The Arrangement Anthology (24 page)

Black’s
eyes go wide. It was a lot of cash. “How? You went straight to work.” Black’s eyes dart to my purse, like she doesn’t believe me. It’s sitting in the chair across from her desk.

I
reach for the handbag and open the top. “Look for yourself. I don’t have the money. I spent it all.” I hand her my purse, but Black just stares at me. After a second, she takes my bag and looks inside. I have two dollars and some change. Nothing else. I threw the rest of that money in Sean’s face.

Black
makes a growling sound at the back of her throat. “Fine.” She thrusts the purse back at me. “If that’s the way you want to play, then you owe me. You’ll be working for free until you pay your debt off.”

I nod, be
cause that’s all I can do. “You’ll get back every cent you gave me.”

Miss Black laughs. T
he sound makes my skin crawl. “Yes I will, because if you try to short me, Avery, I will take it out on you in a way that you couldn’t possibly fathom.” There’s darkness in her eyes that sends a chill up my spine. 

I believe her.

CHAPTER 2

Two dollars. I only have two dollars, and I have to get by for at least five days. I rest my forehead on the steering wheel of my car. It has a full tank of gas, thank God. I drive back to the dorm with white smoke blowing in my face. The heater isn’t on, so I’m not sure what’s going on. By the time I pull into a parking spot and stall, I smell like a chimney.

Racing up the stairs, I try to avoid Mel
and go straight to my room. But, as I’m fumbling through my bag for the keys she sees me. “Hey, white girl. What are you doing home already? I thought—”

I don’t look up at her. I try to find the keys faster, but I can’t. Mel is a few steps from me when I finally lose it. Taking the bag, I turn on my heel and hurl it at the wall. Her words stop. Mel stops. She stares at me as I let out a strangled sob
, and slam my back into the wall. Sliding down, I hold my face in my hands and the tears start. I wish they wouldn’t. Not now. I was almost inside. Almost.

Mel rushes
toward me and kneels next to me on the floor. I hear her footfalls and sense her presence, but don’t look up. There are more people now. I feel their eyes on me. They linger, staring at the girl having a breakdown in the hallway.

Mel snaps at them, “Move the fuck on. There’s nothing to see here.”
Too many shoes hustle by, muttering under their breath about Mel’s manners. Her hand rests gently on my shoulder. “Come on, Avery. Don’t do this here. And, you sure as hell can’t go into your room. Amber’s in there with—God, I don’t even want to tell you.

“
Just come on. Let’s go back to my room for the night. It’ll be just me and you. You can stuff your face with ice cream and Ambien. Come on.” Mel grabs my arm and pulls me up.

I stand, but it feels like I’m made of paper-thin glass. I wipe the tears streaming down my cheeks with the back of my hand. It leave
s a black smear of mascara on my skin. I look like a freaky clown, but I don’t care. Mel grabs my purse and picks up the lipstick and other crap that flew out when it hit the wall. Quickly, she gathers my things and then pulls me back to her room. By the time we get there, my face is covered in snot. I want to fall apart. I don’t want to keep going anymore. I fall into the chair and bury my face in the arm and never get up.

“Here,” Mel hands me a box of tissues. I take them without looking up at her. She sits on the bed
, across from me. For a while she says nothing. Then, Mel gets up and takes off her heels and puts away her dress. Water runs for a few minutes and then she comes out of the bathroom. After all that, Mel is in her jammies. She pulls her thick hair into a ponytail as she talks. “You can tell me, you know. I won’t judge. God knows, I don’t have the right.”

I look up at her. My vision is fuzzy. My eyes feel swollen
and I can barely swallow. I don’t want to talk about it, but I feel like I need to respond. Maybe it’ll make me feel better. Maybe. My lips part slowly and the words tumble out. “I told Sean that I loved him.”

Mel
doesn’t react even though I can tell she wants to. Instead, she shifts her legs and presses her lips together, trying not to chew me out. I know she wants to scream at me for being so stupid, but I also know she won’t. Mel can tell how close I am to mentally cracking. Her voice is gentle when she asks, “And then what?”

I straighten in my chair and sniffle. Dabbing the tissue to my nose, I
shrug and say, “He sent me back.”

Mel’s head sways as
her jaw falls open. “Like, he returned you?”

I smile sadly. “No, it’s worse than that. He exchanged me. I said
, ‘I love you’ and he said he wanted a new girl.” That scary look on Mel’s face is getting worse. Clearing my throat, I choke out, “That’s not the worst part.”

“Oh shit. What else happened?”

“Before I went to Sean’s tonight, Black gave me an advance so that I could buy new clothes. She didn’t like that I was wearing the same stuff. She gave me about half of my pay. When things went the way they did, I took the money and threw it in his face. Then, I walked out.” I breathe deeply and pinch the bridge of my nose. It feels like my face exploded.

Mel’s voice is
uncharacteristically quiet, “Black advanced you money and you threw it at the client?” I nod. “And Black wants it back, no doubt.” I nod again. “And I assume she fired you?”

“No,” my voice is barely a whisper.
It scratches out of my throat with a toad-like quality. “I get to work for free until my debt is paid off.” I glance over at her, not wanting to, not wanting to see the look on her face.

Mel is rendered speechless for a moment,
then everything comes out in a rush. “Avery, you have to go and get that money back from Sean. You don’t want things like this. Black’s not someone you want to be in debt to. You have to—”

I put up my hand and cut her off. “There is no way in hell that I will ever go back to Sean and beg to get that money back, so you can just stop there.”

“Now’s not the time for pride, Avery.”

“You’re wrong, Mel. Now is the time for pride
, because it’s the only fucking thing I have left. I sold myself to some guy that liked tugging my heartstrings. He made me think that he loved me. He made me think that my whole shitty life…” My voice trails off. I can’t finish saying it. Sean gave me a reason to breathe. He gave me something to look forward to, and he lit the embers of hope inside of me. I thought I’d never feel alive again, and now that I do, I want to die. Emotional whiplash isn’t for people with broken hearts. I feel like I’ve been torn apart.

Pressing my fingers to my forehead, I rub little circles and say, “That scrap of pride is all I’ve got. I’m not going back to him. I’m
not talking to him again, ever—for any reason. I’ll work it off.”

Mel nods, but I can see it on her face—she doesn’t approve.
She’s thinking, trying to help me figure things out. After a second she asks, “How much do you owe? Maybe I can lend you the money. It’s better owing me than Black.” She knows something that I don’t.

I look at her for a moment and shake my head. “It was enough to buy a couple of cars, Mel. Thanks for offering, but I doubt you have it. Plus, you need to pay your bills. This was my mistake. I have to clean it up.”

“What’s she going to have you do? You know Black’s guys do some nasty stuff, right?”

I shrug. “I don’t care anymore. I really don’t. I
okayed the entire sheet, you know.” Mel looks shocked. “I said I’d do anything.”

“How could you say that?”
she squeaks with her jaw hanging open.

I pull my knees into my chest and wrap my arms around my legs. I don’t look at her.
“How could I not? It doesn’t matter. None of this matters.”

“Are you listening to yourself? You can’t let some dumbass guy ruin your life. He wanted a fuck and you gave him your heart. He doesn’t deserve you, Avery.

“I’m so sorry. I wish I could fix this for you, but telling Black that you’ll do anything and everything is a bad plan. There are some sick bastards on her client list. They’re too twisted for me, so I know you aren’t going to be into it.

“
Plus, checking the anything box gets you
anything
. You’re not ready for that—and no, you don’t want to know what crazy shit they do.”

I rub my eyes with the heel of my hands.
“What choice do I have?” Mel doesn’t answer. I stop rubbing and look up at her.

“Go get the money back from
dickwad. Say, ‘gimme my money back so I don’t have to be a hoe for free.’” I tilt my head to the side and give her an expression that says I’d rather die first. She puffs up. “Well, you realize what it means then, right? That you gave it him for free. If you let Sean keep that money, it’s like you fucked him for nothing, and in return he gave you the biggest mind-fuck of your life. Go get your damn money back.” Mel is on her feet. She goes to her closet and pulls out a jacket, and stuff hers arms in the sleeves.

“You are not going, so sit down.” When she bends over to find her sneakers, I repeat myself, “No. Mel, leave it. Please.” I walk up behind her. When
Mel turns around, I feel the plea etched into my face. “Leave it alone.”

She’s mad. I can see the tremor of anger course through her arms.
Mel flexes her fingers and lets out a rush of air. Her finger is in my face. She tries to hold it still, but she’s so angry. Even though I know she isn’t mad at me, it feels like it. She growls at me, “I swear to God, if I see that motherfucker on the street, I’m going to rip his goddamn face off.”

The corner of my mouth lifts. “That’d be okay, probably.”

Mel snorts. The tension flows out of her back and her hand returns to her side. Mel shakes it off as fast as she can, but I can tell that she still wants to defend me. “I’ll give him a tattoo with that pretty carving knife I stole from naked dude.” She laughs. It sounds a little crazy, but I laugh, too.

I glance at the door. Her words from before finally sink in. “Did you say someone was in my room with Amber?”

“You know I did, and you don’t want to know who. I can’t believe it myself.” Mel peels off her jacket and throws it into the closet. It lands on the floor. Mel slips off her sneakers and slides the closet doors shut.

“Well, now I have to know.”

“No, you don’t. It’ll make you all sorts of crazy.” Mel doesn’t meet my gaze. Her eyebrows inch up her forehead and disappear, like she can’t believe it. I have a sinking feeling. She knows who it is and doesn’t like it. That’s why she doesn’t want to tell me.

There’s only one person we both like and we both thought he was gay. “No,” I gasp, with my eyes wide. My hand flies to my mouth as it sinks in. “She’s with Marty?”

CHAPTER 3

“Yeah,” Mel answers with a strange look on her face. One of her lower eyelids flutters, like she’s disgusted. “He’s been in there all night. Marty came up the stairs looking for you and stumbled on her.”

“How do you know?
” I ask, and glance at the door and then back at Mel. “I thought you were going to be out all night.”

Mel shrugs.
“Black reassigned me at the last second. I thought I was going to be out all night, too. When I got in, I texted M-boy to hang out. He said he was busy. So, after that I got nothing to do, right, so I figure that rattling the skank-hoe would be fun, so I go down and bang on her door.” Mel pauses and folds her arms over her chest. “Guess who answered?”

Shaking my head, I say, “
I can’t believe it.”

“Well, believe it—turns out that Marty
-boy is straight, although doing Amber is kind of twisted.” Mel is obviously disgusted. Her opinion of Marty just fell about six feet.

I blink a few times. The thought of Amber and Marty is too much. I don’t want
them together. I don’t really think about it, but I find myself on my feet and before I know it, I’m walking down the hall to my room. Mel is on my heels, telling me to think it through, but I don’t want to.

They can’t!

Stopping in front of my door, I try the knob. It’s locked. Odds are the door is blocked, too. I bang on the old wood so hard that the glittery sign Amber has placed above the door falls on my head and then tumbles to the carpet. I can’t believe how fast my anger is stoked. Maybe I’m too out of it to do this now, but I can’t stop.

Before I know it, I’m pounding the door like a lunatic and screaming,
“Open the damn door, Marty! I know you’re in there!” I’m practically punching the door when Amber yanks it open.

Amber’s
eyes dart to my fist and then to Mel. She shrieks and jumps back, like I’m going to slug her in the face. “You said she wasn’t coming home! You said you weren’t coming home!”

I was nice to her and this is how she repays me.
“So, you decided to sleep with my best friend? Just kill me while you’re at it! Where is he?” I push past Amber and into the room. Fury is building in my fists. If I don’t punch something soon, I’m going to snap. I can’t believe Marty. I can’t possibly fathom why he’d want Amber.

But when I shove into the room, the sight
makes me stop in my tracks. The emotions boiling inside of me don’t know where to go, so they come out of my mouth is a strangled sobbing laugh. My mouth gaps open and my fingers try to cover it. I’m stunned into silence.

My side of the room has been barren since I moved in. I couldn’t afford to decorate it. After I shove past Amber, I see Marty sitting
on my bed—fully clothed—and waving the tips of his fingers at me. The bed he’s sitting on isn’t mine. I mean, it is, but the bedspread and pillows… OMG. And it doesn’t stop there—the walls, the bed, the windows, the nightstand—everything is beautiful.

It’s decorated in purples and browns. It’s exactly what I would have wanted, but better. Everything is perfect. The bedspread is two-tone raw silk in my favorite shade of lilac. The little lamp on the night stand has a
vintage shade with tassels hung from the base. There’s a dark chocolate colored frieze rug on the floor, so when I step out of bed in the morning my feet won’t get cold.

There’s art—a real painting—above my headboard. I have a tufted headboard!  My side of the room doesn’t look like a prison cell anymore. It’s a real bedroom, soft and pretty like Mel’s room. The entire time I look around, Mel is muttering
obscenities and craning her neck the same way that I am, trying to take it all in.

I can’t speak. I can’t b
reathe. My fingers are jammed to my lips as I stare.

“Do y
ou like it?” Marty sounds uncertain, like maybe he shouldn’t have done it. “You always said it was lacking, that you would have done something with it.” Marty looks at his hands and twists his fingers. “I wanted to give you a present. You’ve been through hell this week. I thought you were going to be out tonight. I was going to decorate, just slip in and out, but then Amber came in and… well, you came back early.” Marty gives me a lopsided smile and stands. Extending his arms, Marty says sheepishly, “Surprise.”

I slam my hand against my chest to free the words caught in my throat. My lip trembles
when I pull my fingers away. Every bit of my brain is in emotional overload. I can’t process what he’s done. Pressing my lips together, I try to speak. At first nothing comes out. I clear my throat and try again. “It’s beautiful. I love it! I can’t believe you did all this!” I run over to Marty and throw my arms around him. He towers over me so that my head is barely at his shoulders. He hugs me and pats my back.

When
Marty pulls away, he says, “It’s kind of shabby chic meets modern. I didn’t know what style you’d like, so I guessed.”

I can’t stop smiling at him. I run my
palm over the bedspread, feeling the soft fabric beneath my hand. “It’s perfect. Everything is perfect. I love it! I can’t believe you did this for me!”

“You deserve it, kid
do.” Marty smiles at me. I can tell that he wants to say more, but Amber is there. His eyes flick over to Mel. “Someone said that work was getting harder and harder. Having something nice to come home to, well, it makes things a little better. And since you’ve got a good job, I thought you might want to stay for the summer and graduate early. We’d have so much fun.”

“You’re staying this summer?” I ask
, and he nods.

Mel finally speaks up. “You almost made her brain blow up. And holy shit—you need to decorate my room. I would have never put this stuf
f together and it looks freakin’ awesome.” Mel’s still looking at things with her mouth hanging open—the curtains, the table, the linens. I have linens!

Marty laughs and looks at me. “What’d you think I was doing?” His eyes cut to Amber and he startles.
He does a double take. “Oh. Oh!” He smacks me lightly with the back of his hand. “Miss Dirty Brain!”

Amber’s voice is hard. She glares at me.
“What, you think I said all the crap in the stairwell for—fun?”

I’m glad
Amber’s nuts. I’m glad she’s always the same, always a bit bitchy. My hands fly up, palms facing her. “I don’t know my ass from my elbow. Do what makes you happy, Amber, just don’t do it on my new bed.” I giggle and jump on it and fall back. The throw pillows that were so neatly stacked get squashed under my head, while the rest tumble to the floor.

“
Awh, it took twenty minutes to get those just right,” Marty whines.

I smile and sink into the new pillows
and sigh happily.

“Yeah, but look at her face.” Mel says. Her hard
edges soften a bit. She glances at Marty. “You did a good thing, here. I’m glad you weren’t doing that thing over there, because I’d have to smack you around with a stupid stick for that.” Mel jabs her thumb at Amber.

“I can hear you,” Amber sneers as she answers from her bed.

“I know,” Mel yells back and rolls her eyes. “I said it loudly, you daft hoe.”

Amber mutters something, but I talk over her. “You guys are great. Thank you. I needed this.”

Marty grins and claps his hands like he’s five. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say. You know what happens now, right?” A huge grin sweeps across his face. “Sleepover!”

Amber
groans and covers her head with a pillow, while Marty shows me the inflatable beds with matching sheets that he put in one of the drawers under my new bed. We stay up until everyone passes out—everyone except me. 

I can’t sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see Sean’s face and hear his words,
I’m going to tell Black to send another girl. You can go
.