Chapter 3

College application deadlines loomed, a heavy weight on my chest.

My guidance counselor, Ms. Evans, was sympathetic but firm. "Sarah, you have the grades, the scores. But these applications need to be perfect, and they need to be in on time. And the fees..."

I nodded, my throat tight. I was working every hour I could, but David' s "emergencies" kept pace with my earnings.

Then, a surprise. Jessica texted me.

"Hey. Heard you're trying for college. Mom feels a bit bad about the scholarship money. I found this summer job posting, pays really well. Might help you out. It's a bit out of the way, some kind of data entry for a research project up near Bear Mountain."

She sent a link. It looked legitimate, if a little vague. The pay was incredible.

A flicker of hope, small and fragile. Maybe she felt guilty. Maybe this was an olive branch.

TooGoodToBeTrue: LOL, she's not feeling guilty. This stinks.

SetupSiren: Bear Mountain? That area is sketchy AF.

I hesitated. But the money... it would solve everything.

"Thanks, Jessie," I texted back. "I'll check it out."

"Great! Let me know how it goes," she replied, a little too quickly.

I took a bus to the address provided. It was even more remote than I expected, a run-down office building at the edge of a deserted industrial park.

The sun was starting to set, casting long, eerie shadows.

A comment flashed: AmbushAlert: This is where the 'local color' meets the 'plot device'.

My stomach twisted. This was wrong.

I turned to leave, but a group of guys stepped out from behind a rusted dumpster, blocking my path.

They were rough, smirking.

"Lost, little girl?" one of them sneered.

"I... I think I have the wrong address," I stammered, backing away.

They advanced. "Nah, you're in the right place. Jessica sent us. Said you had some money for us."

My blood ran cold. Jessica.

They grabbed my bag, ripped it open. My carefully saved application money, a little over two hundred dollars, gone.

My old, battered laptop, containing all my essays, my only copies. One of them slammed it onto the concrete. The screen shattered with a sickening crunch.

I cried out, lunging for it, but another one shoved me hard. I fell, my arm hitting the ground at an odd angle.

A searing pain shot through it.

BoneSnapSoundEffect: Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark for the season finale.

JessicasJustice: She deserved it for trying to be better than Jessie.

Through a haze of pain, I saw them rummaging through my things, laughing.

Then, a car pulled up. Jessica.

She got out, looked at me lying there, at my broken laptop, my bleeding arm.

Her face was unreadable, a cold mask.

She didn't say a word. She just watched me for a moment, a long, chilling moment.

Then, she turned, got back in her car, and drove away, leaving me in the dirt and the growing darkness.

The betrayal was a physical ache, sharper than my broken bone.