1. A Cheater's Regret (Chapter 1)


    Date: 11/9/2014, Categories: Novels, Author: JBonham, Rating: 2, Source: LushStories

    I tremble with anticipation as I sit in the bleak waiting room. There are several other people here, including some red-haired girl I think I've seen at school before, but I feel alone. Alone and unprotected. No one is talking – the silence is broken only by the near-deafening tick tock of the clock hanging on the pain white wall across from me. Feeling the ache from the hard metal chair beneath me, I shift my legs nervously under my skirt. My only company are the tropical fish swimming contentedly in their aquarium perched next to the shedding plastic Christmas tree few feet from my chair. Some generic holiday decorations break up the monotony of the wall. Geez, Christmas break is a month away still, and the mindless decorating and advertising is already in full swing. The magazines stacked on the small table in front of me are ancient – like no one has thought to bring in some new ones since the Jurassic period. I glance down at my phone, no reception in here. With nothing else to occupy my hands, I nervously fidget with a few loose strands of hair by my ear. Just a few weeks ago I was celebrating Thanksgiving with my family, not a care in the world. Now this. I wish I could just get it all over with. Gloomy thoughts of my past swirl around me. High school was a breeze. Despite my overbearing, obnoxious parents, I graduated a year early. But I quickly found out that being a college student these days isn't easy. I got through my first half of my Sexuality Studies degree ...
    just barely making ends meet. Then disaster struck when I was fired from my waitressing job. I had been looking forward to the holiday season for months, excited for the extra business and generous tips... instead I now had no job at all. I thought I was screwed for sure. I wouldn't be able to graduate, and without a degree, my prospects would look grimmer than ever. I lay awake at night, shuddering at the prospect of having to crawl back to my parents, begging for help. Things only got worse from there. My gloomy train of thought is interrupted as the door swings open and a stern-looking nurse steps into the room. “Katie?” she asks. I nod sheepishly. “Come with me,” the nurse tells me. I rise from my seat and follow her through the door. The red-haired girl seated across the room picks up a magazine, disinterested in me. The interior of the clinic is just as bleak as the waiting room. Fluorescent lights hum above our heads as we walk down the hallway, each wall lined with identical waiting rooms. A few medical technicians and patients are milling around. God, I hope no one knows what I’m here for! The nurse takes me into one of the rooms and hands me a medical gown and a clipboard. “Undress and change into this, and fill out the questionnaire,” she orders me. I hesitate to respond, this is all happening too fast. The nurse raises an eyebrow and frowns. “Are you going to be a problem?” she asks. “N-no!” I stammer. “You're really lucky you weren't expelled for what you did,” the ...
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