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“How the fuck is that my problem then? Obviously, something is wrong with the dryer. What the hell is that smell anyway?” I walk into the laundry room, and I realize instantly what that smell is. It’s like a burnt fishy smell.
A campus worker with a handkerchief over his face is coughing as he points to the dryer my clothes are in.
I start dry heaving between breaths.
“What the hell did you put in with your clothes?” the worker asks me in disgust.
“Ugh, I can’t take this smell. They don’t pay me enough for this.” Trisha turns and runs out of the room.
“I just put my clothes in the dryer. What do you mean what did I put in there? A dryer sheet. That’s it!”
I gag and walk closer to the dryer. I yank open the door, and the sight before me has me running toward the nearest garbage can.
Everything I ate, only a little bit ago, came right back up.
The dryer is filled with bits and pieces of fish and fish guts. Dried pieces of the fish are cooked into my clothes, blood and God knows what else, staining everything.
The smell is revolting, and I can’t stop dry heaving into the garbage can.
“Well, explain to me how what’s in there now got in there?” I look up to see the worker’s eyebrows raised.
“I have no fucking clue! Why would I know how what looks and smells like fish, ended up in a dryer with my clothes?” My eyes are watering from the dry heaving and the smell. My nostrils burn, and I am doing all I can to try to keep from gagging more.
“Well, you ruined the dryer. You will be responsible for a new one.” He coughs into the crook of his arm.
“Me? Are you fucking kidding me? You know what? Fuck this.” I immediately turn and run down the hall and down the stairs, passing people on the floor by as they try to figure out what that rank smell is.
The minute I burst outside of the dorms, the fresh air hits my face, and I try to take a deep breath in and out.
Anything to clean out the smell of the horrid nightmare.
I walk to the back of the building and just break down. Tears fall from my eyes, as I lean against the brick wall and slide down it. I let the anger and sadness pour from me.
All I want is to go home. Back to Vegas. That’s where I belong. And maybe this is my sign that I need to.
Everyone seems to be happy but me. And I haven’t been happy for years.
But would going back to Vegas make me happy? Would that be the right move? My mom wouldn’t be there, and she was everything to me after my dad died.
But she has Aaron now.
Who do I have? Who is there for me?
Because it’s starting to feel like I was thrown here to just be close but far enough away.
No one. I have no one.
Chapter Seventeen
DEKKER
“She’s back in class,”Seven says as he walks into the kitchen. He slides onto one of the stools at the counter and looks at me.
“How did she manage that?” I lean forward on the counter, my eyes meeting his.
His shoulders lift as he shakes his head. “I’m guessing she had a convincing argument of ‘I didn’t drop this class. This is your error.’”
I make a face. “Shit. So, she will be back in class, then, come Monday. Fucking awesome.” I run a hand over my jaw, sighing.