It had been a year since Prudence had graduated high school and now a new summer had arrived. She should feel like an adult, but she felt like anything but an adult. She sat on top of her bed, not even having the energy to game.
She replayed her latest argument with Chastity in her mind. Chas was just under a year older than her, her 'Irish twin' and nearly the perfect opposite in every way. Curvy and feminine. Innocent, yet confident in her body -- everything Prudence wasn't. Prudence had started the fight, and she wasn't even sure why at the time, but Chastity's last words, "What are you even doing with your life, sis?" still rang in Prudence's ears.
She felt trapped. Trapped watching life go by, trapped in her family. Trapped in a lazy smile that never met her eyes anymore.
Prudence is depressed
Now Chastity and her parents were off for the weekend at some convention having fun. Hope was out at her fast-food job, so Prudence couldn't even be distracted by Hope throwing a tantrum. Pru was left with her own thoughts. She hated that.
She texted her eldest sister Charity, asking for help. But for the first time ever, Charity demurred, texting back that she had her own issues to work out. That shocked Prudence. Charity was the kind of woman to give the shirt off her back for her sisters -- it was something Pru always admired about her. And now, when Prudence needed her the most, Charity was setting boundaries.
Pru had one last person she trusted to contact.
jij.
In a rare moment of courage, she texted jij. "Heya, fam. I know you're home for the summer, can you swing by? It's important."
"I just," she texted, "I don't have anyone to talk to right now, and I really need someone. Anyone."
Then Prudence thought about the last few times they talked. How she knew things were distant, but she pretended everything was fine. How even Prom Night might have gone different if she had just been more genuine, more true to her feelings. If she just had the courage to say what she felt, and not pass everything off as some casual game. God, I'm such a coward at heart, she thought. She grabbed her phone.
"No, fuck that," she texted. "I don't just need anyone. I need you. Can you come over?"
After hitting send, she immediately regretted opening up like that. But it was too late to back out. She checked her phone. Text was already marked read. Fuck.
