Chapter Three in Caramel Ice Cream

Chapter Three
October 28th, 2017
It’s kind of a well-known fact that I have no friends. No human friends, at least. I’m not very good with people. It’s probably because I don’t like people in the first place. In fact, I hate people. People are disgusting, selfish creatures that kill their own kind, ruin each others’ lives on purpose, and take things away from species that were there before them. Humans seriously suck. I like dogs, though. Some people say that dogs are people too, but that couldn’t be more incorrect. Dogs are nowhere near the hostility and suckiness of homo sapiens. I never had a dog, but during my worst time, before I got a job, I babysat for this one family that had a huge English Mastiff. The dog’s name was Penny, and she was the cutest, most snuggly thing ever. She was 160 pounds, but she was so mellow and afraid of everything. I always called her the Biggest Chicken on the Block, but then the family matriarch quit her job and worked from home to take care of the baby. I didn’t mind so much because I still got to pet-sit the dog sometimes. I think maybe they might have fired me from babysitting and put me on pet-sitting duty instead because they could tell that I liked the dog better than the baby. Babies are people too. People suck.
I went to visit Penny today after school. I snuggled with her for a good 45 minutes, which is barely even close with the hours I used to spend with her. But I had to get going. I noticed this time though that Penny was starting to develop a limp. I worried at what it was, but decided it was probably nothing. Penny was 8 ½ years old, and English Mastiffs usually only live to 10. I didn’t think about that; that my time with Penny might be numbered. But what I did think was that she was an old dog and it was probably harmless.
I got home and slept. It wasn’t much of a reason to leave Penny, but I hadn’t slept well in days; I was so loaded with homework and actually showing up to work in time. My boss, Katherine, keeps asking me to pick up extra shifts. How can I refuse? Hundreds of people would willingly replace me as a McDonald’s worker in seconds. To keep my job, I do extra hours. I don’t get paid for it either. I tried to speak up for myself once, but in response, my job was waved in front of my face between two pinched fingers, ready to be dropped into the gutter. That was the first and last time I said anything about it. It’s better than nothing, I tell myself while I work my ass off at my less-than-minimum-wage job. Any money is money at least.
After sleeping a solid 12 hours, I woke to the phone ringing at 7 in the morning. I grudgingly stumbled out of bed (the wrong side, ironically) and picked up the phone.
“Hey, Tracy… well, this is awkward… But would you like to go to prom with me?”
I sighed. Wrong number. I get these all the time. Why is my phone number so popular?
“Sorry, but I’m not Tracy. I’m Karolina. You have the wrong number.” I apologetically replied. The anonymous caller hung up. Rude, I thought. Wish I knew Tracy so I could tell her not to date an ass who gets the wrong number and then doesn’t apologize. Everyone before apologized. Maybe because all the other people were all old people and mature adults. Teenagers suck.
I thought about somebody legitimately asking me to prom. It was quite obvious that I wouldn’t be getting a boyfriend or girlfriend any time soon. I was the person who asshole boys would dare their friends to ask me out, so this isn’t the first time I’ve gotten a call like this. I never know whether it’s a real accidental wrong number or just another prank call. I think, though, that it would be nice to have a mate or whatever. But that’s just not for me. Even if I did I would probably ruin it by liking their pet more than the actual person I’m dating anyway. Sometimes I’m just suddenly overwhelmed with loneliness and the knowing that nobody loves me. Really nobody. Not my parents, not some random girl or boy at school. Nobody. The only living thing that loves me is Penny, but she doesn’t count because she’s not a person. She’s not that bad.