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Unfortunately, the locksmith wasn’t currently taking on anyone new, but it was still a fun thought, and it made her mom laugh.
“I always thought you would end up doing something with numbers. Maybe become an accountant,” her mom said dreamily.
That was one of the options Emily had looked at if she got fifty thousand dollars. She’d be able to afford some schooling, then get a job working somewhere until she got her CPA. Accounting was a good, solid, stable career. And she’d always been good with numbers.
She liked numbers. Numbers were safe and secure, and they always came back with the same result as long as the equation was done correctly. There were no surprises with numbers. Of course, she hadn’t liked numbers as much when she’d started having to use them to figure out how she was going to live on not-enough money, but she’d been lucky she was so good at them. She’d made it this far.
Seeing how proud and happy her mom was of her, Emily vowed that by the time her mom got out of jail, she would make sure her mom had a trailer to come home to, one with the power on and the bills paid up. If she needed reassurance she was making the right decision, she was getting it now.
7
The Auction
Emily
Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck…
What was I thinking?
The surety that she’d felt at the jail had faded by the time the bus dropped Emily off in front of the trailer park.
It was all well and good to think about the future and what she would be able to do with money and what she wanted for her mom, but the auction was starting in two hours, and the reality of what she had to do to get that future was hitting home. On the way home, she’d stupidly checked her email and seen the confirmation message that she was live, and the bidding would be starting soon, and she’d immediately felt nauseous.
All the confidence she’d had melted away in the harsh face of the truth.
She was selling her body.
Selling her virginity.
Because she needed the money.
It was horrific, degrading, and… necessary. Or at least the best path she could see out of her current situation, which had become more dire than she’d wanted to admit. Which was how she’d found herself here.
Anxiety frazzled her, riding her as she headed to her trailer, waving at the neighbors she passed. Mrs. Martine wasn’t outside, so at least no one stopped her to talk. She wasn’t sure she would be able to converse without falling apart and admitting what was happening.
Once safely inside, she went on autopilot, putting together a small meal to eat. For the first time in days, her stomach wasn’t growling. It was too tied in knots. She didn’t feel any hunger. All she felt was her nervousness. She had to force herself to take bites and chew them because she knew she needed to eat something.
She just hoped she didn’t throw it up later when someone had bought her virginity.
If someone bought her virginity.
God, she didn’t know which outcome would be worse.
Done with her meal, she started manically cleaning, constantly looking at the clock. The time until the auction started was dragging on.
She could still back out. She didn’t have to do this. Maybe she could find another way. Having sex for the first time with a complete stranger for money… that wasn’t her. She was a good girl. She’d gotten good grades. She’d tried to do everything right her whole life, and this was where it had gotten her?
Tears started welling up, and she shook her head angrily, looking up at the clock again.
At that exact moment, the power in the trailer died.
Emily froze in place… but only for a moment.
She darted over to the window, but she knew what she was going to see before she got there because she could see the lights even before she looked outside. Everyone else’s lights were still on. It was only her power that had just been turned off.
Closing her eyes, she mentally went over her payment schedule, and her heart sank. She’d been so distracted, she’d forgotten the power was due now. No, she hadn’t forgotten. She’d pushed it out of her mind because there hadn’t been anything she could do about it. She’d known having it turned off was a possibility, but there had been a tiny part of her that hoped if she ignored it, nothing would happen.
She was out of options.
