The journey begins.
Part One: From Innocence Born
The summer between high school graduation and my first semester of college, I took a job in the mall at a casual-dining restaurant. I had never waited tables before, but caught on pretty quickly. I had always been friendly and a little outgoing, and even though I had rarely spent too much time around guys (I attended an all-girl Catholic high school), I wasn't too awkward at flirting and got better as time went on.
Being young, blonde, pretty and slender, and blessed with my father's good work ethic, I did well at my new job. I made some friends, earned some regular guests (we don't call them 'customers' in the restaurant biz) and made more money than I thought I would. Like a lot of kids, I was clueless about how much money a waiter or waitress could make, and was pretty impressed the first time I took home a hundred bucks after a five-hour shift.
The money helped a lot, since my parents didn't have much money to throw around. They paid my tuition, but it was up to me to pay for everything else. Not wanting to stay at home (it was too far from school), I got a little efficiency apartment of my own, and my bills and all other incidental costs ate up most of what I made.
By the time classes started and I bought all my books and school supplies, I realized I wasn't making as much money as I thought I was. I wanted to buy a car, since I hated getting up two hours early just to take the bus to school, but dreaded the prospect of a car payment and insurance and gas and . . . .
Anyway
.
It was just a couple of weeks into the fall semester. I had fallen into a routine of going to class during the day, then heading to the mall and hanging out for a couple of hours, having lunch, window-shopping and reading books at the Barnes & Noble, before reporting to work at four o'clock. I worked five days a week, Wednesday through Sunday, mostly night shifts. While I enjoyed the occasional hundred-dollar night, most days I usually made about half that. Still, waiting tables was better than standing behind a counter and asking 'you want regular or curly-fries?'
On this particular day β a Wednesday, I remember β I sat at a table in the mall's food court around two in the afternoon, reading my notes from class and munching on chicken fried rice. The dress code at the restaurant called for blue jeans and a yellow polo shirt with the company logo on it. The jeans I was wearing; the shirt and my balled-up apron were stuffed in my backpack, as always, and I wore a simple green tank. I was just another girl in the crowd, I figured.
At one point, I looked up, cracking my neck and popping my back as I twisted in my chair. Going over the basics of economics had become repetitive, to the point where I wasn't even ingesting the words I had jotted down or those printed in the text book. I needed a break, a diversion . . . .
I saw them standing by the little hallway in the food court that lead to the bathrooms. A tall, skinny blonde guy and a shorter, if equally skinny Hispanic. I didn't think either of them were more than a few years older than I. They wore nice clothes, sported expensive watches and had good hair cuts.
Regular studs
, I thought. I had seen a lot of guys like that since I started waiting tables. They always flirted with me.
But these guys weren't flirting. They were staring. And grinning. And not exactly in a 'hey, you're pretty cute' kind of way. It was more like a 'I wanna do dirty, disgusting things with you' kind of way.
I looked away from them, dropping my head and staring down at my plate. I didn't like the way they were
leering
at me (that was a word my father always used when describing 'disreputable' boys). I felt suddenly self-conscious in my tight jeans and tank. I only wore clothes like that because that's what all the other girls wore, and I wanted to blend in. Suddenly, I wished I had on a big, loose sweater and an ankle-length skirt.
The guys I worked with β all of them older than me β flirted with me a lot, and I always flirted back, but it was all harmless. Having had practically no experience with boys β beyond a little kissing and some touchy-feely at inter-school dances β I was nervous about dating. My strong Christian background compelled me to think of sex as nothing more than a means of procreation, not something to be indulged in casually. I always figured that I would lose my virginity on my wedding night and be a good wife and mother, just like my mom.
So, while inexperienced, I wasn't naΓ―ve, and I could pretty much tell what those two boys were thinking. That made me feel both mad, and . . . and something else. Something that made my face warm and brought a little tingle to my crotch, right on that little button that I sometimes rubbed at night, alone in my room, thinking about Leonardo DiCaprio.
God, was he sexy
. . . .
After an eternity and a half, I looked back up and saw that the boys had left.
Thank God
. I really had to go to the bathroom β I was dancing in the plastic chair β but I had been afraid to get up while the boys were standing by the hallway to the restrooms. Seizing my chance, I grabbed my bag and quick-stepped down the corridor, pushing open the door to the ladies' room and finding an unoccupied stall.
I sighed as I relieved myself, wiped, flushed, washed my hands in the sink and applied some powder. I prided myself on my appearance. I had practically flawless skin and knew that most guys considered me a 'hottie.' My blonde hair was long, straight, and very fine, reaching almost to my waist. I always thought my hips were too narrow, and I didn't like my pear-shaped breasts with their big, puffy areolas. I felt suddenly self-conscious in my tight shirt. Even with my bra, my nipples showed.
I checked the time on my cell phone β I had about an hour before I had to get to work β and figured I would head down to the Kincaid Gallery and look at some of the pieces by the Master of Light that I could not yet afford.
I stepped out into the hallway . . . and there they were. The same two guys, flanking the hall just before it angled back toward the food court. They looked like they had been waiting for me, considering their lecherous grins and they way they nodded to each other.
I swallowed nervously, my heart hammering. Shouldering my backpack, I started to walk between themβ
"Hey, honey."
I froze, automatically looking to the Hispanic guy. I knew instantly that I should not have done that. I should have kept going. Salvation was a turn of the heel and thirty feet away. I could hear the buzz of a dozen conversations in the food court, mingled with the tinny music wafting out from hidden speakers. I could find safety and anonymity in the crowd. But here, in this hallway, it was just me and these two boys.
I met the Hispanic guy's eyes. He wasn't much taller than me, maybe five-seven, and he had that overly self-confident look that always kind of bothered me. 'Smooth,' was the term. I hated smooth.
"What's your name, baby?" he asked.
I knew I should have just kept going. What could they really do, anyway? But there was something about him β or maybe something about me β that kept me rooted to the floor. "Alyssa," I said, and nervousness spiked again, especially when I caught the tall blonde guy from the corner of my eye, stepping closer. "U-um, I gotta get going. M-my boyfriend's waiting for me."
The Hispanic guy chuckled. "Your boyfriend, huh?"
I swallowed again, my mouth dry. I wished I hadn't left my Diet Coke on the table. "Uh-huh."
"So what'cha gonna go do with your boyfriend, huh?" he asked, sliding closer.