The Kids Don't Stand A Chance
Chapter XV
FOUR YEARS LATER
“I’m sorry, Miss Lysander, but unfortunately we’re not going to be able to give you a loan at this time.” I licked my dry lips and began to breathe deeply like my roommate, Jade, had taught me. “We just feel like you don’t have enough experience and outside investors to make this business venture happen.”
I nodded at the woman behind the desk – the fifth banker to tell me that my application for a loan had been denied. “Alright,” I said softly, standing up and taking my purse. “Have a nice day.” She reciprocated the goodbye before I left her office and began the trek back to my car.
Jade continually told me that I would get a loan one day, that one day I would find someone who wanted to invest in me: twenty two year old Ava Lysander, soon to graduate in the top five percent of her class at the New England Culinary Institute. But right now, all I had was two thousand dollars that I had saved, three thousand that my parents had loaned to me, (after much begging and convincing on my part) and a number of promises from different members of my extended family.
If anyone had told me four years ago that opening your own bakery would be this hard, I would have laughed in his or her face.
I suppose I had walked into this dilemma myself, in a way. I didn’t take nearly as many business oriented classes as I could have, and instead filled my schedule with as much baking and cooking as possible. Nevertheless, as I finished up my senior year of college, I also worked as a waitress at a catering company and at a local gourmet food shop. Wasn’t that plenty of experience?
As I entered back into the dorm room, the scent of incense hit me like a ton of bricks. “Do you have to burn that much, Jade?” I asked, setting down my bag and taking off my coat.
“Isn’t it relaxing?” Asked my roommate, lying face up on her bed with her eyes closed. “After class today, I smelled like fried foods. I needed this, Ava, simply needed it.” She paused, before quickly sitting up and looking at me with a grin on her face. “So! How did the meeting go?” I didn’t answer, instead staring at her with the expressionless face that she had seen four times already. “Oh, Ava,” she began with a soft sigh. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m running out of banks to try,” I muttered with a dejected sigh. “Maybe I should just wait a year or two.”
“You know what,” Jade finally said, crossing her legs on her bed. “Right now isn’t the time to think about this. You’re not thinking straight. Besides, I have to ask you a favor.” She paused, before continuing with animated hand movements, “A huge favor!”
I eyed her skeptically. “What is it?”
“You remember meeting my half-sister, Liz, right?” I nodded, images of the teenage girl filling my mind from when Jade’s large (and rather confusing, considering the amount of biological, step, and half-siblings she had) family had taken Jade and I out to diner one night. “Well, she’s turning fourteen next month, and I promised I’d take her to this concert in Boston.”
“What band?” I questioned, hoping it wouldn’t be another folk band that Jade was into.
“They’re called All Time Low, or something like that. I’m not really sure. I listened to their music a few days ago, and I wasn’t really into it. But I promised her I’d take her for her birthday, and our dad will be so angry with me if I don’t. Apparently it’s all she’s been talking about.” My breath hitched in my throat, and my thought process completely stopped. Was that the same band Zack was in? It couldn’t be, could it? I tried to think back to before I stopped listening to the post-Towson gossip, trying to remember with all my might what had become of Zack.
I couldn’t.
“Yeah, I’ve heard of them,” I finally mumbled, toying with the clasp on my bag.
Jade cocked an eyebrow, but didn’t further purse why my tone of voice had suddenly changed. “Well then, you won’t be opposed to coming with me and Liz to see them, would you?” She paused, and then added, “Originally I was supposed to go with Liz and her friend, but they got into a fight or something. And Liz thinks you’re really cool, so when I asked her if I should invite you along instead, she was all for it.”
I didn’t respond for a moment, instead slowly and carefully looking over my options. I could either not go to the concert, and forever be left wondering what had become of Zack. Or I could go, stand in the audience amongst hundreds of screaming girls, see how he turned out, and be done with him forever.
At least, that’s how I wanted everything to turn out.
“I’m sorry, Miss Lysander, but unfortunately we’re not going to be able to give you a loan at this time.” I licked my dry lips and began to breathe deeply like my roommate, Jade, had taught me. “We just feel like you don’t have enough experience and outside investors to make this business venture happen.”
I nodded at the woman behind the desk – the fifth banker to tell me that my application for a loan had been denied. “Alright,” I said softly, standing up and taking my purse. “Have a nice day.” She reciprocated the goodbye before I left her office and began the trek back to my car.
Jade continually told me that I would get a loan one day, that one day I would find someone who wanted to invest in me: twenty two year old Ava Lysander, soon to graduate in the top five percent of her class at the New England Culinary Institute. But right now, all I had was two thousand dollars that I had saved, three thousand that my parents had loaned to me, (after much begging and convincing on my part) and a number of promises from different members of my extended family.
If anyone had told me four years ago that opening your own bakery would be this hard, I would have laughed in his or her face.
I suppose I had walked into this dilemma myself, in a way. I didn’t take nearly as many business oriented classes as I could have, and instead filled my schedule with as much baking and cooking as possible. Nevertheless, as I finished up my senior year of college, I also worked as a waitress at a catering company and at a local gourmet food shop. Wasn’t that plenty of experience?
As I entered back into the dorm room, the scent of incense hit me like a ton of bricks. “Do you have to burn that much, Jade?” I asked, setting down my bag and taking off my coat.
“Isn’t it relaxing?” Asked my roommate, lying face up on her bed with her eyes closed. “After class today, I smelled like fried foods. I needed this, Ava, simply needed it.” She paused, before quickly sitting up and looking at me with a grin on her face. “So! How did the meeting go?” I didn’t answer, instead staring at her with the expressionless face that she had seen four times already. “Oh, Ava,” she began with a soft sigh. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m running out of banks to try,” I muttered with a dejected sigh. “Maybe I should just wait a year or two.”
“You know what,” Jade finally said, crossing her legs on her bed. “Right now isn’t the time to think about this. You’re not thinking straight. Besides, I have to ask you a favor.” She paused, before continuing with animated hand movements, “A huge favor!”
I eyed her skeptically. “What is it?”
“You remember meeting my half-sister, Liz, right?” I nodded, images of the teenage girl filling my mind from when Jade’s large (and rather confusing, considering the amount of biological, step, and half-siblings she had) family had taken Jade and I out to diner one night. “Well, she’s turning fourteen next month, and I promised I’d take her to this concert in Boston.”
“What band?” I questioned, hoping it wouldn’t be another folk band that Jade was into.
“They’re called All Time Low, or something like that. I’m not really sure. I listened to their music a few days ago, and I wasn’t really into it. But I promised her I’d take her for her birthday, and our dad will be so angry with me if I don’t. Apparently it’s all she’s been talking about.” My breath hitched in my throat, and my thought process completely stopped. Was that the same band Zack was in? It couldn’t be, could it? I tried to think back to before I stopped listening to the post-Towson gossip, trying to remember with all my might what had become of Zack.
I couldn’t.
“Yeah, I’ve heard of them,” I finally mumbled, toying with the clasp on my bag.
Jade cocked an eyebrow, but didn’t further purse why my tone of voice had suddenly changed. “Well then, you won’t be opposed to coming with me and Liz to see them, would you?” She paused, and then added, “Originally I was supposed to go with Liz and her friend, but they got into a fight or something. And Liz thinks you’re really cool, so when I asked her if I should invite you along instead, she was all for it.”
I didn’t respond for a moment, instead slowly and carefully looking over my options. I could either not go to the concert, and forever be left wondering what had become of Zack. Or I could go, stand in the audience amongst hundreds of screaming girls, see how he turned out, and be done with him forever.
At least, that’s how I wanted everything to turn out.
♠ ♠ ♠
Thank you so much to Itsahit, Bull, and Imagination Overload for commenting on the last chapter. This one is for you :D-- Jay