1 The Story

Daiana always dreamed of going to college, even from an early age. She remembered being around six or seven and getting asked, "What do you want to be when you're older, Daiana?", a question to which her reply always was: "A lawyer! A lawyer like my dad". If there was something that she was certain of, apart from her career path back then, and even now, was the fact that she adored her dad. After being abandoned by Daiana's mother when Daiana was only a baby, the man had made sure his daughter received an incredibly amount of love and support from him. In result, she had enjoyed a quite tranquil childhood, surrounded by her school friends and full of play dates to volleyball matches. Her life had been a beautiful dream until the disease showed up, that ugly one that took her father away from her. Daiana's dad died of stomach cancer when she was only 13 years old.

Now that she was 17 and counting, she couldn't help but sigh in front of the register machine. Daiana had become a beautiful lady, with blonde hair and big, green eyes, but most of her hopes and dreams were crushed under the heavy weight of reality since she had started working as a cashier in a videostore. It wasn't the best of job positions, but it wasn't the worst either, and most importantly: it paid the bills. Lately she had plenty. It was for that reason she had gotten a job in the first place.

"What's wrong, Daiana?", her coworker, David, asked her all of the sudden, stopping her streak of thoughts mid development. She hesitated before answering. Daiana didn't want to bother anyone, but she felt like she needed a friend desperately.

"It's my grandma", she finally said with a tired voice. David could tell she was sad from miles away. "She got sick almost one month ago, and the doctors still don't know what got the best of her." Daiana had to fight back the tears. "I really don't want her to die, David", she said with a little sob. "I've lived with her ever since my dad died when I was 13, she's the only family I have left."

David reached out to squeeze her hand, trying to make her feel understood and supported. "Things will get better, Daiana", he reassured her when she finally stopped talking, and the girl felt a wave of gratitude coursing through her. She nodded, smiling with teary eyes, unaware that this would be one of the last times she would see him.

David was gone by next Tuesday, and at first Daiana thought he was sick. That was understandable given the constant change of the weather; even her own nose had started to drip a little. She didn't get legitimately worried until Friday afternoon, when she asked her boss about David and he said the boy was nowhere to be found. Apparently, her boss had tried to reach him by the phone and through e-mails, only to get no replies from him.

What had happened to David? The disappareance of her new friend remained as a painful mystery in Daiana's life for the next few days, until she got a suspicious text message on her phone. It said: "David wants you to check your bank account".

Daiana couldn't believe it when she saw it. She had a recent deposit of thousands and thousands of dollars! There was enough money to pay for her grandma's hospital's bills, and there was also enough to pay for college. It was a miracle. As Daiana sobbed in gratitude that day, she wondered again where David was, and what exactly did he have to do with all of this.

The girl didn't waste any more time. After quitting her job, she left her grandma under the care of a sweet nurse, and then made her big departure towards college life.

Despite having clear goals and a fierce commitment to studying, Daiana couldn't help to fall in love with the most popular boy of the campus. Tall and incredibly handsome, his name was Steve, and Daiana couldn't stop talking about him to the only person she trusted at school: Lara, her best friend. Lara was a sweet girl from Texas, quite ongoing and cheery. She kept motivating Daiana to talk to her dream guy, but the girl was too shy to make any moves. Plus, she was nervous and stressed out lately, because she kept failing at History class in spite of her efforts to improve. It was so bad that even Mr. Vincent, her History teacher, had requested to meet her after class.

Daiana attended this date feeling sad and discouraged. Mr. Vincent was a very kind man, and he greeted her with a charming smile after the classroom emptied. He closed the door. "Daiana, I wanted to have a word with you about your grades lately. I know you've been struggling", he told her.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Vincent", Daiana said immediately, trying hard not to cry. "I don't know what to do anymore. I've studied as much as I can..."

"I was wondering if you had any kind of issues with the way I teach", he continued, leaning over the desk to look into Daiana's eyes. She froze for a second. Mr. Vincent was a handsome man. He had a beautiful tanned skin, matching his bronze hair and blue eyes, and many of the girl's classmates had a crush on him.

"Not at all, Mr. Vincent", she finally told him. "Your classes are well explained, I just don't..."

Daiana went quiet. Mr. Vincent had just reached out to touch her hand over the table. "I think you're a beautiful girl, Daiana. You're very bright, too. I wouldn't want your grades to be ruined..."

Just as he was finishing his sentence, he leaned in to kiss her. Daiana was too surprised to do anything. Mr. Vincent took her stiffness for consent, and kept kissing her while the girl didn't know what to do. She was scared, terrified as the teacher patted her boobs over her clothes. Was she going to fail forever if she rejected him?

Daiana ended up obliging to the man's demands, and Mr. Vincent fucked her over the desk. She was a virgin, so she cried silently while the man thrusted in and out of her, grabbing her by the hair after having pulled her skirt upwards. He came loudly over Daiana's butt cheeks, and after spreading his cum over her reddened skin, he leaned in to kiss her shoulder. "You have just gotten yourself an A, Daiana. Wonderful", he told her.

Daiana was not the same after this episode. Back in time, when the semester had begun, she had been a cheerful girl with lots of new friends and expectations. But now she was failing at every class, and had also lost interest in the dreamy boy she had been infatuated with. Daiana kept wondering where David was, and what happened to him. She missed him a lot. She was sure he would've listened to her and given her comfort.

At least I can count on Lara, Daiana thought one night, crying in her pillow. She knew she needed help, but she was too ashamed to ask, and Lara had stopped pushing her for information. In fact, she hadn't replied to Daiana's texting in a couple of days. Daiana decided to call her.

"Hello", a woman's voice replied. Daiana frowned. That wasn't Lara's voice.

"Hi, can I talk to Lara?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Lara died yesterday in a car accident", the woman started sobbing, and Daiana hang up the phone with an acute pain going through her chest. She wanted to scream, but did she have any voice left?