Settled in the part of town that was middle/lower class, Mingle did not stand out very much. The building had once been a small school building in the 50s, but when Calvin Stephens inherited money from his parents and sister after their unfortunate demise, he decided to buy the building and convert it into what it was today. Most people who saw Mingle did not even know what it was. On the outside, it still looked like a plain, abandoned place. On the inside, walls had been knocked down, making a larger area for dancing, tables, a bar and a stage for live entertainment.

The bar did not serve any alcohol. Oh no, not even the light stuff. Calvin, who was more commonly known as Richie Rich, believed in an environment where people could meet up, chat, make friends and possibly find someone they would end up sharing the rest of their lives with without the help of alcohol messing up their judgment. Yes, Richie Rich was a hopeless romantic. He wanted it to be a place where everyone, from every lifestyle could feel safe and come. He always found it very hard to meet people and find romance in a normal bar setting, especially with being gay.

This is where the glow stick idea came in.

Everyone who enters Mingle must wear at least one glow stick. Green, yellow, red or blue. It was supposed to make things easier, cut out some of the small chat and awkwardness. Of course it does not always work. Just because a girl is wearing a green glow stick, meaning she is single, does not mean she will be interested in someone who approaches her. But at least the person approaching will not be chased out by an angry boyfriend.

---

When Ashley walked up to the door of Mingle, she smiled at the intimidating bouncer, Big Bob. A lot of people thought he looked scary because of his size, but she had always thought he looked more like a teddy bear. He was awkward with words, seemingly more so to the ladies, so he just smiled at her and waved her into the club, handing her two chosen glow sticks: Green and Blue.

'Guess, I'm a regular now,' Ashley thought with a small chuckle. She had only been to the hang out a couple times, but Big Bob had a very good memory. It was part of his job.

She put on both of the glow sticks, looked around nervously and subconsciously started to tug on the hem of her pink mini dress. Ashley hugged her Fluttershy purse to her chest and nibbled on her lower lip.

"This time, I will talk to someone," She quietly vowed to herself. The last two times she had came, she set quietly at the bar, sipping on a strawberry smoothie. Despite the glow stick system, she still felt too shy to approach anyone. Anyways, people never took her seriously because of the way she looked. Too blonde, too much pink and too young looking. Though she had just turned 19, people usually assumed she was around 15. The first time she had tried to get into the hang out, Big Bob demanded that she show him a second form of ID, thinking the one she used to be fake. Luckily, she had her photo ID from college and her work ID.

Not very many people were around and most of those were either employees or men. Ashley was not very interested in meeting a guy here. The whole reason she had came to Mingle was to be herself. At home she could not be herself because she was too chicken to come out of the closet. At Mingle, the blue glow stick did that for her.

Not sure what to do, she headed for the bar, waving and smiling at the two familiar people working behind the counter. Windy and Saddie were both young. Saddie hardly talked, but Windy was a chatter box.

"Hi, Strawberry smoothie please."

“You're bringing a book?” The look on Willow's face told Charlie that maybe bringing a book to the bar was a bad idea.

“You said it was just a juice bar, didn't you? I can take book to a juice bar.” She hugged her worn copy of Archer's Cross to her chest, awkwardly hiding it in the open top half of her shirt. If not for Willow's intervention, she would have been wearing paint-spattered dungarees and a beanie. Instead, she was made to wear a freshly ironed shirt and jeans; the icing on the top of the being-forced-out-for-the-night cake. Her best friend had good intentions, she was sure, but the idea of this “Mingle” place didn't sit well.

Willow glared at the book as if it had intentionally screwed with her plans. Finally, she huffed, locked her front door and strode into the street. She subjected Charlie to a long rant about the need for human connection as they walked to the juice bar. Willow lived on the edge of town, but the juice bar wasn't a long way off, and Charlie didn't trust her to drive even if she was going to be sober.

The bouncer was terrifying. Willow flashed her friendliest smile, and her ID, and Charlie followed suit, minus the smile. At the all-clear, they entered Mingle, and Charlie froze at the sight of the glow sticks. Willow hadn't told her about that. She groaned. “Will, what are those?”

“What do you think? They're required, okay? It's no biggie. Here.” Willow picked one green and one blue glow stick from the piles and wrapped them both around Charlie's left wrist. She stepped back to admire her work, pressing a hand to her chest in mock surprise. “Oh, look at that! They don't bite, isn't that something?” Laughing, she chose a yellow bracelet for herself and walked into the bar. Charlie mimicked her laugh while her back was turned, then followed.

Charlie took a good look around, and wondered if they were early. Was “fashionably early” a thing? She hated the vulnerability that sunk into her as she stood in the middle of the room. “Okay, I came, I saw, and now I want to go home. Off we go, yeah?” She made to leave, but Willow grabbed her arm and dragged her to the bar. A strawberry and banana smoothie slid into her hands a moment later, courtesy of the bartender. She cursed Willow for knowing her vices so well.

The woman had planned this too thoroughly, Charlie decided. She took her drink and slipped into a booth, opening her book so she could hide behind it. Willow bounced after her like an impatient puppy, scanning the bar with narrowed eyes, like some sort of cartoon villain, for a suitable match.

Charlie prayed she would give up quickly.

The screams and curses were still ringing in Lucy's ears as she picked her way down the poorly lit street. "I shouldn't have gotten out of bed today," she said with a bitter laugh. She plopped down on a nearby bench to collect her wits, and hot angry tears pricked the corner of her eyes. She gave a frustrated sigh and wiped them away. She hated crying. It was something she rarely did, and for good reason. It was a sign of weakness, in her mind. Tracing the tattoos that covered her arm, she closed her eyes and sagged against the bench. Behind her eyelids she saw her parents, red-faced and screaming once again about how much of a disgrace she was as her grandmother looked on helplessly. Then she saw her girlfriend, entangled and lip-locked with a pretty blonde boy. And then she saw herself sitting on this very bench, looking like a mighty sad sight.

"No use feeling sorry for myself," she muttered. Turning out her pockets, she examined what she had on her. She had enough sense to grab her wallet and the cash her grandmother gave her before she ran out the door. However her phone and her keys were still sitting on her desk at home. "Gonna have to go back for those." She shook her head and raked a hand through her aquamarine hair. She got up again, intent on wandering the streets until she could think of a better place to go.

A little while later she came across Mingle. She had heard about this place. A bar that wasn't actually a bar, more like a dating-website brought to life. She had never been inside before, because she never had reason to be. But tonight she found herself without a family or a girlfriend or any person to turn too. And, although she would never admit it, she hated to be alone. and although they did not serve alcohol, it was better than wandering the streets all night. She took a quick look at herself in the window of a nearby store. Black jeans that had more rips than fabric, white graphic tank-top, and black platform shoes. Not her best outfit, but it would do. Her make-up was still relatively intact. She shrugged and headed towards the bar.

Walking up to the bouncer, she flashed her id without so much as looking at the bouncer. Grabbing a blue glow stick, she wrapped it around her wrist. After debating, she finally settled on a yellow glow stick as well. Heading for the bar, she ordered a chocolate shake and sat down facing the rest of the room. She took in her surroundings, noting that it had very few people, for a bar.

Pulling the ball-cap over her straightened auburn hair, Kallian shoved her hands into her vest jacket and kept her head down lest someone catch on to what she was up to. It was the fourth time this week that she had skipped out on school to go elsewhere, but it was the first time she was forced to do it alone. She had gone to school, briefly, to meet up with a group of her girlfriends but when it was discussed about leaving the school again, they all backed out.

"I have to cheerlead a game tonight; I have to be here..."

"There is a really important test in Biology..."

"I heard there is going to be a really good fight at lunch..."

The excuses just went on and on, resounding in her head as she walked away from the school in a now somewhat dejected mood. None of that shit was important anyway, what was that going to get any of them in life?

She reached the parking lot and slipped into her car, upon its ignition a heavy bass/metal beat erupted from her speakers. Just for the sense of subtlety, she turned it down and left the school and just started to drive. She didn't know where she was going, and she didn't really care, just somewhere fun, somewhere she hadn't been before...

Ten minutes later she found exactly what she had been looking for. It was a rather plain looking building without even so much as a single neon light to draw in a customer, a place she had never heard of which only meant that she was bound to bump into people she had never before met. God knew that would be a nice change from all the drunk slum-bombs from all the guys that frequented at her brother's bar.

Kallian parked her expensive car carefully and grabbed her pack of cigarettes from the glove compartment and tossed it into her purse. She flung the hat into the backseat, now no longer needing to lay low, and used the rear-view mirror to touch up on her hair and makeup. Once she was satisfied with her appearance, she got out of the car and headed towards the club with her purse slung over her shoulder tightly.

There were no security out by the double doors save for a single man that looked to be just standing there, and Kallian smiled. As she approached, she was immediately asked for her ID, which didn't at all come to a surprise to her. She reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet, flashing a fake ID to the man that stated she had just turned 21. One of the college boys she usually ran around with was an expert in making fake identities, and many a bar she had been able to slip into with this one. When the 'door-man' tried to take a closer look, however, she quickly used her wit to detour his attention and asked about the glow-sticks that were on the table behind him.

It was pretty self-explanatory, but she allowed him to tell her about the colors and their representation anyway. She couldn't say that she was surprised when she learned about the blue glow sticks, but it did settle in her a bit differently than she had thought. A glow stick that let everyone know that someone was gay? That was a bit...extreme...

She walked into the doors past the 'door man' with confidence in her step, as if she owned the place and took a step inside of what she assumed was going to be a very low-key joint. She made her way over to the bar and took a seat on the stool, putting her purse up on the counter as she fiddled with the green bracelet she had grabbed while she walked in.

"Can I get a vodka surprise?" Kallian asked the bartender.

"Sorry toots, we don't sell alcohol here." Was the bartenders reply. Kallian nearly felt her jaw drop. What? No alcohol in a bar? Well, she could certainly see why she had never heard of this place then. So then what was the point of the man at the front checking ID's? She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Alright, you at least got coffee?" She tried. The bartender nodded once. "Kay, iced mocha please, double espresso." She pulled her wallet out of her purse once more and handed the bartender a platinum looking credit card to pay for her drink. It was at that moment that a single voice seemed to stick out over the small crowd.

“Okay, I came, I saw, and now I want to go home. Off we go, yeah?”

Kallian turned to look at the woman that the voice came from and easily gathered that she didn't know what this place was all about either and couldn't help but to laugh out lightly a bit as the bartender handed over her iced coffee.

Nicole stepped out of the passenger-side door of Emily's car. She fidgeted nervously with her long, loose white tank top and glanced at her friend. Emily, who could read her like a book, smirked knowingly and grabbed Nicole's hand, dragging her towards the door. Nicole was beginning to have second thoughts about coming here. What if she made a fool of herself in front of the guys? It was bound to happen at some point. She was such a klutz.

"ID, please," a voice said in a deep baritone. Nicole was jerked from her thoughts. She looked up to see a huge bouncer at the door who was staring back down at her. It took a moment for her to register what he said, like a lagging computer. Emily elbowed her in the ribs, signaling for her to hurry up.

Oh, right, my ID. She fumbled with her purse for her driver's license to verify her age. She showed it to the bouncer and he examined it for a second before waving her on. He did the same for Emily. Nicole stepped past the giant bouncer man, then paused at a table that was covered with glow sticks of four different colors.

"Those are for the visitors to wear," Emily piped up, reading her mind again. "I heard about them from Josh. He said green is for singles, red is for people in relationships, and yellow is to say 'it's complicated'. The blue ones..." she paused. "Oh right, he said those are for LGBTs. The reason for the glow sticks is supposedly so guys know who they're allowed to flirt with." She grabbed a green glow stick and put it on.

"I'm going on ahead. You came here to meet new people right? Well I'm gonna do that too. Shoot me a text if you get into trouble. See ya!" Emily winked and trotted inside, perfectly comfortable with entering a new place by herself. Nicole looked back down at the glow sticks. She began to reach for a green one, then hesitated and glanced up to make sure Emily was gone. She didn't want to have to explain her next action to her friend. When she was sure Emily was out of sight, Nicole grabbed a red glow stick and slipped it on her wrist. She took a deep breath and strode inside.

---

Ryu Ji Min turned off his car engine and hopped out of the vehicle. He was in high spirits after discovering Mingle. He finally had a chance to rebuild his train wreck of a life and meet people that weren't under the influence of that stupid rumor. He squared his shoulders and walked up to the bouncer at the door, flashing his student ID. Seeing that he was a minor, the bouncer drew a stamp from his pocket.

"Hold out your hand," he instructed. Ji Min complied, offering up his wrist to be stamped with a smile. He moved past the bouncer to a table covered in glow sticks then paused, racking his brain to remember which was which. Green was single, right? He cast a glance back at the bouncer and wondered if he should ask, then decided against it. He grabbed a green glow stick and put it on.

Ji Min was a little surprised to find the place mostly empty. After everything he heard about it, he expected it to be bustling with activity. He reached up and adjusted his fedora as he crossed the room to the bar. A bartender moved to meet him as he sat down.

"What'll it be?" she asked, offering him a friendly grin. Ji Min remembered that the girls from school had said it was a juice bar. He supposed he could ask for a coffee, but his sweet tooth got the better of him.

"A strawberry lemonade, please," he replied in a subtly accented voice, smiling back at the bartender. It was one of his favorite drinks in America. She nodded and walked away. Ji Min turned around in his seat to look around the bar. Despite the desolate exterior, it was a pretty nice place on the inside.

Things are definitely looking up for me.

By the time she had finished her strawberry and banana smoothie – a really delicious strawberry and banana smoothie – Charlie's glowing blue bracelet felt like a shackle. A shackle that just so happened to scream, “hey, this one's a lesbian, what do you say to that”. She sunk lower into her seat and begged her book to suck her in. All hoping and praying fell short of their goal, however, and soon enough Willow wrapped her fingers around Charlie's arm and pulled her out of the booth. So it begins... Charlie thought.

They darted around the bar, Willow dragging Charlie along, and spoke to a few of the patrons. Slowly, the large room filled with more of the bar's visitors, each wearing one or more glow sticks. Despite her unspoken vow, Charlie found herself looking for the colour blue. After what felt like the ninetieth, but was more likely only the fourth guest, Willow dropped her into a seat at another table. Thank God. None of the people they spoke to appealed to her in the least. One of them wore a suit, for Christ's sake.

“Given up?” Charlie asked, giving her friend no time to respond before she added, “That's a shame. Oh well! Let's go home.”

Willow caught on to her ploy immediately – the result of knowing a person for the majority of their life. “No chance, we just have to give it time,” she said, and waved her hands as if meeting people was a piece of cake. Charlie resisted another groan. Think of the amount she'll owe you for this, Charlotte. You can make her bake you cupcakes for a month! Still scanning the bar with her beady little eyes, and tapping her chin with a manicured finger, Willow went on. “Maybe if you just unbuttoned your shirt a bit--”

“That's it, I'm getting another smoothie.” Charlie slipped off the chair and abandoned her friend in favour of the juicers. A distantly familiar self-consciousness festered in her gut as she walked through the ever growing crowd to the bar. Did she look stupid? Why did she allow herself to be dragged her in the first place? Relieved at having reached the bar, finally, she asked the bartender for another strawberry and banana smoothie – they were really good – and a notepad, if they had one.

I'm getting so bored. Why is it that nobody wants to talk to me? Do I really look like a fifteen year old? Maybe they all think I'm jail bait, the 19 year old thought with a frustrated sigh. It was her fault, too. She had not got the nerve up to talk to anyone but Saddie and Windy, but they worked behind the counter, so really... talking to them did not count. They were super nice though and not so much older than her. Ashley spun around in her spinny seat, ears perking up when she heard someone next to her ask for a strawberry and banana smoothie.

She usually had the plain strawberry kind because she liked to stick to the things she knew she loved. She wasn't that fond of bananas anyway. But she was dying to make conversation, even ones that started up over a banana. Ashley glanced beside her and looked at the girl Saddie was currently serving. She smiled, but then blushed, wondering if she looked like a weirdo. Subconsciously she reached up and readjusted her pink headband.

"How much does the banana flavor stand out when you mix it with strawberry?" Ashley finally got up the nerve to ask. She picked up her very pink drink and took a sip, before allowing her eyes to slide over the woman next to her. She was attractive. slim and had very striking greenish eyes. Her hair was what really caught Ashley's attention. She had curly brunette hair; Ashely adored brunette hair and especially curly hair. Her own hair was so blonde that it looked white.

"Oh sorry. Awkward stranger trying to make small talk." She hugged her purse close to her front and glanced away from the brunette so she would not make the other uncomfortable. "So why did you come here? I mean... everyone has a reason for coming to a place like Mingle, right?" She fumbled in her purse and pulled out her tube of chap stick, just for something to do with her hands. As she brought her hand up to put the gloss on her lips, her blue and green glow stick stood out. Realizing this, she quickly lowered her hand and tried to subtly glance at the woman's glow sticks.

Ah. Interesting. The exact same glow sticks as she had. Not that that really meant anything. It was at least nice that she wasn't the only one wearing the combination of blue and green.

Lucy watched as more people began filing into the room. She had no idea this place was actually this popular. She took a sip from her shake and looked at all the people. She started with the bar. There were quite a few people here. There was a girl who looked not much older than 15 or 16, though Lucy quickly looked away from this girl. She was just so...pink. She was dainty, with blonde hair, pink clothes, and some sort of stuffed animal. She shuddered, thinking of how proud her parents would have been if she had turned out like this girl. The girl looked scared to be there, very awkward indeed. Lucy noticed how she kept trying to hide her bracelets, the blue one in particular. She looked down at her own blue bracelet and shrugged.

Next to the girl was another blue bracelet wearer, also a girl. She looked like she was dying to be rid of this place. Clutching a book, trying very hard not to be noticed. She felt sorry for this girl, being dragged around by her friend the whole time. Liza also saw a pretty looking boy sipping a lemonade and a girl with a coffee. She took another sip of her shake and wondered, Is this it? This is where I'm spending my eighteenth birthday then? She rolled her eyes. At least it was better than being at home...

Once she had finished her shake, she ordered another. She was terribly bored, but didn't want to leave. Beyond those doors lay the jumbled knot of reality she still had to untie. She just wished she had her phone, or something, to keep her from looking like the loser loner at the bar. She supposed she could go up and talk to someone. But really, what could she say? She didn't look like she had much in common with most of these people.

She smiled as the girl in pink finally got up the nerve to talk to someone. She had to try very hard not to laugh when the girl asked about the shake. And very nearly did, when she followed it up with an apology. To Lucy, the girl seemed like a lost little puppy, shaking and scared. But hey, at least she was trying. Good for you, Lucy thought.

Watching closely as the bartender constructed her favourite smoothie, Charlie fidgeted and drummed lightly on the counter with her free hand. She became painfully aware of the book in her hands – what were the other guests thinking? For a brief moment, she looked around. Most of them were younger than her, she decided, and made a mental note to inform Willow of this later. Maybe then she'd let them go home. No one here wanted to talk to a woman with a book in her hand, and Charlie wasn't sure she wanted to talk to anyone anyway. Didn't she have a painting to finish?

She allowed herself to fall back into her own world while she waited, and almost didn't hear the girl next to her speak. It was only at the second half of the girl's sentence she registered, barely stopping herself from jumping at the sound of another voice. She turned to try and figure out the first half of the question, then caught sight of the girl.

Charlie clamped her mouth shut to keep from asking if the girl was old enough to be in the bar. Don't ask it, don't ask it, don't ask it... As she stared, the girl kept talking. Something about awkward strangers, but Charlie couldn't focus with all that pink staring back at her. “So why did you come here? I mean... everyone has a reason for coming to a place like Mingle, right?” Oh, right, she was asking another question now. Realising how impolite it was not to have answered her already, Charlie cleared her throat.

“Willow dragged me here. Uh, my friend, Willow, that's... who she is.” Gesturing in the general direction of her friend, she silently thanked herself for not saying something rude or stupid about the girl's age or state of dress. The bartender, whose name badge Charlie failed to notice, placed the smoothie on the counter. Taking it, Charlie looked back at the girl. Her new habit drew her attention to the glow sticks on the girl's wrist; she tilted her head and frowned. “Aren't you a little young to care about dating?” Oh... crap.

Nicole nervously pushed a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear. This place was filling up fast, and she had no idea where to start. She pulled out her wallet and peered down at the measly contents wondering if she even had enough to buy a drink. She figured her best place to start practicing her conversation skills would be with the bartenders, even if she was only asking about drink prices. It'll be like talking about the weather, right? she thought sarcastically. Geez, why am I so freaked out? Nicole slowly crossed the room to the bar and subconsciously picked a seat far from everyone else. As she waited to be served, she took the time to examine the other guests.

There were a couple of girls chatting not too far away. One of them stood out to her in particular. She was very pink, and Nicole wondered if she was even old enough to be here. Although the same could be said for me, she corrected herself. She didn't really look her age either and was often mistaken for a high school student. Continuing her survey of faces, the saw that the other girl in the conversation was a curly haired brunette. She saw another brunette who was also very striking. Nicole imagined her to be the kind of girl that everyone flocks to. A popular person. Moving down the line, she also saw a guy sitting by himself, drinking a lemonade. She considered talking to him, but decided she would rather start with a girl before approaching the other gender. Among everyone she'd seen so far, no one else was wearing a red glow stick. Well, that's awkward. She hoped she wasn't the only one. Next she saw a girl with very blue hair standing by herself. Maybe she would be willing to chat.

Nicole steeled herself and walked over to the blue-haired girl. "Hey," she started, then paused. Oh crap, I really didn't plan this out. What else do you say to start a conversation? She cleared her throat to cover up the awkward silence. "So, do you come here often?" Stupid, stupid, stupid! "I mean... I'm new here and I don't really know how places like this work."

---

Ji Min sipped at the lemonade and looked around at the other guests for someone to start up a conversation with. A lot of the girls here were really pretty, he noticed wondering if he had a chance with any of them. His eyes lingered on a brunette girl drinking a coffee. She looked disturbingly familiar, but he couldn't place who she was exactly. Most likely, she was another student at his school, and if that was the case, he should probably avoid her. He angled himself in his chair so she couldn't see his face and hoped that she wouldn't recognize him.

Lucy’s daydreams and people-watching were at once interrupted by a pretty blonde girl. Her eyes, of course, first flickered to her glow sticks. Red. How interesting, a change from all the green and occasional yellow. Lucy looked the girl up and down. She looked about the same age as Lucy, though of course looks can be deceiving. And, as did most of the other people in the room, she looked a little nervous. A smirk passed over Lucy’s face. This really is just like a real-life dating website,, she thought. Lucy, of course, had gotten over any sort of self-consciousness or awkward feelings long ago. With her hair, her tattoos, and her manner of dress, she had been forced to come to terms with herself.

Lucy again had to hold back a laugh when the other girl started to speak. Everyone was so awkward here, it struck her as hilarious. She flashed the girl a smile. “You really ought to relax sweetheart. I promise I don’t bite,” she said.

She held out a hand to the other girl. “Lucinda May Williams, at your service. Though most people call me Lucy. And no, I do not come here very often. I’ve never actually been here before. Though I imagine it’s kind of like the first day at a new school. Everyone trying desperately to make friends and not look like the awkward loner. I’ve also been comparing it to a dating-website. Both, it seems, are apt descriptions.”

She took a sip of her shake and patted the seat next to her. She resumed her people watching as she talked to the other girl. “What brings you here on this fine evening? Your glow stick is red, so I can’t imagine you’re here to find a lover,” she said curiously, with a sideways glance at the girl.

“Willow dragged me here. Uh, my friend, Willow, that's... who she is.”

Ashley looked to where the girl was pointing, but could not for the life her figure out who the girl meant. There was a table in that general direction that held a couple girls and at least three guys. She inwardly frowned. How easy it was for some girls to chat with random strangers. While she was looking, she caught a couple other people staring at her and started to blush, subconsciously hiding her purse between her legs. She was just glad she did not bring the stuffed animal that came with the purse.

“Aren't you a little young to care about dating?”

She snapped her head back in the woman's direction. "No, I mean, of course not." She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. "Though I'm used to people thinking so. I'm 19. See no stamp," she said, holding up her hands and then laying them flat on the counter. She turned away from the brunette. "Sorry for interrupting your reading." She leaned forward, pushing her empty glass across the counter.

"Saddie, can I have another strawberry smoothie."

"Are you sure? This is your third one in the last half hour, dear?" Saddie said as she came over to collect the dirty cups. Ashley shrugged. "Very well, but it is your figure on the line, not mine." The bartender chuckled.

"This will be my lunch and dinner, so it's no big deal," Ashley assured her. "Besides it's made out of mostly strawberries. I think I will survive." She handed the woman a five and waited for her favorite drink.

She really stepped in it with that one. Way to make friends, she thought. Willow would be oh-so proud of that shining moment, for sure. Charlie caught her friend looking at them while the girl glanced around, and tried to communicate in gestures the words “go away”. It didn't work. Rubbing her face, Charlie turned back to the girl next to her.

“Sorry for interrupting your reading.”

Guilt took a running jump and dive-bombed the shame already bubbling around in her gut. She hadn't said a word to anyone but Willow for the duration of their time at Mingle, and the first person she has a conversation with, she insults. This was why she preferred socialising at the store, or at exhibitions, or anywhere but a bar when the first thing she opened her head to say related to age, drinking, or something along those lines.

“I'm really sorry about that, sometimes I say really stupid things,” she said, trying to convey as much sincerity in her tone as was possible. “I wasn't reading it, anyway, I can't concentrate and it deserves my whole attention – do you like books? I can get you a voucher, to make up for being a dumbass? Uh...” She wasn't sure if the offer was equally as stupid as her initial comment and the subsequent rambling, if it came off as creepy, annoying, or whatever, but it was all she could do to redeem herself. She took a business card for Reid & Wright's out of her back pocket and scribbled a note on it;

“VALID FOR 1 FREE BOOK, PLEASE FORGIVE ME”.

Sliding the card over, alongside the five note the girl slipped to the bartender, Charlie frowned at their conversation. “Why does it matter what a couple smoothies do to your figure? You look fine, and you're tiny.” Again, Charlotte? You're gonna be an idiot again? “Not that, I mean, I did it again, I'm so sorry. It's not that you're small or young or anything.” She grumbled at herself. “I'm just going to shut up and drink my smoothie now. Sorry.” Picking up her smoothie, she headed back to Willow.

Nicole stared lamely at Lucy's extended hand before taking the cue to shake it. She felt a slight inward relief that this girl seemed comfortable talking to strangers. That took some of the burden off of her to keep the conversation going, which was very helpful to the socially-awkward oddball that she was. She turned up the corners of her lips in a small smile, trying to be friendly.

“What brings you here on this fine evening? Your glow stick is red, so I can’t imagine you’re here to find a lover.”

Nicole felt her face flush, and she self-consciously shifted her weight to hide her glow stick from sight. "Um, y-yeah..." she stammered, lowering her stormy gray eyes to the floor and habitually brushing her hair behind her ear. "I'm not looking to meet anyone here." she faltered, wondering if she should explain why she really was there. When she was thinking about the reason, herself, he came to mind: his dark, tousled hair, those strikingly bright blue eyes, his lean, athletic physique... She felt her blush deepen. Come on, get a hold of yourself, she chided. Nicole lifted her gaze to meet Lucy's, deciding to only partially explain herself.

"I came here to work on my social skills," she said, attempting to brush off her nervousness with a one-shouldered shrug. "You probably already noticed I'm not really a people person, but I really want to be. I figured this was as good a place as any to practice talking to people. Plus, making a new friend or two would be nice." She blinked, realizing she hadn't even told the other girl her name.

"Oh, right! My name is Nicole Beverly, but you can call me Nikki if you want," she announced. "Anyway, I gave you my story. Now tell me, what brings you here?"

If there was one word Lucy was to use to describe the atmosphere of the room it would probably be "awkward". As she listened to the other girl's stammering explanations, she continued to watch the rest of the people in the bar. She noticed the boy turning away awkwardly, shielding himself from the girl drinking coffee. She was intrigued by this, but kept finding her eyes wander to the two girls talking at the other end of the bar. She couldn't hear what they were talking about, but she could see they were both equally shaky and nervous. This really is like the first day at a new school, she thought with a smile.

"I''m not looking to meet anyone here."

Lucy glanced over at the other girl when she stopped talking, curious again. "Yes I can see you're not looking for anyone here. But I daresay you are still looking. Perhaps you've already got someone in mind," she said, raising an eyebrow at the other girl. She then shrugged and finished her shake. "It's not my place to pry. Anyway, I doubt your social skills will much improve here. Most of the other guests seem just as nervous as you are, sweetheart. Not very good practice. Then again, I doubt it'll make you any worse."

Then, having finally caught the other girl's name, she smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Nikki," she said, in kinder tones. Then she stiffened slightly, almost too slight to be noticed. "My story? Well there really isn't much too it. Rather then spend my eighteenth birthday alone on some park bench, I decided to come here. Even if I didn't talk to anyone, at least I wasn't alone." Technically true, but there was of course more to it than that.

This again, plunged her into memories of the night, along with a list of things she still had to do. First and foremost, she had to find a place to stay. She couldn't very well go home. And she couldn't stay with her ex? girlfriend. Which reminded her that she needed to sort that mess out, and the mess with her parents. Ans she still had to go get her phone and her things from her parent's house.

By this time her mind was positively spinning, giving her a very large headache. She sighed, turning to order another shake.

“I'm really sorry about that, sometimes I say really stupid things. I wasn't reading it, anyway, I can't concentrate and it deserves my whole attention – do you like books? I can get you a voucher, to make up for being a dumbass? Uh...”

She couldn't help but look at the girl and smile hesitantly. It seemed they both were having some issues with this whole social thing. She brushed her bangs out of her blue eyes and leaned slightly closer to the woman as she rambled about books. It was kind of endearing. At least she wasn't the only one who rambled. Ashley picked up her glass and took a sip, studing the other's face more openly now. Her greenish eyes really were stunning.

"I do love to read," she replied, but was quickly interrupted as the girl continued. "You're not a dumb ass." She crossed her legs and turned her chair so that she was facing the other more.

Curiously she watched as the other scribbled something on a card and slid it toward her. She looked at it and raised an eyebrow, pocketing the card.

“Why does it matter what a couple smoothies do to your figure? You look fine, and you're tiny. Not that, I mean, I did it again, I'm so sorry. It's not that you're small or young or anything."

Ashley blushed as the girl continued to ramble yet again, though now she was talking about her figure. She looked down at herself and then back up at the girl. "Hey, relax," she said. "I'm not offended. I think I could tell the difference if you were being rude or not." Before she could say anything else, the girl interrupted her.

“I'm just going to shut up and drink my smoothie now. Sorry.”

Watching, the girl leave the bar, she could not help feel a small amount of regret. They hadn't even given each other their names. So much for meeting people and making friends. Ashley pulled the card out of her pocket and smiled. It had the name of a bookstore, the girl's name and a couple phone numbers on it. One of them looked like a personal number; maybe a cell phone.

She reached down and picked up her purse and got her phone out. She dialed what she hoped was the girl's cell number and waited for the other to pick up. If she did pick up, she planned on trying to be witty and saying something really interesting, but her throat closed up on her and all she managed to get out was, "free books... good. Thanks... uh... hi." She wasn't even sure if she got the answering machine or the woman. She looked at the card again. Charlotte.

Charlie drank half the smoothie before she reached her table, purely to give herself something to do, and to distract from the overwhelming idiocy she displayed in her conversation with... the girl whose name she failed to get. She'd made the grand mistake of planting her business card in the girl's possession, dooming herself to future embarrassment to boot. How long had she been at Mingle now? Certainly less than an hour. Must be a knew record.

She didn't bother sitting back down again. Willow looked so giddy, she might as well have been drinking pure sugar all evening. “Look, I spoke to someone, and I made myself look like a massive asshole, so can we please go home?” At her best friend's disappointed, classic about-to-protest look, Charlie added, “I promise, I'll let you drag me somewhere again soon. As soon as I've forgotten today.” She tapped her heart. “Scouts honour?”

As Willow finally – finally, praise all the known Gods, demi-gods, and their freaky offspring – gave in, slipping off her chair as she sipped the dregs of her drink, Charlie's phone vibrated in her pocket. “Oh, hey, have you been hiding a little something?” Willow chuckled, winking.

“Don't be filthy,” Charlie responded, taking out her horribly ancient flip-phone and answering.

“Free books... good. Thanks... uh... hi,” came the voice on the other end of the line, strikingly familiar but distorted by the sound of music. It took Charlie long seconds to figure out who was calling, and then she was unsure of what to say in response, bewildered for a moment longer as to how the girl in pink got her phone number, before she remembered.

Willow kept winking and wiggling her eyebrows so much, she might have been unable to stop. Rolling her eyes, Charlie turned around to stare back through the crowd at the girl in pink. “Hey,” she said into the phone, then again, a little louder. “Sorry, we're about to get out of here. I'm too old for this whole... thing, that they've, uh... got going on, so. Um, look, did you say you hadn't eaten yet? Aren't you hungry?” How could anyone willingly go without food. Food was wonderful. “I made myself hungry. Do you have some way of getting food, 'cause we're gonna get food.” She only realised what she'd asked of the girl after the words came stampeding out of her mouth.

Kallian hadn’t even sipped half of her coffee down before she could feel a pair of eyes on her. Following her instincts, she turned to see a boy that looked to be about twenty or so years old sitting at a booth looking at her from across what she could only assume was a dance floor. She was used to these kind of looks, especially from the boys of her own school. The only problem she had with that was that all the boys at her school were incredibly dull; but that should have been expected coming from a ‘rich-kid’ private school. That was the sole reason she scoped out the college boys instead. The boys at her school were either too worried about what their mom’s would say with every decision they made, or too engrossed with their academic grades and had extra-curricular activities like…chess club…

Kallian shuddered. She never understood chess.

Rather than worry about the boy that was obviously trying to get her attention from far away, she began to wonder why no one was dancing and continued to sip on her coffee, going out of her way to ignore the guy that was trying whatever he could to make eye contact with her by keeping her eyes away from his general direction. One look at him told her immediately that he wasn’t her type. Hell…she didn’t even know what her ‘type’ was anymore.

This place is turning out to be real dumb. No alcohol…no dancing…

Her green eyes glanced over at a girl who was sporting a blue glow stick around her wrist.

And that…

A loud, obnoxious sucking sound brought Kallian back from her thoughts as her drink had emptied long ago and the straw was grasping at nothing but air. She pulled the straw from her lips and looked at the glass that was half-filled with ice and sighed.

Well if someone is going to do something, it might as well be me.

Kallian set the empty glass back on the counter and hopped off the stool, making a direct beeline to the boy who had been trying to make eye contact with her earlier. Ignoring the surprised look on his face as she so quickly approached him, she grabbed his hand and forced him to his feet. She stood up on her tip-toes and pressed her lips to his ear to whisper.

“C’mon, we’re dancing.”

Still having a hold on his hand, she led the unbelieving ‘lucky’ man to the center of the dance floor and started to dance with him. It took him a few moments to shake off the shock, but the boy eventually eased into her movements and wore the stupidest grin on his face while he did.

H made his way down a quiet street, his hair slicked back, stuck in place after a long day in the very hot kitchen. He was underdressed, like he usually was, wearing a pair of shorts and a Death Grips t-shirt. with worn out vans and short black socks. He was never one for covering his body up too much anyway though. The art permenantly placed into his skin was meant for him, but he did enjoy sharing it with everyone around him. If he had one thing he was proud of about his appearance, it was his tattoos. Everything else he held a certain ambivalence towards. He wasn't exactly a fan, but he didn't mind. He couldn't afford better and he was fine with that. Still, it sucked to be the smuckiest smuck in the bar. There were some benefits to being poor though. He couldn't afford to smoke anymore and the cravings were less and less frequent nowadays.

"Ay Bob," H said with a small nod as he made his way into Mingle, snagging a green glowstick that he stuck behind his ear like he would a pencil. H was never one for following the rules to the T and liked to add his own personal flair to most things he did. "Oi, bargirl," He said with a wave, dropping into a seat, "Usual strawburry bahnahnah, ya?" His eyes had taken to scanning the room, finding a cast that wasn't particularly out of place. He had noticed that folks who were a little... out there tended to flock here. He could only guess why some of the people chose to crash here, though the blue banders never seemed out of place to H's eyes. They all had some air to them, like mum and dad didn't accept their particular lifestyles. He was right alongside them after all, though the reason he was estranged with his parents was much less noble.

As the smoothie reached him, he snatched it up and greedily sucked away the first half of the smoothie, happy to have something cold in his system after the twelve hour shift. Mingle's strawberry banana smoothies were practically crack to H, not that he minded. They were a good kind of crack. One that didn't need more and more to give you that same soft airy feeling. He took another glance checking out the bar, noticing the empty glasses with remnants of strawberry residue, a small smirk crossing his face as he dug back into his own drink. Looks like he wasn't the only one with an addictive personality here tonight.

“Sorry, we're about to get out of here. I'm too old for this whole... thing, that they've, uh... got going on, so. Um, look, did you say you hadn't eaten yet? Aren't you hungry? I made myself hungry. Do you have some way of getting food, 'cause we're gonna get food.”

She stared across the bar at Charlotte as she seemed to be asking her to go get food with her, in another awkward attempt at conversation. She looked down at her phone as if wanting it to confirm what the girl had said. Maybe she hadn't been asking her to grab a bite with her and her friend, after all. Ashley was not exactly the expert on understanding another person when they were half rambling, half mumbling. Honestly, she should be an expert. She did it enough herself.

"Food? Oh well, I was just going to skip today..." She let her voice trail off, not wanting to go into why she wanted to skip two very important meals of the day. It was a sore spot. She shouldn't have had three smoothies. Her mother and father were really strict when it came to appearances. Her mom always got onto her when she 'gained' weight, which was ridiculous, but it left a lasting impression on Ashley. She was 19 and lived on her own at the dorm, but she always heard the nagging voice of her mother in her head whenever she "pigged out".

"What sort of food?" She added in a quiet voice. She could not deny that she was starving. Smoothies were filling, but they did not keep her full for very long because she had a really high metabolism and in reality should be eating quite a lot.

"No, never mind. I'm sorry for calling you and being stalker like. I saw your card. Your name's on it, so I kind of just wanted to say "hey, my name's Ashley." but um, sorry to bother you."

Foood, go with them. Don't be stupid.