I was on a losing streak. It all started when I missed a course-work deadline near the end of term. The university I went to had a pretty cool, laid back atmosphere, but the rules were contrastingly strict. A friend of mine got kicked out for plagiarism. She had cut some passage from the web and pasted it into her course-work and without even warning, she was packing her bags for home.
My situation wasn't quite as extreme as that, but they had this policy that late course-work wasn't even graded, and there was this other one about if any piece of course-work is ungraded then the student fails the module.
I had worked all summer long to pay off my student debts and at the expense of a social life, I managed it. I even had a little bit spare, but then things started going wrong when I got back to university. Because I had failed a module, I had to trail it and take it again, only second time round it was more expensive thanks to some other stupid rule that the university pulled out from... wherever.
So I was back in debt, worrying about how far my limited budget would stretch. And I was depressed too. After working all summer and not seeing my friends I needed to go out and have fun. Usually a bit of shopping cheers me up, but that was now out of the question. I just couldn't shake the thought of all my summer work wasted because I got the deadline wrong. It was so frustrating.
To try and cheer me up, my friend Tanya convinced me to go out with her for a couple of drinks on her. She said she didn't mind because I don't drink that much and the student bars were pretty cheap anyway. It was a good night and I was really starting to feel better, right up to the point when I noticed my handbag was missing, along with some loose cash and my credit card.
After that, I stayed in my room for days. I was too depressed to go to lectures and I started to lose my appetite, but I didn't want history to repeat because I couldn't afford to retake my entire year. I needed to climb out of this hole I'd gotten myself into and get myself together. I decided the solution was window shopping, after all there's nothing wrong with dreaming about the things you can't have.
I had wandered around for a little over an hour trying on clothes and shoes. Without the thrill of buying, I was getting pretty bored and decided that my last stop would be to check out some cd's. Straight away I noticed something that I really, really wanted, but with no money or cards I'd have to wait. With a sigh, I put it back. As I looked up, my eyes met with a guy in the opposite aisle. He looked away almost instantly, but my gaze lingered. He was really cute with dark hair and wore a chest hugging T-shirt that showed off his athletic body. It had been a long time since I had been with a guy and couldn't help imagining him running his hands all over my body as I watched him move away from me. I looked back down at the cd and brought myself back to reality just incase he noticed I was staring at him.
It was then that I noticed that the plastic around the small magnetic security tag was torn. Perhaps someone had tried to peel it off. It would be so easy to finish the job, I thought. I looked around and was satisfied that nobody was looking. I couldn't see where that guy had gone. I had always considered myself a very principled person and had never stolen anything in my life, but now I was fed up. It was about time I got some good luck and if it wasn't going to land in my lap, then I'd just have to make some for myself.
I could feel my fingers trembling and my heart racing as I slowly pulled on the security tag free of the cd. As I did, my eyes darted left and right to make sure I wasn't being watched. The adrenaline rush was overwhelming and it became difficult to breathe. If anyone was watching, it must have been so obvious what I was about to do. I took one last desperate look around, but it was so hurried that I wouldn't have noticed if anyone was watching. I dropped the cd into my bag and started briskly towards the door. I was close to panic and it seemed like everyone in the shop was there to get in my way. I was relieved when I got to the doors and the alarm didn't go off, but the relief was short lived.
"Hold it!" I heard someone say as a strong arm took hold of mine and hauled me back inside the shop. My heart sank and I felt like crying. It was like it wasn't real and I wasn't really there as if it was some bad dream. I suddenly became aware of the other customers in the shop looking at me as I was dragged over to the office at the other end of the shop. I lowered my head, allowing my long brown hair to cover my face, hoping that no-one would recognise me.
Inside the security office were some lockers and a table as well as two men sat at a desk with several CCTV monitors on. They were both looking at me. The one on the left was grinning. He must have been in his early thirties, but he was obese so it was difficult to tell. He was almost bursting out of his uniform which had big wet patches under his arms. The other guy was a lot older and looked like he smoked 100 a day. He had receding black hair, streaked with grey and gave a sneer which wrinkled his ugly face.
"Put your bag on the table." Said the third. I looked up at him and noticed that it was the guy who was looking at me earlier! I felt so weak. I never even thought that a guy like that might be looking at me because he was a store detective. I obeyed him.
"This is Chris and Mick. If you even try to claim that this is your cd I'm sure they can show you filmed evidence that you didn't pay for it," He said as he emptied the contents of my bag on the table, removing the cd and my student ID. "Charlotte. Your name right? Unless you stole this too."
"No, that's mine. I've never stolen anything before today" I said lamely. They all looked unconvinced. "Honestly!"
"Yeah, yeah." Said the fat one. "Don't you think we've heard that one before? Like every time we catch a shoplifter. The old 'I've never done it before' routine."
"I'm getting quite sick of it to be honest," Said the smoker. "But the story changes in court. Once we prosecute, then we find out that they're habitual thieves."
"But I'm telling you I've never done this before! It was a mistake, I..."
"You bet it was a mistake. Such a waste. Read her, her rights, Phil. Let's get her down to the police station."
"Wait!" I protested as the store detective, who I took to be Phil, pulled out a notebook. "Please! You don't have to do this! I can't afford to lose any more study time. I'd be kicked off my course!"
"That would be a waste." The smoker, who I found out to be Mick agreed.
"The only thing is," Said Chris. "If we let you go, that would mean we weren't doing our jobs. We'd need some sort of compensation."
"But I don't have any money."
"Oh, I'm sure a pretty young girl like you can think of some... other compensation."
Something in his voice made me shiver. I looked at the others. Mick was nodding with a wry smile which creased his face while Phil leant on the table looking quite nonchalant.
There was a knock at the door and one of the cashiers entered.
"You guys gonna be long?" Chris nodded. "Well we're all going home. I'll leave it to you to lock up." He said throwing a set of keys to the security guard and left. Chris leaned forward, in his chair.
"What do you think lads? You think Charlotte can compensate us?"
"I think so!" Mick said with an enthusiastic laugh. Thankfully, Phil didn't seem so eager.
"She's not really my type." Chris stood up and unfastened his belt and unzipped his fly.
"So what's it to be Charlotte? Court or compensation?"
 
                             
                         
                         
                         
                         
                         
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                