Chapter 2

• Ava's POV
• Three Years Later...
• I was walking down the familiar streets of New York with two close friends who were dropping me off at my new babysitting job interview.
• Charis and Jenny were best friends before I arrived, but they both used to work at the restaurant where I used to work about a year ago.
• After they realized I was friendless and anxious, they began inviting me to events, and we became extremely close friends.
• "Oh Charis, you don't need another $1,000 purse." Jenny yelled.
• "Okay, you don't need a man, but here we are: you have your man, and I have my new purse." Charis responded wittily.
• "But, Charis, that's not even in the same realm." Jenny moaned.
• "I know, bitch, my purse is more valuable than your man." As they continued to throw harmless insults at each other, Charis countered, and I laughed.
• "Oh, both of you shut up, we all know Charis has a shopping addiction, and we all know you're secretly in love with your man Jenny." I said this before Jenny could respond to what Charis had said.
• "I'm not sure if I love him yet..." Jenny spoke slowly, which made Charis and I both roll our eyes.
• "It's been 5 months and you can't go 2 minutes without contacting him, baby, you're in love." Charis continued to admire her new purse as she spoke.
• Jenny's boyfriend is a nice guy who is blonde and has ocean blue eyes. He's well-built, and you can tell he works out at the gym. They met at a party and have been together ever since.
• Because of everything that had happened in my past, I had never gotten myself to date anyone, let alone let a man touch more than my hand.
• I had told Charis and Jenny about some of what had happened; they were aware that I had been forced to dance at a strip club and that my parents had sold me, but I had never told them that I had been touched against my will. I never wanted anyone to see me as small or weak again. I discovered my worth and knew I was strong.
• "Ava." Jenny yelled.
• "Yes?" I responded, breaking my train of thought.
• "You should find yourself a man, preferably a tall one, because you know, you're kind of short." Knowing how sensitive I was about my height, she cracked a joke.
• "Oh, stop, I'm not short." I argued with her, giving her the middle finger.
• "Certainly dwarf." She shot back, giggling at her insult as Charis burst out laughing, tears welling up in her eyes.
• Jenny, fuck off." As I laughed, I said.
• I was laughing and looking at Charis and Jenny instead of ahead of me, so I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I finally gathered myself from my laughing fit, but as soon as I did, I was hit by a hard surface and fell straight to the ground.
• I rolled my eyes at myself, thinking how stupid I must have been to run into a wall.