Chapter 3 -The Real World

She hoped everything she did would be this easy.

Within 2 hours, she stumbled upon a large group of college students who had spent the night camping for some kind of project just a short distance from the compound. The group was easily thirty people, and Irisa wondered if they would even notice her joining them.

They didn't. At first anyway.

As the group began hiking back to the campgrounds, two of the boys began talking to her.

"Hey, don't remember seeing you last night," one boy spoke to her. He had brown hair and a kind smile.

"Josh, we didn't see most of these girls' last night, their makeup has warn off," his friend yelled loudly. A rock flew towards him and barely missed his head.

"I-I went to bed early," she said.

"The trail a little difficult for you?" he asked.

"It's been okay," she replied.

"Let me know if you want me to carry something for you," Josh offered, showing off that kind smile of his again.

"Or better yet, I can carry something for you," his friend jumped in. His friend was a little more muscular with light brown hair and a big beaming smile.

"Or even better, you can leave her alone," a girl with platinum blonde hair pushed past them and grabbed Irisa's arm and pulled her gently away from the boys.

"Ignore them, if you didn't notice yesterday, they'll flirt with anything female with a pulse. I'm Annie."

"Irisa," she replied, not thinking to hide her name.

They walked together, and soon 2 more girls joined them. Irisa smiled and laughed with them, as they walked, avoiding talking as much as she could. It felt like no time at all when the arrived at a campsite parking lot. The college group began splitting apart as some went to the bathrooms and others to cars.

Irisa immediately felt a desperate need to separate from her new acquaintances and get out of here fast.

"Here, let me get your number really quick," Annie held out her phone.

"I- I don't have one right now," she lied.

"What? That's gotta be so hard. I'll have to find and add you online. I'll see you later!" Annie said, walking away.

Scanning the parking lot, she noticed a bus where a large crowd had gathered. She walked over and stood among them. She watched to see if the passengers had any sort of ticket or something to get on, or if she could sneak on and take a spot. She was about 6th in line when someone grabbed her arm.

She gasped and looked terrified, but it was Josh.

"Hey, I think you're getting on the wrong bus. The campus bus is over there."

She looked, "Oh! Well, you see I don't have my ticket anymore."

"Ticket? You mean your school ID?"

"Yeah," she said.

"So wait, you were going to get on a random tour bus going anywhere instead on trying to get on your own school bus?" he laughed.

She turned red.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you are a foreign student. You don't even have an accent. That sucks about your ID. You'll have to get a new one on campus. Do you know your ID number?

"No," she said, turning redder.

"Ah, I see. If you want I'll explain it to the driver. I'm sure he could care less."

"Thank you," she said.

Like Josh had said, the bus driver didn't care at all and let her on. The next issue would have been on where to sit, but Josh made his friend, named Greg move to another seat and offered her the window seat. She would have rather not spent the entire time on the bus with some flirt, but she was willing to accept the circumstances.

Luckily, or Unluckily, he was fine talking about himself for the entire trip.

Which was two hours long. Which was a long time to pretend to be interested in someone. She almost cheered aloud when he paused and said "Oh, we're almost back. That went quick."

Irisa tried to rush off the bus, but Josh had sat with her in the back and given her the window seat, so she had to follow him off. He offered his hand to help her down the steps, which she reluctantly took. She didn't want this acquaintance to continue beyond a free ride.

"I really enjoyed talking with you," Josh said.

"Josh! You forgot your phone!" came Greg's voice from the bus.

"Shit," Josh said, jumping back on the steps and going into the bus.

Irisa took the opportunity, and walked off as fast as she could. Disappearing behind a building. Students wandered in and out of buildings, many carrying extra bags since coming back from the trip. She walked into a building and found a bathroom to clean herself up. She tried to make herself look more like a student and less like someone who was carrying her whole life in one backpack.

Once she was sure that Greg or Josh were not around, she picked a direction and started walking.

---

Irisa knew starting over would be difficult, and that she had gotten off easy so far, but the reality of her decision began to weigh on her as the hours went by. No money. No transportation. No place to stay. People on the street either ignored her or looked at her as if she were on sale. It was mid-afternoon now, and people were making their way to lunch. As she snacked on some food she packed last night, she decided she should try to find a job.

The first 3 places laughed her out of the store.

The next 2 handed her an application, but with no cell phone or address to put down, that made it a little complicated.

She collapsed against a building in frustration, clutching the applications.

A homeless woman wearing far too many clothes looked at her.

"World git you down?" she asked.

"I need a job, but I'm more homeless than you are."

"A vicious cycle aint it. Need money to make money. Can't get a job with no papers, but can't get papers unless you got a job. Been there gave up."

"So I can't get a job?"

"not at any of these reputable places. gotta go downtown, but not too far downtown. Find a mom and pop that just need good hands and don't care where you come from."

"Which way?"

The woman nodded to the right. Irisa picked herself off the concrete floor and threw the applications in the trash as she headed down the street.

Irisa stood in front of a white building with a handwritten sign in the window. It was not something she had imagined herself doing, but she knew right away she'd be good at it.

Dog groomer needed-ASAP.

The bell above the door rang as she entered sending off waves of barking through the back rooms. A strong heavy set blonde woman walked quickly to the front desk. "Can I help you? are you picking up?"

"No, I mean yes. Your sign said you needed a dog groomer."

"A little young aren't you? What experience do you have?"

"I grew up with dogs. lots of them. Big ones." she said, realizing her interviewing skills sucked.

Just then a crash with a yell came from the back room. "No Princess! No!" a man's voice yelled.

A very large German Shepard tore from the back rooms into the front office and left on the desk. The woman interviewing Irisa made a grab for the wet dog, but "Princess" skid across the clean counter with her tongue lolling out to come face to face with Irisa.

"Be careful, she's bitten my staff before!" the blonde woman panicked.

But Princess immediately began whining and licking Irisa's cheeks. Which Irisa didn't fully appreciate.

"Down," Irisa commanded, and the wet dog immediately obeyed, hopping down from the counter.

"Well damn," the blonde lady spoke. Another blonde head poked out from behind her.

"Wow, I've never seen Princess behave for anyone." The newcomer was the one who had yelled, and was a young man with long blonde hair. He was nearly as soaked as the dog.

The woman, Trish spoke to Irisa, "I pay minimum wage and no benefits but I pay cash. I expect honest hard work and no whining. When would you want to start?"

Irisa was surprised, but replied. "I'm free, now, actually."

"Good, then your probation starts today. Do well today, and you can come back tomorrow. You can start by finishing washing Princess. While George cleans this mess."

Princess looked at Irisa like a soldier waiting for a command.

"What's your name?" Trish asked her.

"Iris," Irisa said. It was a small change.

"Come," she told her, and they went into the back.

Trish was a little put out when she realized that Irisa had little experience cutting dog fur, but was more than happy to hand off the task of washing each dog. She was even more excited when Irisa was able to trim many dogs' nails with no incidents since so many dogs hated that. Irisa washed and cut nails, while George dried and brushed, Trish cut and dealt with customers. It was hard work, but it wasn't the hardest Irisa had worked, and the time passed quickly as she moved from dog to dog. Hours later, when the kennel were nearly empty, Trish handed her a small wad of cash that came to around $50, and told her to come back tomorrow.

Irisa thanked her, and went to the door. Excited to be able to buy dinner for herself for the first time, she reached the door and felt her stomach sink.

Where would she sleep?

She turned back to Trish.

"Sorry, this is embarrassing, but can you tell me where the nearest homeless shelter is?"

"Why do you want to know where that is?" Trish asked.

George added in, "you looking for someone?"

She looked at both of them, and slowly shook her head.

"Why do you want to know where the homeless shelter is?" Trish was shocked.

"Come on," George had gotten over his surprise first and stepped forward. "I'll show you."