Zoey's father barged into Desmond's office, not minding if he was alone or not. "I have tried to be reasonable with you, but I think you are too stupid to understand. Stay away from my daughter, go after women your age, and leave my daughter alone. What kind of stupid professor takes advantage of his nineteen-year-old student? The next time you see me I won't be so nice" he screamed at Desmond. Desmond was tired of the whole mess he got himself into by falling in love with Zoey, one of his students. He was on the verge of losing everything he worked hard for years to accomplish because of Linda who could not keep her mouth shut after finding out about their relationship. He was still under investigation after Zoey's mother reported to the HOD, he was sure after her father's display his job as a professor was as good as over already. He closed the door and rested his head on his table thinking about what his next step would be. Desmond quickly opened the door after looking through the peephole to see Zoey knocking. Her eyes and her face were red from crying, he pulled her in and hugged her. "What's wrong babe? Did your mom do anything to you" he asked her while running his hands through her hair. She shook her head and broke free from him, she handed him a pregnancy test result and sat down on his couch as he read through the paper. He was filled with different emotions, happiness, sadness, and regrets. Even though he has longed so much to be a father he knew having a baby with Zoey meant they would have to relocate to another state or country to be free from her parents. "Babe!!!, You need to hide, your parents are outside with a policeman, they said I kidnapped you against your will" Desmond woke Zoey up. She had been with him for a week now and had refused to go back to her parent's house for the holiday. She stood up angry refusing to go hide, she was done with being treated like a child who had no rights as a human. She brought out her pregnancy test result from the locker beside the bed, pushed Desmond out of her way, and proceeded to the sitting room to let them in. "Here she is, I told you she was here. Arrest him officer, arrest this fool" her mom screamed out pulling Zoey outside. Zoey broke free from her mom and handed the pregnancy test to her dad, he was shocked by the result, and her mom dragged the test result from him and fell on the floor. "I've been quiet for a long time but today is the last straw of it. Ever since I was a child you guys made every decision for me, most especially you mom, I did not have a childhood or experience life even as a teenager because you wanted to control everything. I'm an adult now and you can't control me anymore, if you know you want to be in my life or my child's life you better start acting right otherwise get the hell away from here and stay away from me and Desmond" she sat down on the chair trying to catch her breath as tears rolled down her eye. She watched her parents take the walk of shame without uttering a word.
Chapter 1 First day in school
Zoey was excited about her first day in school, she was excited about the new phase of life she was about to begin as she stepped into the school hallway. She was holding the map that was sent to her alongside the textbooks she needed for her first semester. She opened the map and looked around the busy hallway, she was confused about how to find her classroom which the class would be starting in five minutes. She looked around hoping to find a friendly-looking face to ask for directions but no one paid attention to her, they were all busy laughing and going about their day.
She took in deep breaths when she saw a woman coming out of an office right in front of her, she wasn't dressed like the students who were running around the hallway, she looked like a lecturer. Zoey ran up to meet her, "Good day ma'am, please I need your help in locating Mrs Stephanie's eight o'clock class on Architecture 101" She handed the map to her and showed her the spot she had already marked where the class would be taken.
The woman smiled warmly at her, and pointed her in the right direction, Zoey thanked her and ran off to locate her classroom which she was already five minutes late for. She stood outside the door for a few seconds to catch her breath before making her way into the class, the lecturer Mrs. Stephanie was already addressing the students, everyone paused and turned around when they heard the creaky sound of the door opening. Zoey tiptoed into the classroom trying not to make any more noise so as not to distract the already distracted class and call for more attention to herself, she sat on the first free seat she could find.
Her mind wondered as she tried to focus on Mrs. Stephanie's teaching, she was usually an attentive person in class but today was different, she was exhausted. She drove in today from her home town which was three hours away because her strict parents wanted her to resume today. Her strict parents did not let her resume early like other students who had already settled in school before classes started, being an only child to strict religious parents was tough on her, and made life difficult for her. She was lucky that she even made it to school on time, her car broke down and luckily a passerby was able to help her fix it. Her bags were still in her car,
all she could think about was locating her room and jumping on top of her bed to sleep as she was exhausted. Luckily she had only one class today and none till the next two days, she planned to arrange all her stuff and take the two days off to sleep and familiarize herself with school premises.
Zoey drove slowly looking around to find her hostel, UCLA had over five female student hotels and just three for males. The male hostel was a ten-minute walk from the female hostel, no male visitors were allowed after six p.m. in the female hostel, and also the same for the male hostel. Zoey finally located her hostel, Hall Four, popularly called the Haven Inn by the students. She brought out her luggage from her car boot and dragged it into the hostel, trying to locate her room she brought out her phone, checked her room number, and dragged her luggage to the door. She brought out her key and opened the door, she was welcomed in by a naked girl who went into the hallway naked to help her with her luggage.
Zoey thanked her trying not to stare at her naked roommate who did not seem to mind at all. "It's good to have someone around, I thought I was going be here alone this year just like last year which was very boring for me. You are so pretty. I'm Linda what's your name pretty girl?" She asked smiling. Zoey was uncomfortable with the way she was staring at her from head to toe, she felt bare in front of her. She introduced herself while taking her things to the empty side of the room. The bed allocated to her was full of clothes and books. "Oops my bad, I wasn't expecting anyone" Linda apologized as she removed her clothes from the bed. Zoey opened her luggage that had her bedsheets in, dusted the bed, and spread it over the bed neatly. She brought out her towel, change of clothes, and bathing soap. She quickly had her bath, texted her parents she was in her room, turned off her phone, and slept.
She woke up three hours later to see her roommate sitting down staring at her with a warm smile on her face, she sat up with her back resting on the wall. "Why are you staring at me?" Zoey asked her. Linda rolled her eyes at her, she stood up and got dressed ignoring Zoey's question. "Wanna go out for dinner? My treat to welcome you into my gentle abode" she giggled while staring at Zoey waiting for her to decide if she wanted to go with her or not. She was about to say no but her tummy said otherwise, it made a loud rumbling sound of hunger and she burst out laughing, she hadn't eaten all day. She quickly got dressed, picked up her purse and her phone, and headed out with her new roommate.
She was shocked when they got in front of a red Porsche and her roommate brought out her red key, she pressed the button and went in. "Come on in girl, what are you waiting for?" Linda screamed out in excitement. Zoey slowly went into the car wondering why a girl who could afford such a luxurious car was staying in the school hostel when she could afford to live off campus without any rules and regulations. "Nice car, I have never been in a Porsche before. It smells nice in here too, what car spray do you use?" Zoey asked her. She loved the smell and would love to get one for herself if it was not expensive. "Stick with me and you will own one yourself soon" Linda smiled at her while she turned on the music, she went through her purse and handed out a car spray to Zoey, it was in a small plastic design bottle, Zoey thanked her and collected the bottle from her, from the price tag on it Zoey knew she wasn't going to be able to afford it.
Zoey was surprised when Linda was driving towards the gate, it was her first day in school and too early to get into any trouble. "I thought we were not allowed out of school premises when it is seven p.m. I don't want to get into any trouble on my first day, please let's go back or better still drop me off here and I will find my way back to the hostel" Zoey said panicking. Linda shook her head while laughing at her, she rolled down her car window and beckoned at the head of the school security, calling him by his name. She brought out some money from her purse and squeezed it into his pocket, the man thanked her excitedly and ordered the other security man to open the gate quickly. "Don't be scaredy-cat, I know my way around here so don't worry your pretty little head. You are safe with me." Linda assured her.
Linda drove them to a nearby restaurant that had a live band playing popular old-school songs. A waiter approached them and took their orders and in less than twenty minutes their food was served. They shook their head as they ate and slowly danced to the music while sitting, they finally went back to the hostel by nine p.m.
Zoey woke up at ten a.m. the next morning with a hangover, she had her first alcohol with Linda last night. After being persuaded by Linda she decided to drink and feel free for once, she didn't know when they got home or how she changed from what she was putting on last night. Her head was pounding and spinning, her stomach was rumbling. She quickly had her bath and brought out a pack of her favorite cereals, milk, a glass cup, and a bowl from her luggage. She made herself a cup of milk and a bowl of cereal, when she was done eating she took pain relief medication and went back to sleep.
The sound of music woke her up to Linda dancing naked while on a video call with a man, she hung up when she noticed Zoey was awake after promising to call the man later. "Hey girl, you are finally awake. You got me scared last night, I didn't know it was your first time drinking, why didn't you say anything when I was hyping you up" Linda asked while sitting down on Zoey's bed butt naked. "Got you something on my way back from class." She walked to the table and came back holding a nylon, she opened it and handed a box of burgers and chips to Zoey, she opened the other and they both ate together on Zoey's bed.