Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ List of Secrets ❯ Chapter 3

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Julie sat back down. "Okay," she said. "I'm here."

Sharon took a deep breath. "The funny thing is, when I was young I had no use for shopping. I barely liked to spend money at all if I didn't have to. You'd never catch me in any fancy store. Mostly, I suppose, it was owing to my inablilty to afford anything expensive."

"I still feel that way," said Joe.

"Shut up, Joe!" said Julie. "Sorry, please continue."

Sharon smiled. "Oh, come on, we're all entitled to a sense of humor. Where was I?" she paused. "Oh right. I kept my spending to a minimum throughout my life. Then, one day, I was picked in a Random Lottery and got a whole bunch of money. I mean, more than I'd ever imagined I could have. Against my better judgment, I decided to spend some of it on luxury items."

Julie nodded. "Treating yourself on occasion is not a bad thing."

"I'm not done yet. I still had almost all of my money left, and after a while it seemed rather silly for it to just sit there. So, I spent it. And I spent. And spent. And spent. Next thing I knew, I couldn't stop. Eventually, it got to where much of the money I was spending was just flat-out wasted on things I never got around to using. I'd buy a dress, keep it for a week, then throw it away without ever wearing it."

Julie was beginning to see where this was going.

"I'd buy an expensive meal," Sharon continued, "and all too often much of it would go to waste. All in all, I was loose with my money, and wasteful. But I had fallen into the trap of thinking I'd never run out of money. But, eventually, I did."

"That had to hurt," said Joe.

"Indeed. Having gotten into this habit, I found it nearly impossible to break it. I got credit cards to continue my shopping and then got a job to pay off my balances. Even then, I still managed to get into debt. I finally had to take out several loans to pay off my cards. So much of my paycheck goes to paying my debts that I have nothing left for my bills or groceries. I just don't know what to do." Suddenly, Sharon broke down crying.

Amy was shocked and saddened by what she'd heard. Still, she had no idea what to say to all this.

"I'm sorry," Julie said. "I could never have known it was that bad."

"Don't be sorry," said Sharon. "It's all my fault. You must think I'm a bad person."

"No. You're not a bad person," said Amy. "Like they say, to err is human."

"Tell you what," said Julie. "I'll call my superior back in our main office, and see if we can help you in any way."

"Thank you, you're too kind."

"I'll use your phone, if that's okay. Amy, could you stay with her until I get back?"

After arranging for some assistance for Sharon, the Investigators took their leave.

"That's one secret off the List," said Julie.

"You seem tired," commented Amy. "I think I should handle the next one."

"Okay, if that's what you want to do."

They then went to find the next secret-holder.