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Everything I worked for is gone… gone.
“What do you mean they want the money back? Who cares where you live?” Valerie asks.
“Because if I’d lived on the campus, I guess the money ends up back in their pockets somehow,” I shrug. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. I broke the rules, and now I have to deal with it. Are you sure I can stay here for a while?”
“Yes, I’m sure. As long as you want,” she reassures me. I couldn’t bring myself to go to my parents’ place. I don’t want to face them yet. Face the disappointment that I know they will have when they hear I fucked up, and I definitely won’t go back to Warren. Which left me with Valerie as the only other place I could go. It might not be the best choice in the long run, but it’s the best for me right now.
“Thanks, Val. I mean it.”
“It’s okay. I owe you anyway. For all the times I’ve been a major bitch to you.”
“I’m not going to argue with that.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. Maybe this can be our new beginning? You and me, roommates. It doesn’t sound that bad.”
“Yeah, not too bad. So, are you still working at the diner?”
“Sure do, got a raise too, and tips are great.”
“Maybe I could start working there? So I can help out with rent and stuff?” I’m going to have to get used to a minimum wage job, so why not start at a diner? I’m sure the pay won’t be that great starting out, but I can get tips which should cover it.
“Ah, well… I-I don’t think they need anyone right now,” she tells me, suddenly sounding nervous, her eyes darting around the room. “We’re pretty well staffed. Should be like that for a while too. You could definitely look for a job elsewhere though.”
“Oh, okay…” I guess she doesn’t want me to work with her. Or maybe she thinks I won’t be able to do the job well? Whatever it is, if Val won’t help me find a job, I can do it on my own.
“I have to get to work. Working the graveyard shift, but you’re free to stay for as long as you would like.” I give her a tight-lipped smile and take a seat on the couch. I guess I’ll sleep here for the night, and just take it day by day.
“Thanks again, Val. I might not be here in the morning. Going to try and start job hunting early.” Valerie nods as she reaches the door. She looks a little more dolled up than I would expect a waitress to be, but if it gets her good money, then I get it. You have to do what you have to do. As soon as she’s gone and I’m left alone with my thoughts, I look around the small apartment and am reminded of how much it looks like mine did.
I have nothing now. No scholarship, no home, nothing, and all because I believed that things were different between Warren and me now. Fishing my phone out of my pocket, I power the thing down before he can call me. I don’t have it in me to fight with him right now.
Nothing he says can fix this. He threatened me, warned me, and I basically gave him the ammunition he needed earlier today.
Stupid me. Stupid heart. I should’ve used my brain. The tears start to come then, and there isn’t any way to stop them.
I gave my heart to Warren again, but this time he didn’t just break it, he destroyed my life. He took everything from me.
17
Warren
I kicked myself in the ass the entire time Harper was in class. I never should’ve spoken to her like that. Like a territorial asshole. I know she’s mine, and she knows she’s mine, and yet, I had to go and make a stupid comment.
Leaning against a tree outside the science lab, I wait for Harper to be done with her class. An apology already sitting on the tip of my tongue. Students start to filter out of the building. But Harper isn’t one of them. The moment I see Easton walk out, his eyes meet mine, and I know something is wrong.
Pushing away from the tree, I meet him halfway. “What’s wrong? Where is Harper?”
Easton shakes his head, “One of the financial aid people came and got her out of class. She never came back. I figured she would have called you by now.”
Worry bubbles within my gut. “Shit. How do you know it was financial aid? Who was it?”
“Brian told me who she was,” Easton shrugs. “I don’t know her name, but she had brown hair, glasses and was wearing a gray suit.”
Spinning around on my heels, I sprint away before Easton has even finished speaking. The jog, well, more like run, to the admin building seems to take forever, and when I arrive, I ask for financial aid at the front desk. A middle-aged woman points me in the right direction with a questioning brow. There are three offices for financial aid, but only one is a woman, so I decide that it has to be her.
