that they've never seen the natural, 4c hair type which were then evident at her roots.

"Oh, hey! How are you? I haven't seen you in such a long time!" Lily exclaimed happily, leaning in and embracing Alissa warmly over the conveyor belt.

"Yeah, I'm great! How about you? What have you been up to since graduation?" Alissa smiled cheerfully, scanning her items as the two made small talk.

"Hey, I'm having a sleepover tonight - not the typical freshmen year bullshit, but kind of like...an adult sleepover, you should come!" Her mannerisms were very obviously preppy. Speaking in a high pitched, thick Beverly Hills accent, fingers twisting the ends of the herds of split ends. If this was a conversation over the phone with a stranger, they would assume she was a whole other race.

"Uh, I'll ask Wyatt about it - we just had a child an-"

"Oh, okay. I'll wait."

Alissa frowned at her slightly, watching her stand put in the same spot.

"Uh, I'll call yo-"

"Don't be silly Al, I know he's like, right outside. I know what the truck looks like." Lily snickered, crossing her arms. "I'll browse around a few isles until you come back."

"Actually Lil, is it possible if you could talk to him for me? I know he'll say no if I ask."

"Okay, sure that's fine with me." Lily smiled.

"Thanks. Oh, and your total is $10."

Lily took out her hot pink Victoria Secret wallet, taking out a $10 bill and handing it to her. She took her 3 cans of Arizona Ice Tea into her hands, indicating she didn't need any plastic bags to help her.

Alissa smiled shyly, adding that to the register and printing out her receipt and handing it to her. She watched Lily walk out and to the truck, getting inside of it.

———

"Hey!" Lily cheered, sneaking up behind Alissa from around the cashier door. This made Alissa flinch, dropping the coins to the floor.

The young couple chuckled, joking about how Alissa probably had a severe case of social anxiety as all she did was stare down at the coins on the floor, not wanting to anger Wyatt by bending over in tight jeans.

"Well, I guess it's that bad, come on then - we have other places to go." The woman called at her.

"Come on, Al. Pick the coins up." Lily whispered to her, nudging her arm in case she was in a day dreaming state.

Alissa gulped, still looking down at the coins and reliving the nightmare of last night. It would have been very ideal if the ground had just opened up and swallowed her - she needed that right now.

At this point almost everyone was gathered around her, curious to see what was wrong, but she was frozen. Her entire body went numb, not allowing her to flinch a muscle. And with that, she fell to the ground, hitting her temple against the key that was inside the lock of the cash register.

New chapter! What did you guys think? Do you think Wyatt have permission for Alissa to go to the sleepover, or not? What did you think of Lily, did I do a good job on describing her and her backstory well?

What do you guys think will happen next? Leave your opinions in the comments!

Thank you all so much for the love and support on this book, I wish I could just hug each and everyone of you and give you $3!

Enjoy reading because this story is about to take a sharper turn than an inexperienced driver around a round about.