The duvet was pulled over her legs which lay crossed underneath creating a sort of bed for the white, fluffy cat perched between her legs. The feline was happily slumbering away, the tip of his tail the only thing moving. Even the content purrs had ceased, not that Juniper had much noticed. Her mind was caught up thinking about the recent events and the people whom she had talked to. It felt like so much had happened since the Ball. She’d made quite a few connections, maybe even a friend or two, which was a pleasant thought. She always tended to be so busy that making friends had never been all that easy. At most, she made acquaintances and that was it, but this time….well...she was determined to try and keep up with people. After all, with the s**t that was going down and the fact that Other Ashdown was going to continue to suck her up, she needed them.

Fingers ran through Star’s fur. She looked down at him and smiled at his sleeping form, enjoying how soft her feline companion was. “It’s going to be tough, trying to start an actual social life and making money.” She muttered quietly, not wanting to wake Star but feeling the need to voice her thoughts. “I can do it though. I’ll just need to tighten up...somewhere.” That was a joke. The young woman already had her belt tightened to the point she had almost no breathing room each month. And now, with Other Ashdown rearing it’s head, she worried that things may become even tighter if she got swept away at a point she was suppose to be at work. “Jesus, what if I get pulled away while I am at work.” She groaned at the thought. How the hell would she explain that one?

Leaning back, using one arm to support her, she removed her other hand from Star to rub at her face. “Things just can’t ever be easy.”

To top it off, Juniper wanted to practice magic. That meant she needed to spend time in Other Ashdown to do that. “I should probably pack up little survival kits like Jeremiah mentioned.” She glanced up at her tiny kitchen which was pretty sparse. Pay-day was still a few days away, and really, she could only afford the bare minimum. There had to be a few cans of something stashed somewhere though, right? Surely there was.

Her mind drifted to her parents and possibly reaching out to them to help her, but that thought was quickly dashed. Juniper had been dead determined to not lean on her parents for anything, and she’d managed to do it for the past 2 years. She wasn’t going to break now. “Maybe I can sell a few things that I don’t need.” Certainly she had some old clothes she never worse anymore but there wasn’t much and truthfully used clothing never went for much. Really the only thing to her name worth anything was her Violin, and that was out of the question.

“I’ll just figure it out. There has to be a way.” She let herself fall back against her pillows. Star still nestled on her lap, but he did open an eye up to give her a look at the sudden jerk and bounce of the bed.

“I think I’ll go to the coffee shop tomorrow and do some research on the laptop. Maybe I can find some other ways to make a few quick bucks.”

With that decision made, Juniper sighed and smiled at Star. “I’ll get this figured out, buddy.” She reached down to scratch the cat’s head and let herself relax as she watched the cat slowly drift back off to sleep. Tomorrow was a new day and she had enough determination to make sure that everything worked out in the end for her.

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