“How is it that you can’t even afford to buy yourself a jar of spaghetti sauce, but yet you seem to have an endless supply of those?” She pointed to the yellow boxes that I quickly scooped up and hugged tightly to my body. Milk Duds were my guilty pleasure, the one thing that I turned to when I was having a bad day. I had a feeling they were going to my best friend for a while until I figured things out.
Amelia shrugged her shoulders and walked into the living room, plopping down as she kicked her heels off. “So, we need to come up with a plan. I don’t know why you just won’t move into the dorms with me. You know my roommate is never there. No one would ever know. Imagine the money you could save.”
“Nope.” I shook my head and collapsed next to her. “That’s not happening. I could get kicked out of school if they found out.”
“Oh please, Roe. I highly doubt that. Why do you have to be so stubborn about things? How about I give you a loan? Daddy owes me some back allowance, I can give it to you and you can pay me back whenever you get back on your feet.”
“Amelia.” I sighed loudly and she rattled on about all of the ideas she had come up with in the short amount of time since finding out I no longer had a job. Amelia was spoiled, to say the least, and she knew it, but she really didn’t let it get to her head, believe it or not. She was always trying to give her money away to friends or charities, only occasionally splurging on a shopping spree or two, here and there.
“Okay, well I knew that you wouldn’t like any of my ideas, so here.” She pushed a newspaper into my hands, bringing me back to reality.
“I knew you were my best friend for a reason.”
“Yes, ma’am. You got that right.” She giggled, pointing to where she had circled some letters with a little heart. “I even found one for you. I think it’s exactly what you’re looking for.”
I quickly read the ad, rolling my eyes at Amelia who was clutching her stomach, her whole body shaking from the laughter she tried to contain.
Looking for girls who want to make big $$$
No experience required
Start right away!
“You’re so funny. Maybe you should apply for a job there.”
“It’s for a strip club, isn’t it?” She covered her mouth with her hand, whispering the question quietly as if someone were going to hear her utter the words strip club. Her mama might just faint if she ever found out that such vulgar language even existed in Amelia’s vocabulary.
“I’m assuming so. Do you want to go find out?” I smiled wryly at her and her whole body shivered at just the thought.
“Monroe Hartley that is disgusting,” she emphasized, her button nose scrunching up slightly. “I would never step foot in a place like that. Could you imagine?” She shivered again. “Yuck. Now you on the other hand….” She trailed off and I pushed my eyebrows together.
“Are you trying to call me a whore or something?”
“Really, Monroe? I think I know that you’re not a…you’re not that way. I just figured with that booty pop you love to work, you could probably make some really good money.”
“That booty pop only comes out when I’m drunk, which is rare, so I think I’m good. But thanks for the suggestion.”
Amelia stayed for a little while longer, helping me read-through the classifieds, but really, there didn’t seem to be anything worthwhile. I was starting to panic a little, but kept a smile plastered on my face, not wanting Amelia to see that I was worried. I didn’t need her or anyone else’s help. I would figure something out. There was no way in hell I would let myself fail and have to run back to Michigan with my tail between my legs. Nope. Not happening. This was just a tiny bump in the road that I would cruise right on over.
And there was no way in hell I needed to go work as a stripper, no matter how many times Amelia suggested it.