The Billionaire Made Me A Mom

Kayla Harrison gripped the edge of her dorm room desk, blinking back the sting in her eyes as the numbers on the screen glared at her like a threat. $128,392.73. That was the total now. Tuition, interest, late fees, and hospital bills for two dead parents who'd never expected to leave their only child behind with nothing but memories and a mountain of financial ruin. She exhaled slowly, shakily, as though that might lighten the weight in her chest. It didn’t. Her world felt like it was caving in, dollar by dollar. The soft hum of her aging laptop filled the silence, along with the muffled laughter of students passing by her door students who didn’t have to choose between eating dinner or printing an essay. Students who didn’t work three part-time jobs and still wonder how to afford tampons, let alone textbooks. She pulled her knees up to her chest, letting the laptop screen fade into blur. Her room was bare no posters, no fairy lights, nothing that said young woman enjoying her college years. Just stacks of library books, a worn mattress on a metal bed frame, and a closet that barely held together with safety pins and prayers. She hadn’t bought a new outfit in over a year. Even her boots had holes in the soles. Every cent was scraped together for rent, tuition, or loans she could never seem to touch. Her phone buzzed. She reached for it half-heartedly, already guessing what it was. UNPAID: CalStar Lending. Third Notice. Immediate action required. She swiped the message away. “Immediate action,” she scoffed aloud. “If I had money, don’t you think I’d pay you already?” No one answered, of course. The overhead light flickered. Another problem for another day. She should be in class, but the exhaustion had won this morning. The kind that sat in her bones, numbing her limbs and silencing alarms. She hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning. Toast. Dry. She stood, pacing the room slowly, rubbing her arms as though friction could warm her. She had dreams once. Big ones. She wanted to graduate, work in nonprofit law, help kids who grew up the way she had on the outside of everything. But dreams cost money. And money was something she hadn’t had since the day her parents died in that car accident three years ago, leaving her behind with a life insurance policy denied on a technicality and a mortgage that swallowed their rundown home. The house was gone. Their things were gone. And now, even her belief that she could make it on her own was starting to crack. A knock at the door made her flinch. “Kayla?” came a muffled voice from outside. “Are you alive in there?” Her neighbor. Mrs. Leland. She was seventy-two and lived on the floor below. A sweet woman who shared her leftover casseroles and always knocked too early in the morning. Kayla cleared her throat. “Yeah, I’m okay.” “Eat something today,” the woman called. “Don’t make me come up there.” Kayla smiled weakly, though no one saw it. “I will.” The footsteps faded. The silence returned. She sat down again and stared at the screen, the numbers now burned into her mind. No scholarship could save her now. No miracle call from a donor or grant. She was one overdue bill away from dropping out entirely. And somehow, she still had to pay rent on Friday. She opened a new tab, fingers hovering over the keyboard. Her pride tasted bitter, but hunger tasted worse. She typed: “Jobs in New York City. No experience. High paying. Urgent.” What else could she do? When you’ve got nothing left to lose… you start looking at things you never would have considered before. And Kayla Harrison was dangerously close to that edge. Soon afternoon came and Kayla left to school for her second class. Unlike Annie, Kayla was single and had always been because she just never liked anyone enough to date and that made a lot of girls hate her because since she was single she got hit on… a lot. As soon as Kayla entered the main building of her department, she heard her name and it broke her out of her train of thoughts. “Kayla!”, Zane jogged up to her while waving and nearly screaming her name. Zane was a friend from high school who always let her know he was interested in dating her. He was a cool guy and good looking with a warm and friendly attitude so they easily became friends when he got to know that I was not interested in dating anyone. “Oh, hey Matt”, Kayla smiled as he approached her. The smile didn't last long as she saw his friends approaching as well. Zane wasn’t the problem though, it was his friends. They always checked her out and made comments that let's just say she don't really appreciate. “What's up thick thing?” Matthew slurred as he liked his lips and eyed her. Seth also greeted her with “Hey sexy” as he smirked. She didn’t know how Matt didn't know they were checking her out but she wasn't about to spoil her mood futher so she ignored them and responded to Matthew, hugging him before they exchanged pleasantries and he walked her to class. Class was long and really boring and she almost slept off from lack of sleep. She had a side job to attend to though so she stood up, stretched and walked towards the door when she was stopped by some girls. As soon as Kayla looked up, she was met with the sharp eyes of Nicole Knox, Zane’s sister and the burning gazes of her minions Lisa and Belle. She sighed in exasperation and with a bored voice said calmly, “what is it, Nicole? I'm in a hurry so be fast”. “So you're going to feign ignorance forever?” Nicole said as Kayla stared in frustrated confusion. Nicole took a step forward and spoke too close to my face, “Stay away from Bryce, you bitch.” Kayla was confused as hell, “Who the hell is Bryce, Nicole?” she gestured as she spoke, obviously frustrated. “Just keep testing me Harrison” Nicole said as she used her shoulder to nudge Kayla violently and walked past. Belle hit the book off Kayla’s hand and both minions followed closely behind her. Kayla stared at the three in disbelief and scoffed, picked up her stuff and went to her part time job at the snack joint not so far from school. “Do they think this is high school where they could bully as they please? So childish”, Kayla thought to herself. As Kayla walked into the snack joint, Julie, her coworker got off the phone and sighed in relief and said “You are just in time. I have to leave urgently. Please just cover up for me. I have 10 minutes left in my schedule”. Before she could say anything she dashed out. “Uhhhhm, okay, you're welcome”, Kayla said as she stared at the place she left and sighed.