Exposed: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

Maybe she thought I’d find something she didn’t want me to see.
    I posed for Andy almost two weeks straight and I’d bought so many new clothes that laundry wasn’t necessary yet. Not to mention the hangers upon hangers of clothes Andy bought for me. “I want my girl to look like a princess,” he’d say. I couldn’t deny that. Or anything he said for that matter.
    I felt beautiful, loved, and high on life. Oh, and how could I forget? In love for the first time to an older guy with enough stars in his eyes to fill the universe. Pretty cool, considering only two months ago the entire world stepped on the backs of my shoes and made me feel worthless. It’s like my “average” beauty and intelligence wasn’t worth the world’s acknowledgement.
    I grabbed my keys and left my apartment in search of my first laundry detergent. When I entered Walgreens, I remembered sitting on the curb talking to Andy and couldn’t be more thankful for the decision I made. Easy money, easy job, and I found love.
    As I walked down the aisles I noticed my confidence had increased. Finally I raised my shoulders, instead of rushing in and out of stores hoping no one from high school would see me and make fun of me for something.
    I made my way down aisle nine, otherwise known as laundry detergent heaven.
    “Let’s see,” I whispered aloud. “Tide, All, Arm & Hammer—why are there so many?”
    “Oh, look who it is.” A familiar voice rattled my heart.
    I turned to see Angela Bright, the girl who spent her high school years being rude to me, standing in the middle of her posse.
    “What?” she said. “You work here or something? Don’t got much of a life, do ya? Just graduated and spending your life at Walgreens.”
    Little did she know.
    She continued whispering about me as I turned to analyze detergents. Her words slid off my heart like a kid down a Slip and Slide. A few seconds later she walked away with giggly friends, spitting at me with her words. It took all I had not to turn around and spit in her face for real, but Andy’s words softened my response. You’re my glamour girl. I needed to live up to that. Not that I’d have the nerve to spit in her face anyway.
    I settled on Tide and went back to my apartment to wash three loads of clothes. I shrank seven shirts and discolored a few more.
    Oh well, you live, you learn.
    A few days later while I admired the new bed Andy bought me for my apartment, he called to ask if I’d be interested in a sparkling new car.
    “Of course,” I said, sitting on the floor beside my bed.
    “Okay, princess. Only one thing, I need you to do a little video shoot. No biggie. It’ll be quick, I promise. You’ll get a brand new car, paid off, and an extra $1,500 for a little video.”
    My heart knotted.
    “For me?” His candy-coated words tempted me.
    “Are you sure you want me to be in a video?”
    “Of course I do, sweetheart. There’s no one more beautiful. I told you I’d make you a star, didn’t I?”
    “Don’t you have other models who could do that?”
    “They already do. I need someone fresh and young.”
    I didn’t want to lose him. That’s the only reason I said yes. The money, the car, the glamour life?those things were nothing compared to my love for Andy. I wanted to please him and I didn’t care what it cost me. Eh, scratch that, I needed to please him.
    The next day I walked into his house. He gave me lingerie to wear, told me how he wanted me to do my makeup, then positioned me on his couch. A man walked in. Older, like he could’ve been my dad, only nowhere near as handsome.
    I looked at Andy.
    He smiled. “You ready?”
    “Who’s that?” I nodded to the balding man.
    “Paul. He’s going to be in this one with you.”
    I gulped. My ears and cheeks burned. Baldy looked me up and down. Andy stood behind the camera.
    “Ready in three,” he said.
    The camera started rolling and Baldy approached me.
    He didn’t tell me a guy would be in the video with me.