Chapter 6

The sound of her alarm broke the silence of her room with an unpleasantly shrill sound. Camila realized she had a terrible hangover as she tried to remember how she had gotten to her bedroom; the last thing she remembered was leaving the bathroom of that bar. Sofia was so animated that she threw away the jars of beer and ordered a bottle of whiskey. Of course, it was the first time Camila had tried it, and although it had not been to her total liking, the consequences of alcohol were present faster than she expected.

"I drank a lot," he mumbled once the vague memories of the night before came back to his mind. He looked around; for the first time, his little room seemed like a pigsty. He needed to change his life, just as Sofia had suggested.

She looked at her watch; she was ten minutes late. But in her state, she didn't even want to get up. In fact, terrible nausea flooded her throat; she wanted to vomit, but the dizziness and weakness were stronger than her. Even so, she gathered the strength that still remained in her legs and got up lazily. Step by step, she reached the half bath. Instinctively, she knelt on the toilet. The nausea increased when she perceived the aroma of toilet deodorant hanging from the billet. Once she took position on it, she let out all the alcohol she had ingested. Thank God she had not eaten anything but the snacks that the bar waiter had offered them because they had been here and there, from store to store, looking for a new outfit for her.

Once he felt free of the nausea and vomiting, he closed the lid and put his head on top of it. He felt like dying, something like a terrible flu only without the discomfort of the stuffy nose and sneezing. His whole body ached.

She would have spent the whole morning there if someone had not knocked on the door. Lately, the only person who visited her was Sofia, and maybe it was her who was waiting outside the door. So she decided that she would not open the door and hoped that it had a lock to prevent someone from entering and seeing her in that shameful state. While she was thinking about it, she heard footsteps in the room. Someone had already taken the trouble to enter without her permission. She only knew one person capable of doing that, and that was Cinthia.

"Cami?" he asked, even closer to her. She turned around and saw her friend, astonished to see her kneeling on the toilet.

"Oh my God, are you all right?"

He nodded; it was just a hangover, not a big deal. But he didn't know how Cinthia would react when she found out that he had been partying the night before with none other than Sofia.

"Yes, I'm fine," he said unsuccessfully. With the look on his face, it was difficult for anyone to believe him.

"Look at your face," he replied, observing the obvious. But Camila could not know; she had not had the opportunity to see that she had all the makeup smeared all over her face that Sofia's makeup artist had put on her the day before. She also had her freshly cut hair messy and dirty. Although the gay stylist had taken care to give her hair a good treatment, Camila did not remember that after starting to drink whiskey, she had leaned on the table and had stained her hair with botanera sauce.

"Did you cut your hair?"

"Yes."

"You surprise me. I stop seeing you one day, and you become a rebel."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, it's not just the hair; I think you're still drunk. I didn't know that part of you. Who did you drink with?"

"With some friends," she admitted, remembering Sofia and Carlos, although they were not really her friends but rather co-workers.

"I didn't know you had other friends besides Fernanda and me," said Cinthia, doubtful of her friend's words. They had known each other since the first day of school, and since then, they hit it off because their temperaments were calm and reserved. But during all that time, Camila had never gone out with anyone else besides her small group of friends.

"Well..." she hesitated. She didn't want to lie. In fact, she didn't know how to lie to her best friend. But for the sake of many things that mattered to her, she had to start doing it. "Old friends from high school called me, and I went to spend some time with them."

"A little?" her friend scoffed. "I'd say all night."

"I really don't know; I don't remember how I got here last night."

"For God's sake, Camila! That's very dangerous. You shouldn't go out again, and you shouldn't drink too much if you don't go with someone you trust. Something bad could have happened to you in the state you were in."

"Thanks for your concern, but if I'm here, it's because nothing happened to me. Besides, my friends are trustworthy people. They wouldn't let anything bad happen to me," she said, thinking of the profits that Sofia and Carlos would lose if something happened to their purity. Cinthia crossed her arms, wrinkling her beautiful sky-blue sweater. She pursed her lips, worried about her friend's safety.

"Invite me next time," she said to ease the tension. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Of course, although I don't think it will happen again—after what I had seen, I didn't want to drink with Sofia and Carlos again—what are you doing here so early?"

"Oh yes," they both sat on the bed. Cinthia took a seat before Camila; she seemed to have a lot to say. "Fernanda asked me to come and see you. She said she heard some guys say that you humiliated the university accountant."

"Humiliate?"

"Well, not exactly that, but you know how the accountant is when you don't pay your tuition on time. She treats you like dirt."

"Don't even remind me," said Camila with a loud sigh. "But I don't understand, how am I supposed to humiliate her?"

"They say you shut her mouth by paying everything you owed."

"Ah, that," she said, remembering the situation that had gotten her into the game. Had she kept the money and returned it to Sofia, maybe her life would still be the same or maybe not. Without money, there would be no college and no way to save her parents' home. "I asked for a loan."

"And how will you pay it back?" her friend insisted worriedly.

"I got a job. It's part-time, but it pays well."

"Oh, Cami, I wish I could help you. It's going to be hard with college and the service," he put his hand on her knee and patted it several times to encourage her.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine, as long as you can help me with the service classes today."

Cynthia smiled. They both knew that those classes were not so important. They were Saturday classes and only lasted an hour, of which the professor would arrive twenty minutes late to give a brief explanation that didn't really explain anything and then leave.

"All right, don't go and rest. I'll pass you the notes later. Now about your work, don't work too hard. I don't want you to stress yourself out trying to pay the money for the university and then fail a subject because of it, okay?"

"Surely not," agreed Camila with a smile on her face.

"All right, Cami, rest. See you later." She got up and then gave her friend a kiss on the cheek. "If I have time, I'll come by to see you later."

"Yes."

When Cinthia left, Camila lay down on her bed. She had so little strength that she would have been able to sleep in that position if it hadn't been for the cars driving on the road outside the bedrooms. If it had been a normal day, she would have ignored all the noise, but the reality was that she still had the hangover hammering on her head, and it would not leave her alone unless she did something to stop it from hurting.

She got out of bed and went straight for an aspirin from her medicine drawer. Of course, in that drawer, there wasn't a whole medical arsenal, but at least what was there could soothe the pain her body was feeling. When she opened it, she saw her usual inventory: a box of aspirin, a box of painkillers for her usual monthly colic, a couple of cough syrups, and at the bottom, a box where she kept the condoms that the university gave her for the sexual care program. The box was full.

He took a couple of pills, and after a few minutes, he began to feel a little better. So, he decided to tidy up his room, which was a mess, and from the sheets came a horrible drunk smell. After a couple of hours tidying up the room and another hour on personal hygiene, his stomach begged for food. Since some girls must be in Saturday classes or some extracurricular workshop, the cafeteria was empty.

Camila didn't hold back from ordering a couple of orders of tacos de canasta, a quick but effective meal for someone who doesn't have a lot of time to eat, like a college student who doesn't live with her parents. She also took the opportunity to buy a serum, which she needed to recover better and faster. Then she went up to her room and was able to sleep for a couple of hours until someone interrupted her rest with a loud knock on the door.

"Who is it?" asked Camila, half-awake and half-asleep from her bed.

"It's me. Damn it! You must give me a copy of your key," replied Sofia from the other side.

"What do you want?" she dared to answer.

"Have you forgotten what day it is?"

Her mind, still overwhelmed by exhaustion, prevented her from reflecting on the day or the date. So, she could only get up and open up to Sofia.

"What's wrong?

"It can't be possible," Sofia muttered in annoyance. Camila reacted upon seeing her dressed in the same uniform she was wearing the night she met her.

"Didn't you tell me it was next Saturday?"

"And what day do you think today is?"

"But..." - "But nothing, we must hurry or we won't make it in time for the ceremony. Besides, we must add you for the auction," Sofia whispered, looking around in case the walls had ears.

"I'll get a sweater and my shoes," she said, slamming the door in Sofia's face.

She was so scared and nervous that she tried to make the act of finding a suitable sweater and putting on her shoes seem like an eternity. She had been preparing her mind for when she would surrender her purity to a stranger, but she had never thought about what would happen on that day.

"Hurry up," Sofia shouted at her, tired of waiting. But Camila stopped in front of the door. She sighed several times; she didn't want to seem frightened or distressed by the situation. Besides, she needed to give herself courage so as not to weaken. She wished that no matter what happened, nothing in her would change. She would still be the same person the next day and the days after that because sex should not be important to her. It was just an act of mutual pleasure. She should also enjoy it no matter who bought her company. Nothing should affect her thoughts. Nothing.

She opened the door, and the first thing she saw was an angry Sofia, who grabbed her arm and dragged her down the hallway after locking her bedroom door. When they came out, she noticed that night had already fallen. Maybe it was eight o'clock at night, but she wasn't completely sure. When she saw Carlos, she felt less overwhelmed when she saw his smile. That was what she needed in those moments—to see some affection and feel good about what she was about to do

.

"Nervous?" Carlos asked as he opened the car door for her. She just tilted her head to deny it, although it was more than obvious how she felt. Everyone, even Sofia, had felt nervous, doubt, and fear when entering the game.

"Let's go," Sofia ordered, pushing Camila into the car. She didn't want anyone to see her with her, at least not until they said they worked together in the supposed job they all thought she had.

The car moved forward, and everyone inside kept silent until Carlos turned on the stereo to play some music on his phone. That didn't help much, but at least it relaxed Sofia a little, so she could realize that Camila, like her, was scared by the Game.

"There is no need to be afraid or ashamed," he encouraged her. "No one there will control you. You must control them so that they want you. Never forget that; a man is never in control; we only pretend to be."