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Walking into Java, the door chimes. The smell of coffee permeates the air and fills my nostrils, and for the first time in a long time, I smile.
My entire world might be falling apart, but at least I still have coffee. As I move through the tiny building, I make my way toward the menu board. I don’t realize the girl in front of me is Alice, my now ex-roommate until she turns around.
A frown clouds her face when she sees me. “Hey,” she greets, sounding a bit unsure what to say.
“Hey,” I respond and try to give a tiny smile. I don’t hate her for what she did. I’m not stupid; I know she didn’t leave out of her own free will.
“Mhm, I’m sorry, Willow… about leaving, ditching you. I…” She stumbles over her words. “I don’t know what to say besides I’m sorr—”
“Let me order my coffee, and we can sit down and talk, okay?” I interrupt her. She gives me a tiny nod and heads to a nearby table while I walk up to order my drink. Five minutes later, I have an iced caramel latte in my hands.
Meandering to the table, I sit in the seat across from her. I don’t need her to tell me what happened because I had already assumed that Parker had something to do with it, the day she’d disappeared, but I did think she was a friend. And when she left without even a word, it hurt.
“I’m sorry, Willow.” She starts, “I didn’t want to leave, but I didn’t know what to do. Like I told you, Parker’s dad owns the school, and if I went against him.” A visible shiver ripples through her. “He threatened me. Parker, I mean. I just—”
“Stop, it’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. I already assumed that it was him, and I’m not mad that you left.”
“You aren’t?” Alice perks up, her eyes shining a little brighter now.
“No, I was only upset because it felt like I lost my only friend here. You left, and I had no heads up. Then you’ve avoided me at all cost, making it impossible for me to talk to you about anything. I was worried…” I take a sip of my drink and try to gather my emotions. I didn’t think I would have a chance to talk to her, not after she left.
“I was too, but I knew I couldn’t say or do anything, and I was afraid if I talked to you…”
“Look, it’s okay. It’s done and over with. Do you maybe want to hang out?” I give her a cheerful smile hoping that will ease the tension of this conversation.
“Yeah, I’m just studying, but I miss hanging out with you. What do you want to do?”
I make a sour face. “Well, I have to go dress shopping for that stupid charity ball that Parker’s dad is putting on. My father is coming to town for it, and since I hate dress shopping, having you tag along might lessen my hate of it. That is if you want to go?”
Alice’s eyes light up at the suggestion. “Did you say shopping? I love shopping. You know what? You just follow along, and I’ll find the perfect dress and shoes for you.”
Oh boy.
We finish our coffee and talk about the classes we are planning to take together next semester. I don’t tell her that I don’t even know if I’ll be here then, simply because I’m not ready to tell her about the deal I made with Parker. I wonder what she would think of me if she knew that I’m basically whoring myself out to the devil.
I push the thought away before it can take root. I’m not a whore, not considering I’m still a virgin, but what I’m doing makes me feel like one. Plus, with Parker’s appetite for me, I don’t think I’ll be a virgin much longer.
“Should we start shopping?” Alice questions and I realize as I glimpse at the screen of my phone, that we’ve been sitting here for almost an hour talking.
“Shit, yeah, let’s go.” I drag myself out of the chair and toward the door.
Alice giggles and follows after me, “It’ll be fine, with me by your side, it won’t take long to find the perfect dress.”
“I know, that’s not the problem. I just hate shopping and dresses.”
With a sigh, we leave the coffee shop together in search of the perfect dress.
We spend about an hour in the first store alone. Alice made me try on a million dresses, but none of those were the one, as she put it. And she wasn’t lying, she really does love shopping.
As we enter the second store, I have this horrible feeling deep in my gut. I don’t know why, but it feels like something bad is going to happen. I do my best to swallow the feeling down as I go through the racks, but then I see him.
