Of course. That’s why she’ll be freaking pissed at me, I’m taking work from her and the other girls. I tell myself I don’t care but honestly, knowing they all hate me here doesn’t matter either way.
I need the fucking money.
I’ll happily be hated around here if it means my stage is the one getting all of the big tips. I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to set my life up and get out from the freaking hellscape I’m stuck in.
I take my time in the shower, scrubbing the gel out of my hair and washing away the glitter and crystals. The water is piping hot and I have to drag my ass out of there.
Speck is gone when I walk out but all of the other girls are in the locker room, dressed and ready to leave. I duck my head, ready to just tear out of there without another word, but one of the girls steps into my path to stop me.
“Hey! We’re having drinks tonight, wanna come with? I know being new is really hard here so I thought I’d invite you!” Melody says, twisting a strand of her bleach blonde hair around her finger like she’s flirting with me.
I wish I could. I think that would be the quickest way to get them all to stop hating on me but I can’t risk sleeping in the underground parking lot I’ve found while even a little tipsy. Too easy to be attacked and not be able to run or fight back and I haven’t been here for long enough to know the risks yet.
“I can’t tonight, sorry! Maybe some other time?”
The smile falters a little on her face, like she wasn’t expecting me to say no. “Why? You got some boyfriend waiting or something? You could bring him.”
I look over her shoulder and find the other girls watching us, whispering amongst themselves. I shift on my feet awkwardly. “It’s not that, tonight just isn’t good for me. I’d love to next time though.”
Diamond smirks and calls out, “I told you, Miss Untouchable thinks she’s too good for us. C’mon, Mel, we have shots waiting for us. Leave the frosty little bitch to her night.”
My stomach drops as they all giggle and leave me behind. It’s not a big deal, I don’t need to be friends with any of them. I don’t need friends.
I walk out of the club and set my bag into the back of my car, sliding into the front seat and turning it on to let the engine run to warm up a little. I wriggle my feet out of the heels I’ve been stuck in for hours and sigh at the relief. God, it feels amazing to finally let them breathe.
I drive over to the gas station and grab something greasy for dinner, ignoring the looks from the guy behind the counter. I don’t know if I’m being paranoid or if he really has been down at the club and seen me on stage but fuck, I try to get in and out as quickly as possible.
The parking lot is quiet, no one else here tonight, thank God. There’s usually not many people here, and they always stay away from me. I’m glad to be able to sleep in the car, only cracking the window the tiniest bit to let in some air and then putting my seat back and throwing a blanket over myself. It’s not ideal but it’s also safer than I was back home by a long shot so I don’t fucking care.
I sleep like the dead.
Now that my job is secure, I hope, I figure out where the hell I’m going to transfer my college credits to. The simple answer is Southern Miss but Coldstone is too small to actually have a campus and I don’t have a phone with internet access to look that shit up.
So I sit outside a takeout place with free wifi and sip an icy cold coke while I search. The freaking heavens must be looking down on me because there’s a college campus in the next town over for me to transfer into. I still want to take online classes, to save fuel and because college isn’t exactly my scene, but to transfer I still have to show up and sign paperwork.
Oh, and hand over a sizable chunk of my tips. Can’t forget that heart-wrenching part.
It’s easy enough to get an appointment right away and my shift at The Boulevard doesn’t start until nine tonight so I seize the freaking day and just get it over with. There’s no point surviving here if I don’t have an exit strategy and there’s no way I wanna be shaking my tits on stage forever.
The drive isn’t that long but with the air conditioner broken in my car and the hot summer sun blasting down I kinda want to die a little. I’m thankful for my tiny shorts and the little cami I’m wearing because my skin is on fire.
When I finally park and get out of the car I catch my reflection in the car window and, lord help me, I look like a hot mess. I run my fingers through my hair as I tie it up, trying to get it off of my neck and out of the way. There’s no rescuing the rest of my look. I make peace with that because, hell, who exactly am I trying to impress here?
I’d rather repulse people and keep them the hell away from me, especially here. The office building is older and needs an update but it’s clean and welcoming enough. A couple of guys hold a door open for me and make flirty eyes at me but I duck my head as I thank them and scurry through like my ass is on fire.
I just want to get this over with. In and out.
I stand awkwardly over by the door even though there’s no line or anything stopping me from just enrolling.
“Can I help you?” the lady at the desk calls out and I startle into action, stepping forward with my files.
“Uh yeah, I called earlier? About, uhm—”
“About transferring credits? Do you have all of your paperwork here with you?”
I nod and hand it all over to her. She sifts through it all and types into her computer. I rub at my arms a little, the cami I’ve got on not doing much against the cold in the office. God, from one extreme to another.
Finally, after like a half hour of typing and frowning at what I’ve given her, she looks up at me and says, “Okay, I think that’s everything. Let me call you an advisor. I’ve assigned you to Finley, he’s good at the more… challenging cases.”
I swallow and try to smile back at her.
How exactly am I a challenging case?
I don’t get the chance to question her before she gets on the phone, her tone cheery and a little flirty as she speaks to this Finley guy. She motions for me to wait, like there’s anywhere else I could go right now, and I take a seat. It’s times like this I wish I had a phone to mess around on or a book in my bag to bury my nose in but instead I’m forced to stare around the office at the inspirational posters and event fliers.
I wish I were normal enough to enjoy something like a freshman mixer or to join a sorority. It would be nice to have friends.
A man steps into my eye line, a big grin of his tanned face. “Hello there! Welcome to Southern Miss. I’m Finley, you must be Angel.”
I smile and tuck a stray strand of my hair behind my ear, nervous as hell about this entire process. “Uh, thanks! I’m not going to be on campus, just here for like… exams or whatever.”
He grins at me and motions for me to follow him down the hallway. He’s dressed casually but it’s all nice clothes. Designer without being flashy. He obviously comes from money because he carries himself with that lightness that comes from not ever having a single thing to worry about or prove.
I’m jealous as hell.
“Are you sure online classes are for you? The workload can be hard to juggle, there’s still room in the dorms here. Not a lot but there’s some options I could sneak you into,” he says as he opens the door to his office, throwing me a wink as he opens the door for me.