Exploited
Page 11

Three more people lost their lives that day in the same location. Dozens more were injured. And when my mother, along with the other families, inquired about the conditions of the road, they were blocked at every turn by people more worried about covering their asses than about making things right for the victims’ families.
I had been so angry. My father was dead. My sister would never be able to walk or care for herself. And we were given a paltry apology and nothing else.
It wasn’t enough.
I needed to make someone pay for ruining our lives.
It wasn’t long before I found a way to get my revenge.
“Visiting hours ended thirty minutes ago, Hannah,” Cory, the night nurse on duty, said, appearing in the doorway. Her round frame filled the space, blocking the light from the hallway.
I glanced at my watch and startled when I saw the time. It was later than I had thought it was. I had to get home.
My sister had fallen asleep at some point, her mouth open slightly. I had been so lost in my memories that I hadn’t noticed. I leaned down and kissed her softly on the cheek before gathering my purse and following Cory out into the reception area.
“Sorry. I lost track of the time,” I said. Cory patted my arm, her hand heavy on my skin.
“It’s all right. It means a lot to Charlotte that you’re here. We can bend the rules once in a while.” The nurse gave me a wide, toothy smile, her bright red lipstick staining her front teeth.
“Thanks” was all I could say. I hurried out of the building, trying to outrun the memories that I wished I could leave behind with my sister. But every time I saw her, it all came rushing back as if it were yesterday.
Those months after the accident had been the most horrible of my life.
—
I couldn’t get out of bed. I barely ate. I never went to class. When I was called into my adviser’s office, I knew it was bad.
Worse than bad.
I was dangerously close to flunking out, and unless I busted my ass I wouldn’t be coming back to school next semester.
I came back to my dorm room despondent but unable to think of any possible way to dig myself out of the mess I was in. And I wasn’t entirely sure I cared enough to try.
I collapsed on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I was depressed. But also angry. Because nothing was right. Or fair.
Because the contractor the city had used to lay its roads had decided to use a low-grade product that should never have been allowed to be used. There were so many people at fault. The contractor. The city officials who saw only a cheap job to trim their budget.
My mother, who refused to demand answers.
I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes until they ached. I hated feeling so out of control.
So powerless.
Because that’s what I was.
I was one person. What could I possibly do to make things right for Charlotte? For my family? For all the other people affected?
“How was your meeting?”
I dropped my hands, surprised to hear my roommate’s voice. Rose Norris spent most of her time in the dark corner of our tiny dorm room, clicking away at her computer. Like me, she was an information technology major, though we didn’t share many classes.
On paper we should have gotten along really well. But Rose was an odd duck. Completely antisocial. And she sort of freaked me out.
I wasn’t sure we had shared more than a few dozen words since we had moved in at the beginning of the school year, so hearing her voice now startled me enough to bring me out of my malaise.
I had to admit it was a nice voice. Husky and strangely soothing.
“Excuse me?” I asked, sitting up, squinting in the dim lighting. I sometimes wondered whether Rose was a vampire. She seemed to have an aversion to natural light.
“Your meeting with your adviser. How did it go?”
I frowned. “How did you know—? Forget it. Never mind. It was fine,” I muttered, letting out a sigh.
“Really? You’re flunking out of school. I don’t think it was fine.”
I glared at Rose. “What the hell are you talking about? How do you know anything about me? It’s not like you do anything but stare at your computer all day long,” I seethed. How did this weirdo know that I was flunking out of school? It wasn’t a fact I broadcast around.
I sure hadn’t talked about it in earshot of my roommate.
It disturbed me.
It made me feel ashamed.
Rose shrugged, her lank hair falling in front of her face. “You can change that if you want.”
The room was quiet. Too quiet. I felt a strange prickling at the back of my neck.
“Change what? What are you going on about?” I snapped. I shouldn’t have been taking out my bad mood on my roommate, but her comments bothered me.
She bothered me.
“Your grades. It’s easy if you know how.” Rose turned back to her computer and started clicking away at her keyboard again as if she hadn’t said anything.
“I’m already doing extra credit to try and bring my grades up. I guess I could get a tutor—”
“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Rose interrupted.
I was losing what little patience I had. “Then what are you talking about? I’m not up for guessing games.”
Rose pushed her hair back and for the first time I really looked at her. She was pretty, but the dark circles beneath her eyes seemed to swallow her face. “You don’t need a tutor. You’re probably smarter than the dumb-asses the department would assign you anyway. Your problem isn’t that you don’t know what you’re doing.”
I should have been flattered at my roommate’s assessment, but I was too numb to care.
“Yeah, well, the school’s sympathy is running a little thin, I guess. Maybe I should just save everyone the effort and drop out already.” As I said the words, I knew that I would never do that. I wouldn’t disrespect all my father had sacrificed to get me here like that.
Rose didn’t believe me either.
“It sounds like you need a pick-me-up. Something just to get you back on your feet.”
I frowned. “Look, I’m not into drugs, if that’s what you’re talking about.”
Rose laughed. It was a nice laugh and didn’t seem to fit her overall persona. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”
I was getting a headache and was beyond done with this conversation. I lay back down, covering my eyes with my arm, wishing I could block out Rose’s presence.