I'm Not a Whore, I'm Just a Leech

There are many associations with the name Donahue: loyalty; chivalry; pride; family; honour… I am a Donahue and therefore when people first hear of me they assume I am all of those things, as if the name Donahue was synonymous with those virtues. However, they soon discover that I am none of those things. I am not loyal, I am not chivalrous. I have pride but not in the way people seem to expect and my family does not mean as much to me as people tend to think… And as for honour? Well, I have no honour.

Students at Queen of Peace no longer associate me with the rest of my family members who uphold these aforementioned values; they have instead produced a variety of different names for me. The more common of which are ‘slut,’ ‘whore,’ and ‘bitch.’ The most creative of which is ‘leech’ (because according to a ninth grader, I suck the happiness out of people’s lives.)

The irony, of course is that I am none of those things. Well, almost none; I suppose you could say I was a bitch. You see, while I am constantly on the grapevine for stealing so-and-so’s boyfriend, little do most people know that I am paid for my kisses. Insecure girls seek me out and beg me to see if their boyfriend is being faithful, asking me to seduce them, so to speak, to see their reaction. Of course, every girl that comes to me thinks that deep down their boyfriend will remain faithful to her. I have yet to fail in seducing a taken man. The girls never seem to tell anyone that they enlisted my services and therefore they think they are the only ones who have ever asked me for my help.

The girls aren’t the only ones who ask for my assistance; the boys ask too. They think that because of my reputation, I won’t mind helping them out of their ‘sticky situations,’ as they like to put it. Apparently, letting your girlfriend find you cheating on her is the easiest way to break up with her. I will never understand boys’ logic; as long as they pay me though, I’ll provide my services.

You must, no doubt, be wondering how all this came to be, and how I ‘sunk so low’ as to ruin people’s relationships for money. I suppose it narrowed down to three events. The first was at the end of grade eight, I was walking to class after lunch when a hand grabbed my arm, pinned me against the wall and a pair of lips crashed down onto mine and started kissing me. It was an awkward kiss, neither of us having beenvery experienced.In fact, for me, it was my first kiss. I still haven’t quite forgiven him for taking my first kiss like that.

Anyways, we kissed for a few seconds, but before I could even figure out what was happening, or who I was kissing, or why they were kissing me, a female voice drifted down the corridor. I believe her exact words were, “Oh, Frankie! How could you do this to me? I love you!” Then she ran off crying and that was the end of their pathetic little ‘relationship’ and the start of my reputation as the ‘leech.’ Once she was gone, Frank Iero pulled away from me and whispered “Thank you” in my ear and walked off.

By the time grade nine started, people seemed to have forgotten that I had ended poor Ruby’s ‘relationship’ and I once again became the recluse in the library. That was until Victor Jareau entered my life in mid-September during grade nine. I had been in the library studying for a Science test when he walked in and asked if I could help him with something. I nodded, dumbfounded, and he sat beside me. He was in my grade and needed help studying for a Math test; he figured that seeing as I was the top of the class, I could help. Two weeks later we were a couple and so began the whirlwind that was our romance.

For three months, Victor became the centre of my world. We studied together, we ate lunch together, we spent all of our free time together. The only times we were apart was when we were in lessons, or asleep. Any resemblances I had to friendships before then disappeared completely and I was absorbed in a world where no one but Victor existed.

Then, a week before the Christmas holiday, I walked around a corner to come face to face with my worst nightmare: Victor, in the arms of another girl. He had her pinned against the wall and was kissing her passionately, more passionately than he had ever kissed me, and one hand was up her shirt. For several moments my mind went completely blank.

When I came to my senses, instead of breaking down and yelling at him like a normal girl would have, I turned around, marched into the foyer, grabbed the first boy that looked vaguely my age and kissed him full on the mouth in front of the larger portion of the student body. Of course, luck being on my side, (and I’m never sure if that’s sarcasm or not), the boy I happened to have been kissing was Frank Iero.

I then proceeded to whisper in his ear, telling him to pretend that we had been seeing each other for a while and that this was his payment for the end of grade eight and the whole Ruby incident. He agreed willingly and I later discovered that he had been trying to find a way t get rid of his girlfriend at the time, Kelley. Anyway, my embarrassment that Victor had cheated on me was lessened by the fact that it now looked like I had been cheating on him.

The third event that sealed the deal, in a manner of speaking, was the first time someone asked me for my help and offered to pay me for it. For a while now, I had hated living off my parents’ money, and the idea of making some of my own while I was still in school took a hold of me like a drug and still hasn’t let me go. Her name was Lily Green, and she was in my grade. It was late February and the whole Frank scandal had somewhat died down. Lily was dating a boy in the grade above. I remember the conversation like it was yesterday…
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“Hello,” a timid voice said from behind me. Turning, I see a small blonde standing nervously behind me. “Are you Cam Donahue?” I nod, knowing she only asked the question as an ice breaker. Everyone in the school knows who I am. “Um, I was wondering if you could help me with something….” I raise an eyebrow. “I’ll uh, I’ll pay you,” she stutters out.

“Go on,” I say, suddenly interested.

“Well this is a bit awkward, and I totally get it if you say you can’t help…It’s just...”

“Just spit it out!” I know, I’m not polite.

“I think my boyfriend’s cheating on me,” she rushes and it takes me a moment to decipher what she said.

“And?” I ask.

“Well you’re really pretty…” she trails off and looks down.

“And?” I ask, yet again.

“Well, I know it’s ridiculous…but I was wondering if maybe you could, umm, try and seduce him or something…” she mutters. I stare at her. She wants me to…seduce her boyfriend?

“You want me to seduce your boyfriend?” I ask for clarification.

“Try, try to seduce him. If you succeed then I know he isn’t being faithful. If you don’t then I can stop worrying,” she explains.

“How much?”

“What?”

“How much will you pay me to seduce your boyfriend?”

“Ten dollars.”

“Make it fifteen and you’ve got a deal.”

“Fine.”

“And I want it payed in advance.”

“Fine,” she snaps and she pulls her wallet out of her backpack. “Here’s ten and you can have the rest later.” She gets up to leave. “Oh, and I want to watch to make sure you aren’t lying to me.”
__________________________________________________________________________


I did as she asked. It took all of ten minutes to seduce Patrick in a deserted hallway while Lily watched from a classroom. She was furious when he pinned me against the wall and started kissing me like I was an oxygen replacement. She ranted at him while I slipped down the hallway. She had paid the other five later and I’ve never spoken to her since. It seems she never told anyone that she asked for my help, and I never told anyone either.

After that I began to really build up a reputation and before long, those who were previously confident in their relationship started coming to me, worried because I had proved so many relationships wrong, that with a little flattery boys fell at my feet.

Once my reputation was built, boys started coming to me too, aware that I had no qualms about breaking up relationships and asking me to help them end theirs.

By the end of grade ten I became known as ‘the leech.’

By the end of grade eleven I began to question the intelligence of my fellow students. I didn’t understand that no one had pieced together what I was doing. I was only ever spotted kissing taken boys and it was only ever their girlfriends that caught us. Anyone who put their mind to it would have been able to see it. After two and a half year, I was shocked no one had.

Entering grade twelve I was curious to see if anyone had finally clicked. By the time I got to Queen, it was clear that no one had. Or, if they had, they hadn’t said anything. Instead I was given my first job of the year by Elizabeth Turner, whose concerns over her boyfriend had grown over the summer to the point where she was willing to ask for my help.

So here I am, waiting in a deserted hallway by the cafeteria. He was a year younger than me, in grade eleven, and he has succumbed to my temptations at least twice before. When the echoing of voices drifted down the hall, I position myself and not at Turner who is tucked inside a little alcove in the hall. It does not take long for a group of students to walk toward the cafeteria.

When I spot Turner’s boyfriend, Will, making his way in our direction with a group of his classmates, I carefully step into their path as they walk by, purposefully walking into Will and dropping my books. He looks startled but bends down to pick them up anyway, waving his friends on as they stop. The girl amongst the group glares daggers at me and I smile sweetly back. Her ex-boyfriend paid me to kiss him at the end of last year.

“Cam.” Will nods as he hands me my books. “Have a good summer?” He was going to make conversation with me? This would be over quicker than I thought.

“It was alright.” I shrug. “I think my math textbook is still here somewhere.” I frown and look around by our feet. Will immediately crouches down and looks behind the garbage can. When he finds nothing, I offer him a hand to help him up. He takes it and as he stands, I pretend to trip. He automatically catches me, and I look up at him with grateful eyes. He absentmindedly moves out of the main hallway and into the side one where Turner is waiting and watching.

“Are you okay?” he murmurs, not letting go of my waist. I nod and bite my lip. He brushes a strand of hair from my face and tucks it behind my ear. “Are you sure? You look a little pale...” he murmurs again and pulls me closer to himself. The ‘weak and helpless girl’ persona is my least favourite to play, but I am oddly good at it and it gives me some of my quickest results.

“You just knocked your shoulder against my lip,” I say, allowing myself to bite my lip slowly. Will’s hand immediately moves from my waist to my lip, and before he touches it he says, “Would you like me to kiss it better?” Then he presses two fingers against my lips and I let out a slight gasp. It is the gasp that does it. His hand snakes around to the back of my neck while the other hand stays on my waist, pulling me flat against him. His lips are nothing special but I pretend to sink into them. Luckily, I do not have to wait long before Turner’s voice rings through the hallway in a piercing screech.

Will jerks away instantly and I am left questioning how many brain cells the guy actually has. This is the third time he has kissed me and the third time his girlfriend has caught us.

Job well done, another twenty dollars in my pocket. My price went up in tenth grade when a ninth grader asked me to seduce her rather disgusting boyfriend. I had to brush my teeth twice after that assignment.

“Already draining the happiness from young couples I see,” a voice sneers from the darkness. I roll my eyes and keep on walking. “I’m surprised you picked Will first though...I expected you to come running to me,” the voice continues.

“Jealous, are we, Iero?” I snigger in return. Iero laughs.

“Like I could ever want you,” he mocks, stepping into stride with me. “You just always seem to find ways to make me kiss you. I take pity on your feeble attempts at subtlety and oblige you. I could never want you.” I hide my frown behind a sneer. If anyone were to ever piece together what I was doing it would be Iero. For some reason the guy goes through girls like a normal person goes through socks. Everything will be fine for a few day and then one of his new ‘girlfriends’ comes running to me and begs for my help. Kissing Iero has become a steady job for me. I would say his girlfriends all come to me when they want to end it with Iero (because that is always what happens when I get involved) but for some reason they all honestly believe they are his one and only love. They think he would never cheat on them. I have proved each and every single one of them wrong.

“Whatever you say, Iero,” I say before waving at him over my shoulder and walking down the hallway to my next class. Thankfully he doesn’t follow.

Notes

First story I've ever written. I'm not going to ask you guys to be nice, that's stupid. Be as mean as you want.