“It’s okay. Thanks for talking to me.” That’s more than I can say from the last three places I’ve been.
“You know what. I might not be able to offer you a job, but I can offer you a slice of our famous apple pie. You sit right here and let me get you a piece. I promise it will make you feel better.” I doubt it, but I appreciate her kindness.
Amanda gets up before I can object and disappears into the kitchen, leaving me sitting alone with all my problems, each one hanging over my head like a heavy cloud.
“Hey, sorry…” An unfamiliar voice says. I turn my head to see where the voice comes from. Two beautiful girls are sitting in the booth next to me. They both stare at me, their eyes soft. “I overheard that you are looking for a job.”
“Ah, yeah. Do you know a place?” I ask, hope blossoming deep inside me.
“Yes, actually. And it makes good money too, at least 2k a week,” one of them tells me. She has long blonde hair and big blue eyes rimmed with black eyeliner and long thick eyelashes.
Wait, did she just say two thousand a week? I can barely contain myself. Then again, at the back of my mind, all I can think of is being a whore, or drug dealer, both of which I would not be good at.
“What kind of job?” I ask suspiciously. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is, and I’m in need of legit work, not some fake shit.
“You ever heard of Night Shift?” The other girl asks. She has dark brown hair and hazel eyes that gleam with mischief. I can tell that she’s trouble just from one single look.
Night Shift. The neon letters pop into my head, it’s a club not far from my house actually. “Like the strip club?”
“Yes, the strip club,” the hazel-eyed girl smirks, “you are very pretty, and you have the girl next door vibe, mixed with something that makes you wholesome. If you’re interested, you could make a lot of money.”
“I don’t know…” Stripping? Could I really take my clothes off for money? Even if it is a lot of money? I mean, I am desperate, but am I that desperate?
“No need to decide right now. I’m Valorie, by the way,” the brown-haired beauty introduces herself, and then she points to the blonde girl, “This is my friend, Katie.”
“Hi, I’m Stella.”
“Nice to meet you, Stella,” Katie beams. “If you’re really looking for work, I would head over to Night Shift. We could even vouch for you. Help you get your foot in the door. And you don’t need any experience there.”
“Not with a body like yours,” Valorie adds. A soft blush starts to form on my cheeks, and my confidence blooms.
“Maybe I’ll stop by there,” I smile.
Amanda returns with my pie then, and I undo the silverware to dig in, just as my cell phone starts to ring. I internally groan and pull my cell out of my pocket. The number isn’t one I recognize, but I decide to answer anyway because I’ve filled out so many applications; it could be any of them calling for an interview.
“Hello,” I try and sound as cheerful as possible.
“Hello, is this Stella Young?” The man on the other end asks, his voice holding authority. Immediately, I’m caught off guard.
“Yes, this is she. Who is this?”
“This is the Jaspen county police. Miss Young, could you tell me where you are right now? I’d like to send someone to talk to you.”
“What? Why… I mean, what is this about? Am I in trouble?”
“No, no… nothing like that. I’m afraid I have some bad news…”
10
Cameron
Panic claws at my insides. Where the hell is she? It’s been days since we’ve seen Stella. She didn’t show up for work at all, and every time that we’ve tried to call her phone, it’s gone straight to voicemail. Normally, I wouldn’t give two fucks about a girl, but Stella isn’t just anyone.
I’ve been wanting to go over to her place, but we had to deal with this Paul mess first. This fucker seriously tried to call the cops on us because we roughed him up a bit, okay, maybe more than a bit. Still, he deserved it. Truthfully, he’s lucky I was able to pull Easton off of him because it could’ve ended way worse.
Of course, my dad smoothed things out, and Easton’s mom helped too. It just took them longer than expected. While waiting, we had to lay low, my dad basically put us on house arrest, but that’s done with now. Now we’re free again.
Easton gets into the passenger seat of my car. He closes the door, and I speed off, heading toward Stella’s house. I cut the twenty-minute drive down to fifteen by breaking every speed limit there is. The need to see her, to touch her is borderline insane. My infatuation with her has only grown more over the last two days. Judging by Easton impatiently tapping his leg, he feels the same.