Watch Me (Suncoast University Book 2) Read online

  Allie Winters

  Watch Me

  Copyright © 2019 by Allie Winters

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  First edition

  ISBN: 9781733130615

  This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy

  Find out more at reedsy.com

  Contents

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  23

  24

  25

  26

  27

  28

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Also by Allie Winters

  1

  Samantha

  “Where is it, where is it?” I mutter under my breath, moving aside towels, rolls of toilet paper, and all the other accumulated junk in the cabinet underneath the bathroom sink. I tuck my curly, blonde hair behind my ears when it falls in front of my face, obscuring my vision.

  “Yeah, girlie. I found your stash. Can’t believe you’ve been holding back on us.”

  I whip around from my spot on the floor to find my mom’s boyfriend standing in the doorway, his face spread wide in a smug smile.

  My heartbeat picks up. He discovered my savings? Okay, act calm. Don’t buy into his game. “Rob, this door was closed. You can’t just barge in on me.”

  “Now I know why this is the first place you go every time you come home from work. You’re not going to the bathroom. You’re hiding your money.”

  His missing front tooth taunts me from his smarmy grin and I can’t help the panic that rises within me. I dive into the small cabinet underneath the sink, finding the box of tampons in the very back I use as a cover, opening it up to find it empty. I toss it aside, reaching in again to wedge my hand down into the hole at the bottom of the cabinet, meeting nothing but air.

  I straighten from my crouched position, rising above Rob, my five foot, eleven inch stature looking down by inches onto him. From here, I can see the balding spot on the top of his head along with his bloodshot eyes.

  “You can’t take that,” I hiss. “It’s mine. I earned it.” I’m normally an easy-going person, but something about him sets me on edge and makes my skin crawl.

  He doesn’t appear at all intimidated by me, scratching his chin idly. “Seems to me you owe me some back rent. You been living in my house close to a year. I’m owed some compensation.”

  “Living in your house?” Is he serious with this right now? “You mean sleeping on the couch in your trailer? I don’t even eat your food.”

  “Water, electricity,” he ticks off on his fingers, “plus interest. Yeah, I think this chunk of change should cover it nicely.”

  I have almost two thousand dollars saved. That money will help me pay for a security deposit on the new apartment I’m moving to in two months. Any furniture or essentials I need. The portion of my college tuition that’s not covered by my scholarship. It’s the start of my new life.

  “I’ll call the police. Tell them you stole it.”

  “Girl, the way I see it, it’s your word against mine. I think I’ll say that my tenant here hasn’t been paying her rent, so I took what was owed me.”

  The urge to cry is strong, my head throbbing from the effort it takes to hold the tears back. I push the pain aside, unable to believe this is happening. My hiding spot’s been foolproof so far. Why would he be messing around with a box of tampons? Probably for some pervy reason I don’t want to know.

  I catch movement out of the corner of my eye, my mother hovering behind him.

  “Mom, are you just going to let him do this to me?”

  Rob shifts, giving me a better view of her. Her stringy blonde hair hangs limply around her face, her clothes hanging off her painfully thin build. She stares at me with dead eyes, likely high on something. God, she used to be so beautiful, but it’s just sad looking at her now.

  “Baby, it’s true you’ve been living here rent-free.” She gives me a loopy smile, so doped up I know my chances of getting through are slim, but I have to try anyway.

  “No one’s asked me for rent. If it was an issue, why didn’t you say something? Besides, I’ve been in high school. I’ve already had to pay for everything else. My food, my clothes, all my stuff for school. I haven’t even been to a doctor or dentist in years.”

  Some form of recognition flashes behind her eyes, but she wraps her arms around Rob’s thick waist instead.

  He smirks up at me. “Not really liking your attitude too much. How about you pack your things and leave? For good this time. Now that you’ve graduated, there’s no reason for you to be here anymore.”

  I stare at him, blindsided. I just graduated last week. “I- I don’t have a place to go. I’m not supposed to move out for another two months.”

  “Should’ve thought about that before you opened that big trap of yours, back talking to me.”

  I turn to my mom, begging her with my eyes. Pleading. I have no shame.

  “You can’t give me this one thing? Somewhere to sleep at night? Just for a little while?”

  “It’s Rob’s house. He makes the rules,” she says flatly.

  I take a brief moment for self-pity then set it aside, pinching my lips together, jaw set. “Got it. You won’t have to worry about me anymore.”

  I grab the few meager things I own, stuffing them into my worn duffel bag tucked under the couch. Anything else I can say is truly mine is already in my car.

  Maybe it’s worth the money just to finally be free of all this mess. At least they didn’t get the tips in my purse from my shifts at the diner last week. Or the money Aunt Kathy gave me for graduation. I haven’t had time to stash it away yet.

  I haul the bag out the front door of the rotting trailer, pausing in the doorway. “Any last words?” My tone reeks of sarcasm, but it completely flies over my mother’s head.

  “You’ll be fine, Sam,” she waves. “You’ve always been a fighter.”

  Yeah, I have, but that’s not the fucking point. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that she’s taking a guy’s side over mine. It’s been happening all my life. Why would this time be any different? It’s a shame she doesn’t know who my father is, or she could’ve pawned me off on him by now.

  I drag my stuff to my beat-up Corolla and get in, the engine catching a few times before it sputters to life. I back out of the grooved dirt path leading up to the trailer, neither Rob nor my mom bothering to watch me go.

  I call my Aunt Kathy, the only other parental figure I’ve ever had in my life, who lives about an hour west of us in the Florida Panhandle. She doesn’t pick up her cell so I try her landline. Yes, she still actually has one of those. It rings and rings until the answering machine picks up.

  Hi, you’ve reached the Richards house. If you need us, you’ll have
to wait a week because we are sailing in the Caribbean!

  I press the red phone icon savagely, ending the call. I forgot they were going on vacation once my younger cousins’ school term ended. I love my aunt, but how stupid is it to broadcast that you’ll be out of town? You’re practically asking people to rob your house.

  Okay, calm down. Stop being mean. Where else can I go?

  I drive aimlessly for a few minutes, mulling over my options. I don’t have any close friends, never have. No one’s wanted to be friends with Smelly Sam. Once that nickname was given to me in second grade, it stuck and I’ve never been able to shake it.

  I’ll be living further south when I start at Suncoast University for the Fall semester, but that’s not for another two months from now. The girl I’m moving in with, Lindsay, will have a room in her apartment available in August. What am I supposed to do till then?

  I head toward the interstate, knowing my best option is to crash with my older cousin Luke until I can figure out a living situation. I stayed at his place a few months ago when I went to a weekend music festival Aunt Kathy bought me tickets for. He said then that if I ever needed anything from him to just ask.

  I never intended to take him up on that, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

  * * *

  Five hours later, I pull up to Luke’s apartment complex, where he and his girlfriend, Charlotte, meet me out front, despite the late hour.

  I step out of the car, giving them a weary smile, incredibly grateful he was so understanding and insistent I stay with him when I called. I hate depending on charity, but I tell myself I’d do the same for him if he ever needed it to make myself feel better.

  “I’ll grab your stuff,” he says, enveloping me in a bear hug, his big body cocooning me safely. Everything seems a little more right with family who actually cares about me on my side. “You go on up with Charlotte and relax.”

  She waves hesitantly at me from the curb, twisting a lock of her dark brown hair around one finger. We got off to a bad start when we first met, although I didn’t know it at the time. She mistook me for Luke’s hookup and/or girlfriend, which led to a huge blowup between the two of them, but that’s all in the past now.

  It’s late so we all go straight to bed, me on Luke’s couch, at my insistence. Oh God, it’s so much more comfortable than the lumpy-springed mess Rob has.

  Things seem better in the morning after a hot shower in a bathroom that isn’t the size of a postage stamp.

  “I’ll ask my friend Becca and her boyfriend if they know anyone looking for a roommate,” Charlotte tells me as I join the two of them for bowls of cereal in the living room. “Between the two of them, they’re bound to find someone.”

  “Awesome. I really appreciate it,” I smile at her.

  “Mom would always let you live with her for the summer if you want, once they come back from vacation. You’re welcome to stay here too,” Luke adds.

  “That’s super sweet of you, but at this point, I might as well find my own place. Now that I’ve had time to process it all, I’m actually kind of excited about it. I just hope there’s someone out there who only needs a temporary roommate for the summer.”

  “I’m sure you’ll find something. Lots of students go back home during summer session, so someone must have an empty room.”

  “Thanks, guys. Well, I’m off to find a job.”

  “What, just like that?” Charlotte asks.

  “Um, yeah. I need money. Anything will do for now.” I hop up off the couch and finish getting ready, slinging my purse over my shoulder and blowing them a kiss goodbye from the front door. “See ya’ll tonight!”

  The day I turned sixteen I started working at Good Eats, my neighborhood’s local diner, as a waitress. It’s not my life’s calling by any means, but I was good at it and made okay money, better than a retail job at least. I feel guilty about having to quit, but the now five hour commute kind of makes it impossible to keep working there.

  I decide to stick with the familiar and look for another serving job.

  Circling around Luke’s neighborhood, I spot a cute restaurant with a yellow and white striped awning outside. The sign above it says Patty’s Diner and just my luck, there’s a Help Wanted notice in the window. Score.

  I park and head inside, where vintage red leather booths line the perimeter of the restaurant. The counter running nearly the length of the place is edged in chrome and has stools with blue-collar workers sitting on them, drinking cups of coffee. A rotating pie case sits in the center next to an old fashioned cash register. I wonder if they actually use it or if it’s just for display.

  A frazzled older woman with a blonde bob and graying roots stops short when she sees me, craning her neck up to fully look me up and down. Yeah, I get that a lot.

  “Table for one, hon?” she asks, grabbing a menu and roll of silverware. Her yellow gingham uniform is faded, an unidentifiable stain on her white apron.

  I hitch my purse higher on my shoulder, gazing around at the cracked but clean checkered linoleum floor, the broken jukebox in the corner, the mouth-watering pies on display. Definitely not too uppity in here, but not completely gross either. Yeah, this place will do fine.

  “Actually, I’m here about the Help Wanted sign. I’m Samantha.” I hold my hand out to her, giving her a friendly smile. “I’m not sure what position you’re looking for, but I have three years experience waitressing and I’m willing to do whatever needs doing.”

  She stares at me for a moment, her eyes going wide, then sets the menu and silverware down to vigorously pump my hand.

  “I’m Patty. Oh, bless your heart child. Can you start right now?”

  “Now?”

  “Susie quit yesterday and we were already short-staffed to begin with. It’s just me running around like a chicken with my head cut off. You think you can help with the tables this morning?”

  I nod, unable to believe my luck.

  Her shoulders drop in relief. “Go around the counter and grab an apron and notepad. Tables five and six over there,” she points at the last two booths, “need their orders taken. I’ll handle the counter and you take the booths. Consider it your interview.”

  “I’m on it.” I jump into action, tying an apron around my waist, a wide smile overtaking my face. What are the chances I’d get hired at the first place I tried?

  Well, I think I was hired. I’m doing work and she used the word interview. Am I even getting paid right now? Eh, I’ll figure it out later. At the very least, I don’t have any other plans for the day and I’ll keep the tips from my tables.

  I work alongside Patty for the rest of the morning and through the lunch rush. Luckily, I understand the diner lingo already and there’s nothing too crazy on the menu. When customers ask what’s good, I smoothly suggest the big breakfast combo. When we run out of sausage, I offer bacon instead. Between twelve and two, I upsell all the desserts until the pie case is wiped clean.

  When the night shift waitress, Carrie, comes in at three to take over, I finally sit down, my feet on fire. I definitely did not wear the right shoes to be doing this all day.

  Patty slides in slowly on the bench seat next to me after Carrie clocks in, her knee popping as she bends it. “These old bones ain’t what they used to be,” she sighs. “You were an angel sent to me today. I don’t know how I would’ve made it through without you.” I blush at the compliment, glad she recognized how hard I was trying with no preparation.

  She has paperwork in her hands for me to fill out and as I take the pen from her, she asks what I’d like to eat, on the house.

  “That is, if you can stand to stomach this stuff after seeing it all day.”

  “Well, I really do have to find something on the menu to recommend to customers,” I muse. Besides, everyone that came in seemed to like the food, so nothing could be too bad.

  When Patty leaves to take my filled out forms to her office, I snag my phone out of my purse, finding two missed texts from
Luke. The first asks how my job hunt is going and the second says Charlotte has exciting news for me about an apartment. I text back that I’ll be home soon.

  Javier, the day shift cook, brings my club sandwich out to my booth himself, setting it down in front of me. “You did good today, chica.” The man’s barely said two words to me all morning, communicating mostly in grunts, so I’ll take that as high praise.

  I gobble up my food in record time, not realizing till just now how much of an appetite I’d worked up throughout the day. I thank Patty again for the job before I leave, promising to come in tomorrow afternoon to fill in for the now absent Susie’s shift.

  As I drive home, Rise From the Ashes blasts from my car speakers, one of the best songs off of Velvet Swan’s album, my favorite band.

  “We will rise again,” I sing at the top of my lungs. “And from the ashes we’ll break free.”

  I belt out the song all the rest of the way home, the music infusing me with energy. They never fail to put me in a good mood.

  Luke and I head over to Charlotte’s apartment later for dinner, where I meet her best friend and roommate, Becca.

  “So, I put out some feelers and found someone who needs a roommate ASAP,” Becca tells me, taking a big bite of her taco, juice dripping out of the end. “Whoops.”

  These tacos are insanely delicious. I have no idea what Charlotte put in them, but I can’t stop eating them. Even though I had that whole club sandwich a few hours ago, I’m still able to eat three of them.

  “That’s awesome. Thank you so much.” I squeeze her hand, thankful beyond words that I already have a support system here that I never did back home. “Can you tell me anything about them?”

  “Her name is Audrey. She’s twenty-one, goes to Suncoast, and is a bartender at Empire.”

  “What’s Empire?”

  “Oh, it’s the best club in town,” Becca says excitedly. “My boyfriend, Josh, and I usually go there on Thursdays for college night when all the drinks are half price. So we’ve gotten to know her and she’s really cool.”

  “Okay, that sounds good.”

  “She lives in a three-bedroom apartment, so she has another roommate, but I’m not sure who it is. I think maybe her cousin or something?” She glances up and squints, like she’s trying to remember, but gives up and shakes her head. “Anyway, her other roommate up and left with hardly any warning. So, she’s stuck paying for the extra room and needs someone to move in right away. She said she can meet you tomorrow morning and you can check the place out.”