Needing You

Needing You

Copyright © 2013 by T. Renee Fike.

All Rights Reserved.

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means without prior written permission from the author.  This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’ imagination or are used fictitiously.  Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

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Acknowledgements

I first want to thank my mom, without you, I would not have been able to put this book out there!  Thank you for supporting me through this new journey! 

I also want to thank my friend Tyf, if it weren’t for you, I would never have tried my hand at writing! Thank you for the constant support and encouragement!

Thank you to a great group of beta girls, I appreciate all of your feedback and help/ideas for the story.

Prologue

Who would have thought life would turn out the way it has. 
Certainly not me!
  Growing up is anything but normal, well that’s not entirely true, it started normal and then became a real life nightmare.

How can a family go from loving and supportive to painful and abusive? How can you think you know someone and love them, only to find out they’re nothing more than a lie; a facade that they put on for you and everyone else in the community.

I know how horrible life can be.  It’s not rainbows and sunshine and not
happily ever after
. You trust no one but yourself, because trusting others allows you to put yourself in harm’s way and I will never do that again.

Chapter 1

The Present

I just found out I can graduate early, not that I’ll be sharing this information with my parents. I stop at the post office to check my mail.  That’s when I see a letter addressed to me, Laney Harper.
Please, please, please let this be it
. 

I open the letter and for the first time, I see my future; I’m accepted early into college in the spring semester. 
I can breathe
. 

I knew my hard work would pay off.  I just turned 18, so I’m legally considered an adult and now I am done with high school. I pack my bags while my parents are at work and I bounce, never looking back. 

I get on the bus with my one-way ticket,
college here I come
.  I’ve saved money by working as many hours as possible.  I needed to make sure I had a way out, if the opportunity presented itself. 

I know the bus ride is going to take forever, but that’s fine with me; it’s taking me to where I want to be and far away from the hell I’m in. No one will even know I’m gone, how sad is that?  I don’t have friends because what’s the point?  They come, they go, they act like they’re your friends only to turn around and talk behind your back;
yeah, I don’t need that
. 

I have enough bullshit in my life, so I’ll do without the extra high school drama. College will probably be the same way, but that’s alright. I’m going to study, get my degree, and start my career.  Who needs friends, boyfriends, anyone really?  I trust and depend on myself, that’s all I need, that’s all I’ve needed since I lost my sister.

You see, things used to be normal, but the day my sister died my entire world changed.  My parents were never the same and neither was I.  I couldn’t understand how things got to be the way they were and for a long time, I resented my dead sister.  She left me.  Unfortunately for me, things took a terrible turn for the worse after my sister’s death.  Nothing will ever be as it was and I will never be that small-town, happy-go-lucky girl. She died the same day my sister died.

After what feels like five days of hell on a bus, my body is achy and boy, I am hungry.  I need to stop and check places out, figure out where I’m living on campus, figure out where I can work part-time and get my life settled.  I finally make it to the college campus Registrar’s building, show them who I am, and figure out where my dorm is located. Thank goodness this place allowed me to start during the spring session with a dorm room; it’s almost unheard-of, but through persistent calling and talking to the Dean, they finally agreed.  I know I won’t have a roommate until the summer semester, because the girl I was to room with transferred schools, which is fine by me. I am so used to being by myself that this won’t bother me a bit.  The secretary gives me my id card, the key, food card, and a small map of where everything’s located.  I head out on my way to my new dorm, my new life. I open the door and I’m surprised, it is a decent size room.  I walk in further and it’s like a freaking apartment.  There’s a kitchen, living room, and it looks like two bedrooms down the hall with a bathroom.  Holy shit, this is awesome.  This is so much more than I bargained for. 

Now clearly, I don’t have much with me except my clothes and a few other necessities.  I’ll need to go out and purchase some stuff to furnish this amazing apartment.  I cannot even call this a dorm. Wow!  At least a couch, chair and TV come with it, which helps.  I throw my bag on the bed in the largest bedroom and walk out and plop myself onto the couch.  I can get used to this. 

I have a few weeks until my classes’ start, so I can get things into place prior to having to worry about my studies.  Since it’s early when I got here, I decide to go to the post office and change my address. I should change my name too so my parents can’t find me. Then again, I am not sure if they would come looking for me anyway. I hope not.  I make my way to the post office and update my address, then stop at a café across the street and get a coffee and a bagel.  I’m beyond starved.  I eat that and then decide to explore the area a bit.  This is going to be home so I need to get acquainted with it.  This place looks amazing; it’s a bit chilly, but nothing like back home. I pass some bookstores which I make note to stop in soon.  I find the mall with some small shops, and also find the grocery store.  I decide that’s probably the best place to start considering I have no food in my apartment. 

After completing my short grocery trip, I decide to head back to the dorm.  I put all my food away and decide to watch some tube.  See what’s going on in the rest of the world.  I end up watching some dumb reality TV show, and it’s not even reality because this shit is all made up, but whatever, not like I have anything better to do. I decide since today is my lazy day, tomorrow I will get up and go look for a part-time job.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning I wake up early, get showered, dressed and head out to look for a job.  I hope I can find something.  I mean I did work a bunch of odd end jobs back home, but that was because I needed anything that could get me out of that damn house.  The longer I was away the better, most days anyway.  My background is a little extensive.  I just know I need something that makes decent money.  School isn’t cheap.  I was lucky that I scored a scholarship, which helps to pay a little more than half my tuition, but the rest is up to me.  I tried to do a student loan but it asks for parent’s information and since I am only 18, banks have denied my request without a co-signer.  I have a decent amount saved up already, but it’s not enough to cover four years of college tuition.

I start at the bookstore, I love to read anyway so figure this might be a great stop.  I go in and the place is busy which is good, I look around and then walk up to the register and ask the girl behind the counter for an application, she hands me one but tells me they aren’t hiring right now.  I take the application and thank her anyway.  Oh well, on to the next stop.  I decide against the grocery store and mall because they only start out at minimum wage.  I think about waitressing and I sucked at it, but the tips were decent.  As I’m walking down the street, I pass a bar.  Bartending might be a way to go; you can get great tips and that is what I need.  I know how to mix some drinks so I am not stupid in this area but I have never bartended before.  I walk in and the place is pretty dead.  I go up to the bar and the older gentleman asks for my Id, clearly I am underage, I do have a fake Id though, but I am not here for a drink, I need a job damn it. 

“I was wondering if you are hiring right now,” I ask the older gentleman. He looks at me and says, “Honey, you wouldn’t make it too far in here,” and he chuckles. I have no idea what the hell he is talking about. “Excuse me,” I say. He looks at me and says, “These crowds can get pretty rowdy and you look too young and innocent to be able to handle that.”  I look him dead in the eye and tell him, “Trust me, it is no worse than I have ever seen or dealt with before.” 

Now he looks at me with his eyebrow raised and tells me to come to his office to talk. I follow the man to his office and he starts rattling off information and dates and times etc. Wow, my mind is going crazy right now with all the stuff he’s saying to me.  I do get there are multiple bouncers because the place tends to have bar fights in a ring on the first floor. Shit, I didn’t even realize the place was that big.  He also tells me that you cannot sleep with customers and never, under any circumstances, drink while working.  I tell him it’s not a problem.  I tell him a little about my background, that I came here because I start school in January and that I have to pay for my tuition, so I need a job….just the important little things.  He tells me to come in tomorrow at 10 a.m. to start my training. Wow, I’m so shocked right now; I never thought it would be that easy to get a job.  I thank the older gentleman whose name I now know as Eddie and walk out the door.  I am excited and the rest of my day flies by.  I cannot believe I have a job, I start tomorrow, I have a place to stay, I am going to school in January, and things could not get any better!

Chapter 2

I get to the bar called PowerTrip, my new employment, a little early.  You should never arrive late!  I walk in and see Eddie behind the bar.  I make my way over to him and he says “hey” and introduces me to the rest of the group, which are only four people.  Their names are Natalie, and she’s going to be training me behind the bar today; Susie who is waiting tables, Marcus who is stocking right now, but also helps tend bar, and last is Colin who is Eddie’s right hand man. I guess he oversees everything. The bouncers do not come in until later and I am told I need to meet each one personally, so they don’t confuse me with a customer. 

Everything seems great to me and I am a little bit nervous, but Natalie seems cool.  So I follow her as she gives me a tour of the bar.  Wow, this bar is a hell of a lot bigger than it looks from the outside.  It has two separate floors and a bar on both levels.  She does advise me that the bars are set up the exact same way so it won’t matter which one I work behind.  That is a blessing because I am already a little nervous.  On the second floor is where seating is for patrons to dine.  The bar offers a list of food choices, which is cool, and the waitresses tend to the tables.  The first floor is where the bands go and also when necessary, a ring is set up for a ring fight.  Natalie informs me this is not a common occurrence because the crowds tend to get out of hand, but that the fights happen at least every two months.  I’m nervous, as I don’t do well with blood. I hate boxing! Something about the sounds of breaking bones and blood makes me dizzy and I guess this is closer to MMA or something like that which can be much worse.  I am not sure. 

Natalie takes me behind the bar and she shows me where everything is found.  She starts talking to me about what shots I know and what drinks I know how to mix. Thank God I went to the café yesterday and looked up drinks and shots, I feel a lot more knowledgeable now.  She has me practice and tells me she is pretty impressed that I have never done this before.  Phew, that went well.  After my shift today, Natalie tells Eddie that I am a natural and needs no more training.  I am excited about this, but also nervous.  Eddie seems impressed and tells me he has some paperwork for me to fill out and he will get me on the schedule ASAP! I cannot wait. I complete the paperwork, we discuss a salary, and he gives me a schedule for the rest of this week. The beginning of my new life is off to an awesome start, now hopefully it stays this way!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I have been working for the past week and a half at PowerTrip and I must say I love this bar.  The tips have been amazing and I seem to fit right in, thank goodness.  During the early evenings, the customers are mainly ignorant assholes, which I can run with the best of them.  I learned quickly that you cannot let people talk shit to you because then it only gets worse. I ended up punching some guy in the face when he tried to grab my boob, needless to say, Eddie was proud and the asshole was thrown out.  Other than that, things have gone smoothly.  The people that work at PowerTrip’s are like one big crazy family, which is nice considering I don’t have a family anymore. I have already met everyone and could not get along with them any better if I tried. We all just click, which I am so thankful for. Now it’s just save, save, and save some more. The holidays are coming up and some of the employees are heading home to see their families. Eddie asked me what I planned on doing and I told him I could work if he needed me to. He didn’t hesitate and told me they need all the help they can get. Even though it would be Christmas Eve and Christmas night, people like their alcohol.  So I know what I am doing, it’s not like I would be doing anything at my apartment anyway.