It felt like a load off my chest telling someone. Finally!

I had not told my closest, and oldest friends, Chantell and JuJu. I had not told my old roommates, Twyla and Allura, thankfully. I had not told my ex-boyfriend that I thought was the one. Even my little sister did not know.

Somehow it was easy telling Gay, and I hope I did not regret it.

"Half a million is a lot for an eighteen-year-old. Sheesh!"

Lounged out on my bed I scrolled through my Twitter account as we talked. I told Gay more about why Angel gave me the money, about my father and his struggles with money, and then about my mother and her always asking for a handout.

"The money is for school and the things I need while in school. With whatever is left after college, I want to use to get started in life, not waste it all away in four years."

"Good point." Gay sat down in my chair at my desk. "My brother and I have trust funds too."

"What?" Now this, I did not know.

"Not a big deal, it's hardly half a million and we don't get it till we turn twenty-one, so next year for him. Probably a fourth of yours. My grandparents set it up for us, not my parents."

"Oh." This was all an interesting bit of detail. I did not feel alone with secret money. "And what do you plan on doing with it, if you don't mind me asking."

Gay shrugged. "I don't need it for college, my parents are paying for that, along with scholarships. So more than likely buy a nice place to live after college because I do not want to live with my parents ever again."

I never thought about where I would live after college. I assumed I would go back and stay with my dad and Angel. It was a huge house and they would not mind. Living on your own was underrated when you were still young and learning.

"Or maybe buy all the smoke I can find and have a big ass party and then go do my thing in the world and make more money."

I bust out laughing at her. Gay was real, and that's what I liked about her. We went on to talk about our plans for after college. Young hopefuls, just wishing things went our way in three years. I still had no idea if I wanted to get a job somewhere or work for either my dad or Angel. Or use whatever money I had left and do my own thing.

Again, I had time for that.

"Forget all that, future stuff, that's years away...what are you going to do about your mother?"

"What do you mean? I'm done with her. You heard me, she keeps begging for money and I keep giving it to her. I can't tell her about my money or she would bleed me dry."

"True," Gay said. "But she is your mother."

That's why I still had a guilty conscious about it but I was going to stand my ground. We always struggled when I was growing up but my mother always found a way. She either got a piece of a job, just enough to get by for a while, or she got money from friends or my father or a boyfriend. She could do the same now.

"You're lucky you don't have a mother like mine," I said to her.

"You met my mother, remember? She's a basketcase."

She was over-the-top protective, but she was not a leech.

"All I'm saying is, you have more than enough for college. More than enough to have a nice start after graduation. You could like...give your mother an allowance every now and then, without revealing where you get it from."

"She thinks my dad and Angel give me money."

"Then there you go."

Could I really give my mother money for the next four years and she would not bother me anymore? Or would this go on into adulthood, and I would continue to give her money? On some level, no matter what, I loved my mother and my little brother. I want the best for them, not for something bad to happen to them.

I thought about it all night. Crunched numbers in my head. How much could I give away, how much did she need without making her suspicious? I tossed and turned about it all night long.

I woke up in the morning and cashapped my mother two hundred dollars. She asked for a thousand, which was ludicrous. Two hundred was not much, it would not cause any attention and maybe it would keep her satisfied. I also texted an apology to her and that I would be able to give her more money in a couple of weeks. I planned on giving her more before she even asked, but spread out and different amounts.

I did have a job now after all. I could just give her what I earned.

That was a load off. I showered and dressed for the day and then headed out for my day.

I remembered my date last night with Perez and why I could not go further with him. I had feelings for someone else and I had to be honest about them. I wanted more than a friendship with King.

I texted him: Can we hang out today?

I was happy when he replied right away.

What's good fresh? What u wanta do

I don't know why I was smiling so hard at that simple text. And I felt giddy for some reason. I did not know what to reply back to him, so I stood there outside of my class simply holding the phone and staring at it.

A classmate bumped into me going into class, making me drop my phone.

"Hey!" I shouted out to their back but they did not even stop to say excuse me.

I picked up my phone and saw that it landed face down and cracked the screen.

"Just great!" I mumbled and walked into class. Surely the phone was still working after a little drop. I've dropped it dozens of times before.

Just my luck, the screen was too messed up and I could not text back. Now what was I going to do?

I sat in my seat and pulled out my laptop, pretending to get ready for class, instead I DM King through his IG page.

Just broke my phone. Ugh! I have to get it fixed after class, can we meet up later?

I did not expect him to reply to his IG account so fast, but he did once again.

I'll go with you. Let's meet up later

It was Friday, so after my two classes, I was free for the day. I began to wonder how people survive without a phone. I used it for everything. To talk to friends, to chat with professors about projects, my work schedule, find activities on campus, and of course all the social media. I could not wait to get back to my room, at least get my iPad, and pretend it was my phone till I got mine fixed.

I texted King to meet me downstairs and we could go to the Apple Store at the mall.

I looked over what I was wearing, cute but boring. Jeans and a thick green sweater. I changed into black leggings, a long white shirt, and a denim jacket over it and it was still cold enough for my big, puffy coat. My hair was still in a bun, but I did not care.

I made it downstairs, with my broken phone and my iPad if needed. Bria was working the front desk and I was off for tonight so I could hang out late if I wanted to.

While I was waiting for King, who walked through the door? Todd. No longer was he the cute, smart guy I liked when I first met him at the football game. Not the Todd who helped me study correctly to make good grades.

"Todd, what are you doing here?" I knew he knew no one in my building, he was here for me yet again.

Todd smiled and walked up to me as if we were still on friendly terms. "I came to have dinner at the cafeteria. Want to join me?"

"No!" I could not believe he fixed his face for a whole lie. "The cafeteria doesn't open for another hour Todd, that's not why you are here."

"Oh, then can we hang out or something, then we can go-"

"I said no. Why are you still bothering me?"

"I'm not bothering you Rayvn, geez. You make it like I'm a crazy person or something. You said you didn't want to date me, fine. I don't see why we can't be friends and hang out. I don't have that many friends."

"You have Rick and Jonathan. You're still cool with Allura, hang out with her."

"Allura and Jonathan broke up again, and she's only friends with me when they are together."

It did not shock me that they broke up, again. I was sure they would be back together again, it's what they did.

"Sorry Todd, I don't know what to tell you." King walked in and I was so happy to see him, he made me smile. "I have to go."

I rushed away from Todd before he said anything else, grabbed King's arm, and pulled him out as we walked away as fast as I could.

"What's going on? You okay?"

"Uh..." How much did I want to tell King? He already rescued me once. "Nothing. I just need to get this phone situation fixed. Come on, my car."

"No, I got this, I'm driving."

I liked the way he gave an order without it being in a mean, "I'm the man" type of way. He was just a gentleman and I liked it.

We made it to the mall and there was a line of people trying to get their phones fixed. We would be there all night.

"Let me see your phone," King said holding out his hand.

I handed it to him. "Dropped it. And no, I don't have a screen protector and should. You would think how expensive these phones are-"

"This is more than a cracked screen, you may have to get a whole new one." King was examining my phone as if he knew a little something about fixing them.

"Why is it always something with me!"

He gave me a grin. "Tell me you did not stumble down the stairs again."

I hit his arm. "Stop it! That was not funny! I still have a scar on my leg from that. Considering some of the other things that have happened to me since I've been here, that was subtle."

"What else has happened?"

"Oh...stuff!" I was not going to give King my greatest hits of embarrassments.

As we stood in line and waited, King told me about how he was going to Daytona Beach for Spring Break with his friends from high school. Gay and I were still trying to come up with plans.

"You should come to Daytona."

"What?"

"Yeah, it's cool, it's not too expensive or anything. I can see if there are any rooms at the hotel we will be in."

She had never been anywhere cool on a vacation. No vacation ever, again, not counting going to see her grandparents in Arizona. Florida for Spring Break was what rich kids did. Well, technically, she was rich. Money was not the problem.

Should she go away with a guy she had feelings for? On a trip, where they could spend lots of time together.

"I will ask Gay," was all I could say.

I got my phone, King took me home, and I had a lot to think about.

A/N: So now Rayvn has her mother on an allowance, I wonder how long that will last. And Todd is not giving up! And this is the slowest burn to get Rayvn and King together, I can't stand it myself.