From
the time she was born, Jessica Mitchell was told there was nothing
special about her, so she spent the good portion of her life trying
to make people see otherwise.
When
she was three, she won a toddler beauty pageant. When she was ten,
she won a creative art competition and her work was immortalized in a
coffee table book. At her high school graduation, she was
valedictorian. She had offers from all the best universities world
wide. And yet, it still wasn't enough to please her parents.
Now,
she was a freshman at Pendleton University, living in the most
expensive dormitory that she couldn't really afford, with an equally snobby roommate.
She was struggling to stay afloat, especially when her tuition bill came in the mail the week before. She needed $25,000 if she wanted to stay in class and in the dorm.
Majoring
in medicine, Jessica divided most of her time between classes, the
library and the on campus coffee shop. She didn't have any spare time for work and calling her parents for a loan was never going to happen.
The
day started like any other. Jessica woke as the sun shone through
the lace curtains, warming her face. She stretched and yawned before
making her way down the hall to the communal bathroom. She had a
shower, washing her long chocolate brown hair.
She
turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. Jessica dried
herself before using a hairdryer to dry her dark tresses.
Wrapping
a towel around her naked body, Jessica raced back to her room. Her
roommate was still asleep, so as quietly as she could, Jessica
rummaged through her closet until she found a clean pair of jeans and
a simple white T-shirt.
Getting
dressed, Jessica grabbed her purse and raced out the door.
The
morning was beautiful. The trees waved gently back and forth in the
spring breeze, their green foliage trapping the heat of the sun.
Jessica
hurried along the path to the coffee shop. “Morning, Adam,” she
greeted, flashing the guy behind the counter a warm smile.
“Morning,”
he replied, dropping the car magazine he was reading. “The usual?”
Jessica nodded, pulling her wallet out. “Yes please. I've got a
long day with Professor Welsh. And an even longer night planned,”
she replied, handing over a twenty.
Adam
chuckled as he busied himself making her latte. “Party tonight?”
he asked, innocently, knowing that it wasn't really her scene.
Jessica shook her head, chuckling slightly. “No, studying. If I
want that internship, I have to hit the books.” And find a job that pays well, she thought bitterly.
Handing
over her change, Adam couldn't help but grin. “Just as long as
they don't hit back,” he teased, flashing her a devilish grin.
Jessica
groaned at Adam's attempt of humor. He was always joking around with
the customers. In fact, she can't remember ever seeing him act
serious.
As
she waited for her latte, Jessica realized that she didn't know that
much about Adam. Sure, he was cute. Anybody with eyes could see
that. But he was mysterious. She knew he was a student at Pendleton
because all employees at The Coffee House were. But aside from that,
she was stumped when it came to the guy who made her coffee every
morning.
“So,
Adam, what are you studying?” she asked casually leaning against
the counter.
“Economics,”
he replied, handing her the freshly made latte. “I got Professor
Campbell.”
“I
heard he's tough,” she replied, taking a sip. Her tongue darted
out of her mouth, licking the excess from her upper lip. Adam
laughed, his green eyes sparkling. “Yeah, he's a hard ass, but at
the same time, he's one of the best in the field so I'm learning a
lot.”
Jessica
grinned. “That's how I feel about Professor Welsh. Hard, but
fair,” she said, batting her eyelashes seductively.
“You
got Welsh? I don't envy you at all,” he teased, pushing his
magazine aside and climbing up onto the counter.
“So,
how come I never see you outside of our morning meetings?” he
asked, brushing his blonde bangs out of his eyes.
“What
do you mean?”
“You're
never at any of the campus parties. And with a professor like Welsh
riding you, I thought you'd be looking to let your hair down a
little.”
Jessica
shrugged. “I'm not one for parties,” she answered truthfully.
“My roommate is the partying kind and she gets in at all hours.
Although, I didn't hear her get home last night.”
“Maybe
she crashed somewhere.”
“Nah,
she was in bed when I left this morning. Probably over did it on the
tequila shots.” Adam chuckled. He knew exactly how Jessica's
roommate was feeling. He had his fair share of purging on tequila.
He
hopped off the counter and made his way to his book bag that was
hanging up on a hook. After rummaging around for a minute he
returned with a slip of pink paper in hand. He handed it to Jessica,
before taking up residences on the bench again.
“What's
this?” she asked, scanning the paper, her lips moving silently as
she read.
“Party
at the frat house tonight,” he explained. “I was hoping to skip
it, but being a brother, I have to make an appearance. Maybe you
could come to make it less like torture. Then, if you want, we could
go some place else.” He shrugged, hoping he came off casual and
cool, not desperate and sleazy.
Jessica
glanced up at him. She bit her lip, searching his eyes. He was
awfully cute and she was stressed with her workload. “What the
hell,” she said, breaking into a smile. “I could use the break.”
Adam
grinned and hopped off the counter as the door opened with more
customers. “Awesome. I'll look for you there,” he said, before
turning his attention to the other patrons.
Jessica
moved out of the coffee shop, smiling to herself. She had scored a
date with a super hot guy and she was going to her first ever frat
party. She was excited, and as she strolled down the path she felt a
little spring in her step as she mentally assessed her wardrobe,
vetoing everything.
“Guess
I'll have to go shopping,” she said out loud to herself, knowing that she couldn't really afford it.
That
night, dressed to the nines in a slinky black dress that stopped
above her knees, Jessica turned up to the frat house. Loud rock
music was blaring out the window and there were people everywhere.
Some girls were throwing up in the bushes. A couple of the guys were
peeing on a wall. Some guy ran around in a bed sheet yelling, “Toga!
Toga! Toga!”
As
she entered the house, a beer cup containing some strange liquid was
immediately placed in her hand. She smiled, thanking the anonymous
beer donor, before moving into what she assumed was the living room.
There, in the middle of the room, was Adam, chugging down a mini keg
through a tube.
The
crowd around him was chanting then began cheering when he held up the
empty keg and tube. He dropped them and let out a loud burp,
slapping high fives with a couple of people, before spotting Jessica
as the crowd parted.
He
made his way over to her. “And now that I've made my appearance,
would you like to go somewhere else?” he asked, wiping his chin.
Jessica
nodded. Adam grinned, taking her hand and began to lead her
upstairs.
He
pushed opened one of the bedroom doors and stood aside so she could
pass by. He closed the door behind him, locking it. “Welcome to
my digs,” he said somewhat sarcastically.
Jessica
forced a smile to her face as her fingers tapped the cup in her hand.
The room was what she pictured a frat boys room to look like. Pizza
boxes, soda cans, clothes thrown all over the floor. The bed looked
like it hadn't been made this century and there was a strange smell.
Adam
placed his arm around her shoulders and took the drink from her hand.
“I wouldn't drink that,” he said, placing the cup down on top of
the dresser. “You can never trust a frat boy to make a drink.”
“You
make me my lattes,” Jessica reminded him.
Adam
laughed, pushing his hair out of his eyes. “Yes, but that's
different. You're paying me to make you one. Here, anything that is
handed to you usually contains 99.9% alcohol.”
Jessica
joined in laughing.
Adam
moved over to his wardrobe and pulled open the doors. Inside was a
mini bar fridge. He got busy making something that wasn't 99.9%
alcoholic while Jessica began moving some things from the bed so she
had a space to sit down.
“Here
we go,” Adam said, handing a plastic beer cup over to her.
“Bottoms up.”
Jessica
stared at her drink before glancing up at him. Adam was already
taking a sip of his, but there was a twinkle in his eye that she
didn't fully trust.
“Thanks,”
she said, placing the cup to her lips as though she was about to take
a drink.
BANG!
Adam
spun around as a water balloon filled with shaving cream hit his
window. “What the fuck?” he cried, placing his cup down and
moving across the room.
He
pulled open the window and shouted a few obscenities at the guys
standing on the grass below before slamming it shut.
Jessica
was still sitting on the bed. “Boys will be boys,” she said,
tilting her head back and draining her drink.
Adam
nodded and picked up his drink. In one breath he drained the cup.
He smiled sweetly at Jessica, watching her closely, almost as though
he was expecting something.
She
stared back at him, blinking innocently, watching his body begin to
sway from side to side.
Adam's
vision became blurry and his tongue felt dry. For the briefest of
moments he thought he saw Jessica's lip twitch into a smirk. “What
the -?” he said, before falling forward on the bed.
*
* * * *
“Aghhhhhhhh!”
Adam
sat up, ice cubes spilling over the side of the bathtub, onto the
bathroom floor. He glanced around wildly as he took a moment to work
out where he was. A dozen cans of beer lined the tub near his feet.
He was in the upstairs bathroom of the frat house, in a bathtub full
of ice.
He
pulled himself up, wincing in pain, as he tried to stand. What the
hell happened?
“Jessica?”
Adam
remembered offering her a drink. Then nothing. Everything after
that was a blank.
Carefully,
he climbed out of the bath, being sure not to slip on an ice cube as
his feet pressed against the cold tiles.
He
made his way back to his room, fumbling with the door handle. What
was in his drink? He hadn't added anything to the beer.
He
stopped cold. He might not have added anything to it, but he did
turn his back to his drink long enough for Jessica too.
Adam
broke into a sweat as he entered his room. There was no sign of
Jessica. He winced again, grabbing his side as he stepped over some
shoes. His side felt wet.
Looking
down, Adam let out a bloodcurdling scream. His shirt was soaked in
blood.
Frantically
pulling away at the material, Adam ripped his shirt off and raced to
his mirror. His whole side was covered in blood and there were dark
stitches poking out from the skin. He ran his hand over the wound,
feeling it, his mind racing, wondering what happened.
He
glanced up at the mirror and his blood ran cold.
Taped
to the mirror was a note written in lipstick. His lips trembled as
he read it.
“For
sale. One human kidney. $25,000.”
I thought they were going to get it on. Instead she steals his kidney! So not cool, but awesome story.
ReplyDeleteAhhhh creepy. Loved it.
ReplyDeleteNice!
ReplyDelete