Don’t Fall for the Doctor by Lacey Bolt
Chapter 6
That evening, Ashley dropped her purse on the small, rickety table by her front door and kicked off her sneakers. Her stomach grumbled as she flipped through the stack of bills that came in the mail. At the bottom of the pile was a thin white envelope from one of the colleges where she'd applied. Her heart dropped.
The next few minutes would reveal if her dreams were finally coming true, or if she'd face another massive stop sign on her path to somewhere better.
Ashley closed her eyes. Her shoulders ached from tugging that stupid cart all day. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. She even had to skip her lunch break since Jean never showed up for work. She didn’t need any bad news. She just wanted to take a nice hot shower, wash off the grime from the day, and then watch her favorite cooking competition show.
Her eyes stung while she opened the seal to the envelope and withdrew the paper.
Ms. Hagerman,
We regret to inform you that your application has not been accepted . . .
Ashley crumpled the paper and threw it to the floor. She stomped on it. Hard. Pain shot through her heel. She didn’t need to read the rest of the letter to know what it said. There were too many qualified applicants this year, and we couldn’t accept all . . . We encourage you to apply again next year . . .
It was all lies. The type of lies you tell someone to soften the blow. If the colleges were honest, they would have written, You’ll never be anything more than a housekeeper. You are not good enough.
One more envelope waited for her. Without looking to see who sent the letter, she opened it and pulled out another single sheet.
Ms. Hagerman, apartment unit 304:
This is official notice that your current lease expires in 45 days. You have the option to renew your lease at the new rate listed below or to give us notice that you will be vacating your apartment at the end of your current lease.
Ashley’s head started to spin. The new monthly rate at the bottom couldn’t be true. Wasn’t there some type of law prohibiting rent increases of more than a certain percentage? How could she possibly afford that price without going bankrupt?
At least now she wouldn’t have to worry about getting into graduate school. Finding an affordable place to live would be enough of a challenge.
She crumpled up the letter and threw it against the wall. Who cared where it landed? She’d eventually find it when she packed up all her belongings in a little over a month from now. An evening at home, watching reruns on tv now sounded depressing.
She blinked hard and rubbed the side of her neck. She would fight. She just needed a plan, and then everything would work out. She could figure out something.
She picked up her phone and typed out a text to her cousin Emily.
Meet me at the bar in an hour? Should still be happy hour. More bad news today.
Ashley bit her lip, still staring at her phone. What now? Was there a button to go back in time to this morning? Or to three years ago when she started working in the hospital?
No, if there were a way to go back in time, she’d travel back at least five years, before the car accident that killed her parents.
There was no reply yet to her text. Ashley marched to the shower. Maybe the hot water would wash off some of the bad luck following her. After that, she’d figure her way out of this mess.