Educated

by Sabrina Kade

  “Doubt it,” York says before swallowing. “Maybe they’re Sidyths?”

  “You think they’re like the Pluefs? Or the ones with the fins?” The one with dark eyes swallows. “Or Drakens?” She finishes in a small voice.

  A lot of these girls are new to me, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re new to the system altogether. There are formal training academies all over the galaxy, and they’re all buying up humans and humanoids with names I can’t pronounce. Humans are a commodity in the universe because no one cares about a human’s welfare. The mentality was, ‘what could we possibly do? Fly home? Alert the Galactal Federation? Please, go ahead’, followed by chuckling. Earth didn’t even belong to the Galactal Federation. To most, humans are only a few steps better than how humans view dogs. We’re pets. Adorable pets. Pets who can give pleasure.

  And so, Human Whores became the accepted name for girls like us as a whole.

  I’m sure it could be worse.

  I turn my head slightly to face the one who asked about the Drakens and absently wonders what her deal is, but I also want to maintain my aloofness in this tiny space. If word gets around I know things – any things – they’d look to me as their leader. And in this world – the last thing I want is to be seen as a Madam. The less we know about each other, the better.

  Made it less painful when we’re separated.

  “Drakens,” the woman continues. “You hear me? They could be Drakens.”

  “I heard you.” I can’t hide my annoyance. Of course, I’ve considered the possibility of being purchased by Drakens. Probably for some gallivant party. Drakens could afford it, but I didn’t want to be part of some alien version of a bachelor party. Drakens – though rich – were not kind.

  “So say something,” the girl continues.

  “How about shutting up?”

  “I sure hope it’s not Drakens,” another girl mutters – Sloane. Sloane Clark. She’s a few years younger than me and dumb as a brick when it comes to books, but smart enough when it comes to staying alive. Her light blue eyes are in direct contrast to her blood red hair. She’s pretty. Most of us are.

  “Drakens are rough,” she adds softly.

  “Not good tippers either,” one says hoarsely, laughing. Experience always rings in Arizona’s voice, so much so that a few others join in meekly, but I merely shudder along with Sloane. From across the room, I notice Arizona hadn’t changed much from when I first met her at the training academy. That’s how experienced girls like Arizona were.

  They’d come from time to time, between assignments, to teach the new girls a thing or two. She’s pretty enough, especially for working in this business for a decade longer than most of the others, but there’s also something I don’t like about her. Her stupid stage name? Her lackeys, Alaska, Dakota, and Kansas, who go with her on every job? Maybe her reputation around the stars?

  Arizona does this. Arizona does that. Arizona never minds when I stick it there. Blah blah blah.

  Or maybe it’s that even though she’s pushing thirty, she’s a horrible combination of looking young and acting like a bitchy mama hen. She has the most amazing almond colored skin with a perfectly matched eye color. Her body’s tight and toned like a gymnast’s, and though she’s short, she commands everyone’s attention in every room. Rumor is she’s even dominated a few aliens herself – an absolute rarity for a human whore.

  Her lips pull into a smirk when she catches me looking at her, and unfortunately, I glance away too late before she notices. “Like what you see, sweetheart?” she teases, elbowing Dakota.

  “No. I’m worried we’re heading to a Draken bachelor party,” I say, doing my best to keep my composure.

  “Why?” Arizona smirks, lowering her eyes to my chest. “Oh. Yeah. I guess that would be a concern.”

  No one joins in Arizona’s laughter this time. They all know what she’s inferring, and she’s not wrong to point it out.

  Drakens? Those perverts hate large tits. On the rare occasions, I could get one to carry a conversation; I learned they got in the way when they wanted to suck the skin over my heart.

  “Hey, at least you all have the latest language transmitters. They didn’t get a chance to update mine after they pulled the last one out,” one sulks. Mia – whatever her last name is, tugs absently at her ear.

  “Oh boo-fuckity-who,” York sneers. “Consider yourself lucky you don't know what these creeps are going to say to us.” She pulls her knees up to her chest and looks around the room from her seated position on the floor.

  York Albright – I’ve worked with her a few times. She isn’t the prettiest chick in the room, but she is the smartest. Unfortunately, she’s also a smartass who uses sarcasm to mask how afraid she is of anything. She’s only twenty-one with decent dark blond hair and brown eyes, but she’s already seen some of the worst the galaxy has to offer, so her mouth is permanently set in a skeptical frown. I leave her be for the most part.

  “I don’t want ever to hear what these aliens think about humans in general,” Sloane says, and I can’t argue.

  “Seriously,” Alaska says after getting an approving nod from Arizona. Her accent from home is still thick on her tongue. “Where are we going? Does anyone know anything?”

  “My last owner didn’t say anything,” I say lowly.

  “Neither did mine,” says Sloane.

  “Use your brains, ladies. Twenty Human Whores?” York says. “Most with language transmitters? Most having worked before? It can’t be good.”

  “Maybe it won’t be so bad,” someone chirps up with a smile, and I immediately want to smack it right off her face. She’s young and inexperienced. Easy to see she hasn’t been broken in yet thanks to her styled white-blond hair and sparkling blue eyes. “I’m kind of excited. Traveling the universe isn’t something everyone can do.”

  “You’re diluted, Phoebe,” York sneers. “You’re acting like this is some summer vacation. Don’t you get it? We’re slaves now.”

  “Entertainers!” Phoebe chirps, rising to stand. York doesn’t bother to move. Alaska and Arizona smirk, and I barely manage to hide mine. This bitch is clueless. “They said we’d be entertainers. That we’d travel the galaxies! How can you all be so negative about everything?”

  “Maybe because I’ve been entertaining for too long,” York says. “Sit before you piss someone off, yeah?”

  “But—”

  “Sit down, Phoebe,” Arizona snaps.

  And so she does.

  An uncomfortable silence settles over the room as Phoebe whispers to the girl next to her. Probably some overexcited bullshit about traveling the galaxies. What a newbie. She has no idea what’s about to happen to her.

  That’s the thing about some of the new girls. They start out so excited and ready for something new and fresh to do.

  Travel the skies!

  See the stars!

  Send the money back to your families!

  Entertain some of the most interesting beings in the galaxy!

  What could be wrong with that?

  The term entertainer is such a laugh. We’re not entertainers. We’re whores. Toys. Pets. Slaves. The only things keeping us alive and mostly intact are our rarity and mythical contracts.

  Speaking of which…

  Purchased is now available

  DEDICATION

  I can’t write without readers

  I thank you so much for taking time to read my book

  I wouldn’t be able to do this for a living if it weren’t for you guys

  Thank you so much for reading Educated!

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.

  Author Notes – Sabrina Kade

  About the Author

  Sabrina Kade lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and enjoys print leggings, shoujo manga,
and teen dramas on Netflix and Hulu. Her life is surprisingly normal with her husband and two beautiful daughters, and despite what she writes, she enjoys evenings at home with her family with good food, good drinks, and a good night’s rest. And while she does enjoy dirty science fiction, she finds as much enjoyment with clean reads with happy endings as she does with the darkest of horror stories.

  ***

  If you liked this story, you might like some of my other books. You can join my mailing list by dropping by my website https://sabrinakade.wordpress.com/newsletter/ or if you have any comments, shoot me a note at sabrinakade@sabrinakade.com I am always happy to hear from people who’ve read my work. I try to answer every email I receive.

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  Sabrina Kade’s other books

  Purchased

  Rebels of Sidyth Book One