Chapter 1 : Back to School Shennigans

Lyla

Never in my life had I considered that I would have made it as far as I currently had. Growing up, everyone around me constantly put me down, no matter my achievements. I was either not pretty enough, smart enough, or proper enough to be considered a lady, let alone be taken seriously in the eyes of adults. Especially when it came to my judgmental parents who only wanted to extort me for what I was worth to them.

F*cking assholes, both of them.

For years, I tried so hard to be good. To be the daughter they wanted and to have that bonding love with my mother that every young girl wishes to have, but of course, that dream quickly died.

Now with graduation in sight, I could almost smell the freedom. That is until this morning when my world came crashing down upon me like a glass house destroyed by a stone that no one had a clue who had thrown.

"Dude, that's a lot of f*cking money, Lyla."

Mentally rolling my eyes, I let a soft groan of irritation escape my throat as I stabbed my fork down into my Chicken Alfredo. My appetite was nonexistent at the moment, but I knew I needed to eat something. I'd barely eaten on the drive up from my parent's house because of my excitement about returning this semester, and now… my appetite was gone because my world was slowly crumbling around me.

I had no doubt in my mind I was f*cking cursed. I had to be. There was no way that fate dealt this many shitty cards into one hand and screamed from the mountains, 'You'll be okay Layla. Sink or swim!'

Every part of me wanted to jump up and scream and yell. To throw a fit and call my parents, blaming them for everything, but I wouldn't. Instead, I let my eyes lift to my friend and shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Uh, well, you have to figure something out. I don't want to be here without you," she replied, stepping closer to me. "You're what makes this place bearable."

Light laughter escaped me as I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up, but that was the worst dramatic response I had ever heard."

A smirk crossed her petal pink lips as she crossed her arms over her shoulders and shrugged. "Perhaps, but it made you smile, and that's what I was aiming for. Stop stressing about this. We will figure it out, Layla. Sulking isn't going to accomplish anything."

The moment I arrived at my dorm this morning, I was thrust into a metaphorical brick wall I hadn't been anticipating. The financial aid office graciously decided to wait till move-in day to tell me I still owed the school fifteen thousand dollars.

F*cking fifteen grand! Like that was something I could just pull out of my a*s and hand them.

I didn't understand how I still owed that much when my scholarship was supposed to cover all of it. Though I figured it out pretty quickly when I realized that my math teacher was a complete douche canoe.

"I wish I could stop sulking, but Mr. Lombardi is a complete d*ck. I turned in all my work and got good grades on my tests. I even had proof of the shit I turned in, and he still refused to fix my grade!" I suddenly shouted in frustration, throwing my hands into the air before letting them slide down my face.

My math teacher not fixing my grade had caused my GPA to drop by a decimal, which put me on the threshold of losing my scholarship. It wasn't fair. After spending the morning on the phone with the dean of students and the academic office to make this right, it proved unsuccessful.

It was made clear that, though it can be fixed with a review, it could take a year to get the decision made. This puts me then out of eligibility for the scholarship as well because of the time frame of absence.

So, in essence… I was f*cking screwed either way. All of which was complete bullsh*t.

Melanie frowned at me, noting my sour mood. She was already halfway done with her meal—some kind of ramen bowl I had no idea how to pronounce—by the time I finished my raging tantrum. I was always a little envious of her, in a way. Melanie never had to worry about a thing. Her family was picture-perfect, more than wealthy, and she made good grades easily, which put her in the spotlight with her teachers who absolutely adored her.

Yet, I always struggled. I had to take care of myself entirely. Constantly worried about what I would do next, and had no support from my family at all. Not that any of that was her fault. It was just the shit hand I had been dealt with in life.

"Cheer up, Lyla," Melanie replied, giving me a faint smile. "We'll figure something out. If you need to crash at my dorm secretly, then by all means. My dorm is your dorm."

I laughed a little. I didn't know how well that would go, considering she had a single room just like me, but hey… if it meant not having to go crawling back to my parent's house, then so be it.

"Thanks, Mel. I appreciate that," I replied, standing on my feet. My arms reached over to wrap her in my embrace. "You have no idea how much I love you."

She returned the hug before I pulled away to take my seat once more. "I love you too, but girl, you need a shower. You stink from moving all your shit in."

Her comment caused me to gasp in shock as I threw a piece of breadstick at her causing us both to break out in laughter. "You know what we should do tonight?" she asked when the laughter finally died down.

"What?" I replied, tilting my head to the side before shoving a bite of my pasta into my mouth, forcing myself to finish the food that had now grown cold.

"We should go to Sven's back-to-school party. It'll get your mind off everything, and we can get absolutely drunk."

Staring at her with amusement, I shook my head. "Is that all you think about? Getting drunk at these high-end frat parties?"

My teasing comment made her furrow her brows as she rolled her eyes. "No. I do it for the socializing, duh. Plus, you never know, maybe he knows something that you could do to get that kind of money."

"I'm not going to be one of his hookers," I said with a frown.

A snort of laughter left her throat as she began coughing on the last bit of food she had placed in her mouth. "Oh, my God, Layla, that's not what I meant. I'm just saying he knows all kinds of crazy shit."

Nodding, I took a moment to consider the offer. It would be kind of nice seeing my friends and being in their presence would definitely keep my mind from wandering back to the doom and gloom of my impending future.

Casting one last glance at Melanie, I watched as she waited quietly with hopeful eyes for me to answer, and before I knew it, I was quickly giving in.

"All right, all right. F*ck it, I'll go."

***

By the time we got to Sven's house, everyone was already drunk off their ass. Random people I had never met lingered outside the doors of the navy blue house. Its white pillars stood tall before the white door; a new shine to them as if they had been freshly painted. Something I honestly wasn't surprised about. Sven's parents were from overseas but that didn't stop them from making sure that Sven had the best of everything.

As if money knew no boundaries when it came to the way they lived.

Barely able to get both feet in the door before a beer can was thrust into my hand, I took in the sights around me. Everyone had turned up for the welcome back party and as per usual, Sven didn't disappoint. Even if he wouldn't socialize with anyone that was outside of our core group.

"Hey, b*tch! Long time no see!" Claudia, another friend of mine, yelled excitedly. Her arms wrapped around me as she pulled me into a tight hug that threatened to break bones.

"Hey, Claudia. Did you start early today?" I asked. The stench of alcohol on her breath was a dead giveaway for anyone who would end up speaking to her.

"Don't I always."

The comment caused us both to laugh before she grabbed onto my shoulders, her smile turning into a look of concern as she leaned in close. "Mel told me they're kicking you out of the dorms. What's up with that b*llshit?"

Of course, Melanie had said something. I'm not sure why I would have expected less. Glancing over my shoulder, my eyes locked with Melanie, a sheepish grin crossing her face. She knew that she f*cked up telling Claudia, but it was only a matter of time before everyone found out.

"It's a long story," I finally said. My mind drifted to my situation no matter how much I had tried to leave it behind in my dorm room.

"Well, let's get you tanked, girl. No sense in trying to figure it out now!"

I smiled, cracking open the beer in my hand before bringing it to my lips. Her suggestion was the exact reason why I had come tonight. "Hell yeah, I second that."

She guided me deeper into the party to join the rest of the group. Her destination: Svens den. The moment we crossed the threshold my eyes landed upon the familiar faces of the rest of my crew. Svens dirty brown hair and blue eyes, Shane's massive well-built ass taking up my usual spot on Svens sofa, and, of course, Jess. The dark-eyed mystery man I had become best friends with the moment I came to this school.

"Look who the cat dragged in!" Shane called out as he raised his beer in the air. "I wasn't sure you would make it today."

I laughed while Sven turned to Shane, giving him a strange and perplexed expression. "But she doesn't have a cat with her?"

"It's an expression, buddy," Shane replied, throwing his arm around Sven's shoulders. "I'll explain it to you later."

It was times like this that made me love being at school, but it was also what was making my situation even harder. These people—my friends who I had shared everything with—were my family. They were the people who had helped me get through so much over the years and the idea that it was coming to an end… Well, it tore my heart in two.

I didn't want to think about my sad predicament or impending future anymore. All I wanted to do was have a good night with my friends while we partied. But it was becoming hard to do so when everywhere I looked were more memories we had created together. Memories I may never get to experience again in this place.

Lost in my train of thought, I hadn't realized that the others were staring at me. All of them looked concerned, but with Jess raising his beer in the air, causing the others to follow, I knew they wouldn't let me get through this alone.

"To Lyla having to sell feet pics to pay for her dorm!" he yelled, causing everyone to burst into laughter, including me.

"Okay, don't go that far. No one would want to see pictures of my feet."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," he quickly commented. "Lots of people do it and I know just the right website where you can sell them too. It's an easy way to make the money you need."

"I'm not going to sell pictures of my feet. That's weird as shit," I smirked.

"Get some more drinks in you. I'm sure in just a few hours you and I will be having a different conversation. Just call me the foot fetish pimp when you're ready."

Snorting, I waved Jess off. He was so full of himself, and his comments were one of the reasons I loved being around him. He made me laugh like no one else could.

However, the offer he was making was tempting. But I knew I wouldn't be able to do something like that. I'd never been involved with anyone physically, let alone be confident enough to take pictures of myself in suggestive poses. The raunchiest thing I've ever done is get up on a table at a bar and dance with Claudia late last year during a New Year's Eve party.

But that was as far as I'd ever gone. Not to mention, what would I even sell? My feet weren't attractive, and while yeah, I was pretty, I doubted I'd get much attention from rich older men looking to blow a few grand in favor of a blowjob.

Not that I even knew how to give one of those!

I was hopeless.

Jess nudged me, pulling me out of my thoughts. "You keep thinking like that, and you'll get lost in there."

I had to laugh. Whenever Jess got a little tipsy, he tended to turn into a brat.

"I'm a little upset, Jess. Sue me."

He grinned and clinked our beer cans together. "I'm not kidding. Let me help you."

Putting the rim of the can to my lips again, I drank down the rest of the contents. "I'm not selling my feet, Jess."

"Not just your feet, Ly. You can sell anything you want! Your hair… your underwear…"

I wrinkled my nose. "How do you even know about these things, anyway?"

He grabbed another beer and popped it open with a grin on his face. "Look, I've seen a thing or two on the internet before. You have it to sell? People will buy it."

"Look…" I drawled, poking his chest. The few cans I had since I arrived finally started to create a hazy buzz in my mind as I tried to collect my thoughts. "The only thing I have that might be valuable is my virginity."

Jess burst out laughing. "Wait, seriously?"

Shit. I hadn't meant to say that. Puffing my cheeks out at him, I rolled my eyes and grabbed another beer from the cooler near his leg. "Oh sure, make fun of me."

"Ly, I'm not, I swear," he quickly replied, trying to cover up his shock. "I thought Claudia was kidding when she said you've never dated anyone."

Grumbling, I batted him away, trying to stand but his hand quickly grabbed my arm, pulling me back down before I could go anywhere. "Let me go."

"Ly stop, please. It's not a bad thing. Just surprising."

"Whatever. I don't know why you would think it's surprising," I countered, my eyes focusing anywhere in the room but on him.

"Uh, because you're gorgeous," he muttered.

My eyes snapped to his once more, taking in the shock and amusement that lingered within their core.

I hated bringing the subject up. Anytime someone found out either one of two things happened: one, they offered to try and help me get rid of it, or two, they offered to 'take the problem' off my hands.

Both options always pissed me off.

"Hey, you could sell that," Sven said from out of nowhere, catching me completely off guard.

"What?" I gasped, whipping around to look at him.

He snickered. "Why not? I bet someone would pay top dollar for it."

"...You're lying."

"No way." He shifted his hips forward and grabbed his phone out of his pocket. "Look, let me show you the website I know of." The emphasis on "I" made Jess stick his tongue out at him.

Ignoring Jess, I leaned over to get a good look at Sven's screen, rolling my eyes when he had to quickly exit from a bunch of porn browsers.

"How would you even know about this kind of stuff, Sven? You barely catch our humor most of the time," I pointed out.

With a smirk, he shrugged his shoulders. "When you come from high society like I do, you know a few things. Plus, this is a common thing where I come from."

Next to me, the couch dipped, and Claudia leaned over my shoulder. "Whatcha guys doing?"

Sven typed into his web browser. "Lyla's going to sell her virginity online."

I glared at him while Claudia laughed in my ear. "Seriously? Good for you, Lyla."

Ugh. As much as I wanted to tell them all to fuck off, the idea was enticing.

"I didn't say I was going to… I just said I doubt anyone would buy it," I mumbled.

"Come on, girl." She grabbed the ends of my hair and tugged gently. "You're gorgeous! I bet a bunch of old pervy men would die to have you."

"Look, this is the website." Sven turned his phone toward Claudia and me.

I blinked at the scantily clad people with different options listed under their names. Absolutely no way. These were like… dominants or something. These are people who scare me more than anything and I knew there was no way in hell I would like that kind of sh*t.

Sh*t! I cried when I stubbed my damn toe. The idea of catching a paddle on my a*s or hanging from a ceiling with rope was a no-go for me. Glancing at the different things these men liked, my heart raced. I wasn't judging them for what they were into. I just knew it was not going to be something I was in to.

"What the hell is knicker play?" Claudia asked as she leaned further into me, crushing me against Sven's shoulder.

Sven quickly scrolled away from it with his thumb, ignoring Claudia's question as he turned his attention back to me. "Anyway, let's get your profile set up."

"Profile…" I mumbled, my eyes widening in response to what he was suggesting.

Could I really sell my virginity? To a complete stranger?

"Ohhh, are we really doing this?" Claudia asked as she stood on her feet with excitement. "Let me grab your laptop, Sven."

"My laptop… Why mine?"

"Uh, because it was your idea," Claudia replied, rolling her eyes. "Where is it?"

"Wait, what is Lyla doing?" Melanie asked as she came into the room.

I lifted my now-empty beer can and frowned. I needed another drink. "Sven says I should sell my virginity."

There was abrupt laughter throughout the group that had me smiling.

"I think that calls for another drink, then." Shane laughed. "Refill anyone?"

I lifted my empty can in one hand, and a red solo cup I found on the floor in another. I didn't care if I was mixing alcohol at this point. I was going to need a lot to make this damn profile. "Fuck me up, Shane. I need it."

Grinning at me, he took both out of my hands and disappeared into the kitchen. I had no doubt that he was going to come back with something that would make me regret my choices tomorrow, but I'd just deal with it then.

"Careful what you wish for with that attitude. Some old dude is going to take advantage of your offer," Shane called from the kitchen, causing me to realize he had a point.

Turning to Sven, I wrinkled my nose at the thought. "Can you make my age range not up to eighty-five on that thing?"

He laughed, giving me one of his Cheshire grins as his blue eyes shined back at me. "Sure. No old dudes for Lyla."

"Maybe someone thirty-five or under," Melanie suggested.

He started scrolling on his phone again. "Should we do stateside only?"

I snorted, thinking about the possibilities. If I was going to do this, there was no point in doing it half-assed. I might as well go all out.

"Nope," I replied with a pop in the 'p'. "Let's do the whole fucking world, why don't we?"