Just to Live

The instructor introduced himself as Emanuel Morris. If Tabitha were to give the man his celebrity doppelganger, she would say Emmanuel reminded her of Kelsey Grammer. Emanuel’s eyes even mirrored Kelsey’s eyes. His eyes were of a bright blue and a gloomy gray color. He began to bald, but only slightly. Emanuel even sported a pointed nose, one that gave off the feel of power and wisdom. Emanuel reminded her of Kelsey Grammer and the comedian reminded her of Bob Hope.

“Okay Tabitha. I’m your teacher, tutor, instructor, whichever title you want to give me. Matthew told me you’re newly 18 years old and you haven’t had the opportunity to enroll in school since you were around the age of 14?”

“Yes sir,” Tabitha confirmed, nodding her head once.

Emanuel glanced at the young girl for a second, pity portraying throughout his face. Tabitha sighed, noticing it before he could cover it up.

“Right, right. All you have to do today is take an aptitude test of all your basic and required high school subjects: Math, History, Science, and English. From there, I’ll be able to plan out our learning schedule until you have to test your GED exam.”

Tabitha sighed, reaching for a No. 2 pencil. Once the timer started, Tabitha quickly flipped through the packet to see how much work she would have to go through. Luckily, for her, the exam only consisted of 10 pages of questions, much less than what she expected.

Mr. Morris took the exam from Tabitha as she raised her hand weakly, signaling she finished. She had to wait in the dining room as Mr. Morris graded her test.

Jimmy and Johnny walked around the mansion, saying hello to all the women, completely bored. They didn’t have to travel again until another week and a half, yet they couldn’t think of a thing to do. When they pushed each other into the dining room, they caught sight of Tabitha resting her head on top of the dining room table.

Loudly, they dragged the two nearest chairs on either side of her and sat in them, waiting for her to raise her head. Once she did, she smiled awkwardly at the two.

“I’m gonna call you Tabby because you remind me of a kitty,” Jimmy grinned.

“Uhm how?” she questioned.

He stared at her with abrupt attention before cracking another smile. “You have this little smirk on your face all the time. It’s like evil but…yeah!”

Tabitha contorted her face a bit into a grimace and jutted her lips out. “No I don’t…Sure?”

“Okay! Do you want a slurpee? I’m going to 711.”

She waved her hands back and forth saying, “No, no. I’m okay.”

“That’s too bad,” Jimmy trailed off. “I’m getting one for you anyways.”

“Wait don’t!” she cried, but to no avail. Jimmy already ran out the door with car keys in his hand.

Johnny chuckled, making Tabitha look towards him now. “You can’t tell Jimmy not to do something. It’s reverse psychology.”

“Aw man,” she groaned, “I really don’t want him to spend money on me.”

“Don’t worry about it. He can afford it.”

“Still. I could get that on my own if I wanted.”

“It’s okay. Stop worrying about it. Anyways, what’s up?”

“Nothing much?”

“You sound so confused,” he laughed.

“I’m not, you’re just being extremely random!” she huffed, sticking her tongue out.

“Anyways, I heard it was your birthday yesterday.”

“Don’t tell anyone else!” she whispered.

“I won’t. But wouldn’t it have been nice if people wished you a happy birthday?”

“I don’t like getting a lot of attention.”

“Yet you’re going to a prom,” he said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, about that,” she muttered weakly, cracking her knuckles nervously. “I’m nervous and scared.”

“Really? Why?”

“I’m assuming it’s here. What if the house gets trashed? Not even that, I can’t do make-up or hair. I don’t think I should go anymore.”

Johnny patted the young girl’s shoulder. “Hey calm down! You do realize you live in a house with other girls right? I’m pretty sure more than one person knows how to do hair and makeup.”

“But-”

“No buts.”

A little bit of time later, Jimmy returned to the mansion, demanding of Johnny to help carry in the slurpees. In total, Jimmy purchased 40 of the frozen drinks for everyone. He gave a slurpee to Tabitha and chugged on another one while he let Johnny lug the rest of the beverages into the freezer.

Tabitha took a small sip from “You know, this tastes really good.”

“Well, uhm, duh?”

“I thought this wouldn’t taste that good.”

“You’ve never had a slurpee before?!”

“No,” she replied, shaking her head.

“Oh you poor, poor child,” Jimmy gasped, leaving his drink on the table to grab Tabitha’s head and hold it against his chest as though she were a young child that needed nurturing.

Erika walked by the dining holding a drawing she completed a few minutes ago. She glared at the sight of Jimmy patting Tabitha’s head. She sauntered to them and pulled on Jimmy’s pants. “Excuse me!”

He let go of Tabitha and peered down at Erika. “Yeah?”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try to suffocate my sister!”

“Sorry, sorry. I’m gonna go a little over there,” he gestured toward Johnny who was in the kitchen trying to find a snack to eat. “See ya!”

Erika pulled back the chair next to Tabitha, climbed up to sit in it, and placed a drawing of a clownfish in front of her.

“Sweetie, isn’t this your favorite drawing?” Tabitha asked, pointing to the paper.

Erika nodded. “I know but you’re 18 now. I wanted to give you something special.”

“The 20 books is special.”

“But Brian bought you that. I wanted to give you something from me.”

“Thank you so much. I’m hanging this up in my room.”

Tabitha gave the rest of her drink to Erika and waited patiently for her instructor to leave. He told her he would tell her of her test results in the morning. After walking him to the door, she walked up the staircase towards her room to keep the drawing of the clownfish in a safe place.

‘Such a strange week. Everything’s actually going okay and I enjoy life…’ she speculated.

Along the way, she passed Brian. He had a manila folder in one hand and his phone in another. She asked him for a favor, catching his attention. He agreed, putting his phone into his jean pocket.

“If I give you money, could you get some casual outfits for me?” she inquired. “I’d rather not wear my uniform when Mr. Morris is teaching me.”

“Sure no problem.”

Brian typed a note of Tabitha’s general sizes in shirts, pants, and shoes. He promised she wouldn’t be disappointed when he arrived back from his shopping for her.

Keeping a light smile on her face, Tabitha walked into her room and placed Erika’s drawing on her table so she wouldn’t forget to hang it up when she had the time.