Stars of the South

Prologue

2 months before (June)
Sitting in the waiting room of Lovington Animal Clinic, I'm excited to finally have a job interview for a veterinarian assistant position. I've been passionate about becoming a veterinarian for large animals for years, and this job will help me pay my bills throughout college. I recently inherited a huge mansion from my uncle and decided to live in it with some friends who will also be attending the same college. With 15 bedrooms and 18 bathrooms, we plan to find additional roommates to help cover the costs. It's a great financial plan that will benefit us all.

"Thea Reid" a woman calls from a small space in the corner of the room

15 minutes later

I'm leaving the building. They told me I could start in two weeks, so I've got to call you to tell everybody I'm making flyers for new roommates. I call Dean while looking for my keys in my purse "When will you be here?"

"20 minutes or so. All the furniture arrived this morning" he pause for a moment" We've been talking and we think it may be a good idea to throw a party to see if we can get roommates that way"

" sounds good to me" I find my keys and get into my truck.
Before I can hang up he adds" Are we still going to get animals this weekend?"
" yes, I have to go, bye" I hang up when I see him, Connor, my sort of ex-boyfriend who abused and manipulated me into dating him and ruined my other relationships with friends and boyfriends. Images of the past flash through my mind.

1 Year before

I'm 17, In my senior year of high school. When I was a freshman here I met a creepy guy who one time got handsy with me and when I shut him down he started to harass me all the time. I was too scared to tell anyone but I knew it needed to stop. A few weeks after I was threatened into dating him, he moved away. Now he was back at my school and had been getting more violent than before and had tried to assault me in various ways, like shoving me into walls, lockers, or tables, and when he got the chance he would get the chance, he would throw random things at me.

I'm walking down the hallway one day holding hands with my boyfriend, Day, when I get hit in the head. Before I can turn around to see who it is, there is a hand on my butt, squeezing it, hard.

"HEY," I scream turning to see Connor looking at me with his crazy-looking eyes.
He doesn't pay any attention to me as he looks at Day with no hesitation he says" She's been cheating on you with me for months" the looks back at me with a look of victory.

Jay let's go of my hand and looks at me with anger " really" and walks away

I look at Connor as he says " If j can't have you, I'll make sure you're always going to be alone."