Chapter 1 - The Six O'Clock Infiltration
At exactly six o'clock on a Saturday morning, I woke up to the sound of my front door opening.
My heart nearly stopped.
Someone was inside my apartment.
I grabbed my phone, crept toward my bedroom door, and heard something heavy dragging across the hallway floor.
Then I looked out.
It was my younger sister, Kayla.
She was standing in my entryway with two enormous suitcases and the calmest expression I had ever seen.
“What the hell are you doing?”
She barely reacted.
“Oh, hey, Rachel. Sorry I woke you.”
Sorry she woke me?
It was six in the morning.
Then she grabbed one of the suitcases and started pulling it farther inside.
I stared at her.
“How did you even get in?”
“Mom gave me a key.”
That sentence made my stomach drop.
Before I could process it, Kayla walked straight into my bedroom, opened my closet, and started looking through my things.
“This room is better,” she said. “Bigger closet. Better view. I’m taking this one.”
I thought she was joking.
She wasn't.
“You can move into the smaller bedroom,” she added casually. “You’ll be fine.”
I immediately called our mother.
Four rings later, Mom answered, annoyed that I had disturbed her so early.
I explained what was happening.
She didn’t sound surprised.
“Kayla needs to start her independent life,” Mom said. “She can’t afford her own apartment yet, so this is the perfect solution.”
I actually laughed.
“This is my home.”
Mom’s voice changed.
“No, Rachel. It’s my apartment. My name is on the deed.”
That hurt more than I expected.
I had lived there for five years.
I had paid rent every month.
I had renovated the floors, painted the walls, upgraded the plumbing, bought the furniture, and turned that old apartment into a real home.
But suddenly none of that mattered.
So I asked the obvious question.
“How much is Kayla paying?”
Mom laughed.
“She isn’t.”
I went silent.
“You have a steady job,” she continued. “Kayla is still finding herself.”
Then came the part that finally broke something in me.
Mom told me my rent was going up.
From $1,000 to $2,000 a month.
I was supposed to pay double the rent while my unemployed sister lived there for free.
When I told Mom I could find another apartment for less, her tone turned cold.
“If you want to move out, that’s your choice. Kayla has friends who would happily pay full rent without all this drama.”
I looked down the hallway.
Kayla was already standing inside my bedroom, planning where she would put her things.
“So when are you moving into the smaller room?” she asked.
I looked at her for a long second.
“Soon.”
May you like
She smiled.
What neither Kayla nor my mother understood was that I meant something very different.
