Welcome to Adulthood

I was bored, so bored, homework done for the day, chores checked off, library books devoured. Bored was a bad word in our home, so I kept it to myself, wandering upstairs to bore myself in new surroundings. Em, my brother’s girlfriend, found me at the kitchen table 10 minutes later, eating my boredom away. “I am going to go fill out job applications, do you wanna come?” She hates going places alone.

“Sure lemme ask mom.” I am seventeen, too old to be asking for permission to leave the house.

Mom doesn’t mind that we leave, she likes that Em is hanging out with me, getting me away from the books, out of the house, into the world. Being homeschooled doesn’t give you the best social skills. “You girls have fun!”

Sitting in the passenger side, Gwen Stefani blaring, I think to myself, sure this is fun. Em is happy that she’s not alone. “I told your brother I would try for like 3 places today, do you want to get McDonalds afterwards?”

“Sure!” I like Em, she’s sweet and kind, her family treats her like crap, but she treats everyone else like gold.

First we go to Petco, Em talks to the manager, and fills out an application. I look at dog treats and wonder if the bacon is real or fake. Can you fake bacon? Do dogs know the difference?

We talk about school on the way across the parking lot to Bye Bye Baby. My senior year is mainly electives, almost entirely literature and history classes. Em tells me about her plans with my brother, where she wants to live, how many babies they’re going to have. The store manager isn’t in, but the checker gives her an application to fill out anyway. I stare at the nipple cream, worried that I don’t know enough about myself as a woman. What the hell is nipple cream for?

Em went to school to be a medical assistant, she hated it, and I can’t quite remember why she quit her job and started the search all over again. Next door there’s a Papa John’s with a ‘now hiring’ sign in the window. I look at Em, she looks at me, “If he asks?”

“They said they filled the position, but you left your resume just in case.”

“You’re like my favorite sister.” Em is smiling when we get in the car, she has sisters, but I like that I am her favorite.

Headed back home from McDonalds we suddenly veer off into a parking lot. “I had no idea there was a school here!” Em stares out the window, trying to read the sign, “It’s a preschool!”

I nod, not sure why we’ve stopped, sipping my coke faster so I can dispose of the evidence before we get home. I am not supposed to be drinking soda.

“Come on let’s see if they’re hiring!” Em is excited. I follow her because I am not sure what else to do. I don’t have the heart to tell her that they probably want real teachers, not a former medical assistant. The receptionist smiles at us, they are hiring, and she hands us both an application. I just stare at mine, Em hands me a pen, “Hey it’ll be good practice for you!”

I fill out my first ever application, wondering why they ask you your address, why, are they going to mail me something? The receptionist tells Em, “Hang on a second I’ll see if the director can meet with you now!”

The director comes out of her office and says hello to us, she invites us both in. “I am just here as moral support.” I murmur, sitting off to the side so Em can have the seat in front of the desk.

“It’ll be good practice for you!” Em smiles at me and then turns to the director. The lady is nice, she asks us questions, she talks about kids, she explains what classes you need to take to be qualified. Slowly I relax, this isn’t too hard, it's just a conversation, I start to smile and nod, I answer some of the questions with Em.

The director looks at her paper, she looks at Em, “I think you’d be perfect for our toddler class; can you start Monday?”

Em is beaming, “Yes I can, and I’ll enroll in those classes today!”

The director turns to me, “You would be perfect in our two year old class, you can start Monday as well!”

I don’t know what to say, what do you say? My brain just sort of slows down, and then stops. Em is leaving the office, and I follow her almost mechanically. She talks the whole way home, she is so excited, this is something we can do together. She tells me that she will help me get enrolled in the collage classes, but can I help her with homework? I am better at papers then she is.

Mom is making dinner when we get back, Em runs down the hall to find my brother. “How was it honey?”

“Mom, I got a job.”

She just stares at me a moment, “You did what?”

“I got a full-time job.”

We both just sort of process that together for a moment. “Well, are you going to be able to finish school and work at the same time?”

How should I know? The idea is starting to settle in, and it doesn’t sound terrible, I wouldn’t be bored that’s for sure. “I think so.”

“Do I have to sign something?”

I didn’t even ask, “I am assuming so, since I am not 18.”

“Well good for you honey I am proud of you!” she starts back on dinner, “I can’t believe you got a job; you’re going to be working,” she’s shaking her head, “everything is changing so fast.”

I can hear my dad’s truck in the driveway, I already know he’ll be proud of me too, hard work is my dad’s love language. “Nah mom nothing is changing, it’s not a big deal.” I shrug, confident in my youthful ignorance.