I snooze my alarm before it even goes off. I barely got any sleep. According to my smartwatch, only three hours. I am exhausted and today I have Mr. Landa’s class again, along with 2 others, and then have to tutor Derrick at his fancy dancy condo-insert eyeroll.Karen’s alarm goes off and I watch her sit up in bed and stretch. She looks over at me and gasps, “Holy shit, you scared me. You are never awake this early. With your eyes open like that, I thought you were dead!” she shrieks.I can’t help but laugh, she is completely right; I am never up this early.“Do you want the bathroom first or can I?” she asks me.My phone vibrates and I look at it, it’s a text from Bert, “Go ahead, “I tell her. I’ll go next. Karen gets up out of bed and stares at me in confusion as she walks to the bathroom and closes the door. I suppose I am acting strange.I look at the text, “Raven, meet me outside. Mr. Moxin wants the letter and its contents; I will deliver it to him.”I sigh in relief; Mr. Moxin

Daniel is waiting for me outside my building and startles me as I walk out, “Audrey!” he calls. I jump and he chuckles, “You are awfully jumpy today.” He teases.I laugh nervously and he hands me my coffee, “Yeah, didn’t sleep well. I had some nightmares,” I lie. The things happening in my life are nightmares but not ones I can tell him about.“Are you okay?” he sighs, eyeing me and my nose. I reach up and touch it, “I dropped something on the bathroom floor and when I reached up to get it, I hit my nose.” I sigh. The mugging story upsets people; what’s one more lie?Daniel laughs and shakes his head, “You are such a klutz.” He teases me. I nod and he grabs my arm, “We get our tests back today.” He grins.My stomach summer salts again, and I sigh. Daniel smiles and squeezes my arm, “I am sure you did great; you always do. Even Derrick Anders asked you to tutor him. How did that go?”I chuckle and shake my head, “Fine, I guess. That’s only one session though, we have so many more to g

The outside of the building is even immaculate with dark grey paint and white shutters. There’s a manicured small front yard with grass and even a front door. I look up at Derrick’s residence and shake my head, “This isn’t a condo.” I roll my eyes.Derrick shrugs, “Why don’t you think it’s a condo?” he asks, helping me off the bike.I smirk and point as the garage door opens, “I don’t know, it’s kind of connected to other homes like a town, or TOWNHOUSE.” I laugh, “Condos don’t have their own garages and are usually inside a building.”Derrick smirks, and walks his motorcycle into the garage, “I knew you were already skeptical about me having a condo, so I didn’t want to label it even bigger.” He laughs.I shake my head and push his arm and he grins, shit! I am flirting with him. I am flirting with Derrick fucking Anders.I clear my throat and he smiles, walking toward the garage door, “Well, come in, make yourself at home.”I take my helmet off and hand it to him. He sets it down an

Karen is sitting on her bed as I turn around and gasp, “What the fuck!” I shout. She rolls her eyes in true Karen fashion, “What? I live here too.”I nod and catch my breath, “Sorry, you scared me.” I apologize. We haven’t spoken since our fight this morning and she huffs in a disapproving tone, “Did security catch the guy?” she asks.I shake my head, “No, whoever it was, is gone.”She looks at me, “I know I shouldn’t even ask but what happened to your forehead? You keep showing up with more bruises than a toddler who has just learned to walk.”I chuckle nervously and sigh, “Derrick Anders bumped into my head.” I tell the truth.Karen gasps and sits up on her bed, “You were with Derrick Anders?!” she asks, giddily.I nod, “Yeah, I was at his house, tutoring him.”Karen’s face goes white as she looks at me, “Wow, what’s his house like? Does it smell like sex? Did you two have sex? I have heard so many stories about Derrick. He is so fucking hot, Audrey! I need details!”I look at Karen

My alarm blares and I sigh, rolling over and turning it off. I look over and Karen isn’t in her bed. Her bed is still made and tighty. When she told me not to wait up, I didn’t think she meant she wouldn’t come home. This has never happened before.I sit up and check my phone. I have three messages, I read the first one which is from Mark, “Good morning gorgeous. I hope you slept well. I was wondering if I could take you to breakfast Sunday morning.” I smile at the message and type my reply, “Hello, handsome, I did sleep well.” My body tingles and I remember how Mr. Landa’s tongue made me feel. I sigh as I think this over; Sunday is supposed to be a big day. It’s the day I hope this nightmare ends. “I would love to do breakfast, but I do have afternoon plans.” I hit send and continue to the next message which is from Daniel, “BITCH, TGIF. We ARE GOING OUT TONIGHT, PERIOD. Meet me in the commons this morning, I got you a treat.” I smile and reply, “See you soon, BIATCH!”The last mess