CHAPTER 1 ~ LIBRARY

MEGAN’S POV

I stepped into the small, cramped bathroom of my off-campus apartment and turned the metal dial on the shower. While I waited for the water to heat up, I stared at my reflection in the cloudy mirror. 

My long, unstyled hair was tied back in a messy ponytail, and my thick glasses covered a large portion of my face. I removed my glasses, placed them carefully on the edge of the porcelain sink, and stripped off my stained work uniform. 

After I stepped under the hot spray of water, I grabbed a bar of simple soap and began scrubbing the diner grease from my skin. Because I had just finished a long six-hour shift at the restaurant, my legs felt very tired and heavy. 

Once I finished washing myself, I turned off the running water, wrapped a thin towel around my body, and stepped onto the cold tile floor. I dried my skin thoroughly, walked into my small bedroom, and put on a pair of gray sweatpants along with an incredibly oversized, baggy sweater.

When I was fully dressed, I pushed my heavy glasses back onto the bridge of my nose and walked directly into the narrow kitchen.

I stood in front of the electric stove and carefully stirred a pot of boiling pasta. Since I was extremely hungry, I reached out, turned off the heat dial, and lifted the heavy metal pot. I drained the boiling water into the stainless steel sink, and then I poured the plain noodles into a ceramic bowl before adding a large amount of cheap tomato sauce. 

Although the meal was very basic, I carried my dinner to the small wooden table in the corner of my living room and sat down on the hard chair. While I ate my food in the absolute quiet of my apartment, my mind focused entirely on Caleb Mercer.

Caleb was a very popular forward on the college ice hockey team, and I had harbored a massive crush on him since the first day of the semester. Even though I constantly wore unflattering clothing and hid behind my glasses, he had recently started paying a lot of attention to me. 

We had actually gone on two separate private dates during the past month. During those specific dates, we sat in his parked car behind the campus athletic center and talked for several hours. 

He had specifically told me that we needed to keep our relationship a complete secret from the rest of the college. He explained that his ex-girlfriend, head cheerleader Vanessa Hale, was extremely toxic and prone to jealousy. 

He claimed that if Vanessa ever found out he was dating a quiet nerd like me, she and her cruel friends would make my life an absolute misery on campus. Because I had been bullied severely in my past, I believed his warnings completely, and I genuinely appreciated his desire to protect my safety. I trusted him so deeply that I had made a very serious personal decision regarding our relationship. 

I was actively planning to lose my virginity to him this upcoming weekend. To show him exactly how much I cared, I had taken three hundred dollars from my diner tips and purchased a designer silver bracelet for his birthday. I had handed him the small velvet box yesterday afternoon between our classes, and his warm smile had made me feel incredibly happy.

After I finished eating the last bite of my pasta, I stood up and carried the empty bowl back to the kitchen sink. I washed the dish with a rough sponge, rinsed the soap away with warm water, and dried my hands completely on a clean cotton towel. Knowing that I had a very important accounting midterm scheduled for Friday morning, I walked back into my bedroom. I reached down and unzipped my heavy canvas backpack, fully intending to spend the next four hours studying the material. 

However, when I dug through my various notebooks and pens, I realized my thick accounting textbook was completely missing from the bag. I groaned out loud and placed my hands firmly on my hips out of sheer frustration. 

I immediately remembered that I had left the expensive book sitting on a study table in the second-floor reference section of the campus library earlier that afternoon. 

Because I absolutely needed to review the specific chapters tonight, I had no choice but to walk back to the college. I grabbed my apartment keys from the kitchen counter, walked out the front door, and locked the deadbolt securely behind me. 

The evening air outside was very chilly, so I pulled my oversized sweater tighter around my shoulders to block the wind. I adjusted my heavy glasses again and started the fifteen-minute walk across the darkened town toward the campus.

The massive brick library was mostly empty when I finally pulled open the heavy glass entrance doors. Only a few students were sitting at the computers near the front circulation desk, but none of them looked up at me. I did not speak to anyone, nor did I look at the surrounding students as I walked toward the main stairwell and climbed the carpeted steps to the second floor. 

The reference section was notoriously quiet and secluded, which was the exact reason why I always chose to study in that specific area. I walked slowly down the long aisle of tall metal bookshelves, looking carefully for the wooden table where I had been sitting. 

Before I could reach the end of the long aisle, I heard several voices echoing quietly from the adjacent row of books. 

I immediately recognized the arrogant, highly confident tone of Caleb Mercer. Since I was very surprised to hear him inside the library on a Wednesday night, I stopped walking completely. 

I took a cautious step forward, held my breath, and peered through a small gap between two heavy encyclopedias resting on the metal shelf.

Caleb was standing near the large window, yet he was definitely not alone. Vanessa Hale was leaning against the painted wall directly next to him, and two other large hockey players were standing nearby with their arms crossed. 

I felt deeply confused because Caleb had explicitly told me he hated Vanessa and wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. I remained absolutely still, for I knew they would discover me if I moved.

"I really do not understand why you are even pretending to talk to that pathetic, ugly loser," Vanessa said, glaring at Caleb.

"You know exactly why I am doing it, Vanessa," Caleb replied, rolling his eyes and laughing quietly. "You just need to be patient for a few more days."

"Are you actually going to sleep with her?" one of the hockey players asked, shaking his head in obvious disbelief. "She wears clothes that look like they belong to a homeless grandmother."

Caleb laughed even louder, and the cruel sound made me feel physically cold.

"I have to sleep with her at least once so I can get exactly what I want," Caleb stated confidently. "She is so completely desperate for my attention and so painfully pathetic. She actually spent hundreds of dollars on a silver bracelet for me yesterday."

"Did you keep the bracelet?" Vanessa asked, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously.

"Of course I did not keep it," Caleb scoffed, waving his hand in the air dismissively. "I threw the ugly thing directly into the trash can behind the hockey arena the second she finally walked away from me."

My chest physically hurt, and my breathing became very shallow as I listened to his terrible words. I pressed my back completely flat against the cold metal of the bookshelf to ensure they could not see me standing there. I squeezed my eyes shut, but warm tears immediately started running down my cheeks.

"So, what is the actual plan for this weekend?" the second hockey player asked, leaning forward with a highly curious expression on his face.

"I have already set up the hidden camera on the top shelf of my bedroom closet," Caleb explained smoothly. "The angle points directly at the center of my bed. I am going to convince Megan to come over to my apartment on Saturday night, and I am going to record everything we do together."

"What are you going to do with the video once you actually have it in your possession?" Vanessa asked, a cruel smile spreading across her face.

"I am going to use the footage to completely control her," Caleb answered, his voice devoid of any warmth or human decency. "Once I tell her that I have the explicit recording, she will do absolutely whatever I want because she is terrified of anyone else seeing it. She will be my own personal, obedient slut."

"And what happens if she refuses to do what you want?" Vanessa pressed, leaning closer to Caleb.

"She will not refuse me," Caleb answered confidently.

"You cannot guarantee that," the first hockey player argued. "She might get angry and report you to the campus security."

"She is too weak and too completely pathetic to report me to anyone," Caleb scoffed loudly, crossing his arms over his chest. "But if she does try to say no or fight back, I will simply post the video online. I will send the link to the entire school so every single person can see exactly what she looks like, completely naked."