An hour or more passes and I’m out, except for Abby. I should have gone to her first, but Troy pissed me off and she wouldn’t have been in her room if I went there anyway. I throw the strap of my backpack over my shoulder and head into the dorms. I make it up to their room and see Abby’s got the ribbon on the door. It’s hard to tell what the hell that means for her half of the time, but she always does it when she knows I’m coming.
Raising my fist, I tap on the door twice, jiggle the doorknob and knock again two more times. It’s our own code for her to know that it’s me. With the amount of coke she’s buying to take to the strip club, that shit needs to be kept on the down-low. The door is quickly pulled open and she wraps her hand around the collar of my shirt, dragging me in.
I knock her hand away, shutting the door behind me. “That shit’s unnecessary, Abby,” I bark at her.
“Yeah, yeah.” She shrugs. “I don’t want people seeing you coming in here. This shit’s for the club only; not any of these stingy fucks looking for blow around here.”
“Put your hands on me again and you’re cut off.” I smile. “And good luck finding anyone else because I’ll drag your name so deep through the fucking mud, you’ll never have any white powder to bury your nose in.”
She cuts her eyes at me, giving me one of her famous nasty looks. “Oh, please. I’m not gonna argue with you about this shit.” She grabs her purse and reaches inside, pulling out a stack of cash. “You got it or what? I got somewhere to be.”
I bite my tongue, trying to not laugh in her idiotic face. She has somewhere to be; how fucking cute. What’s she thinking I’m spending the rest of my night doing? Like this is what I really want right now; selling coke to a whore. I reach into my backpack and throw the brick of coke onto her bed. She hands me the money and I slowly count it, even though I already know it’s the right amount. Abby and her pole humping bitches know better than to fuck around. They know Javi and they know what he’ll do to them.
I roll up the wad of cash, wrapping a rubber band around it and tuck it into a hidden pocket built into my backpack. “Where’s the girl?” I nod my head toward Hadley’s bed.
Abby looks up from the brick in her hand and raises an eyebrow. “Do I look like her keeper?” She sneers.
I cross my arms and cock my head to the side, waiting for an appropriate answer. I’ll get one; I always do.
“Jesus; I don’t know, Ander. We’re rarely here at the same time,” she sighs and rolls her eyes.
I give her a curt nod, walking back toward the door, my eyes lingering on the empty bed. “I’ll be in touch,” I mention as I duck through the doorway.
I head back down to the courtyard and into the parking lot, heading toward Troy’s car. I planned out our timing so that he would be getting done a little later than me, that way I had enough time to pull off seeing his sister without him knowing.
I weave in and out of the parked cars, dodging the lights from above and staying in the shadows. As I make my way toward the back of the lot, I spot a car not far away that looks suspicious. The windows are completely fogged up and the car appears to be filled with smoke. I wait for the car to start rocking, assuming someone’s in there fucking, but it doesn’t move. Inching closer, I notice the car is off and no sound comes from it at all. Through the window, I can see a smaller figure curled up on the seat, but there’s no one else in the car. I knock on the window, trying to rouse the person awake but they don’t move. I pound on the window a few times, watching as they slowly start to wake up but they only slightly shift their weight and then any movement ceases. Usually, I couldn’t care less, but for some reason I can’t just walk away.
I pull my backpack around and reach inside, grabbing my tools for unlocking cars that I keep with me. This right here proves that you never know when you might need them.
As I start to slide the wedge into the door, it’s flung open with an unexpected force, knocking me backward to the ground. Within a blink of an eye, I’m pinned down on my back looking down the barrel of a gun. I cast my eyes past the cold metal shoved in my face and find the last person I was expecting, staring down at me.
9
HADLEY
It’s been almost a week since he showed up at the diner and left me speechless, with a want that I hadn’t known before. But that was just it. He was all talk and it was just for show. I gave him my number, with him promising to call and he never did. I get it, people have lives and they get busy. But all he would have had to do was text me and say it wasn’t going to happen, not just blow me off like that.
After the evening rush, I walk back to campus from my shift at the diner. I’m only there three times a week, yet I look for his face every time the bell chimes at the door. I look for his face around every corner throughout the school. But he’s nowhere. I’ve wanted to ask Abby about him, but we’re never in our room at the same time. And the times that we could be, there’s a messy red ribbon tied around the door handle. At least she has the courtesy of doing that rather than me walking in on her having sex with someone.
After climbing the stairs and walking down the hall to my room, I am yet again greeted by that bullshit ribbon. I let out a deep sigh, not bothering to try the door. There’s no point. In the past week, I’ve spent more nights in my car or at Sloane’s than in my own room. Growing accustomed to this new lifestyle I’m living, I’ve been keeping shit in my car and keeping my books in there.
I go back outside to my car and grab my things for the shower and a change of clothes. When I get upstairs, Abby’s still occupying the room, so I head straight for the shower rooms and quickly jump in. I take my time getting dressed and brushing my hair, praying that I can finally sleep in my tiny-ass bed tonight.
And that, folks, is exactly why I don’t put too much bearing on prayers. That fucking ribbon’s still on my door handle when I walk past. I should just say fuck it and walk right in; it’s not just her room. But I don’t do that. Instead, I go back outside and into my car. I climb in and dial Sloane’s number but it goes straight to voicemail. I decide to call my dad, just for someone to talk to. He answers but he can’t talk, he’s at work and is busy. So, here I am, just me, myself and I, and my car of course; filled with my shit that should be in the dorm room we’re paying for.
Getting settled down in my seat with my blanket and my books, I start studying for the dreaded Anatomy and Physiology test I have tomorrow. I find a roach in the ashtray of my car and light that, hoping the high will help me calm down and be able to study. I leave my windows up, hot boxing the shit out of it while I go over my notes and flashcards.
My body starts to feel relaxed and warm. My skin tingles and my mind is silent but it buzzes, floating around inside my skull. I lean back, sinking farther into the seat, slowly closing my eyes. I melt into the leather, letting sleep consume my body.
A loud banging on the window brings me out of my deep slumber. I hadn’t even realized that I was tired enough to fall asleep. I glance at the dashboard through the lingering haze and see that it’s already two o’clock in the morning. Fuck, if this is like campus police or some shit, I could be fucked. The person outside bangs on the window again, saying something in a muffled voice. With the darkness outside and the smoke in the car, I can only make out the outline of what appears to be a man. I tried to straighten myself out when I hear something happening to the window or outside of my car. Quickly, I reach into the glovebox for the small 380 my dad insisted I have and hastily unlock the door, shoving it open and knocking the thief on the ground. Before he has a chance to move, I jump on top, straddling him and shove the pistol in his face. My eyes meet his and I suddenly wish I was back in my room with Crabby Abby.