Chapter 5 : A New Bid

Lyla

Pacing around Sven's house for the next twelve hours wasn't going to be a productive use of my time, so I headed back to my dorm with the hopes of figuring out how to solve the current problems I'm facing. Like what I was going to do about the money I owed to the school.

Also, I was embarrassed.

I didn't want to face the music that I had done something incredibly stupid and impulsive and put my pictures on a porn website. Even though none of them were explicit, I'd still advertised myself as such, which made it ten times worse in my book.

Granted, I'd always admired those able to put themselves out there and be free and confident enough in their own body to sell themselves, but I couldn't. The comfort of my room and books was where I thrived. An introvert who strayed far from anything dangerous or exotic.

The moment I stepped into my dorm I shut myself in and collapsed on my bed. Before I left, I'd made Jess promise he would have his phone on him the rest of the day and update me every hour about my listing.

I didn't even have to twist his arm to get him to agree to it, thankfully. Though, I suspected he was a little afraid of whatever kind of wrath my expression promised him if he didn't comply.

Though, as mad as I seemed back at Sven's house, I actually had been holding back tears.

As embarrassing as it was to now be on a porn site, I was also embarrassed about my friends knowing how desperate I was to pay the school the fifteen grand I owed. Sure, the alcohol had made me confident enough to sign up for the website, but even thinking about it now, I knew if given the opportunity to sell something to get that money, I would.

Without question.

Even if it made me feel dirty to do so. This was the future I was playing with.

Sighing, I buried my face in my pillow. There was no sense in wallowing about it further. I needed to get up and do something, or else I would sit in my dorm all day and freak out until eight o'clock tonight when the auction ended.

Rolling over, I sat up and swung my legs off the bed before grabbing my phone. I logged into my online bank account and checked the meager funds I had stashed in my savings. It would be just enough to cover a light grocery trip and maybe a small pick-me-up on the way home.

"Guess this is as good as it's going to get for now."

***

A few hours later and a decent-sized trip to the grocery store, I arrived back at my dorm trying to keep my mind from wandering back to the multitude of issues that I currently had going on. I had even taken the initiative to do some self-care in the shower. Much needed pampering that I hadn't had time to get to over the past few weeks with me traveling back to school.

When I returned to my dorm room, I set my shower caddy down on the floor next to my door and shuffled back over to my bed. I'd left my phone in here mainly because I knew if I brought it with me, I'd be checking it every five seconds and would get no time to relax and be alone.

A moment of hesitation filled me as I grabbed my phone to check my messages, the knot in my stomach immediately relaxing when I saw no new updates. "Well, no news is good news I guess."

Tossing my phone down on the mattress, I grabbed my laptop and relaxed on my bed, ready to watch a movie and eat a snack while I waited for the next two hours to count down slowly.

However, the moment I got comfortable my phone began to ring and my heart about dropped into my stomach. There was a high chance it was someone else calling about something else, but deep down I knew it was about the auction.

Glancing down, I noticed Jess's name flash across the screen and immediately picked it up, pressing the phone to my ear. "What—?"

"You need to come over to Sven's. Right now."

I swallowed, nausea filling me. "What's going on?"

"You got a bid. Ly, it's fucking huge," Jess breathed.

"What?" I gasped in shock. "What the f*ck do you mean—"

"Get over here now!"

I didn't have a chance to press him for any more answers before the line went dead. My heart pounded out of my chest as I took in what he had just told me. Someone had bid on me. They saw my virginity, and they want it.

Oh, God…

Tossing my phone onto my bed, I quickly untangled myself from the robe I was wearing. My hands moved quickly as I grabbed whatever clothes were closest to me, and threw them on. There was no way that this was real but with my mind a jumbled mess, I felt like I was on autopilot.

Who the hell would bid on my auction with only a few hours left to go?

Who would even scroll that far back in the first place?

I tried to rationalize the situation while I pulled up my Uber app and ordered a car to my dorm. Walking to Sven's house would take me too long, especially in this heat. Plus, I needed to get over there as fast as I could to understand what the hell was going on.

By the time my Uber pulled up, I was shaking with anxiety. I ignored the friendly driver who tried to make small talk on the way and practically kicked my door open to get out when we finally arrived. Running up to Sven's front door, it swung open before I could knock on it, with Claudia staring at me with wide eyes.

"Get in here," she said as she grabbed me and hauled me off the front steps.

"What's going on? Did someone place a bid? Who was it? Do I even want to know?" Questions flowed out of my mouth like lava.

She shook her head at me and guided me down the hall with her hands on my shoulders, leading me to the living room where Jess and Sven huddled on the couch together, Sven's laptop balanced between them.

Jess looked up first. "Hey—"

I cut him off. "How much?"

He frowned, exchanging a weird look with Sven that made my hands shake even more.

"Jess. How much?" I pressed.

When he looked back at me, he said something I never expected.

"Seven-hundred and eighty thousand."

My mouth dropped open.

…What?

"Jesus," Claudia muttered behind me, grabbing me before I could collapse onto the ground out of shock. "Could you guys not have waited until she was sitting?"

"Sorry," came both of their sheepish voices.

Claudia led me over to the other end of the couch on the opposite side of Jess and Sven, sitting me down gently as she propped me up on the back of the couch so I could slump over onto the floor.

"Okay, who the hell bid that much?" she finally asked as she patted my head, sitting next to me.

Sven answered her first. "The username is hidden. Only the geo-tag is visible."

I swallowed. "Which is?"

"It's the Gulf Standard Time. So UAE, Oman, Georgia… some parts of Russia."

I leaned forward and groaned into my hands.

Oh, my God, this couldn't be happening. What kind of sick freak…

I took in another deep breath. It's okay. Once the auction ended, I'd just deny the bid and close out the account. I'd tell the bidder I was backing out, and I changed my mind. No money had been exchanged yet, anyway.

"There's, um," Sven cleared his throat. "So, the money's already pending in your account."

My head snapped up. "What?"

He turned and showed me the screen. I grabbed the laptop from him and lifted it to get a better look. There, underneath the bid, was my account.

I quickly clicked on it.

Pending.

"No way…" I breathed, my eyes widening at the large number on the screen.

"As long as there aren't any bidders," Jess spoke up, "that money is all yours."

I slowly lowered the screen to look over at them both. Apprehension was evident on both of their faces. It was clear they both felt bad for me. Obviously, our drunken misconduct had resulted in real-life consequences with the potential to follow me and get me kicked out of school, or worse.

Making them feel bad over this was never my intention. As Jess had stated this morning, it had been my idea in the first place. All of us were too f*cked up even to think properly, let alone talk me out of doing something like this in the first place.

I sighed and opened up the laptop again to stare at the screen. "Well… once the auction ends, I'll just cancel it and give them their money back."

"You're not going to keep it?" Sven quizzed.

I frowned at him. "I can't sell my virginity, Sven. That's insane."

"It's a lot of money, though," he pointed out with a look that said 'how could you turn down that kind of money?'.

"I know. But I can't…" I trailed off.

Whoever was on the other end of the username had bid almost a million dollars. A million dollars for my virginity. A number I would've never thought was possible. Who would pay that much to have sex with someone who wasn't even experienced?

I shook my head. "There's only an hour left. I'll just wait here until it's over with."

Claudia squeezed my shoulder. "I'll get you something to snack on."

I gave her a weak smile, not having the heart to tell her getting me something to eat was pointless because I was overly sick to my stomach. Even the thought of food made me want to throw up.

"I'll help," Sven replied, giving me a sad look as he rose from the couch to help her. I couldn't help but watch both of them head into the kitchen together, Sven's hand brushing gently over Claudia's lower back in a way that made my eyes sting.

I wish my love life were that easy. Clearly, mine was destined to be sold and bought.

"Hey," Jess said, catching my attention. "It's going to be okay. Do you want a drink?"

"A drink is what got me into this mess," I replied, shaking my head.

"Very true, but if you want one… just let me know."

Soon, I was left in the living room by myself. I heard my friends speaking quietly to each other in the kitchen, most likely trying to figure out what would perk me up. The only problem was nothing would make me feel better until I resolved this issue.

I opened the laptop again and stared at the bid, my eyes running over the obscene amount of zeros at the end of it.

"Jeez…" I mumbled to myself.

Who had that kind of money?

A small sound erupted from the laptop's speakers and a flash at the corner of the window caught my attention. I tilted my head and scrolled the cursor over to it, seeing a notification over the 'mail' icon.

I clicked it, and the screen switched over to the messaging function of the site where I had one new message sitting in the otherwise empty space. My eyes widened when I recognized the username.

It was the bidder… and they had just messaged me.

F*ck my life… This shit just got more interesting.