Chapter 2
Anri restrains herself from hitting her head on the desk with thoughts that she will vent to her sister about how boring today is. Being a college student is a lot worse than she expected but soon she’ll have her dream job or the ladder to climb up to it. Minutes seem to drag into hours as she splits watching the clock and listening to the professor who is being vague as fuck about their next project. She breathes in and out and does her best to focus for the rest of the lesson. By the time she finally gets in the zone, the bell rings signaling an uneventful school day ends.
Anri is thinking about what to cook for dinner when her phone chimes. She checks it to see a text from Dahlia:
I’m going to be gone for a few days, and I already paid the bills so don’t worry.
But Anri does worry, and feels guilty. Dahlia is the one paying the bills and working long hours. Anri tried to get a job with more hours to help out only to be told that shouldn’t worry, after she was the student. Anri is happy to be pursuing her dream job, but (and there is always a but), she hates the guilt it causes. She often wonders if their parents were still around if Dahlia would have gone to college too. She sighs and shakes her head knowing if Dahlia was here she would tell Anri to stop thinking so much. Anri can just imagine Dahlia’s expressions as she tells her to “go have fun”, knowing all Anri would do is text her internet boyfriend.
A growling stomach prompts Anri to go eat and stop sulking. She gazes along the prime choices in the kitchen cabinet of ramen noodles, granola bars, cans of chili and the ever good seasonings. She knows the fridge won’t better with its “need to be thrown out leftovers” (mostly Dahlia’s). Because Dahlia isn’t here to fuss at her about nutrition, Anri eats a granola bar with yogurt and cookie and some apple juice. Anri does realize she will be hungry in a few hours but at least she ate something, before she promptly started on her project.
Hours later after Anri has fallen asleep in her room amidst her work with the lamp comes another text message:
Go to bed properly and eat a real meal, love from ya fave sis