Stripping For The Alpha King

Chapter 12

I let out a low groan and twisted my body around on the couch. My hands clutched at my stomach, but it wouldn't alleviate the pain. It never had and I knew that it never would, but the gesture was somehow comforting. In that moment I wished that I had never stopped taking the damn pills because starting up again was always painful. At least it gave me an excuse to laze about for a few days and study in the silence of my own dorm room.

"I don't know why you take those pills," Holly grumbled while aggressively mashing the buttons on the controller. Her character of screen preformed a series of attacks before she let her eyes snap to me for a brief instance. "All they do is make you feel terrible and give you stomach aches."

"My mom told me I needed them for something," I reminded.

"And what exactly do those pills help with?" Holly demanded hotly.

"I don't know anymore. I've been taking them since I was a little girl. I think I was seven when my mom took me to the doctor and this is what he prescribed for me."

"Where's the bottle? Doesn't it usually say what the pills contain and what they are for on the bottle?" Holly asked.

Her hasty and snippy questions were enough to make me a little defensive. "My mom keeps the pill bottle most of the time since we have the same prescription. She just gives me half the bottle in a little container when it arrives."

"Of course she does," Holly hissed. Her fingers slammed the buttons until the character sliced through an opponent.

At that I perched myself up on my elbow, wincing at the movement, "Why are you suddenly so against my mom?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes on her, "I don't expect that you two get along all the time and I know that she can be a little bit of a helicopter mom, but I've never seen you like this. You usually gang up with her against me. Did she say something to you that you don't like?"

Holly sighed, "I just feel like you're in college now and maybe your mom should back off. My mom has and they were both helicopter parents when we were young. It's time to let you go out into the world, you know? I also don't care much for how she handled the whole situation."

The situation. That was what we were calling my blunder with Ajax. My mother had left almost as soon as she determined I was physically fine, but Holly stayed with me for a couple days. We talked about what happened in little bits and pieces over the time. And she was right. There was no concrete evidence that I had been drugged. Immediately after I had woken up I could've gone for a test to see if there was anything in my system, but it was too late by the time I considered it. So I was left with a man who hadn't assaulted me while I was feverish and sleeping.

Still, my mother's response had been less than ideal, no matter the circumstances. Even I was surprised by how angry and distant she had been after the whole thing.

"It doesn't matter. I'm sorry if you feel like I'm being disrespectful towards your mother. I guess the whole thing just shook me up. my biggest concern was making sure that you were okay and I think I might've took some of my fear out on your mom. I'm sorry," Holly apologized.

I gave her the best smile I could muster. It probably looked queasy and sickly, but I appreciated that she was so self-aware and so forward with everything.

"I also really hate the idea of taking pills that make you sick when you're perfectly healthy in the first place," she added.

"I will just feel bad until I get used to them again. Not taking them for a month seemed to really set me back. I just need to get in the habit of it again and get used to it."

Though Holly was still focused on the video game playing on my TV screen I could see that she was displeased with my answer. Still, she took a second to glance away and shoot me a bright, fake smile.

"Did you still want to go to your club tonight?" Holly asked. Clearly, she was done with this conversation. She would hate me taking the pills, but I would continue to do so.

"Yeah, I think I should change my hours to just Friday evenings and Saturdays. That's when I make my best money anyway. Besides, all the sleazy guys hang out on the weeknights, you know?" I said the words but as I glanced around my dorm I wondered how I was going to afford everything if I was going to be losing a day in the club. Even on the slow nights I could come away with one fifty to two hundred pretty easily. Without it I might not be able to afford having my private dorm which was essentially a small apartment.

"I can come with you if you want. We can get cheeseburgers and talk shit about that know-it-all in our psychology class," Holly offered.

Twenty minutes later we arrived at the strip club with a burger joint not too far away. We were laughing as we trundled out of the car and walked towards the entrance of the building. Her impression of an annoying radio show host had been spot on and I felt like I couldn't catch my breath as I stumbled towards the door.

But as a man pulled it open, preparing to leave, Holly froze.

"What is it?" I asked, letting my eyes move off of her and over the man as I wiped away a tear.

And that man had auburn hair tucked under his baseball hat, strong shoulders, and stunned green eyes.

"Prin-" Holly began.

"Keiko," Ajax whispered, cutting her off as he reached towards me.