2

All three girls walked me down a few blocks, making small talk until we arrived at their apartment. The entire neighborhood was in bad shape, and the inside of their apartment was no different.

Once I entered I saw a man sitting on a brown leather couch watching television. He was older, maybe in his mid-twenties, had light-skin and brown hair. He sipped his beer and hadn't even glanced in our direction until Ginger spoke, "Jeff, this is Rose. She's going to be staying with us for awhile."

Jeff looked in my direction with obvious sudden interest. I tried my best not to notice. But in my head I was thinking, Great, he's the pimp. Of course, there was always a pimp in all the movies. Why should I think this would be any different?

I smiled at him uncomfortably, which I hoped wasn't too conspicuous. "Hey," I offered.

Jeff stood up and began walking in my direction. Surprisingly, he offered his hand for me to shake. "Hey, Sweetie. You look very pretty. So how old are you anyway?"

"Uhm… 18," I lied.

Selene chuckled.

Damn, do I really look that much like a kid?

Jeff smiled and moved a strand of hair away from my face, placing it behind my ear which made me blush involuntarily.

"Don't worry. Here, you could be any age you want to be. But out there," he pointed toward the door, "…you're 21, the legal age… I'll let you ladies continue with whatever it is you were going to do." He glanced at Ginger, "Make her look hot, will you?"

"We got this," Diamond assured him.

I walked with the other ladies to a bedroom. There were two queen-sized beds in a decently sized room. The mess of clothes scattered all over the place made me do a double take, but I tried not to make any comments.

"Selene, give her something to wear," Ginger said.

"Why me?" she replied, annoyed.

Ginger pointed toward her own body and then at Diamond's. Diamond was thin but way to tall for most of her clothes to fit me. Selene was the closest to my size, and she was seriously making this more difficult for me, than it already was.

Nonetheless, she walked over toward her closet and pulled a short black long-sleeve dress from a hanger. She threw it over to Ginger, "This should fit."

"What size shoe are you?" Ginger asked.

"7" I replied.

"7 ½ would just have to do for now," Diamond continued, while handing over a pair of apple red platform heels.

They were super high, and I couldn't help but wonder, how the hell was I supposed to walk in them?


They showed me to the bathroom, and I had to pass Jeff along the way, which made me uncomfortable. I took of my clothes off and put on the long sleeved black dress. It was more revealing and shorter on, than it looked when Selene handed it to me. Almost my entire back was showing. I couldn't help but think, Why the hell does Diamond get to wear leggings, and I have to walk around half-naked?

I put the red heels on and tried walking in them. I felt like one of those idiots that I usually laugh at, who stumble when walking in high heels.

I hear a gentle knock on the door, "Hey can I come in?" Ginger asked.

"Uhm, yeah," I replied as I opened the door.

"Damn girl, you look hot," she smiled and put her hand on my arm.

She grabbed some red lipstick from her bra and started applying it on my lips. This is awkward… I couldn't help but think.

She continued talking, "At least you have great skin. You don't need too much makeup….and you look really young. You'll get a lot of work. Guys love the girls that look barely legal."

I felt uncomfortable by her comments, but I made sure to fake laugh anyway. I didn't need to make her feel like I was ungrateful. She didn't have to help me out and she did. I would still be standing outside the corner store feeling pity for myself if it weren't for her.

I tried to continue the conversation, "So, Jeff is…"

She smiled, "I think you already know… Don't worry though. He's not an asshole or anything like that. He helps us out a lot…You know, like if anything were to go wrong and stuff…Not that anything really goes wrong, but just in case. Get it?"

My heart started racing. Is this really happening right now?

She took out some eyeliner from her skirt pocket and started applying it on my eyelid. She continued, "He wont hurt you or anything. As long as you don't do anything bad, like tell the cops about him or anything… Plus, I think he really likes you."

I couldn't help but smile. He was kind of cute and I don't know why, but I couldn't help but think his age was what attracted me to him in the first place.

"All done," she said, as she turned my body to face the mirror. "You like?"

"Yeah. You did I great job."

"Thanks. We should go soon though. I'll fix you something to eat real quick. Is a sandwich okay?"

"Yeah, that sounds great," I smiled. I wasn't in a position to get picky about food. I was so hungry, being that I hadn't eaten anything all day. "Can I get a minute?"

"Sure. I'll be in the kitchen." She walked out of the bathroom and closed the door.

I stood there staring at my reflection in the mirror and couldn't help but think,

Who is this person?

Is this really what I want to do?

The Fosters would never take me in after this.

Brandon would never want me again.

I wanted to cry, but I knew I would ruin the perfect black lines that Ginger drew on my eyes. The other girls would have known I was crying and labeled me as weak. I can't let them think that.

Callie would have cried.

Rose is stronger than that.

I sucked in a long breath and walked out.

Hopefully leaving Callie behind for good this time…