Midnight Ballerina Read Online Free

but—”
    “Yeah, yeah. You’re stubborn. You’re an independent girl who doesn’t need help from anyone. Blah. Blah. Blah. I’ve heard it all before, Roe. But money doesn’t grow on trees, and last time I checked you have like none. So time for a reality check.”
    “Actually,” I began, thinking for a nanosecond that I should just tell her the truth about my new job, but then I thought better of it. Amelia always thought of the stripper job as a joke, nothing more. If she knew where I was going tonight, she would probably get as far away from me as possible, never to be seen or heard from again. “My mom sent me some money,” I lied.
    “What?” Her perfectly plucked eyebrows shot up. “You finally broke down and told her?”
    “Well, yeah. I was about to get kicked out of my apartment. She loaned me some money. I’ll pay it back as soon as I can.” If Amelia knew anything about my family’s money situation, she would know that was a complete and total lie, but it wasn’t something I just blabbed about.
    “Awesome!” A bright smile lit up her face. “So, that means you should be in a good mood, which also means you’re coming to the party at the sorority house tonight, right?”
    “Nope,” I quickly answered and Amelia’s shoulders sagged.
    “Oh come on, Roe. I know you don’t like that type of thing, but you’ll have fun. I promise. Oh, I know!” She paused, clapping her hands together. “We’ll stay for an hour and then we can go bar hopping. I know that’s more your thing and we haven’t done it in forever.”
    Amelia knew me all too well. I tried to avoid the sorority parties as much as possible because ninety percent of the people there looked at you like trash if you weren’t part of their crowd. The first time I went to one, I felt like going and crying in the corner. I think I had been to a total of four parties during high school, so it was definitely intimidating. Instead of letting Amelia drag me to parties, I explored the downtown area and fell in love. Yes, the nightlife was shocking, what with all the bars around. If you weren’t careful, you could quickly turn into an alcoholic with the overabundance of liquor everywhere. I just liked the atmosphere and the music scene was pretty decent.
    “Um…I can’t. Sorry.” I started packing up my bag, noticing the time on my phone, and moved a little quicker so I could run home to change. I spotted my hands shaking slightly, so I needed to get out of there before Amelia questioned me even more.
    “What? Why? Fine, I’ll skip the party.”
    “Amelia, I know you have to go to those things. I actually have a job interview.” More lies. Ugh. I hated lying, especially to Amelia, and my stomach instantly knotted. She was the most trustworthy person I knew and the best friend I ever had.
    “Really? That’s awesome. Why’s it so late though? Is it at one of those twenty-four hour diners or something?”
    “Or something,” I replied, quickly heading to the door before she could grill me about my answer. “I’ll call you in the morning. Maybe we can meet up for lunch.”
    “Sounds good,” she called after me. “Good luck at your interview!”
     

     
     
    FOR ABOUT THE hundredth time, I was rethinking what I was about to do, but I had to just shove that aside and get on with it. The club looked a little different at night, like it came alive once it was dark, clearly the place to be. The parking lot overflowed, all the way into the vacant parking lot of an abandoned restaurant across the street, and a line was forming at the main entrance. So. Many. People.
    Breathe, Monroe.
    I willed myself to open the door of my car and headed around back to the entrance that the employees used. After Randy finished my paperwork the same day that he hired me, he then set me up for some training. He didn’t want me intimidated by all of the customers, so he had me come in during the day when the club was closed so one of the other cocktail