Shelby opened the door to her apartment cautiously, a quiet excitement built as she looked into the room. Nothing could have prepared her for the sight before her. Shelby felt her spirits sink when she saw the horrible condition the apartment was in. The place was a disaster. Dirt and scum covered everything; the sink, the floor, the walls, the toilet, everything imaginable was covered in dirt.
“Yeah, welcome home.” Shelby sighed shutting the door to the mess.
There was no way she was going to put her things on the floor, even if it was all in boxes. Shelby walked down to her car to find a place to buy cleaning supplies, she was'nt going to walk in without a load of disinfectant.
After an hour of driving around getting absolutely no where, Shelby stopped for directions at a little coffee shop called Turbo Latte. She was feeling stressed out and
she felt she could use the caffeine as well as directions to the nearest Walmart.
“Hello, welcome to Turbo Latte, my name is Aimee, what can I get for you today?” a girl asked Shelby the moment she sat down.
“Yes hi, I’d like a glass of cold water as well as a cold mocha if you have it.” Shelby replied timidly.
“Sure, coming right up. Can I get you anything else?” Aimee smiled after writing her order down.
“Yes, nothing in the way of food but I was just wondering where the nearest Walmart or place to buy some cleaning supplies is. I’m new here and I don’t know my way around”my apartment trashed and I need to clean.” Shelby nodded.
“Sure, I can do even better, if you can wait say,” Aimee glanced at her watch, “half an hour I can show you how to get there. It’s 3:00 right now and I get off at 3:30 if you want to wait. I need to pick up some things myself.”
Shelby glanced down at her watch then back up at Aimee, not believing how friendly this total stranger was. Shelby smiled back and nodded in agreement, “I’ll wait. That’s really nice of you, thank you. Can you add a hamburger to my order? I haven’t eaten yet today.”
“Of course you can it’s coming right up.” Aimee patted the table then took the order back to Bonner.
“Hey miss, can I ask you a question.” Shelby called to Aimee.
“Yeah, what’s that? And it’s Aimee by the way.” Aimee answered while fixing Shelby’s drink.
“Have you found a waitress yet?”
Aimee looked over at Shelby who was looking at the Help Wanted sign. In front of her was finally someone who was interested in a job”at least she hoped.
“Nope, we’ve been looking but nobody has applied yet. Are you interested?” Aimee asked setting Shelby’s drinks down in front of her.
“Actually yes I am. I live like a block away from here and I don’t have a job yet, I just moved here. I used to work at Denny’s so I do have experience.”
“Bonner,” Aimee called back to the kitchen.
“What’s your problem?” Bonner answered back.
“There’s someone here interested in the waitress position.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Aimee pulled up a seat across from Shelby and lit a cigarette. “This doesn’t bother you does it?” Aimee waved to her smoke.
Shelby just shook her head and smiled. She couldn’t believe how easy it was to talk to this girl. All her life she’d had problems talking; especially with people she
didn’t know. Maybe things were changing for the better after all.
“Are you the one interested in the position?” a greasy guy wearing an apron asked her.
“Yes sir, my name is Shelby and I’d like to work here.” Shelby stood up and looked him in the eyes.
“It’ll be a day shift starting at 6am and ends when she comes in at 3pm. I know it’s a lot of hours, but it’s usually slow in the mornings.” Bonner explained.
“It sounds good to me. Can I fill out an application or anything?” Shelby inquired.
“No, don’t even worry about it. You’re hired.” Bonner smiled and stuck out his hand.
Shelby’s face showed surprise as she returned his handshake. “Thank you sir, I won’t let you down.”
“Don’t worry about it. You look like a hard worker, and you get along with Aimee you’ll do good here.” Bonner nodded. “But if you don’t want me to burn your
hamburger I had better get back.
“Thanks again.” Shelby grinned, feeling like she’d accomplished something.
“That’s so cool Shelby, congratulations.” Aimee told her.
“Thank you Aimee, I’m still in shock. I can’t believe this is all happening. It’s hard to believe I’m actually here.”
“Well, I’d like to continue this conversation but I have to get they’re order,” she gestured to the couple that just walked in.
Shelby was floating on cloud nine when her order came and she finished eating in record time.
“Joey what are you doing here?” Aimee asked when she saw who walked through the door.
“Came to deliver you a message from the guys, JC’s having a BBQ and we want you to come.” Joey answered.
“I’m going to Walmart after work, I’m showing her around.” Aimee gestured to where Shelby was sitting.
“Who are you?” Joey asked sitting across from Shelby.
Shelby looked up at the face in front of her. She didn’t understand why he was sitting there asking her who she was so she just continued to stare at him.
“Joey, leave her alone.” Aimee punched him in the arm.
“Why, doesn’t she talk? Who is she.” Joey asked again.
“I’m Shelby and yes I can talk, but I don’t know you.” Shelby answered.
“Neat, I’m Joey; it’s nice to meet you. Do you want to go to a BBQ with us after your Walmart trip?” Joey wondered smiling at her.
“I won’t know anyone.” Shelby looked at them skeptically.
“It’ll be a good time to get to know people.” Aimee smiled encouragingly.
“Yeah, and you’ll know me and Aimee.” Joey reminded her.
“No, I don’t know you. I just know your name.” Shelby pointed out.
“Simple technicalities, what does that matter. So you’re coming? Okay great.” Joey answered very sure of himself.
“Whatever.” Shelby shrugged.
“What time are you off?” Joey turned his attention to Aimee.
“Now.” Aimee said when she realized the time.
“Well geez girl, what are you waiting for? Let’s go!” Joey jumped up and clapped his hands.
Shelby just watched the two of them interact and felt like a 3 wheel. They knew each other and she was just an insider. She wasn’t really sure about going
with them to this BBQ. She’d see how it went after Walmart whether she went or not.
Shelby followed Aimee to Walmart and knew why she got lost, it took at least 30 minutes to get there taking different backstreets. Shelby knew she’d have never found it by herself and was glad Aimee asked her to follow.
“So follow me and we’ll go to the JC’s.” Aimee stated as they walked out of Walmart.
Shelby felt like she had just purchased everything in the disinfectant isle as she carried her bags to the car. She would follow Aimee but if she didn’t like it she would go home right away.
The drive didn’t last very long just a few short minutes before Shelby again felt like an outsider. She watched Aimee enter the house and felt like driving off. She wasn’t good at dealing with people, it was another five minutes before Shelby finally got the nerve to knock on the door.
“We don’t want any.” The coldest blue eyes said down to her.
“I’m here with Aimee.” Shelby replied to this tall man with curly hair and blue eyes.
“Aimee has been here for at least 10 minutes, if you were here you would have come in with her.” He argued.
“I had to take care of something out here.” Shelby pointed to the driveway.
Justin just rolled his eyes and slammed the door.
Shelby felt a sickening in her stomach as she knocked on the door again, Aimee invited her and she was determined to at least speak with her.
“What do you want.” Justin opened the door again.
“Let me talk to Aimee, she’ll let me in.” Shelby stated rather timidly.
“Aimee doesn’t know you. I asked her. We don’t want your,” he looked her up and down, “kind, here.”
Shelby felt the blood drain from her face as the door was once again slammed in her face. She ran to her car and got in, driving as fast as she could, she made a safe
getaway to her apartment. Was it possible that people here were the same as in North Dakota. Shelby felt the tears running down her face as she started to clean her
house.
Five hours later Shelby studied the room with a satisfied sigh. Everything was clean; all of the dirt and grime was now down the drain. Shelby was exhausted as she
took the bedding out of her car. She made a bed on the floor and fell asleep for the first time in her new apartment.
Shelby woke up early the next morning and headed to find a store where she could purchase a phone. After doing so she went to the coffee shop to see if she was
needed today.
“Hey Shelby, what are you doing here?” Aimee greeted her as she walked in.
“I don’t know, I just wanted to see when I’m supposed to start working.” Shelby shrugged.
“Bonner, Shelby’s here to see you.” Aimee called. “Missed you at the BBQ last night, what happened?”
“I don’t know someone there wouldn’t let me in. They didn’t believe me that I was with you so I just left.” Shelby sat down at one of the tables.
“Who was it? I’m going to kill them.” Aimee rolled her eyes and pulled up a chair across from Shelby.
“He was tall and he had curly hair with blue eyes. He definitely had a bad attitude, he was rude.” Shelby sighed when she remembered his cold words.
“That was Justin, he’s never been like that before. Something must have been up, I’m sorry about that Shelby, I’ll talk to him about it.”
“You don’t have to do that Aimee, I’m used to it. Just let it be.” Shelby protested.
“Just let it be? No way. Nobody treats my friends like crap, especially not him of all people.”
“Thank you Aimee, that means a lot to me.”
“Don’t mention it. You’re my friend, even if I don’t know you well.” Aimee smiled.
“What can I do for you Shelby,” Bonner asked seeing her there.
“I was just wondering when I should come in to work.” Shelby answered.
“Well today is Wednesday right, what do you think Aimee?” Bonner turned to Aimee.
“I can show her around now. There’s not much to learn. That way she can work tomorrow when I go out.” Aimee smiled.
“Works for me.” Shelby nodded in agreement.
“Okay, have fun kids.” Bonner walked back to the kitchen.
“What are you going to do after work Shelby?” Aimee asked nearing the end of they’re shift.
Shelby had been a quick learner. She had everything down and would have no problems working on her own. She impressed Aimee and Bonner, both of them
thought it would take longer to train her but she had it down quickly.
"What are you doing after this?" Aimee asked.
“I don’t know; probably start moving my stuff in.” Shelby shrugged.
“Did you need any help? I’m supposed to meet the guys after work. We could all help you.” Aimee suggested.
“I don’t know, I don’t have that much, it’s not really necessary.”
“Come on Shelby, you can get to know them then. And we can make Justin apologize.”
“No, I don’t want to be a bother.” Shelby shook her head knowing the unwanted feeling all to well.
“Well there are Joey and Lance, lets see if they can help.” Aimee pointed to the door.
“Did I hear my name?” Joey asked pulling up a chair next to Shelby.
“You’ve got big ears Joey.” Aimee chuckled as Lance took a seat next to her.
“Well, I must hear when I’m being talked about. So why were you talking about me?” Joey demanded.
“Shelby’s going to be moving all her things into her apartment today and I suggested we could help her.” Aimee answered.
“Yeah we can. Justin is on his way and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind helping either.” Lance agreed.
“Listen guys, I don’t really need your help, I can do it by myself. I don’t have much to do.” Shelby assured them.
“Don’t worry about it Shelby, we’d be happy to help.” Joey smiled and put an arm around her shoulder.
“There’s Justin now.” Aimee pointed to the door.
“Hey guys how’s it going?” Justin asked coming upon the group.
“Hi Justin.” Aimee greeted.
“I’m so bored. What are you guys up to?” he asked sitting down on the other side of Aimee so that he was directly facing Shelby.
“We’re going to help Shelby move her stuff in.” Joey answered.
Shelby wanted nothing to do with this, she wanted to go home and do everything herself, but she knew that Joey and Aimee wouldn’t hear of it. Thankfully Justin
hadn’t said anything, but she had a feeling he would any minute now. She braced herself for the hurtful words she knew were coming.
“Who’s Shelby?” Justin asked still not acknowledging Shelby’s presence.
“Are you blind? She’s sitting right in front of you.” Lance pointed to Shelby.
Justin noticed Shelby in front of him and his whole demeanor changed. He immediately went on the defense recognizing her from the previous night. He rolled his
eyes and sighed clearly not wanting to deal with her.
“I don’t need any help.” Shelby repeated.
“Yeah, she needs to work off the weight anyway.” Justin said rudely.
Shelby felt the words hit her like a glass of cold water. The blood drained from her face as her breathing quickened.
“Justin that was uncalled for.” Joey looked at his friend in shock.
“Well, it’s true. Just look at her.” Justin gestured towards her.
“Excuse me, I’ve got to go.” Shelby jumped up and almost ran out of the coffee shop.
“What the hell Justin.” Lance glared at him.
“I’ll be back.” Joey stated walking out the door after her.
Shelby ran to her car and before she could reach it, Joey had caught up to her.
“Wow, you have a really nice car Shelby.” Joey said the first thing that came to his mind not wanting to frighten her.
“Thank you.” She whispered trying to control herself.
“Where did you get it?” he asked.
“From a friend.”
“Are you okay Shelby?” Joey asked seeing her pale face.
“I don’t know.” Shelby answered honestly.
“Maybe you should sit down. Come back inside.” He grabbed her hand, feeling how clammy it was he started to get worried.
“Not when he’s in there.” Shelby shook her head violently.
“Who?”
“Justin.”
“He’s not usually like that.”
“That’s what Aimee said, but I don’t believe it. He was exactly like that last night.”
“Is that why you never came to the BBQ?”
“He pretty much told me to take a hike. He was very rude.” Shelby answered.
Joey didn’t like the expression on her face as she stated the last remark. It looked like she was going to pass out any minute. He opened up her car door and put his
hand on her lower back, “Here, get in. You need to sit down honey.”
“No. The steering wheel is in the way.”
Joey chuckled then led her around to the passengers side and opened the door, “Get in.” he repeated.
Shelby obeyed and sat in the car. She lay her head back against the head rest and breathed deeply. She couldn’t feel anything but the anxious feeling in the pit of her
stomach. She nearly freaked out when Joey got in next to her in the drivers side.
“It’s okay Shelby, just relax. Take a few deep breaths.” He coached, genuinely worried for her health.
The next thing he new Joey saw Shelby’s eyes roll into the back of her head. “Shelby!” he said lightly patting her face.
He got out and ran into the café. “Guys I’m going to the hospital.”
“Wait, Joey, what’s wrong?” Lance asked running after him.
“Shelby’s passed out and I don’t know what’s wrong. Meet me there Lance please.” Joey jumped in her car and drove to the hospital.
Cursing the traffic the whole way there, Joey made it in a half an hour. To his dismay Shelby hadn’t woke up once. She was still out cold, her hands were clammy
and her face felt warm.
He ran into the hospital and got a few nurses to help him get her out of the car. He had no way of carrying her in to the building so they rolled her in on a stretcher.
Joey waited in the waiting room for them to see what was wrong.
“Joey!” Lance exclaimed seeing his friend there.
“Lance, thank God you’re here. They’ve been in there for like an hour now and they still haven’t said anything.” Joey hugged his friend.
It was then Joey noticed who else was with him, “What are you doing here?”
“Lance wanted me to come with.” Justin shrugged.
“You better keep your mouth shut.” Joey glared at his young friend, threatening him with his stare.
Justin just put up his hands and sat down in a chair.
“Excuse me, are you the gentleman who brought Miss Shelby here?” the doctor asked Joey.
“Yes sir. What’s wrong with her? Is she going to be all right? Can we see her?” Joey asked jumping to his feet.
“Calm down young man. Miss Murphy is going to be fine. She had what we call a panic attack which caused her to black out. She’s doing fine and resting now. You can go see her but you need to be quiet she needs to let her body come down for a few minutes before she’s fine to go home.” The doctor smiled at Joey.
Lance and Justin stood there glad to here that there wasn’t anything major wrong, they decided to get some drinks while Joey checked on Shelby first.
When the two had left the doctor pulled Joey aside and told him news he didn’t want to hear, “I think you’re dealing with one depressed girl. She has the signs of
cutter. She has faint scars up and down her arms usually caused by a knife or scissors. I’d watch out for this young lady.”
“Thank you doctor, I’ll remember that.” Joey patted his arm.
Joey cautiously walked through the door leading to Shelby’s room. She smiled when she saw him and motioned for him to come in.
He walked to the side of her bed and gingerly sat down on the edge. “You gave us quite a stare young lady.”
“And to think it wasn’t even that big a deal, just a stupid panic attack. They gave me medication for them, they figure I’m going to have them more then this one
time. I’ve never had a panic attack in my life. I tried to tell them that but they wouldn’t hear of it. They just wanted to charge me more money to pay for the pills. Oh
well what can you do.” Shelby put her hands up in defeat.
“You’re one cool kid Shelby. Seriously, don’t change for anyone.” Joey chuckled then leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“Thanks, I think. So did they tell you when I get to leave this place? I hate hospitals. They remind me of death.” Shelby shuddered remembering her mother’s death.
“Why do they remind you of death?” Joey asked curiously.
“Because the last hospital I was in, my mother died right in front of me. That was when I was 8 years old.” Shelby sighed, missing her mother more that moment
then ever before.
“I’m sorry Shelby,” Joey squeezed her hand.
Just then Lance appeared at the door followed by Justin.
“How’s it going Shelby? Are you okay?” Lance asked coming to stand next to Joey.
“Yeah, I’ll live. It was just a stupid panic attack. Sorry if I bothered you guys.” Shelby smiled at Lance.
“It’s not like we had anything better to do.” Justin sneered from behind Lance.
Shelby just chose to ignore him and turned back to Joey.
“So did they tell you when I can go?”
“No, they said your body needed to calm down a bit. I’m sure it’s calm now though. Let’s push the nurse button, maybe they’ll come.” Joey reached over and
pushed the button.
“You just got here and you’re already using the button.” The doctor laughed as he came through the door.
“Shelby here was just wondering when she could be released from her current prison.” Joey asked pointing to Shelby who was waiting for the doctor’s answer.
The doctor checked over her heart monitor and looked at some charts then came to stand on the other side of the bed. “You can go now if you’d like, your body has definitely calmed down a lot. Please take the medication we gave you if you feel the panic rising. After the first panic attack it’s not rare to get them again.”
“Okay, thank you sir. One other question though…where did you put my clothes?” Shelby asked picking at the hospital gown thing she was wearing.
“Over on that chair.” The doctor pointed to her things laying neatly in a pile waiting to go back on.
“Thank you.” Shelby nodded at the doctor.
“You’re welcome, I would say come again but we wouldn’t want that.” He chuckled softly.
The three of them watched as the doctor made his exit leaving them alone with Shelby.
“Did you hear that Shelby? You can go now if you want to.” Joey smiled down at her.
“Yeah, can you guys like leave while I change my clothes?” Shelby asked the group.
“Yeah, we’ll be in the hall waiting for you.” Lance answered, ushering the trio out of the room.
Shelby put her feet on the cold floor and walked over to her pile of clothing. Her choice of wardrobe today consisted of black baggy pants with her AFI shirt. She
put on her shirt first, then was struggling with the button on her pants, the IV cord was getting in the way. Shelby ripped out the cord then tried once again, being
unsuccessful a second time. Her zipper seemed to be caught on the fabric and nothing she tried advanced the zipper up.
Justin waited for 5 minutes for Shelby to come out while the others went to go check her out. After 10 minutes Justin opened the door and walked in. He could see
that Shelby was struggling to get her zipper up as she was dancing around trying to get it up. He came up behind her and put his hands on her arms stopping her. He
tugged on her zipper and it came up on the first try. He could tell by the way it was stuck that it was caught on the material. He stayed where he was for several
seconds then felt Shelby release a deep breath. “You know this wouldn’t be so bad if you weren’t so fat and ugly.”
He heard her take in a sharp breath and she stepped away from him as he turned and went out to find Joey and Lance.
Shelby grabbed a glass of water and threw it at the door after Justin. She hated him, hated what he did to her. She took one of the shattered pieces and applied it to her stomach, watching the blood appear in a thin line. She deposited the piece of glass in the garbage on her way out of the room and went to find her car.
“I’m going to drive you home Shelby.” Joey said when he saw her walking towards her car.
“No, I’m fine I can drive myself.” She stated opening the drivers door.
“They gave you medication and you’re not supposed to drive and I have your keys so get in.” he nodded to the passenger side.
Shelby was feeling a little tired so she just agreed and got in.
“So is this all the stuff you need to move into your place?” Joey looked in the back seat seeing it full of boxes.
“Yeah, and the trunk is full too.” Shelby nodded feeling really sleepy.
“When we get to your house I’ll help you bring the boxes upstairs. It’s the least I can do.” Joey started towards her house.
“No, I can do it.” Shelby disagreed again.
“Hush up Shelby; you don’t know what you’re saying. Just accept my help.” Joey smiled.
“Okay Joey.”
“Thank you. So I see that you had paint cans in the back there too. What are you painting?” he asked turning onto another street.
“My apartment.”
“Sweet what color?”
“Black.”
“Why black?”
“Because it’s my favorite color.”
“Why?”
“Because it is.”
“Whatever.”
Shelby rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to deal with Joey and his questions. All she wanted to do was go home and be alone. Nobody understood her and nobody
ever would. She shouldn’t have to justify why she liked black so much.
“You just passed it.” She said seeing her building go by.
“Oops.” Joey whipped around and parked in front of her building. He got out of the car and opened up the backdoor. There was no way that Shelby was going to
carry all the boxes up by herself.
“Joey, what are you doing?” Shelby sighed.
“Grabbing some stuff to take with.” Joey answered grabbing a box.
Shelby didn’t want to go up with him if he was going to carry a box and she wasn’t so she opened up the back door and grabbed a box nearly twice as big as the one
he grabbed.
Joey just chuckled and followed her up the stairs. He waited patiently for her to open the door and stepped into her apartment.
“Where do you want this?” he asked looking around.
“Just set it anywhere.” Shelby shrugged setting her box down by the wall.
“Nice place you got here.” Joey noted his surroundings.
It was a really cute place but the problem was there was only one room. There was a shower and sink and toilet but they weren’t even a divider between that and the
rest of it.
“I like it.” Shelby said before going back downstairs to grab some more stuff.
It took another 15 minutes before Shelby and Joey finally had everything upstairs. Joey had to go so he left Shelby and said he’d see her tomorrow.
Shelby welcomed the silence that her apartment brought, but was annoyed with it quickly and plugged in her CD player. She put in on the radio and cranked it up really loud. Shelby smiled knowing she finally had all the time she needed to herself.
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