Chapter 10

When the time hits 5 o'clock in the evening, school ends, and now I have one hour to reach the hotel to report for my job.

I wonder if I can keep this job now, I'm sure everyone knows whatever happened in the college by now.

What will they think about my work ethic now?

I tried so hard to secure this job. With my hard work and passion, I made an impression on my Manager. And now It's all gone, for a lie Tina and her friends waved for me.

Well, it's not entirely false. I lost my virginity to some asshole Tina has arranged for me whom I can't even identify, even if the man passes just by my side.

But I'm not being as shameless as s*ut and sleeping around in the town.

Why is she hell-bent on making me regret being born and living with them?

It was familiar for everyone to see the welled-up tears in my eyes, and I could always see the pettiness they felt towards me.

And it always hurts more when I see those looks people give me when they hear about my suffering and losing my family at such a young age.

I don't want their pity. I want people to see the potential and strong willpower in my life.

But everything will change today; even though I hate those pity looks people used to give me, it would be better than the disgusted looks they will give me from now on.

I cringe at the irony of my destiny. Now I'm thinking what I hated once is a lot better than what I'll get now.

I make my way towards the hotel but what is weird is I see nobody on my way to work.

The road is empty, and it's very unusual to see streets empty during this time. I always notice small children playing games on the road or in the playground and the elderly going for their evening walks.

But today, it's as if I'm walking in a deserted city, not a soul can be seen, and it is too silent for my liking.

And again, I feel as if someone is watching me and my every move.

It's getting too creepy, and fear starts to build up in my heart. My heartbeat rises, and I scan my surroundings for any signs of danger but nothing.

And it scares me even more, so I quicken my pace to cross this path. As soon as I reach the middle of the road, I sprint toward my destination.

When I reach the hotel, I see that nothing has changed and everybody is behaving normally.

I got no odd looks directed at me, which surprised me.

When I enter the staff room, it is empty. I'm a little early, and others haven't come yet.

Two more students from my college work here with me and maybe they are late.

Even though I never interacted with them, I think they are good people. They never took advantage of me or my situation to make me do their work.

They never talked behind my back with other workers, which is why I can work stably without any problem.

I kinda like this job. I just hope this is not my last day at work.

I will finish the exams this week, and there will be an extended vacation in which I can work full time and earn a little more money for my further studies.

'God, please let me keep this job. Don't take my only source of income,' I silently pray to God, joining both my hands and closing my eyes.'

I hear the door open, so I open my eyes to see who it is.

It is one of the students studying in my college that I was talking about. I think I remember her name. It's Susan. She is 5.7 feet tall, with tanned skin with thick curly black hair.

She also has an eyebrow piercing on her right eyebrow. Whenever I'm in her presence, I feel very intimidated by her aura.

She commonly doesn't talk to any new person other than her friend circle. She is friends with famous students in our college.

Nobody dares to approach them or mess with them. They always hang out together and rarely make friends with any new college members.

They are always talk of the college because of their looks and attitude.

Even though they are famous, their reputation is not so good.

They give these bad boys and lousy girl vibes, making them stand out in the college.

Nobody dares to approach them, and On the contrary, if they approach you, you are in danger. If they come to talk to you, you should run away instead of replying to them. That is what everyone does in college.

Since they don't want others to interfere in their matters, I hope they will do the same with other's personal life. And they will not talk behind my back about my matters.

I quickly get dressed to go report to my Manager Riya. As I start to move towards the door, I hear Susan's voice, making me stop in my track.

"You have a different scent on you today. Did you use a different perfume today?" I don't understand what she is talking about. I look at her with confusion.

"What scent? What are you talking about?" I ask her.

She looks at me with amusement, and when it clicks in my mind, my eyes go wild. 'I talked to her instead of running away like everyone else.

"You do have some guts, don't you?" I shudder at her question, but I have already faced many problems. What else she can do to make it even worse.

So, I braise myself before replying to her, "I'm already going through a lot; what else can you add to it? It doesn't matter to me, really" I shrug.

"I'm done fearing what people will do to me or what they think about me" I look into her eyes directly.

"What will you do now that I dared to talk to you? Tell everyone about what happened in the college? Or will you and your friends make me leave this city just like you did to that girl who tried to approach you guys with ill intentions?" I throw question after question at her

"or is it that you will kill me? If you want to do that, I'll don't mind. I'm fed up with my life already, and since nobody cares about me in this city, it will be forever buried with my body" I look at her with a blank face.

She must have found me and my talk funny because she starts to laugh so hard at my questions. "Oh my God, It's been so long since I had such a good laugh like this. Where did all this theory come from?" She starts to laugh, clutching her stomach.

Looking at her laughing face brings back a slight smile missing from my face. But masking that, I return to my blank face.

"And what scent are you talking about?" I raise my eyebrows at her with a look of determination on my face.

Only I know how much fear I had in my heart. It took all my effort to stop my body from shivering because of the fright.