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The moment I got home, I began to think of the outfit I was going to wear at the party. It was a cosplay party, very nerdy if one would look at it from an unpopular person's point of view. But I knew it wasn't going to be anything like that as I've seen pictures of the kind of revealing outfits these people wore to their parties and now, I had to wear something like that fit into their party niche.The only problem was that I had no money to get myself a real costume talk more of a cheap knockoff and no matter how tempting it was, I would never touch my college savings.I also didn't want to embarrass myself so I went to my desktop computer in the corner and looked up the easiest cosplay outfits. I found a ton but none looked like something I could use my clothes to pass on as the costumes.I had no choice, I needed to work extra hours to get one. And the only job that could get me that was walking dogs. At least, I could find something at the dollar store after the little I'll make."I have until today and tomorrow to make enough to buy me the things I'll need," I said and took off my clothes.When the door opened, my heart almost stopped beating out of fear and shock. I snapped my head in the direction of the door and sighed in relief when I saw it was my mother, holding some folded clothes, probably from laundry."You scared me, mom. What the heck?""Oh, sorry. I came to drop off some of your washed clothes. I didn't know you were home," she said and dropped half of the folded clothes on the edge of my single bed."Thanks," I said and almost started to tell my mom about the party but held my tongue."I'll leave for work in an hour. I have to work extra hours again. The rent is due next week and the landlord has already been sending threatening texts."My heart ached at her sad tone. Life has been hard for us since I was born. My late father was a mechanic who fed his family from the job he was doing but after his death, things got hard. My mom remarried but the lazy piece of shit that called himself my stepfather never helped for once. All he did was come home, eat, smoke his nasty cancer sticks and waste the power we paid on his stupid sports shows."Hey, how's school?" My mom asked, breaking my thoughts."It's great," I replied in a dismissive tone. Mom has been fearing the day I would finish high school because once I was done, I am supposed to head for college next but look at us, no hope of it.The only thing I had saved was ten thousand dollars which were not going to even help me in any way. It was depressing but this is the life of a broke person."Okay. Take care," she said and left my room.I sighed and thought back to the party. I laid on my back and sighed again, wishing the weekend would come and go, especially if I slept through it.[|]I pouted at the twenty dollars in my palm. This was what I made from walking dogs for over two hours. It was fully disappointing because those were the only dogs I walked today and tomorrow wasn't looking hopeful. With a defeated sigh, I put the money into my pocket and started to walk away from the house I did work for.As I walked in silence for twenty minutes, I noticed a car moving very slowly beside me. I raised my head and looked to my left. I blinked at the sight of Maddy Kingston, the head of the cheerleading squad for the basketball team in an opened roof car. She was smiling at me while bobbing her head to the soft music playing in her car."Aren't you Jackie Garner?""Yes," I replied in a curt tone. Why were the popular kids suddenly talking to me? Was there some rumor going around that had my name attached to it?Maddy eyed my body and patted the leather seat beside her."Get in, let me drop you off," she said and I became suspicious.First of all, Maddy was a very rude and disrespectful person. She was the type who never mingled with people of her status and she expected me to sit in her car?"No, thanks," I said and started to walk away."Come on, Jackie. Let me drop you off. I'm just being kind," she said as she drove beside me.I sighed and looked around me. I was still far from home and I was planning on walking home because I needed to save the money I earned today. I rolled my eyes and walked to the car. I opened the door and sat down with my arms stiffly crossed."Thanks," she said and drove off.The ride was silent for ten minutes before she cleared her throat."So, how are you?"Weird question. Could she at least keep quiet until I reached my destination?"Fine," I said coldly.Maddy hummed. "I heard you'll be coming to Lucas' party. Is it true?"I glanced at her, wondering where she heard such. No one knew about it."Don't worry, one of the cheerleaders heard Lucas inviting you over. You two were standing close to her locker.""Uh, yes. He invited me," I replied, feeling uncomfortable. If the eavesdropper heard Lucas inviting me, she might've heard him talking about the phone he bought for me."Nice," Maddy said and took a turn into the highway. "Do you have anything to wear to the party? Seeing that it's a cosplay party and all."I was about to tell her no but bit my bottom lip."Look, you don't have to front, Jackie. You know what? Why don't we go shopping?"I raised an eyebrow at her while looking at her as if she'd gone crazy."Excuse me?"Maddy shrugged. "I was heading to the mall anyway. So, let's go together. You've not gotten anything to wear, I suppose. While I buy mine, you buy yours. There's this nice store at the mall..."I zoned out afterward as fear crept into my mind. I had no money to buy anything and now she was planning on taking me to an expensive store. I could not even bring myself to say no because it would be embarrassing. So, I nodded my head and pressed my back into the leather seat."It'll be fun," Maddy said excitedly."Yeah, fun," I replied, gulping.[|]I walked behind Maddy with my hands clenched behind my back. I was nervous as hell. We just walked into a huge clothing store that looked expensive and I was sure nothing was sold for twenty dollars in case I wanted to save myself with the cash in my pocket. I kept my eyes on Maddy as she pointed here and there. She was one bubbly person."So, Jackie. What are you looking out for?" She asked once she faced me."I don't know. I don't have a choice," I replied as I looked away from her, trying to not make eye contact."Okay!" Maddy said. "I already have something to pick from here. Have you watched any Marvel movies? Well, I'm going to be dressed as Black Widow. They have some leather outfits here that could work for my character choice. Come on."I grunted when she grabbed my hand and dragged me to the inner part of the store. She stopped by a rack filled with leather clothes. When she released my hand she started to look through them while I wondered why she was being kind to me.
[|]The moment my parents walked into their bedroom, I quickly rushed out of mine and raced straight to the living room. I steadied my heavy breathing as I convinced myself that I could still go to Lucas' party. After making my mind get calm, I opened the door and slipped out of the house. I quietly closed the door and dropped my new black boots on the porch."Phew," I said and flipped my dark hair off my shoulders. My hands swept down to the curve of my body, loving the feel of the leather jumpsuit before I ran them around the plastic utility belt around my waist.I looked at the empty street ahead of me and then bent down. In a haste, I put on my boots and left the porch. I looked at the house then at my parents' room before walking away. I could not help but feel so good in my outfit. I had spent hours preparing myself. My make-up was similar to the Black Widow character and my hair was curled. I was grateful to Maddy because, without her, I would have appeared in the cheapest outf
Trigger warning: SA contents. Kindly skip this chapter if you find it triggering.[|]My mind was blank as shock took over my body at the feel of Lucas' lips kissing mine. I was too stunned to even respond to the kiss as this was my very first kiss and the jerk had stolen it. At that thought, I placed my palms on his shoulders and started to push him off but he barely moved. I blushed when I felt his arms wrap around my waist after he dropped the plastic gun, then my shoulders sagged, giving in to the kiss.With no experience whatsoever, I opened my mouth and he moaned before kissing me harder while gripping my hip tightly. I found myself closing my eyes and wrapping my arms around his shoulders then feeling his strong body pressing into mine.I began to move my lips against his, focusing on the direction he went which caused him to moan more and kiss harder. A tiny gasp left my lips when his teeth nibbled on my bottom lip before plunging his tongue into my mouth. My body shuddered an
[|]I wiped my wet cheeks when I saw Maddy walking up to her car. We were about to leave the party and I had not seen any signs of Lucas or those boys. I was glad I didn't because I didn't know what I was going to do if I saw him.I heard the driver's door open and Maddy boarded the car. I glanced at her when a bottle of water entered my line of vision. She was smiling at me then I smiled back and took the bottle of water. I uncapped it and drank some of it."Thank you," I said in a cracked voice."You're welcome," she said and started the car's engine.I stared at Lucas' house one last time before staring ahead of me. I sighed in relief when Maddy drove off. We stayed in silence for ten minutes before Maddy sighed."Are you okay?" She asked."No," I replied."Don't you think you should call the cops?"My eyes widened at her idea which I thought was good but I didn't want any of it. Nothing went too far which I was glad and thankful to her for."It's not needed. My only concern is Luc
[|]I got home and called out to my mom who immediately responded from the kitchen. I smiled and walked into the kitchen where I saw her cutting some carrots. I wrapped my arms around her from behind and moved away after some seconds."How was school?" She asked and handed me a baby carrot."School was the same as always. Fun and difficult," I replied and bit the carrot then chewed."That's nice," she said and faced me. "About your college, dear.""No, mom," I said, knowing where the conversation was headed. "Don't start, please.""But, Jackie. You need to understand. Your father and I don't have the resources to help and we want the best for you."I frowned. "Which is what?""He already decided that you will stay at home for maybe a year or two. You will work and—""No! I can't do that!" I tossed the carrot into the sink angrily. "Why should I listen to him? Who does he think he is to make such decisions about my life?! He has never done anything for this family and you think his dec
[|]I wasn't sure I heard right because whatever he said just sounded like something he said to sound like a joke."You're lying," I said, feeling slight anger in me.Axel frowned. "Why would I lie to you?"He had a point. I sighed and pressed the pads of my fingers to my forehead."So, you're saying you're related to Lucas Hamilton?" I asked and he nodded his head."Lucas is my brother. He's older than me by just a year. I'm eighteen. I've been in his shadow since I started this school at age fifteen and everyone knows me as his baby brother and not Axel. We both have the same parents and sometimes, I wish we don't because he doesn't act like a true brother at all."I could sense the sadness in his tone. I wanted to walk away from Axel, especially now that I knew he was related to the jerk who sent his boys to assault me. But from what Axel was saying, he looked like he was nothing like his brother."Are you one of his girls or something?" Axel asked and I flinched. "Oh, sorry if tha
[|]"Thanks for the practice," I said while waving at the other cheerleaders as they walked away, waving back at me.I dropped my hand and noticed someone out of the corner of my eyes. Axel was leaning against the side of his car, using his phone. I checked my wristwatch and then my cheerleading uniform. The outfit was an attractive one and I had noticed the way some of the basketball players had been looking at me when I did some of the simple moves with the others. So, I wondered what Axel would think of it.I took deep breaths and walked over to him. I stopped before him and he raised his head. I held back my laughter when his eyes widened and lips parted in shock."Jackie?" He whispered in astonishment and slowly eyed my body. "You look so... So beautiful. Wow, you're the only cheerleader that looks great in this uniform."I blushed. "Oh, come on. No need to lie now."Axel chuckled. "I'm not. Anyway, how was practice?""It was fun. The girls were nice to me," I replied and tugged
[|]I sighed in relief when Lucas grabbed his sister's hand and walked away. I didn't have the strength to deal with him and any complaints he might have about me selling the phone. I smiled and looked at the wads of hundred-dollar notes in my hands.I put the money in my backpack and walked to the entrance of the mall. Just before I stepped out, I saw the boys from Lucas' party laughing and walking toward the mall. I started to walk back in fear as I didn't want anything happening to me. Flashes of that night came back with so much force that I began to hyperventilate.When their eyes went to the revolving doors, I turned around and ran away, panting hard. Who knows what would happen if they saw me and cornered me in a store? I had to act fast and find a place to hide. I saw a coffee store and went into it then sat at a table that was away from the entrance of the place. I calmed my heavy breathing and ignored the looks the people close to my table were giving me."Oh, God!" I whispe