"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!", I screamed at the top of my lungs into an unsuspecting Mimi, whose face was inches above mine.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!", she yelled back into my face and leaped about a foot back.

"WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING AT ME?!", I yell, frantically moving around and getting myself tangled in my own sheets.

"Why am I screaming at you? Why are you screaming at me?"

"Why are you in my room?", I said, struggling to untangle myself from my sheets. They were drenched in sweat. Gross!

"Why am I- Honey you were screaming bloody murder just a second ago! I came in here to see what was going on! Sounded like you had a pretty shitty dream , Hon," Mimi answered while fidgeting with her tank top straps.

A dream? So, that blue place wasn't real?

I sat up straighter and looked around me. I was in my room in Mimi's apartment. My suitcases were still unpacked and sitting in the corner. In my closet there were 4 shirts and a dress, each hanging precariously on their hangers. I heard the TV blaring in the living room and I smelled sausages and eggs. Judging by the sunlight filtering into my room it must be pretty late in the morning. 

I turned my attention to Mimi, who had stopped messing with her straps and was looking at me with one eyebrow raised. I should probably say something before she kicks me out of her house only hours after I got here.

"Oh! Yeah! A dream! It was awful! So, I was in... the Apple Store! And I was trying to convince one of those Geniuses that my phone did not in fact sustain water damage, and I really, truly, honestly had no idea how it stopped working and I needed a new one! AND, get this, my insurance was up and I guess I must've forgot to renew it and long story short-", 

"Bitch, the story is already long! Listen, I don't care about the dream, but next time you want to howl like a wounded dog at 11 AM, don't. I'll get evicted and I can't afford to live anywhere else but here," she said as she began to leave the room.

"Anyways, breakfast is ready so get your butt out of bed, girl. You need your energy if you wanna go job hunting later," she called over her shoulder.

Job hunting? Oh my God. I launched myself out of bed and followed her into the kitchen, nearly tripping over a pair of boots I didn't bother to stow away yesterday.

"Job hunting? Already? Mimi, I just got here, like, yesterday? You can't be-"

"Oh! I'm totally being serious. I agreed to let you come over 'cause I had a spare room and that's what friends are for, but you have to pull your weight, too!", Mimi said while serving me my plate of sausages and, apparently, sass.

"I said I would figure something out in, like, a week!"

"Honey, a week is like 2 months to you and by then the summer's over and I would have paid 2 months worth of rent and-"

"Alright, alright, alright. God, you're worse than my mother. Well, I'm not even from here so it's probably gonna be a while before, you know, I find anything that suits my-"

"Already got it covered! I talked to Morgan a few days before you got here. Just go talk to her after you shower."

"Morgan? Who is Morgan and why am I gonna be talking to her after my 2 hour power shower?", I said, stabbing a sausage with a fork. I do not like where this is going. 

"Morgan is a friend of mine. I think I met her in my freshman year psych class. She's working at the convenience store this summer and she's pretty much in charge of that place 'cause the owner is never around", Mimi said, turning around and facing me. She had this shit eating grin on her face. I know exactly what she's implying.

"And so you want me to go and talk to Morgan about getting a job at a convenience store. Are you outta your mind!?", I said, putting my fork down.

I can't believe this! Convenience stores are open, like, until forever o' clock! How the hell am I gonna enjoy this summer if I'm gonna be dressed in a polyester apron with the words 'Hi! Welcome to Hell! Would you like an overpriced dirty water dog with a side of hepatitis?' plastered on the front?No fucking way. Plus, those places have really dirty bathrooms and, knowing this Morgan person, she's gonna have me scrubbing them.

"Oh! I'm outta my mind? Oh, Honey, please tell me what your plan on getting a job was 'cause I'd love to hear it!", she said, leaning in and cupping a hand around her ear. She was loving this because she knew I had nothing. Whatever, her nails are chipped anyways so who's the real loser here? I slumped against my seat, defeated. 

"UGH, fine! I'll go talk to Morgan at the stupid store and I'll work there forever because that's what you want and this is your house and I get no say in the matter at all," I say, shoving a piece of fried egg in my mouth.

"Good. Her shift starts at noon. So, you better eat fast!"

I watch as she whips around and dries her hands on a dish towel and unties her hair. She then walks out of the kitchen and heads to her room to finish getting ready for the day. Honestly, as annoyed I am about her know-it-all attitude, I know that deep down she's right. Mimi always is. 

I look down at my breakfast and push an egg around my plate and smile. Yesterday, I had eaten sunny-side up eggs, French toast, a stack of buttermilk pancakes that had a whipped cream smile and fresh strawberry eyes. All of which were prepared by my family's cook, Jessie, who prided herself on how soft and fluffy her pancakes were. And just after I downed a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice, I gave my parents, Veronica and Donald, a quick one handed salute, grabbed my suitcases and headed off to the airport to fly here.

My parents, God bless their souls, decided that I've have grown too accustomed to getting everything handed to me on a silver platter, and agreed to allow me to fly over to Sirena Falls to live with my childhood best friend Mimi. I guess they figured that a summer of "slumming it" with my hardworking, studious, and well-rounded best friend would do me some good. Maybe being with Mimi would inspire me to become, I don't know, "goal-oriented" or whatever. Maybe, I'd fill out some forms and go to college, too. Who knows. But I do deserve a break from having Ronnie and Donnie breathing down my neck. 

I raised my glass of orange juice to my lips and chug it. I wince. It's Tropicana, not freshly squeezed, mind you. I take my dishes over to the sink and I plop them in and search, with no avail, for the dishwasher. I sigh and turn around to head to the bathroom and then I stop. I go back to the sink and I wash my own dishes for the first time in... 18 years of living. I grab Mimi's chicken dishtowel, dry my plate and glass, and stow them in the cupboard. I stand back and admire my work. Maybe this little vacation could do me some good.