"Yana, your little sister's in the hospital again. Can Mom borrow some money?"
"How much, Mom?"
"A thousand, sweetheart."
"I only have eight hundred. I'll try borrowing the rest from a friend."
"I'm sorry to burden you, dear."
Ayana ended the call. This was the third time this month her younger sister had been hospitalized. Born when their mother was already in her late forties, the girl had a congenital heart condition inherited from their father's side.
Ayana stepped out of her small apartment and knocked on the door next to hers
"Danni!"
There was a rustling sound from inside.
Click. The door opened, revealing Danni—her hair messy, eyes heavy with sleep. She stepped aside, letting Ayana enter.
"Did you get back late again?" Ayana asked casually as she sat on the stool in front of the vanity table.
Danni shook her head. "No, I woke up around three. Watched something. Now I'm just sleepy again."
"You wanna borrow money, don't you?"
She didn't beat around the bush. The walls in this apartment complex were thin. Danni had heard everything Ayana said on the phone.
Ayana nodded without hesitation. She had borrowed money from Danni before. Many times.
"It's not that I don't want to help," Danni said. "I just bought a designer bag—cost me tens of thousands. Haven't received any new money yet."
Ayana glanced at the row of luxury bags lining Danni's wall. One of them looked new—she hadn't seen it there before.
She gave a quiet nod, understanding, and was about to excuse herself when—
"Why don't you just work with me?" Danni offered. "You're still slaving away at that café for two thousand a month, getting sore all over, scolded by rude customers and an even ruder boss. You'd have it so much easier with me."
Ayana knew what Danni did for a living: she sold her body.
With Ayana's looks—fair skin, tall figure, natural curves—Danni had been trying to recruit her for months.
But Ayana always refused.
She was a scholarship student who had moved far from her hometown in pursuit of a better life through education. She knew what Danni did was dangerous and illegal. More than anything, she feared being expelled if the university ever found out.
For someone poor like Ayana, a college degree wasn't just a dream—it was the only path out of her reality.
Lately, though, she'd heard of more and more students turning to sex work. Some were even on full scholarships like her. They didn't do it for tuition—they did it just to survive.
Ayana didn't pay for school, but she still had to pay rent, eat, and send money back to her family. Survival wasn't free.
"So? What do you say?"
Ayana stayed quiet for a few seconds, then said, "No. I'm good."
"Alright," Danni said, shrugging. "But if you ever change your mind, let me know. With your face and body, you'd be booked in no time."
Ayana walked back to her unit after saying goodbye.
Inside her tiny apartment, there was only an old fur mat left by a previous tenant, a small electric fan sat by the wall, rattling so loudly it could be heard two units away, a foldable table—gifted by her boss at the café, passed down from his son—stood near a pile of books and bags filled with clothes.
In two years of college, Ayana had never owned a wardrobe. She stored her clothes in bags and hung some of them on a makeshift clothesline, tied with rope from the window to the corner of the room.
She quickly changed into a neater outfit, though the fading colors made it obvious the shirt had been worn far too many times.
It took her ten minutes on foot to reach D'more Café, where she had worked as a part-time barista for the past two years.
"Ayana? Don't you work the night shift?" one of the baristas on duty asked as she stepped inside.
"I need to see Mr. Brown," Ayana replied, heading straight toward the back office.
Before she reached the employee area, her phone rang.
"Hello, Mom? I haven't gotten the money yet. I'm still tryi—"
"Your father's heart is acting up again, sweetheart. We're on the way to the hospital. He stopped taking his medication."
"Why, Mom? Why didn't he take them?"
"We didn't have the money. Everything went into your sister's treatments."
The call ended. Ayana stood frozen for a second, steadying her emotions, then walked to the room next to the employee locker.
Inside, a man in his late forties was busy staring at a computer screen.
Knock knock. Ayana tapped on the already open door.
"What is it, Ayana?" Robert Brown took off his glasses.
She stepped inside, standing straight in front of her boss.
"Mr. Brown, can I get an advance on next month's pay? I really need the money."
"For next month, huh? You already took fifteen hundred in advance. That leaves only five hundred."
"Just five hundred? Can't you—"
"You know getting paid for a month you haven't worked yet is already a big favor. I trust you, that's the only reason."
Ayana nodded. She understood. No other employee ever received such treatment. Robert had always treated her differently.
She left with 500 DNR in hand. It would be enough to cover her sister's medical bills—but nowhere near enough for her father's hospital stay. Not to mention the heart medication he'd need to start taking again every month.
Back in her apartment, Ayana sat against the wall and did some mental math.
"It's not enough…"
She would have no salary next month. But she still had to pay rent. Eat. Buy her father's medication. And get the textbooks her professor just assigned.
With heavy steps, she walked next door again. This time, she knocked softly—as if hoping no one inside would hear her.
"Who is it?"
But Danni had sharp ears.
"It's Ayana."
Less than an hour had passed since Ayana had refused her. But now, she was back.
"Danni, I want to work with you."
...