Independent contractor agreement on compensation

[Independant contractor]

I signed a 6-month contract but only worked at the place for 26 hours and about 5 days with the following statement in my contract:

If, "independent contractor" teminates this (6) month contract he/she must do it with the trial period, otherwise he/she may be required to refund the total amount of compensation received from producer to date.

Trial period information in my contract states:

An initial 16 hour trial period shall commence immediately by either (2) days (80) hours each, or (4) days at (4) hours each day. If this is successful then the contract shall commence.

However, I worked 4 hours the first day 7.5 hours the next, then 4.5 hrs, then 2 more 5 hour shifts, does this make a difference at all?

The main question is am I really stuck with these terms or is there a way out.

I heard from a friend that California is a "at will" work state, and no one is obligated to work for any determined time, contract or not. Now I need to find out if that is true, any help would be great.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[aaron]

Were you paid? If so, has there been any effort to get you to repay any amount you have received?

[Independant contractor]

No, I haven't been paid yet, but I really want to quit this job for another, and I'm trying to find out what are the consequences of my action before I do anything.

[aaron]

The enforceability of the provision seems questionable to me. But I don't know the full facts and circumstances, or even what state's law would apply.