*Kyle*

I could not believe what was happening to me. I’m stuck in a room with Zacky Vengeance for a whole hour, and all the guy wants to do is talk! Is it opposite day or something? I rolled over so that I was on my stomach and put my hands under my chin.

“So, what do you wanna talk about?” I asked him with a smile on my face.

He smiled back and shrugged.

“How bout what’ s your real name?” He asked me. I shook my head.

“Sorry baby, Sin is all you get.” I said.

No one at work, minus Angelo knew my real name and I didn’t give it away to customers. Zacky rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Well, are you from here?” He asked. I nodded.

“Yep, I’m a Cali girl born and raised.” I said. He nodded and twiddled his thumbs.

I sighed and crawled up to him.

“Look, do you really just wanna talk? I mean you have about 45 minutes left with me.” I told him in my best sexy voice.

Zacky nodded and propped his feet up on the bed.

“Yeah, I mean I didn’t really wanna come out here in the first place. The guys drug me out.” He said. I smiled and nodded.

“Oh right, because it’s weird to come to a strip club alone.” I told him with a chuckle.

Actually, a lot of guys prefer to come in alone. Zacky shrugged and nodded.

“Yeah I guess.” He said.

For the next 40 minutes, we made awkward small talk while Zacky kept checking his phone. I could hear through the paper thin walls that Poison, my best friend here, was having a good time with one of the guys. Zacky heard it too and started laughing.

“Come here.” I told him in a hushed voice.

Zacky raised his eyebrow and I rolled my eyes playfully.

“We have to make it look like we messed around or your friends will make fun of you.” I told him as I messed up his hair.

Zacky smiled and nodded.

“Unbutton your shirt.” I said as I tousled my hair around and smeared my lip gloss.

Zacky undid his shirt all the way and I caught a peek of his muscular chest. I smiled to myself and kissed his neck to leave my lip gloss on it.

“When you walk out the door, pretend to zip up your fly.” I said as I pulled my bra straps down and pulled the blanket up to cover my chest.

“In a few seconds, you’ll hear a knock on the door. That signals that time is up.” I said. Zacky nodded and stood by the door.

“Hey, thanks for just talking to me.” Zacky whispered to me.

I smiled and nodded.

“Sure thing Zacky. It was nice meeting you.” I whispered back to him.

He smiled and nodded.

A few seconds later, Angelo knocked on the door.

“Oh Zacky, it looks like your time’s up. We’ll definitely have to do this again sometime.” I said a little too loudly, in an overly sexy voice.

Zacky held back a laugh and opened the door wide enough so that Angelo could see me ‘naked’ in bed. Zacky shot me a wink and closed the door behind me.

I sighed with a smile and pulled my bra straps back up. That was the first time since I started here, a man treated me like a woman and not a piece of meat. I shook my head as I pulled my heels on and went out of the room.

Poison was coming out of the room next to mine. Her fire red hair was messed up and she was smiling.

“Now that was worth coming to work.” She said to me.

I rolled my eyes and we went into the dressing room.

“Ladies! 10 minutes and I need you on stage!” Angelo shouted from his office.

Poison and I rolled our eyes and we got in our stage outfits. Which basically consisted of a studded belt over our thongs. Candie, another girl that worked with us walked into the dressing room.

Candie was a tiny brunette with a decent sized rack. She was also the youngest girl working here. She just turned 18 last month. Both Poison and I were 24 and I’ve been doing this for about two years. Poison joined us a year ago and Candie started on her 18th birthday. She was one of those girls who loved the attention of being a stripper. She loved that when she was on stage, she had every guys attention for a few minutes.

Me, I hated it. I hated that every guy in the place wanted to grab my tits or my ass or take me in the back room and have nasty sex with me. If it wasn’t for the money, I wouldn’t even be here.

“Ladies, let’s go!” Angelo shouted. I rolled my eyes and put on more lip gloss.

Candie giggled and fluffed her hair and licked her lips.

“Come on girls, let’s go shake our asses.” She said.

She was really excited about dancing on stage. Poison and I shook our heads and followed her out to the stage.

“Alright guys, who’s ready for a show?!” The DJ, Slick Rick, said from his booth.

The men in the room cheered and Candie giggled in excitement. I rolled my eyes and put my hands on my hips.

“Then get ready for a hot one tonight! Put your hands, and your money together for Poison, Sin and Candie!” Slick Rick said.

The men started cheering and clapping and I rolled my eyes and got ready for our show.

The beginning of ‘Scream’ started and the girls and I started walking on the stage. I walked to the center, Poison to my left and Candie to my right. As I was looking into the crowd, I was Zacky and the other Avenged guys leaned against the bar, watching us. Brian elbowed Matt in the ribs and all the guys smirked.

I bet they figured that song would be used as a stripper anthem. I shook my head slightly and focused on my dance.

Thankfully, when it was over, I only had to ‘entertain’ two men. One of them gave me a hundred dollar tip. I pulled my skirt and hoodie back on and picked up my purse. Mac walked me to my car.

“Goodnight Sin.” He said as I got to my car.

“Night Mac, see you tomorrow.” I told him. He nodded and closed my door for me.

I started my car and headed home. The house was door as I pulled up to it.

“Great.” I said under my breath.

My mother still wasn’t home. I rolled my eyes and walked inside. As soon as I stepped in, the phone started ringing. I groaned and ran in the kitchen.

“Hello?” I said.

“Hey Kyle, it’s Tate. Look, your mom’s here. I’ve tried to cut her off, but you know how she is.” Tate, my friend and a local bartender said. I sighed and leaned against the counter.

“Yeah, I know Tate. I’ll be there in 10 minutes.” I told him.

He agreed and hung up the phone. I ran upstairs and threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and ran back to my car and headed to Tate’s bar.

Tate and I went to high school together, well when I went that is. He knew, like Shawna, about my situation with my mother and always called me when she drank a little too much. My mother liked to stay at the bar until last call, but Tate often had to call me because she never wanted to leave. As I pulled up to the bar, I could see his partner, Mickey standing outside smoking.

“Hey Kyle, you look pretty tonight.” He said. I smiled at him.

“Thanks Mikey.” I told him.

I pulled the door open and saw my mother half sitting on a bar stool and half falling off it. I rolled my eyes and walked over to her.

“Mom, come on let’s go.” I whispered to her.

“No! I’m still drinking!” She shouted.

There weren’t many people left in the bar, but the ones that did turned around to stare at her. Tate walked over to me and I shook my head slightly.

“No you’re not. It’s time to go.” I said as I put my hand on her shoulder.

She jerked away and almost fell out of her chair.

“Get your hands off of me bitch!” She shouted. I sighed and Tate came over and put his hand on her.

“Come on Julie, let’s get you home.” He said softly.

Tate was really attractive. He was tall and muscular and had long curly brown hair. He had a few tattoos and drove a motorcycle.

My mother smiled and let Tate half carry her outside.

“Tate, how bout you come home with me tonight?” She said.

I groaned and rolled my eyes.

“Mom, Tate’s half your age. Get real.” I told her as we put her in the car.

She mumbled some choice words to me and I shut the door. I closed my eyes and leaned against the car.

“Thanks Tate.” I told him. He nodded and put his hands on my arms.

“No problem Kyle.” He said. I sighed and looked down.

“You know if you need a place to stay, I’ve got an extra room with your name on it.” He said with a smile.

I smiled back and gave him a hug.

“I know Tate, but I gotta stay and make sure she doesn’t choke on her own puke.” I said in disgust.

Tate nodded and gave me a squeeze.

“Alright. You’ll let me know if you need anything?” He said. I nodded.

“Go close up your bar.” I said as I pointed to it.

Tate smiled and walked back into the bar. I let out a breath and got in the driver’s seat. Mom was half asleep.

“There is a God.” I said to myself as I pulled out of the bar and drove home.