2

Ava's POV

Three Years Later...

I was walking down the familiar streets of New York with two close friends who were dropping me off at my new babysitting job interview.

Charis and Jenny were best friends before I arrived, but they both used to work at the restaurant where I used to work about a year ago.

After they realized I was friendless and anxious, they began inviting me to events, and we became extremely close friends.

"Oh Charis, you don't need another $1,000 purse." Jenny yelled.

"Okay, you don't need a man, but here we are: you have your man, and I have my new purse." Charis responded wittily.

"But, Charis, that's not even in the same realm." Jenny moaned.

"I know, bitch, my purse is more valuable than your man." As they continued to throw harmless insults at each other, Charis countered, and I laughed.

"Oh, both of you shut up, we all know Charis has a shopping addiction, and we all know you're secretly in love with your man Jenny." I said this before Jenny could respond to what Charis had said.

"I'm not sure if I love him yet..." Jenny spoke slowly, which made Charis and I both roll our eyes.

"It's been 5 months and you can't go 2 minutes without contacting him, baby, you're in love." Charis continued to admire her new purse as she spoke.

Jenny's boyfriend is a nice guy who is blonde and has ocean blue eyes. He's well-built, and you can tell he works out at the gym. They met at a party and have been together ever since.

Because of everything that had happened in my past, I had never gotten myself to date anyone, let alone let a man touch more than my hand.

I had told Charis and Jenny about some of what had happened; they were aware that I had been forced to dance at a strip club and that my parents had sold me, but I had never told them that I had been touched against my will. I never wanted anyone to see me as small or weak again. I discovered my worth and knew I was strong.

"Ava." Jenny yelled.

"Yes?" I responded, breaking my train of thought.

"You should find yourself a man, preferably a tall one, because you know, you're kind of short." Knowing how sensitive I was about my height, she cracked a joke.

"Oh, stop, I'm not short." I argued with her, giving her the middle finger.

"Certainly dwarf." She shot back, giggling at her insult as Charis burst out laughing, tears welling up in her eyes.

Jenny, fuck off." As I laughed, I said.

I was laughing and looking at Charis and Jenny instead of ahead of me, so I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I finally gathered myself from my laughing fit, but as soon as I did, I was hit by a hard surface and fell straight to the ground.

I rolled my eyes at myself, thinking how stupid I must have been to run into a wall.