The Art of Getting By
Prologue
To be honest, this story, as far as I know, will not have a happy ending. This is the story of me, Emi, the girl of misfortune. Don't believe me? Look it up. My name means blessed with beauty, yet everything I touch turns to dust. All I can promise you is that in the pages that follow, you will find the unadulterated story of my life as it came and as it went.
"It was never easy being me. I’m not saying that it’s easy being anyone else, or like my life is worse off, but I’m just not a fan of the way my life has gone so far. I was five years old when my mom committed suicide, and I was nine when my dad fell so deep in the bottle that this time, he couldn’t swim his way out. That’s the reason why he lost his job, the reason why my little brother got taken away from us, and the reason that we live in a one bedroom shack on my grandparent’s property, twenty miles out of town. I was thirteen years old when I started working under the table at a restaurant, threw myself into my schoolwork, and cut everyone out of my life but my two best friends. Up until my senior year in school, it was just them and me. Winter, Baby, and Emi against the world. We thought we could handle it all, that nothing would slow us down from making it to our graduation day and getting the hell out of this cursed town. But fate plays wicked games with everyone, preying on the weak in their darkest hours. People come and people go, it’s inevitable. But Arlow Benitz was never supposed to come, and at the end of it, he sure as hell was never supposed to go."
"It was never easy being me. I’m not saying that it’s easy being anyone else, or like my life is worse off, but I’m just not a fan of the way my life has gone so far. I was five years old when my mom committed suicide, and I was nine when my dad fell so deep in the bottle that this time, he couldn’t swim his way out. That’s the reason why he lost his job, the reason why my little brother got taken away from us, and the reason that we live in a one bedroom shack on my grandparent’s property, twenty miles out of town. I was thirteen years old when I started working under the table at a restaurant, threw myself into my schoolwork, and cut everyone out of my life but my two best friends. Up until my senior year in school, it was just them and me. Winter, Baby, and Emi against the world. We thought we could handle it all, that nothing would slow us down from making it to our graduation day and getting the hell out of this cursed town. But fate plays wicked games with everyone, preying on the weak in their darkest hours. People come and people go, it’s inevitable. But Arlow Benitz was never supposed to come, and at the end of it, he sure as hell was never supposed to go."