= SARAH POV =

“Yeah, but it’s fine; I have enough to pay it off, no worries” I said as I unfolded the paper.

Dinner had been eaten and the dishes were cleared. I was now in my room, sitting on the edge of the bed as Chris paced in front of me, the discussion seemed to be getting more tense, despite how earlier Chris had been totally fine with helping me out. I wasn’t sure if it was how high the bill was, or how stupid I was that was getting under her skin…or both.

“No, you don’t. I think you forgot that your ex-boyfriend got this plan, which meant that his wife got the plan sent to her house. How is it that you broke up with the guy 3 years ago, but the plan started 6 months ago?” Chris asked, looking like she was barely holding on to what little control she had over her anger, stepping from one foot to the other.

“Wait…why does this say…¥38 000?” I asked, reading the big angry red letters on the paper that said “OVERDUE” next to the figure.

“Because, my dear…” Chris said as she pinched the bridge of her nose, ”...just because you take out a plan for ¥10 000, the late fees have a compound interest. You owe them an additional ¥38 000 plus this month’s ¥10 000”

Chris drew closer, hands clasp behind her beach as she bent forwards to look down at me, “Do you have ¥48 000 in your bank account right now?” Chris asked, tight-lipped and irate.

I looked from Chris, down to the paper. To my surprise, wet spots started to appear on the words.

 I tried to focus but there were so many wet spots….

It was then that I realized the wet spots were coming from me… and I tried to wipe my face with the back of my hand, but the tears kept coming.

“Oh! Oh…oh umm..” I heard myself say but I was so lost, my words died and I was left sitting there stumped, trying to stop the tears from running. 

What was I supposed to do? I barely had enough to cover the late fees, let alone this month’s bill…

“I-I’m sorry, I guess I…. miscalculated. I-I…” I stuttered, trying to speak as I began to hiccup.

“Stupid…” Chris said and walked away, leaving me there outside my room, trying to stop the tears.

My eyes followed her until she had disappeared around the corner, and then they dropped back to the bill.

I guess this was it.

 This was the day that I started an OF.

 I mean, I had tried before, but I just ended up getting a boyfriend for a month, and then he left for Dubai and apparently found a better, hotter girl, and I just stopped OF because it reminded me of him.

But a girl has gotta do what a girl has gotta do…

I pulled my legs up to my chest and rocked myself back and forth. This was literally the worst day of my life.

A hand rested on my shoulder, and I looked up to see Chris holding out a cup of something to me.

I smiled weakly and took it from her “I’m sorry I’m so stupid. I should have read the fine print; I didn’t know I would have the interest to pay on top of everything”

Chris shook her head “No, I’m stupid. I’m sorry I said that out loud; I was talking about myself.” She said and sat down beside me on the bed

 “I know you are jobless and homeless, which means that I should have accounted for all your bills. In fact… let’s go over your car payments and any other bills that you have so that we can get on top of any debt you have to pay, ok?” she asked gently.

I nodded meekly. Gosh, I hadn’t even thought about the bill on my car.

“I…I think I should sell the car” I said “I don’t think I can afford it”

“Haha, yeah, I know,” Chris said and pulled out a roll of paper she had sticking out of her back pocket.

“So I managed to convince Ms. Winston that all the payments that had been made for you via her husband were supposed to be part of the bogus apartment agreement, which meant the car, the phone, the Luinski Bag, and the gaming headset, which all turned up unaccounted for on their credit card. After she deducted all these extra expenses, sadly, you didn’t have any money to claim from the apartment” Chris explained. 

I buried my head in my knees as I cradled the drink with both hands “Not a single cent came back from that whole ordeal? And in the end, I pretty much paid for my own gifts that that douchebag bought me. You must think I’m such an idiot right now”

“Well, you did get something back…debt. I paid off your phone bill because it was under their family plan and…the plan is terminated, so you have the plan until the end of its cycle, which ends in two days,” Chris explained.