Page 1 of Pack Apollo

Chapter One

‘Money makes the world go ‘round.’ Isn’t that how the old saying goes? I know it’s always been true for me as I grew up. Even more so now that I’ve grown up.

The shrill sound of my phone startles my hand enough to slightly smear the bright red lipstick on the side of my lip.

"Well damn," I tell my reflection, correcting the smudge with the tip of my finger. It only works enough to smear it even further. Sighing, I grab a tissue and go at it. Reason eight hundred and fifty-three that I hate wearing bright colors on my face. Unfortunately, in my line of work, the more I stand out, the more money I make. Especially if I'm drawing attention to all the right places, like my lips, or my ass in my skin-hugging jeans.

Wiping off the lipstick, I toss the tissue and reach for my phone. My heart sinks as I read the first part of the notification without even opening it.

We regret to inform you that we've decided to go with another applicant. Best of wi...

I set my phone back down on the vanity and close my eyes, sighing again. Yet, another rejection. I hope one day that future me can look back and say that it was all worth it. Sometimes in life, we've got to do things that we don't want to do, or that we're not exactly proud of. Not that I'm ashamed to be dancing at a bar. Definitely could be a lot worse. I could be a stripper or a prostitute. Mad props for anyone brave enough for those hard ass ways of making a living. It's just not for me.

Gathering all my things together, I make my way out of my tiny-ass dorm room. All without knocking over any of the leaning towers of junk that belong to my roommate, which is a miracle in itself. Living on campus was supposed to be the better option. No rent that needs to be paid right this second. The bill will come a few years from now once I finish all my classes.But, pretty much no bills period allows me to save as much money as I can around the money that I send home to mom. No one ever mentioned that the dorm rooms are the size of a crackerjack box. They also failed to share that I might get stuck with a roommate who is messier than Grandmama at Christmas after she's thrown back several mimosas. My roomie completely disregards anything outside of the bubble that she lives in. It's been a fun learning experience for sure.

I try not to think about how things might be better in the future once I finish school. It’s super depressing for the life I’m having to live right now.

Fishing my sunglasses out of my bag as I make it outside, I one finger slide them up my face as I try to shake off the negative thoughts. I’ve left in enough time to go grab breakfast from the dining hall before class, so that’s where I head.

The campus of North Five University is one of the main reasons I decided to come here. That and the fact that it’s in state and cheaper than my other options. Even though it’s mid-August, the leaves that were once a vibrant shade of green have already slowly started to fade into other colors. Some have even started to fall, littering the ground of the campus. The buildings themselves are hulking, five-story monstrosities. White-trimmed windows give it an old-school, elite-academy vibe. With such a large square footage, routes to and from classes and back to the dorm should take forever, but there are walkways and small alleyways covering the space. As well as benches. They are literally everywhere. Not just the cheap little ones that you might find one or two of at a public park. I’m talking the big, fancy ones that rich folks who donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to the school would expect to have their names written on it. I literally cannot wait for winter, because the snow-covered benches and campus in their brochure was my main selling point. I’m a sucker for the cold.

Strolling into the dining hall, I push my glasses up on top of my head and glance around. Classes started a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve not gone out of my way to get to know anyone here. One quick look around confirms that I don’t recognize anyone, except one of my professors sitting alone with his nose stuck in a newspaper. Who even reads those these days? I didn’t realize they were a thing anymore.

With a quiet snort to myself, I head off toward the food bars. At any time during the day we’re allowed to come in and help ourselves to whatever we like. And there’s a huge variety to choose from. I could have anything from tacos to pizza to breakfast to pasta. After hours when the dining hall closes, we still have access to food that we can eat on the go like protein bars and fruit or microwavable meals.

Today, I choose the breakfast bar. I grab a plate and load it up with French toast smothered in syrup and several different fresh fruits. To make up for all the sweets I'm about to load into my system, I grab a water to drink for balance. Because that’s what helps keep a happy life. Balance.

I find an empty table to start digging into my breakfast. Taking my phone out, I clear the pathetic notification of my rejection before opening social media. There are over ten thousand likes on my last video with a quarter of that many comments on it. Not to mention a ton of messages from strangers. Those I don't bother with. Half of them are just looking for a good time, and the other half are negative naysayers. The views and likes are my biggest concern. Doing a quick scroll through the comments, I check to make sure the popular ones aren't slanderous or fabrications. Lucky for me, most of the social media apps come pre-installed to catch the really bad ones. Some slip through the cracks sometimes, and those are the ones I look for.

Halfway through my food at this point, I ditch thecomments and click over to post one of my saved drafts. There are lots of tricks and secrets to the trade. One of those is to always have drafts saved ready to post. Get ahead of the game and be prepared to have days when you're just not feeling it.

Choosing one that leans toward the darker side that I took the other day in the rain, I make sure my location and all of my tags are in place before hitting ‘post.’ My fingers have no sooner clicked the button than a girl pulls the chair out in front of me and takes a seat, setting her tray of food in front of her.

"Hi there," she chirps, entirely too chipper this early in the morning.

I shoot her a friendly smile anyway. "Hey."

She opens her orange juice and takes a drink before replying, "I hope you don't mind. Sometimes you just don't feel like eating alone in a room this big."

Maybe some of us don't, but it really doesn't bother me. I've spent the majority of my life alone since my mom worked all the time. However, that's not something I share with her. Instead, I simply agree. "Yeah, it can be quite daunting I suppose."

"When you come from a house where your pack, including all your siblings, is bigger than the attendance in some of these classes here, it's quite depressing some days," she openly tells me.

"That's fair," I say.

Waiting until she swallows the bite of food she just placed in her mouth, she introduces herself, "I'm Millie-Jane."

"Billie," I reply.

Her smile grows wide. "One of my brother's names is Billy. I mean, not that you have a boy name or anything. I've always found the gender-neutral names very cool. Sorry if it sounded like I was comparing you to a boy. I promise I didn't mean it that way."

I cut off her rambling with a quick chuckle. "It's fine, really.After nineteen years, I've gotten pretty used to it by now."

"Our names rhyme, too," she says, smiling again as she does so. "I think that's a sign that we need to be best friends."

I swallow hard at the thought. I've only ever had one good friend, and that didn't last very long. Apparently, I'm too obsessed with making something of myself, so that I don't struggle forever like my mom has, to keep healthy relationships. Same with boys. I've only ever had one boyfriend. It was a one and done kind of deal. We took each other's v-cards, and then he became possessively obsessive. No freaking thanks. I'll be kind enough to let someone else bear the weight of that crazy.

I'm not sure what she thinks of my silence, but it's as though it doesn't even faze her. "Also, have you been to the omega center here on campus? I went the other day, and it's really nice. They have all sorts of comfort-type things. Especially to help through heats and stuff."

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