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Campus is the usual busy mess of students. People call to each other from across the grounds, and someone goes whizzing by me on a skateboard, laughing as they head toward another group of students.
For a second, I just stand on the paved walkway, blinking in the bright sunlight. It feels like the first day of school all over again, and I have to force myself to remember what day it is and what classes I have to go to today.
“Hey, Willow!”
The voice jerks me out my thoughts, and I turn my head to see Colin DeVry heading toward me.
He has an easy going grin on his face, and on any other day, the sight of him would probably have my heart racing a little. Colin is handsome in a classical way. Sandy blond hair falls over his forehead, and he shakes it away from his clear blue eyes as he comes to a stop in front of me.
“Hi, Colin.” My voice sounds raspy and weird to my ears, and I wonder if it sounds the same to him. “What’s up?”
“Not much. Same old, you know.” He lifts one shoulder in a shrug. “So listen, I was wondering something about the reading we’re supposed to do for Fowler’s class. Have you done it yet?”
I can barely remember what homework assignment he’s talking about, but I shake my head anyway. “Um, no. Not yet. Have you?”
“Yeah, I started to. I just don’t quite get what Fowler is looking for in the response.” Colin makes a face. “Anyway, let me know when you finish it. Maybe we can compare notes before we turn our stuff in, yeah?”
“Oh. Sure.” I nod, trying to put a convincing smile on my face. “That would be great.”
“Cool. Catch you later.”
He grins at me again, then turns and heads across the quad toward a few of his friends who are hanging out nearby. I watch him go before finally forcing my feet to start moving.
Colin is a lot more popular than I am, and he’s one of the few people on campus who hasn’t followed April’s lead by either bullying me or ignoring me. We’ve never really hung out, but he’s asked me to study with him a few times, and usually, talking to him first thing in the day like this would put me in a good mood.
But nothing can break through the cloud that seems to follow me across campus like a dark haze. It clings to me as I go to each of my classes, wrapping around me and making goosebumps rise up on my skin as the professors drone on. It follows me out onto the quad at lunch, so thick around me that I barely even hear April and her cronies making fun of me as they walk past.
The only thing that pulls me out of my stupor for a moment is the sight of the administration office as I pass by it on my way to the bus stop at the end of the day. A sharp pang of worry shoots through my stomach, cutting through the knot that already sits low in my belly.
The money for my tuition is still due soon, and I still don’t have a way to get it. Selling my virginity was supposed to be the answer, but since the man who was going to pay for it is dead now, that clearly didn’t work.
And now I have no idea what to do or how to get the money.
I sit in the back of the bus on the way to work, keeping my head down and letting my long blonde hair fall around my face like a curtain, blocking everything else out.
After getting off at the usual stop, I walk the rest of the way Sapphire the way I do every day. On top of how I was already feeling, nerves twist in my gut at the thought of going back to the club after what happened.
Part of me—a huge part, actually—wants to call in sick and not have to deal with Carl or anyone else today, but I know it’s probably for the best to just go about my life as if nothing has happened.
So when I reach the club, I take a deep breath and step inside.
“Willow!”
Carl barks my name as soon as I step through the door. I jump at the sound of his loud voice, pressing my hand to my chest to try to calm my racing heart as I glance over at him. I don’t know what he’s doing out on the floor. It’s pretty rare to see him outside of his office.
The few patrons already at the club are lost in their drinks, so they barely even glance at me as I make my way over to where Carl is standing, his arms crossed over his chest.
“My office,” he says, jerking a thumb at me as I approach. “Right now.”
“Okay.”
My heart starts to beat faster as I follow him to the back, the hairs on my neck prickling. What does he want?
Inside his office, Carl closes the office door with a snap and then sinks into the chair behind his desk, his eyes narrowed as he looks at me. He doesn’t say anything, just looks at me with an expectant expression, like he’s waiting for me to speak.
When I don’t, he huffs, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the desk. “What the fuck happened?”
The feeling of ants crawling over my skin intensifies. “I… um, I don’t—”
