Clause 27

The first thing Allison West noticed when she reached her apartment was the envelope taped to her door. The second thing she noticed was the red lettering. “FINAL NOTICE” it read. Her stomach dropped.“Oh, you've got to be kidding me.” Her golden-brown dog, Milo, trotted ahead of her, his tail wagging enthusiastically as though the ugly piece of paper on the door didn't exist. “Milo, don't.” He looked back at her. She pointed at the envelope.“That's bad.” Milo tilted his head. “Yes, very bad.” He wagged his tail harder. Allison sighed.“Glad you're enjoying yourself.” She dropped her university bag onto the floor and pulled the envelope from the door with trembling fingers. She already knew what it said. She just didn't want to read it, nevertheless she tore it open. NOTICE OF EVICTION Her eyes moved down the page. Past due rent, outstanding balance and a Three-day notice. She stopped reading. “Three days...” she pondered and stared at the paper. Then suddenly without any warning, she laughed. Not because anything was funny but because her brain simply couldn't figure out what else to do. “Three days?” Milo sniffed the bottom of the notice. “All right,” Allison whispered. “Don't panic.” She unlocked the door. “It's fine.” Milo followed her inside “Everything is completely fine.” She muttered. The apartment was small enough that she could see almost everything from the entrance. One bedroom, a tiny kitchen and a battered couch she'd bought secondhand. A desk buried underneath textbooks, lecture notes and half-finished assignments. It wasn't much, granted but it was all hers. More importantly, it was close enough to Northbridge University that she could walk to most of her classes. Therefore losing it meant more than losing a roof. It meant losing the one thing that had allowed her to keep pretending everything was under control that everything was alright. Allison dropped onto the couch, Milo immediately jumped beside her. She stared at the eviction notice resting on her lap, her father's face flashed through her mind. Draker West had always been the person who made impossible problems feel manageable. When she was twelve and terrified of her first school presentation, he'd taught her to breathe. “Just imagine they are all a bunch of frogs” he would say, causing her to laugh. When she failed her first major exam, he'd told her one bad grade wasn't a life sentence. And when she'd told him she wanted to work in sports medicine, he'd smiled like she'd just announced she was going to save the world. “Then save it.” He would reply. That had always been his answer. She swallowed hard. It had been almost two years since he'd died. Two years since the phone call that had changed everything, two years since the funeral and two years since the debts he'd left behind had slowly eaten through whatever savings remained. Two years of scholarships, part-time jobs, cutting expenses and pretending she wasn't terrified. She looked around the apartment.“I can't lose this too.” She sighed. Milo rested his head against her thigh. Allison rubbed his ears.“I know.” She pulled out her phone and called her landlord. One ring, two, three and then to voicemail. She hung up and called again. Voicemail, again. Still nothing. “All right.” She opened her messages. “Mr. Harris, please call me. I can pay part of it now. I just need a little more time.” She stared at the message before adding “Please.” and then she clicked send. The reply came less than a minute later. “Allison, I’ve given you two extra weeks already. The building owner is stepping in. You have three days to pay the full balance or vacate.” Her fingers tightened around the phone. She typed. “I understand, but I'm a student. I have exams coming up. If you could just give me another week.” Three dots appeared, it disappeared and then it appeared again. Finally the message came through. “I'm sorry. I can't.” Allison stared at the screen in silence. Another message arrived. “Three days, that's all you get.” He replied with no sympathy and room for negotiation. She dropped her phone beside her. Milo looked up. “Don't look at me like that.” He blinked. “I don't know what we're going to do either.” She leaned backward and closed her eyes. For several seconds, the apartment was silent. Then her stomach growled, Allison opened one eye.“Seriously?” Milo wagged his tail, she looked toward the kitchen. “Don't even think about it.” She said as soon as he got up. “Milo.”She called as he walked toward his food bowl. “Buddy you ate like an hour ago.” She grumbled, causing him to stop and turn around slowly. And then he gave her the most offended look she'd ever seen. Despite everything, Allison smiled. “Drama queen.” Allison mouthed as she stood and walked into the kitchen. She looked at the cupboard, there was half a loaf of bread, two eggs and a nearly empty jar of peanut butter. She opened the refrigerator, nothing useful. So she closed it and opened it again. As if the food might magically appear if she gave the refrigerator another chance but alas nothing. “Perfect.” She sighed and made herself a sandwich and sat at the tiny kitchen table with her laptop. Northbridge University's student portal was still open from earlier. Her upcoming tuition payment stared back at her. “Great, another problem which includes another deadline and another number she couldn't afford to ignore.” She said rubbed her temples. “I could drop out.” she thought quietly. “I could take a break, work full-time, pay everything off and come back next year.” Except she knew herself. A break could become a year, a year could become five and the dream she'd spent years fighting for could disappear before she even realized she'd lost it. She looked at the textbooks stacked beside her. Sports rehabilitation, exercise physiology and clinical assessment. She had worked too hard to get here. She couldn't quit. Not now. At least not when she was this close to succeeding. Her father's voice returned to her. “Then save it.” Allison swallowed. “No.” She closed the tuition portal. “No quitting.” She looked at Milo resting his chin on her knee and smiled faintly. “We'll figure it out.”She reached down and scratched behind his ears. “Somehow.” The apartment grew quiet as night settled over Ashford Heights. Eventually, Allison opened her banking app. She needed to know exactly how bad things were. Her thumb hovered over the screen.She pressed it and watched the balance load. She stared, once, twice and then her smile disappeared. She refreshed the page, the number remained the same. $14.82. Allison slowly lowered her phone. There wasn't enough money for next month's rent. Not even close. And after tuition? She wouldn't even have enough to buy groceries. Her heart began pounding. “Three days, that's all I have. Three days to find money, three days to save my apartment and three days to keep my education from falling apart.” She sighed. Allison then looked at Milo and whispered. “We're in trouble, buddy.” Milo whined softly. She looked back at the number glowing on her phone. “For the first time in two years, I have absolutely no idea what to do.” She whispered while stroking Milo's head.