always curled it into a mane of golden ringlets. They were
now stringy and flat. Summer was only twenty-one, but she
looked utterly exhausted. She was upfront about her
background, her age, all of it. Cassia had gotten to know her
quite well over the past three months since they often worked
as waitresses together.
Cassia never told anyone her real age, as she quickly figured
out it would get Stu in trouble. He’d definitely fudged
something somewhere so she could be allowed to serve drinks.
“I did grow up here, but we never came to the Strip. Or
hardly ever. All that craziness you hear about in Vegas? I just
ignored it. I never realized how true it was until I got this job.”
Cassia turned to watch as the last lights of the Strip faded
and changed out into the lights of hotels, stores, and shops
further back.
“How long do you think you’ll have to do it before you can
pay for college?”
“I have no idea,” Summer responded, somewhat morosely.
The fact that they were both exhausted made it a terrible time
to ask something like that. “Probably another year at least.”
Summer didn’t come from a family who was well off. Her
parents were still together and worked two jobs each. They
had a small house on the other side of the city. Summer was
the oldest of their four kids, all sisters. Her dad hadn’t been
pleased when he found out what she would be doing, but he
hadn’t stopped her either as long as she didn’t take things any
further than waitressing. She didn’t even do the one-on-one
companionship bookings that Cassia did.
Cassia touched the other girl’s shoulder in sympathy. “I’m
sure it will go by fast.”