A Rose By Any Other Name

Chapter 3: Privacy

The next day I took a walk down to the record shop to look around. I got paid last night and decided to do some shopping.

Inside I was greeted with the smell of old people. I didn't mind it having lived with my grandma for the past 7 years.

I walked around until someone spotted me. "Hello. Are you looking for anything special?" He asked with a smile.

I returned the favor. "Not really, just looking around." He nodded and put his hands in his pockets.

"You're new." He stated. Looking me up and down he let out a laugh. "Welcome to Kroy." He nodded at me and walked back to the counter.

How nice, I thought.

Walking about, running my hand along the stacks of CD's, I started to feel as if someone was watching me. Glancing up I made eye contact with a girl. She stared back with dark orbs. Her dark hair was cut short, pulled back by a cap.

She was holding a Queen record. I smiled to relieve some tension. "That's a good record," I said noticing it was the, A Night at the Opera record.

She was snapped out the trance she was in and looked down at the record. She nodded. "Yeah," her voice was deep for a woman. I felt my heart rate pick up. Without looking up she spoke again. "What's your name?" It was more of a statement.

"Allison." As soon as I spoke she locked eyes with me and smiled. It was the type of smile that gave me the feeling she knew more about me than I thought.

She shifted and put a hand in her back pocket. "Name's Jules," her eyes ran up and down my body. I tried not to blush so much. "See ya around." And then she walked away leaving me sexually confused.

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Back in my little, crappy apartment I tried to gather my thoughts and get ready for work that night.

While I was out I picked up a few outfits for tonight. Piper told me I could borrow anything of hers, but having my own stuff was nice.

Once I was inside my little house, I walked to the counter. Setting the bags down, I grabbed out an envelope and wrote: RENT MONEY on it. Stuffing $350 into it, I sighed because I knew what I had to do.

Sealing the envelope with my spit, I prepared myself to go and talk to Joe. At this time of day he was probably still sleeping next to the girls he had over last night.

I stepped out of the door, leaving it slightly ajar in case I needed to get away fast, and walked down the hall to his room. I didn't want to talk to him at the moment, so I wrote my name on the envelope and slipped it under the door. I held my breath and slowly walked away. Just as I was about to my door, another one opened.

"Allison, baby, come join us." I cringed hard and turned around.

"No, that's okay, Joe. I have to get ready for work. All the money is there." I said pointing to the paper on the floor.

He looked at it, then back up to me. He gave me a wicked smiled and started coming my way. I had a bad feeling about all of this and started to run towards my door, only to be grabbed by my arm and spun around.

Joe was inches from my face. He smelled of beer. I gagged a little. He was stronger than I was, so when I tried to push him off he held on quite alright. "Joe get off of me." I demanded.

The looks he gave me before throwing me down sent shivers down my spine. He turned and walked back to his room with a slam of the door. I was left dazed and shaken.

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"What the fuck?" Piper was on her hands a knees looking for something when I walked in. Setting my bag down, along with my new outfit, I walked over to her.