nothing wrong and because I'm a female, I'm going to be torn to shreds. Who cares if the boys send each other to the Emergency Room, who cares if the students thought it was appropriate to touch me, who cares if there’s a fucking brawl at the school? It’s all going to be pinned on me.
I need to get out of here but I have no other options. Though … that’s not entirely true. Nic would take me with open arms and he’ll give me the best kind of life that he can give. I should be thankful. I should be grabbing hold of that with both hands and not letting it go. After all, he loves me. I’m sure I’ll eventually be able to move past the whole cheating thing, but what happens when he takes over his father’s gang? That puts him right at the top with a target on his back. Hell, it would put a target on mine too.
That's not a way to live.
I have to do something. I have to break free without breaking mom’s heart. I have to get out of here, but how? I have nowhere to go, no money, no car. I’m useless. I’m stuck.
I need a plan, but what?
Not graduating just seems stupid. Maybe I could hang around for the next few months, keep my head down, and try to get through high school. If I somehow manage to graduate, that already puts me higher than 50% of the kids back home. But what do I do then? Where will I go? I don’t have the cash to take me anywhere and the thought of going back home kind of hurts. I love it there and my crew, but I want to be better, I want more for myself. Especially now after seeing what else is out there. I can be better. I will be. I refuse to sell myself short.
I need a job and to be honest, the answer is staring me in the face, but I’ve been too stubborn to do anything about it. I’m too proud, and too ashamed.
I have to meet with Charles Carrington and I won’t be walking out until I get what I need.
I guess now Colton really will have a right to call me ‘the help.’
Chapter 24
I race up the stairs of douchebags’ headquarters and fly through the front door. Ever since my plan wriggled it’s way into my brain it’s all I've been able to think about. I have to do this. I have to stand on my own two feet and prove that I can make it in this cut-throat world.
Sure, I may never be some billionaire in a fancy mansion but I’ll be happy and proud of what I’ve accomplished—assuming I actually accomplish something. I will though, I have to. There are no other options for me. I don’t want to be some gang leader's forgotten wife and I don’t want to be living off someone else’s money. I need a little independence and if Destiny’s Child taught me anything, it’s how to be an ‘Independent Woman.’
I bypass Harrison in the foyer who’s putting on a good show of being busy when we both know it’s all an act. The only reason he ever comes into the foyer is when there’s someone at the door and I highly doubt that he'll be here to open it for me. He’s come to learn Milo’s Aston Martin over the past couple of weeks and usually makes a point in not answering the door. The fact that he’s standing here right now means he’s curious. He wants to know why the hell I’m here and not at school and whatever reason it is, he’s hoping he can use it against me one day.
Men are so stupid. One day they’ll learn not to play with fire but until then, it’ll be fun watching them get burned.
With Harrison trailing slightly behind me, trying to keep far away enough so I don’t notice he’s actually following me through the house, I make my way to Charles’ incredible home office. Though the second my target becomes obvious, Harrison slinks away into the shadows almost as though he was never there to begin with.
As I reach his door, I find it slightly ajar and I poke my head through the gap while knocking for his attention. Charles stands by his massive floor to ceiling windows, staring out over his property, deep in thought.