Tainted Souls

Chapter Three

I was completely exhausted by the time that I finished my morning classes. It was better to not have afternoon classes during the fall semester due to how dark and creepy it was outside. My afternoon 'class' was quickly morphing into an unwelcome personal errand run as Maverick Medici's maid.

I fought the urge to screech into my pillow and fling it across the room. He had somehow gotten ahold of my number from Taj, who had gotten my number from going through Keisha's contacts. He was able to do that when he put his number in her phone because she had agreed to be his fake girlfriend. I was still shocked when she agreed to the agreement, considering how Taj would continue his terrifying mind games.

It had been haunting all of a sudden to hear that text notification out of nowhere, considering that Keisha and I mostly talked face to face. We rarely texted.

The message had said: Remember the deal. I'll give you until six pm to start doing servant and maid duty. Or else, you're gonna regret it. Remember who has all the power and wealth.

I sighed in apprehension, still remembering that message. It was five thirty pm now. Thirty minutes until hell...

"It's official! I'm going "IG official" with Taj fucking Mendoza tonight," Keisha declared as she plopped onto her bed—which was on her side of the room— that afternoon. "I barely even use Instagram, considering how unpopular I am and the fact that I'm not into the whole conformity thing."

"Hey, I'm not even on Instagram," I reminded her. "Or any other social media platform, really. I'm just on Facebook, remember?"

"Speaking of social media, Taj told me that Maverick has no social media at all. Figured that it would be useful for you to know that," she told me.

"I don't know if it even makes a difference. I mean, Sasha is still updating him on all the latest news," I pointed out. "And people still know who he is, even without him posting thousands of photos per week like Sasha."

"Well, just letting you know. Either way, Taj could have chosen to be popular if he wanted to be, but he didn't. But he chose to be in solitude in Maverick. It's almost as if Maverick is hiding something. It's not like stupid Taj will tell me anything just because I try to bribe or manipulate him. He won't ever betray Maverick," Keisha added.

I didn't know what to say to that. I heard a vehement laugh from outside the dorms and realized that it was Maverick.

Just great. He had arrived earlier than six. This was the worst. He didn't even hesitate to open the door. Darn it! Stupid me should have locked it! But since Keisha and I were both home right now, I had assumed that it would be okay. I didn't think about the fact that this bully would just barge in when I should have.

"I-I thought I had until six pm," I stammered.

That brooding scowl on his face seemed permanent. It was scarier seeing him in my dorm room than in class. At least in public, he could put up a fake act. Although, he still did have a devil-may-care attitude either way. But he was bound to behave worse when there weren't people observing him.

"You have to get your maid uniform first. You're cleaning my room before cooking for me," he responded back impassively.

"A maid uniform?" I echoed, feeling more angered than ever. "No way. That is just stooping to another level. Listen. I might not be wealthy like the majority of the students at SFCU. But I'm not dirt poor to the point where I should be a maid. Besides, I shouldn't wear the outfit of a maid if it's not my real profession. How would that make other real maids feel? And that just implies that I'm from a low income family—which is something that you shouldn't mock either."