"The ridiculous flip-flopping betwwen 'you're a just a kid' and 'you're a grown-up now' was exhausting and infuriating."286Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwkyUhcGE2
-Dave Connis, Suggested Reading
Hazel Ellis sat at her desk in her bedchambers, shuffling through her notes and reading to check them for some last minute studying. Her mother was goign to test her in a few hours, and if she failed this test, Hazel would be given extra chores.
Yet while she was studying, the 16-year-old girl's mind wandered. She really needed a job to help support her family and, most of all, to get into a good school. Her mother was hardly making it by working at a bar at night. Her father was a traveler. Hazel thought of his traveling with both wonder and resentment: how could her father leave his whole family for his own pleasures? Hazel had hardly seen her father since she was 3, and she missed him terribly.
Hazel snapped out of her thoughts when a loud knock echoed through the room. "Coming," Hazel called, gathering up her dress and hurrying to the door. She opened it and, after seeing who it was, grinned. "Nico, hello!" she said, running over to her brother and hugging him tightly. He had just gotten back from school he spent all week at, the one Hazel was aiming to go to. "How was your week?"
"It was great, I graduated to grade 9!" He said excitedly. "It's great because grade 8 stuff was getting quite boring."
"Oh, that's great, Nico!" Hazel exclaimed, letting go of her older brother.
"Thanks," Nico replied. "Oh, Mother wants you in the study so you can take your test now."
"Isn't it a bit early?"
"She has to leave before nightfall tonight for work. Hurry, Hazel, she's in a snappy mood."
Hazel nodded and walked out of her room, pulling her door shut, and scurried down the stairs to the study.
"Mother, I'm here," she said, sitting down at her desk.
"Good girl, Hazel. Hurry and take the test, but do try hard. I do not want to catch you cheating off of notes you should have memorized, either. You may begin," Hazel's mother said, setting a piece of paper down. Hazel bent over the paper and began scribbling answers to the questions. In less than 15 minutes, she was done and confident in her answers.
"Mother, I'm done," she said, holding her hand up like she would if she was in a traditional school.
"Good girl," her mother said, taking the paper. "I have to go now, else I'm going to be late. Listen to Nico, don't be a nuisance, and go to bed at 10 like a good girl. I will see you in the morning, darling." And, turning around quickly, the skirts of her dress flowing behind her, she left.
Hazel walked down the stairs to catch her mother to hug her goodbye after Nico, and then her mother left. Hazel turned to Nico.
"Brother, I need to go searching for a job. Will you allow me to go?"
"Not on your own, you're not!" Nico said, his face stern. "You know what could happen out there? The Hunters are everywhere, searching for delicate little girls like you-"
"I'm not a delicate little girl, Nico, I'm a woman," she said. "I'm 16, remember?"
"I know, Hazel, but-"
"Please, Nico. I won't get caught by a Hunter. I promise I'll be home by 10, safe and sound, not a scratch on me. I'll even take June if you want me to."
June was Hazel's best friend and who Nico trusted to keep his sister safe.
Nico sighed. "It's fine, go alone. Be home by 10, though, or else. And eat some dinner before you leave," Nico said, offering her a sandwich with the crusts cut off.
"Sure," Hazel said and ate the sandwich quickly. After stealing a tart and grabbing her cloak, she hurried off before Nico could change his mind.
~*~*~
Hazel walked the dirty streets of her town, searching in cafés or bookstores for part-time jobs that a woman could do. Nobody would hire a woman, however, except for the same dirty old bar that her mother worked at. Pulling her cloak against her in the biting cold, she made her way back home. She was terrified of being alone in the city at night, especially since the Hunts got worse and worse. Hazel could only imagine what horrible things they would do to her.
Then she froze. The back of her neck prickled, which happened when someone was watching her. Who would be watching her? Staring?
Hazel whirled around and found nothing, nobody staring. No eyes peeking behing boxes or shops. Shivering, Hazel turned back around and walked at a quicker pace out of the city. Yet the further she traveled from it, the stronger the sensation on the back of her neck was. Shivering but not because of the cold, Hazel ran the rest of the way home. Once inside, the prickling faded away. Hazel thought about telling Nico about it, but he would worry too much. Deciding against it, she let her brother know she was home and then locked herself in her bedchambers.
She looked into her mirror and started taking her long, fiery red hair down. Her skin was pale compared to her bright hair, with a few freckled dusted on her nose. Her eyes were a soft brown like her mother's sweet hot chocolate.
Changing into a soft, worn, pink nightgown, Hazel sank into bed and drifted to a dreamless sleep.
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