She felt the buzz of her phone as soon as the message came in. Beth had put it on silent to avoid any distractions while driving, an act she was proud of herself for, and at last when she laid on her back to rest from the long day of driving and unpacking, she had placed her phone over her belly, enjoying the slight weight of it against her slim body.
She mumbled, silently cursing whoever was interrupting her rest, but it was still a habit of hers to answer calls and texts immediately, rare as they once had been. Sitting up, she unlocked her phone and tapped the messages icon, still seeing the ungodly amount of unanswered text messages, of which there were significantly more now, and checking what the most recent one was.
An unknown number. An unknown sender. Her green eyes widened, thumb shaking as she tapped to view it.
"Good afternoon Bethany,
This is the Devil's Hotline customer service team. We understand you spoke with one of our customer acquisition specialists a few nights ago and are ecstatic to hear that you have chosen to take advantage of the new client special!
While we are eager to embark on this journey with you, we would be remiss to not provide you with the best customer care and service possible. That is why every customer acquisition specialist also serves as your personal and direct liaison to the Devil's Hotline at all times. Paired with us, the customer service team, we believe we offer the highest in quality customer service.
However, we regret to inform you that your personal agent has been terminated from the Devil's Hotline team due to extenuating circumstances. As a result of this truly unique situation, we have taken the liberty of promoting you to our A Star client package, all at no additional cost to you. The A Star client package includes:
- Access to all A level priority queues. (new services, troubleshooting, and upgrade services)
- Assignment to an A level priority customer care agent.
- Discounted rates on all future services.
- Access to all A level services and lower.
- One free gift voucher for new or upgraded service (at A level or below).
- All previous B Star and C star rewards. (Details provided upon request)
You may have noticed that your chosen Beauty upgrade exceeded the D Star new client advertising. That is a result of your new A Star assignment. We hope the results were satisfactory and would like to extend our most sincere apologies for the confusion. We will be connecting you to your new A level customer care agent as soon as the transfer has finalized in one week's time.
Thank you again for your valued business!
- The Devil's Hotline customer service team"
Beth shut her phone off and tossed it to the far side of her bed. It was all too much. Far too much and she was too tired to make any sense of it all. Dreams, nightmares, reality. She didn't care which she was stuck in anymore. If this was her life now, then it was the fresh new start she had spent hours trying to cheat her way to on that fateful night. A true opportunity at a new life. Yes, she had too many questions to count. But she also, apparently, had an A level customer care agent being assigned to her. That was where she'd get her answers. So until then, there really wasn't anything to do but rest and get acquainted with life as the new and improved Bethany Miller.
------
Bethany woke up the next morning dripping with sweat. Not in her bed, but standing outside the entrance to her dorm room. She was dressed in a rather form-fitting exercise fit -- complete with black and gold running shoes, white yoga pants sheer enough to see the dark outline of her black panties underneath, black sports bra, and a white scrunchy pulling her hair back into a high ponytail. She wasn't out of breath, but her lungs had that heavy feeling to them like she'd just run a mile, or ten. She didn't feel bad. If anything she had that post-gym glow to her and felt ready to take on the world. Though, perhaps that could wait until after a shower.
Beth figured that was a part of the Beauty package. If diet was taken care of, then it wasn't a stretch to assume exercise was too. She'd just have to make sure to get enough rest at night if her body was going to wake up and workout on autopilot every morning.
She noticed her dorm key was in her hand. She'd been assigned to one of the old houses at Yale. The kind that rich people or those with connections seemed to all get into "by chance". That wasn't a part of the Devil's Hotline, a name she still had yet to fully process the significance of. It was a part of being the only daughter to the most rich and most affluent people in the town she was raised in. Perhaps in the whole area. So if they got her into Yale in the first place, it only made sense that they had made it a point to get her into one of the "better" dorms. It made her wonder if ugly Beth's parents had done the same.
She knew it was unhealthy to call her old self "ugly Beth". Especially because she still considered that version of Bethany Miller to be the real one. Yet, she used the name anyway because it helped differentiate the two in her mind, despite being the same person. For now, she needed to organize all of her thoughts, and separating the two seemed like the easiest place to start.
Beth made to open her door when she heard another door down the hall shut. Her head turned reflexively and she found herself staring at man. He didn't seem too much older than her, but neither did he have that wide-eyed look of wondering were to go as soon as you walk out of any door like she did and the rest of the few newbies she'd seen moving in the day before.
Their eyes met, her's green and his' a dark brown, almost black. Mysterious, in a way. He was tall, with a wide chest and shoulders, and a trim waist. He seemed athletic, if only his arms weren't so big. Too bulky, unless his sport was simply being or looking like the strongest guy in the room. Yet, neither was he one of those bloated-looking bodybuilders. A mix of the two, with too much muscle to run around on a field or court, yet not enough to compete on anything but amateur stages. She wasn't sure what that made him, except hot.
His loose, shaggy black hair made him seem like some Venice Beach fitness guru, but the unbothered look in his eyes and the tight smile he flashed at her made Beth stand a little straighter, pulling her shoulders back just a bit as her chest -- still plenty perky enough even trapped within a sports bra -- pushed out in response.
It was subconscious. She waved back to him and that made him flash a now toothier grin. Perfectly white, because of course he had perfect teeth. He was attractive, so much so it was almost an objective truth. But not her type at all... mentally. Physically, her body felt warmer with every step he took. She could even feel the heat in her face as she was forced to look away or he'd see just how flushed she was. Her thighs pressed together, and she could feel it there. Wet, wanting, and waiting.
It terrified her. Her key was in the lock and she burst through the door in one quick movement, shutting it behind her and locking the door just as swiftly.
