She's No Beauty Queen

Angelina didn't remember anything from when she ate dinner with her manager at her house to when she woke up in Eddie's arms sore all over and covered in hickeys. She froze for a moment in panic at the gaps in her memory before realizing what had happened.

Her manager must have given her something and made a deal with Eddie about getting that sponsorship after all. He was a really good actor! He actually made her believe that they were friends.

By the time she came to her senses enough to get up and run away he yawned and opened his eyes, sleepily mumbling "good morning beautiful." He didn't seem fazed or apologetic in the slightest.

With strength Angelina didn't know she had, she shoved him off of her and wrapped the sheet around herself protectively. She couldn't think of words nasty enough to hurl at him for taking advantage of her when she finally thought she found someone she could trust.

Had Eddie not done it the night they met because there were too many witnesses? Or because he got some sick satisfaction out of earning her trust first so she had her guard down more?

Eventually she found her voice and accused him with tears in her eyes. "I trusted you!"

That seemed to wake him up and he sat up on the bed. "Hang on; I think there's been some sort of misunderstanding here—"

"Save your excuses," Angelina spat as she quickly pulled her clothes back on. "Don't ever talk to me again. I don't want your filthy money!"

"Hey! Angel, wait!" Eddie called after her as she ran downstairs and out the front door of the luxurious mansion. He couldn't follow after her properly because he wasn't wearing anything and she didn't give him the chance to catch up.

Tears flowed down her face at the horrible betrayal as she ran away. Eventually she had to knock on someone's door and ask to use their phone because she didn't have any money or her phone on her.

The worst part of all of this was that she had to call her manager to come get her. She didn't have anyone else to call and he was still in charge of her finances while the money went through probate.

Angelina didn't graduate from high school for another month. She had to put up with the man who had sold her until then because she didn't have any other options.

He was horribly smug for several days after this incident until he failed to get a hold of Eddie multiple times. When he finally did get through, she heard Eddie curse him out over the phone with how loudly he was yelling.

She didn't understand. Why would he be mad at her manager and withhold the money if they were in on this together?

Weeks passed and Angelina still didn't get an answer to that question. Because of stress from all that happened she ended up having two seizures despite her medication. Balancing feeling sick with finishing up all of her assignments and preparing for finals was awful but she was completely empty inside after crying everything out shortly after the incident happened.

She had been on birth control for ages to help regulate her irregular periods. For the past three years they had been on time every single month. But not this time.

At first she thought it was because of stress. That had happened before…but after nearly a week of it being late she broke down and bought some pregnancy tests after filching a twenty dollar bill from her manager. She did not want him to know about this in case it was a false alarm.

Angelina was totally freaking out when she took the tests but that was nothing compared to when she saw them all come back positive. No. No way. She was on birth control! How had this happened? It had to be a mistake.

"We can use this. He can't avoid me now!"

He dragged her out to the car and she was so out of it she couldn't even protest. This couldn't be happening. She had been raped by someone she thought of as a friend and now she was pregnant before even graduating! Finals were a week away.

Angelina knew the only option was to abort it. With the way her mother had been there was no doubt in her mind that she wouldn't be able to care for a child properly. And even if she could, she didn't want the constant reminder of what had happened to her.

Not to mention the problem of Miss Americana contestants not being allowed to compete if they were mothers, married, or even engaged. If she wanted her ticket to a better life—a life she had chosen for herself—she had to get rid of it.

She felt no attachment to the parasite growing inside of her at all. It could ruin her. This wasn't a baby; this was the end of life as she knew it.

Angelina didn't know where her manager was taking her and didn't particularly care until she saw the house they had pulled up in front of. "What are we doing here?" she asked dully.

"Someone needs to take responsibility," the manager said in a tone she could only describe as gleeful. Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. He was still trying to use the worst thing that had ever happened to her to get that sponsorship.

He rang the doorbell and Eddie answered but she couldn't even look at him. The sound of his voice made her sick.

"What do you want?" he demanded.

"We have some business to discuss. We can do it out here where your neighbors might hear or you could invite us in," the manager said smoothly.

Eddie let them in without another word and led them to the living room. Angelina still couldn't bring herself to look at him. He had ruined everything she ever worked for on top of destroying her trust.

She didn't want to be here at all. It would be better to get this taken care of quietly and try to forget it ever happened. Yet her sleazebag of a manager insisted on getting money out of it.

Eddie deserved it though. The cycle of being taken advantage of continued.