—Everleigh, 9 years later

I sighed. I never wanted this for myself. I thought I'd have graduated college by now, become an established author, and be someone I could be proud of. I tried, though—time and time again. Anytime I sent my manuscript out to publishing companies, I was rejected with a hard no. With every no I received, the more I gave up. My heart couldn't fathom another rejection.

If only my younger self could see me now, I'd hate myself.

I pulled my hair tie out of my hair, and with a bit of water, my curls cascaded down ppast my shoulders but just hovering above bra-length. My earned tips were always best anytime I wore my hair down.

Tonight's theme was football due to the super bowl coming up. It might as well had been an NFL porno with the outfits they had given us. It was a cropped jersey that only went as far as covering my nipples, and black spandex that were two sizes too small. To pair it all off were fish-net stockings and high heels.

"Everleigh!" my best friend and roommate, Xyah, called. Xyah was beautiful. She had a darker complexion with the most softest round eyes and beautiful smile that fit her two-toned lips. All she had to do was bat her eyelashes to get any guy she wanted.

Xyah was also the kind of girl that changed her hairstyle faster than she changed her clothes. Whether it was box braids, a silk press, locs, a wig, or her beautiful natural fro—she was going to change her hair in some way or form and look amazing no matter what it was.

Today, she wore her natural hair in a low-sleek bun and had on the same outfit as me.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked me, walking up to me. She turned on the faucet in the bathroom and put some water in her hands before massaging it through my hair.

"I'm just not feeling it today," I answered honestly. When she was satisfied with my hair, she opened my makeup bag on the sink and fished for my eyebrow pencil where she began to fill my eyebrows in for me.

"I'm sorry, boo," she sighed.

"I really hate this job, you know? The boys out there are always so touchy, and these outfits are so degrading," I complained, looking at my body in the mirror. I was practically exposed, and for some reason, it gave men the perfect excuse to objectify me.

"I know, I know. We aren't going to work here forever. They pay really good, Everleigh, you know this... and we have to afford our apartment and college—"

"I know. It's just I wonder how humiliating it will be sometimes if my dad walked into this club or even someone I knew before. It's weird," I said.

Despite having worked at the club as a bottle girl for a year now, I was tired of it. Xyah always said that drunk men pay well, but she didn't mention that drunk men didn't behave well. I couldn't wait for the day to be done with the place.

"Puh-lease, the president of the United States would walk in here before your dad, trust me. He's such a homebody," she said.

I sighed. She was right.

"All your doing is serving bottles to the richest men in the city. There's nothing to be humiliated about," Xyah stated, finishing my eyebrows. She moved onto my lips where she used my brown lipliner to outline them before placing a coat of lipgloss over them.

"You look sexy!" Xyah exclaimed happily, after throwing all my makeup back into my makeup bag and zipping it up. I grabbed my things and exited the bathroom, heading over to the employee lounge where I placed all my stuff inside of my locker.

Xyah followed me the entire way, going on and on about some new clients coming in tomorrow. I only half-listened as she talked about some boxing thing her boyfriend goes to with all his rich ass friends. I hated her boyfriend... not only was he a cheater that had flirted with me on a few occasions, but he always gambled his life away. Sometimes, he would steal from both me and Xyah, and despite all that, she was always sticking right by him, handing him money whenever he wanted it.

She was blinded by love, and the thought almost made me want to throw up in my mouth.

"Yeah, girl. Andre said they're gonna tip really well. He said some hot shot boy named Kayo is gonna win some big match so they're gonna win a whole lot of money. Which means..." she smirked. "more money for us."

I raised a brow, shutting my locker. "What kind of name is Kayo?" I asked.

She smacked her teeth. "You know, K-O... like knock out. Instead, it's just Kayo. I find the name hot as fuck, bitch," she explained, biting down on her lip for emphasis.

I nodded my head in understanding as I began to walk past her. We had to be out in about five minutes to celebrate the birthday of some NFL athlete. He wasn't really anyone too famous. He was like a backup to a backup, but he was still in the NFL so I guess it did make him special in some way. I had no idea who he was, but Xyah was quick to do some research to see how much money we could make in tips. I always counted on her for information regarding how good my nights would go.

"Come on, it's show time!" Xyah said, walking out of the employee lounge as I followed behind her.

"Let's go make that rent money, bitch!" she exclaimed. I couldn't help but laugh as we made our way to the bar where we grabbed the huge bottles of champagne and began to head over to the VIP lounge. The lights of all colors were blaring throughout the club, hitting every part of my body. The music was booming as the vibrations danced right into my soul.

We swayed our hips all the way to the VIP lounge where boys and girls began to scream at the sight of us.

"Looks like we have a birthday boy today!" I exclaimed, plastering the biggest smile on my face.

***

I sighed, grabbing my stuff from my locker. I made a lot of dollars in tips. Stacks of money filled both of my hands and I found myself dumping it inside of a large pouch I kept in my bag just for tips. Once I had it in there, I closed it up and threw it back in my bag just before putting the straps together and throwing it on my shoulder.

"You ready?" Xyah asked. She had so much money in tips that she couldn't even hold it all. She always managed to make more money than me. I always told myself it was because she made herself more approachable and likable. It was a quality I could never have even if I tried.

"Yeah, let's go," I said.

Just when I said that, my phone began to ring. I had to dig inside of my bag just to find it. When I pulled it out, I saw it was my dad.

"Uh, just go. I'll be out in just a sec," I said. She nodded her head and headed out of the employee lounge.

Once she left, I answered the phone and a big smile came across my face.

"Hi, Dad!" I exclaimed.

"Hi, baby girl!" he returned. "You haven't called me in two days. I started to get worried."

"I'm sorry. I'll be over tomorrow to visit you when you get off work. I've just been busy working, and school, and stuff," I said.

"How's that job—customer service, right?" he asked.

I gulped. I hated lying to my dad, but I also didn't want to face his disappointment. "Uh, yeah," I lied.

I could just feel his smile through the phone.

"Good, good. I'm proud of you, Everleigh. You still working on getting that book signed?" he asked.

"Yes, of course, Dad," I said. Again, another lie.

"Your mother always wrote poetry and stuff. Her wedding vow was a poem she wrote to me. I have to give it to you one day—it was beautiful. You must get that writing skill from your mom because you damn sure ain't get it from me," he laughed.

A smile came across my face. "I know. You couldn't even write my excuse notes for school," I said.

He laughed. "Aye, not too much on your pops now."

I chuckled.

"I'll let you go. Come visit me soon. Have a goodnight, Everleigh. I love you," he said.

"I will. I love you, too, Dad," I told him.

With that, he hung up the phone. I smiled down at my cell phone for a moment before walking out of the employee lounge, out the club, and over to Xyah's car.

It was a successful night, and according to Xyah, tomorrow would be even better.

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I think I write better in the guy's POV rather than the girl's for this book and I don't know why. It's a little weird. I think maybe I'm just more obsessed with Sasha's story line right now... you'll see what I mean next chap.

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