Hiya astro!

I enjoy the blending of internal dialog and justification in with the narration; it really gets you into the main character's mind. So much of this story is...uncomfortably relatable, both realistic and a solid mirror to human psychology.

I noticed a couple tiny errors here; "get her parents to make up the different" in particular stuck out to me. As another small thing, the last two lines were particularly poignant and make for an excellent ending; I would rather see them on their own line for emphasis.

Great work, well-told. Keep writing!