Chapter Two:

By three a.m. I was already tired from giving lap dances, private dances and pole dancing. By now I also received two thousand dollars. In a good one night I can earn the month salary of a barista. If only my parents could see me now...

I walk to the locker room and see my only best friend Brie changing her outfit. She had the same blond hair as me, but her eyes are crystal blue. After changing she applies a layer of a shiny lip gloss on her perfect tiny lips.

She was the only person that welcomed me with a hug and I've been here for two long dreading years. But she's been here for eight.

"Men are crazy about you tonight." she tells me with a naughty smirk on her face, which makes me roll my eyes.

"You say that every single night since I've been here." I reply and smack her playfully on the arm.

"And I'm right every single night you spent at the club. Not even slutty Zara can make all men want her."

Zara is a 23 year old, a year younger than me, but she came here when she was still 18. Apparently her dad was absent and her mother was a drunk, who she had to support in somehow. She's beautiful, great body , dark curly hair , black eyes , rosy pink full lips, porcelain skin, but none of her beauty could compensate her mean personality. There were also rumors she gave guys blow jobs for two hundred dollars the pop in the private room, but those were just rumors.

"Where is she by the way? Mama is looking for her." Brie mumbled and put her lip gloss on the make up table. "I don't care if someone stole that shit. Huda Beauty sucks."

"I haven't seen Zara all night." I shrugged and ran my fingers through the curls of my hair. "I'm so tired already." I complained and looked at my tired eyes in the reflection of the mirror.

"Just two more hours, honey. Then you get to go home." Brie said and kissed me on cheek. "Sorry, I left you a mark." and she wiped it away.

I look at the reflection of the mirror one last time and tell myself that no matter the bad choices I took in the past, I am still alive and healthy. And I wouldn't want to change a God damn thing.

Because if it wasn't for the bad choices in the past, I wouldn't ended up here and I wouldn't met Brie. She became my best friend by the second we met and never for the part two years hurt me or betray me.

During high school I was called the nerd, people laughed at me, made fun of me. During my first year in college I was all alone. Then I met Zack. A little after that I made some other friends, but they turned their backs on me the second I got expelled. Only Zack stayed.

When I ran away, for some time I was alone. And then, there was Brie, who helped me look at somehow the bright side of being a stripped. She told me this 'There's no embarrassing job! If you pay for the roof over your head, the food in your plate and the clothes on your back, there's nothing to be ashamed of! You do what you can to survive!'. And she was actually right. I could ended up dead if it wasn't for this club. My parents don't give a flying fuck about me, so the only person who can help me is me. I am my own survivor. I am my own superhero.

"Jackie." the house's mama came in the changing room in a hurry. "Some guys asked for you in the champagne room. Get ready in five minutes."

I take a deep breath and release it heavily. No matter how tired I am, money always make me feel good, because once start playing this game, you are already an addict and you can't stop.

And to be honest, I felt bad about the fact that not many guys like me in high school and college, but here I have the whole attention of the men's population. They adore me, they want me and I drive them crazy. I love driving them crazy.

I smile to myself and start walking towards the champagne room, but before I could make a step inside, the club's mama pulled me by the hand and pushed me in the V.I.P room.

"Change of plans, sweet cheeks. You'll be dancing in here." mama said to me and left.

I looked at the three men in the room. They were huge and muscular, dressed in expensive suits, and if my tiny figure compared to theirs, I could be invisible.

"Hey, guys!" I greeted them with a cheer and slowly walked towards them.

Rule number one, always make them feel special, talk to them, keep them as much time in the V.I.P room , because the more you keep them in here, the more they pay. And rule number two, which is my rule, don't pay attention to them, just do your job, make them happy, then go home.

So I made a small conversation with them, chatted for a while, laughed for a while and then I started dancing. I closed my eyes and pretended to be free, like a bird.

By five in the morning I made seven thousand dollars. The guys from the V.I.P Room were very generous and that made me happy.

As I was wipping off the make up off my face, Brie sat down beside me.

"So I took your place in the champagne room." she mumbled and popped the balloon of her pink gum.

"And what?" I chuckled at her.

"Pay, bitch!" she yelled in my ear. "Those were the worst clients ever." she complained and grabbed her bag. "I wanted to slap them in their stupid acne faces! Dumb college boys." and she rolled her eyes.

"How about I take you to lunch?"

"You're the best, Jackie!" she cheered in my face and kissed my cheek, leaving a fresh mark of red glossy lips.

I grab my bag and follow Brie outside the club. Both of us walk to my car and I unlock it. When we're settled in I start the engine.

"Thank God our shift is over." she groaned and rubbed her tired sleepy eyes.

"It's only Tuesday, Brie." I reminded her and stopped at the red light.

"You know you're no fun, right?"

"Yep!" I said and drive her home.

When I dropped her off I took a turn to my place and stepped on the has. On my way to my house I started thinking about the same thing that bothers me, how my life turned out. Then my thoughts switched into another direction, my future. What man on earth would choose me, the stripper, as a wife? What kind of a man, respected or not, would choose me? My job is unsteady, because when I get old and have wrinkles all over my face I'll lose it. And when I start looking for another job, who is going to hire a retired stripper, who was an expelled Harvard student with a record. Things weren't exactly on my favor. Nobody's going to hire me.

I yawn as I park my car in front of my house. I kill the engine, grab my bag and exit the car. As I lock lock it the phone in my pocket vibrates. I look at it and see a text from Zack.

'I'll be at yours for lunch.'

Great. I roll my eyes and enter my quiet home. I don't even bother going to my bed upstairs. I just lay down on the couch and pass out from exhaustion.