The Hidden Alpha

AS Kara finished mopping the floors, she took a quick break by taking a seat and drinking a glass of water. She was not supposed to be working at the diner tonight, but her friend Carmela asked her to cover her shift tonight. Unfortunately, the other girl that was supposed to be working the shift with her did not make it to work either. She said she wasn't feeling well. Kara Dela Vega is a 17 year old girl who's lived in the small town of Catalina all her life. This is where her parents, her grandparents, her great grandparents, and so on were born and lived their whole lives as well. She has an older brother who got a girl pregnant and married at 20 years old. He moved away from their house but stayed in their little town with his family. He didn't finish school and now works at the local hardware store. Kara has always dreamt of moving out of Catalina and into a bug city someday. She always felt that she's bound to do greater things and that her destiny is not limited to just getting married, having a child, and staying at the small town her whole life. Her dream is to become a doctor, and work at a big hospital. To fulfill her dreams, she strived to be a good student. Her hard work has paid off, and if she keeps up her pace, she's set to graduate as the class valedictorian. She plans to apply for a scholarship at the most prestigious universities in the country, which are all located in the city. When she gets accepted, she'll be moving out of Catalina by next year. Kara has kept her plans to herself, because she knows that her parents will not allow her to move out of their small town when she goes off to college. When they found out that she wanted to get a degree, they told her to enroll at the town college and that they wanted her to become a teacher. She has nothing against teachers, and she appreciates how they mold the students, but that's not her dream, and she wouldn't let anything get in the way of her fulfilling her dreams. Even if it means her parents will not support her. She has mentioned to her brother that she's thinking of becoming a doctor. Initially, he was worried because he knew how difficult it would be to achieve such a dream. Eventually, he vowed to support her with whatever she plans to do with her life. He also vowed to keep her dream secret between them. This dream is the reason why Kara has been working at the local diner. She's saving up for college. She realizes that even if she gets a scholarship, she would still need some spending money for food, rent, utilities, and other school needs like books and supplies. This is why she doesn't mind taking extra shifts. It's extra pay for extra work. After she has rested, she puts away the cleaning supplies and tells Martin, the man behind the kitchen, that she's done for the night and is ready to go. Martin is a big man who is like an uncle to Kara. Despite his physique, he's one of the gentlest men she has ever met. He's a whiz in the kitchen, and can prepare food for a full diner single handedly. He's a co-owner at the diner. The other is her wife, Pearl. She's usually at the diner behind the counter during the opening shift, and brings their kids along. She leaves once the kids have gone home from school. After locking the doors, Martin walked Kara to her bicycle. She rode it home since she didn't have a car and couldn't drive yet. Her house is not that far from the diner anyway, and it would only take a few minutes to get home. The lights inside their house were already off when she arrived. Her dad works at the same hardware where her brother works, but as a driver who delivers the customer's orders. Her mom stays at home and takes care of the family. Her parents were adamant about letting her work but they gave in eventually. Aside from saving up for her future education, she also helps out with their expenses at home. Kara went straight to her room and laid in her bed for a while before forcing herself to get up and go to the bathroom. If she stays lying down, she might fall asleep. She still needs to shower and change. She reeks of diner food. One of the advantages of her brother leaving the house is that she now has her own room. Their house is quite small, with two bedrooms, and one toilet and bathroom. Her parents occupy the master bedroom while she used to share the other bedroom with her brother. They just put a small partition in the middle of the room for privacy. It rendered the room smaller than it already was. Kara already had dinner before coming home so she wasn't hungry anymore. She was exhausted and it wouldn't take long before she fell asleep. She didn't get the chance to dry her hair anymore, and she fell asleep within a few seconds after she laid down in bed. ------------------------------------ ❤️ Kara's POV ❤️ I woke up bright and early the next day. I had six hours of sleep, and that is more than enough for me. I got up and headed to the kitchen after doing my morning routine in the bathroom. My mom was already awake and working on the family breakfast in the kitchen when I arrived. I walked up to her and kissed her before saying " Good morning, mom." Mom: "Hey honey. What time did you get home last night?" Kara: "It was quite late. I had to cover Carmela's shift for the week. Her mom got hospitalized again." Mom: "Poor Naty. I heard that her cancer has metastasized and that the doctors have given her a few months to live." Kara: "I heard that too. I plan to visit her in the hospital today before heading to the diner." Naty is Carmela's mom. She was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer a year ago, and Carmela has been taking care of her whenever she's sick. She's an only child and her dad passed away more than five years ago. He was in the army, and he died when their plane they were on crashed. Everyone on the plane died when it did. Since her dad was in the military when he died, he was entitled to a monthly  pension, which Carmela and his mom use for their expenses. Carmela graduated from high school recently, and decided to work at the diner instead of going to college. I asked her if she has any plans of going to college eventually, and she said that her focus right now is to take care of her mom, and make her mom's remaining days as comfortable for her as she could. After having breakfast, I did some laundry and cleaned the house before getting ready for work. I put on my uniform and wore a hoodie on top. I put safety shorts on since the uniform is a dress and my legs show up whenever I ride my bike. I checked my bike and made sure it's working properly before I said goodbye to my mom and left for the hospital. My dad left earlier in the morning after breakfast. I arrived at the hospital not long after. I parked my bike and put the chain on, then made my way inside. I stayed in the hospital for about an hour and headed to the diner right after. I did not stay that long because I could tell that Carmela was tired and she wasn’t in the mood to chat anyway. I brought her some food, which my mom prepared, and she ate quietly while I sat next to her. Her mom has a feeding tube and can’t eat solid food, so the food I brought was strictly for Carmela. I felt really sorry for my friend, but all I could for now is to give her moral and emotional support through this ordeal.