Humiliated

Ember felt the chilled splash of the drink seeping into her clothes as she closed her eyes shut tight, shrinking within herself. She couldn't believe this was happening. She stood in the middle of the college canteen, trembling with shock and betrayal as the whole cafeteria laughed at her.

"Look at how delusional this bitch is, she really thought I would ever look at a girl like her," Will Thompson said, the guy Ember has spent all her life loving. His words made the cafeteria laugh twice as harder, making Amy step up. She was the one who had splashed the whole drink on Ember the moment she had walked closer to Will.

"Just look at how pathetic she looks, it's so funny!" Amy shoved Ember and she stumbled a few steps back. "Thank you for being so fucking dumb, nerd. You made Will win the bet."

Something zapped in Ember's brain as she looked up, startled. Her mind went blank until she couldn't hear words but she could see Will and his friends laughing as they handed Will money. She just stared at them, horrified.

Will Thompson was the hottest guy in college and just like every other girl on the campus, Ember Campbell was head over heels for him. She loved him from afar throughout school, since she was a kid. She even chose the college he went to just to be close to him. But he never noticed her.

Because Ember was the definition of a nerd. With strong-rimmed glasses and a curly mess of unmanageable hair, she never thought it was possible to fix the way she looked. She accepted the fact that Will would never even breathe the same air as her.

Until 3 days ago when suddenly, Will Thompson approached her at the library. He led her on, giving her hope by flirting and making Ember think that he was genuinely interested in her. That gave her the courage to follow his friends' advice to her of confessing to Will in the middle of the whole cafeteria. But little did Ember know that it was all a plan to humiliate her even further.

It was all a game, a game that changed everything Ember ever believed in. She saw Will walk up to her with a cruel expression.

"How could you-", Ember started but her words hitched.

"You're an ugly loser and no one can stand you. I've noticed the disgusting way you stare at me every day, it creeped me out. You're just a pitiful bitch," he said with so much hatred on his face that it overwhelmed Ember to tears.

Amy pulled Will back and crushed her lips on his, kissing him. The sight made Ember's heart wrench.

"I never want to see you anywhere near him," Amy said right before stamping on Ember's hand with her heels that made her let out a yelp.

The show was over. Everyone walked away without a single glance at her, leaving her behind.

~

The felt emptier than usual, it was dark already. She could feel the soft vibrations of her phone in her back pocket. She didn't have to check to know it was her mom.

But she didn't feel like herself anymore. The wind felt too cold, chilling her to her bones. She felt excruciating pain in every part of her body but she felt numb at the same time. She just kept walking, not knowing where she was going.

All her life, she had only been put down and insulted by people around her. And now, she felt worthless. She could even consider ending it all.

That's when she turned to her side as she could hear faint music. Her mind got distracted as she saw the sight of people spilling in and out of a lively bar. It took a moment for Ember to realize that it was a strip club.

Ember was already way past her deadline so she didn't care. So she started walking towards the club, sucking in a deep breath.

She was already legal so she got inside easily. The blinding lights and the churning music snapped her out of it, into something even more realistic. Her atmosphere. People were everywhere, especially around the poles where the women danced. Shirtless waiters circled the tables with aged women grouped.

Ember felt her skin crawling with a foreign feeling. What was she even doing here? She looked around with unfamiliarity, hoping she wouldn't get caught up with the wrong crowd.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, she took it out. She took a good look at the screen and her breath hitched. It was a video posted online of her in the college cafeteria, thrown on the ground with the drink splashed on her, Amy and Will humiliating her.

She could feel the sting in her eyes, the bile in her throat. The video had gone viral, the comments calling her the most disturbing things just to make fun of her. Her mind went blank, shivers erupting. She didn't know where she threw her phone as her legs took her straight to the bar. She ordered shots and downed them in just a couple of seconds till her throat burned.

No one liked her, no matter how hard she tried. She couldn't get them to change their opinions about her. Throughout her life, she was convinced that it was because she had no experience, let alone a boyfriend. But now that she finally made up her mind to stop being the ugly nerd and be desirable, looking around herself, she could only think of one thing.

She went straight to one of the club managers in the corner of the room. It was an underground club, known for having independent hookers who were looking to earn some money. She went to him and whispered a few words in his ears and he nodded once.

"Take your pick", he said, tipping his chin towards the crowd. The moment Ember looked up, she could see a line of men staring her down. They all looked reluctant after looking at her but would do it for double the money probably. Ember's eyes skimmed through the men, all attractive but none worth her money.

She was determined to spend all her savings for that one night. She was that out of mind.

Suddenly, her eyes moved past those men and fell on someone who was sitting on a club chair with his body leaned back, leg up on another. He was wearing a white shirt with loosened buttons that made the porcelain skin of his chest visible. But when she raised her eyes to look at him, his ocean-blue eyes were already staring right at her, piercing every skin on her body. She felt her body react like never before, just by the look of a stranger.

Ember pointed at the man, her eyes fixated on his unphased ones. "I want him," she said. And as if in unison, the other men laughed with disbelief. Ember was a little confused.

"Not him, ma'am. You can choose anyone else," the club manager said. Ember wasn't convinced.

"Why not? Is he not a hooker?" She asked, still eyeing the man who was taking a sip of his whiskey, eyes going back to meet with hers. The others hesitated.

"He's.. not for you. He is the main man, he chooses his own clients," one of the men said.

"And you... clearly.. are not his type," the men smirked and chuckled while Ember was reminded of the way everyone laughed at her in the cafeteria. She was being humiliated again.

But this time, she'll get what she wants.

"I'll take him," she said, stepping up much to everyone's shock, "...and that's final."

Ember had no reason to be that fixated on a man who seemed to stare through her. She was trying to get the things she could never have just for one night. The attention she was always deprived of.

"I don't think he's interested in you and we can't pursue him. You can still choose someone else," the man next to him said with a little smirk, knowing pretty well she had no clue of what to do to impress a man. But Embee stepped towards him, gathering the last bit of her confidence. Everyone watched with curiosity.

Ember reached him, standing over him as he sat on the chair. He was looking at a distance now, not at her anymore. Ember knew he would've thought she was just another egoistic spoilt brat who just wanted it her way.

But he was wrong.

She wanted to change the way the world saw her. She had to get what she wanted.

"What's your name?" She asked, her voice low but audible. He didn't budge. When he didn't answer, she reached for his face and raised his chin till his eyes met hers. He scanned her, his eyes dropping to her lips and back up into her eyes. "Tell me your name."

"Jack," his raspy voice sounded like a whisper but it satisfied something within her. She finally had his attention, much to everyone else's surprise. She leaned into him, her hands slowly sliding up his shoulders without breaking eye contact.

"Give the night to me. I'll pay you as much as you want," Ember said, not keeping her words in check. But when a mocking smirk played on his lips with his degrading eyes, she felt a shame burn inside her.