"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."

Nicole's eyes widened. Am I seriously that obvious?? she groaned inwardly. Even the red glow stick couldn't cover up her intentions. She made a mental note to work on that, so she could better hide her feelings before she was ready to confront them. As to the comment Lucy made about this place not being very good for improving social skills, Nicole would just take what she could get. However in some ways, talking to other awkward people might even be better, because she didn't have the added pressure of trying to converse with a popular crowd. It felt to her like she was among her own kind.

Lucy seemed to be hiding something too, but Nicole determined it would be better not to pressure her for information. She did wonder why the girl would have to spend her birthday alone if she didn't come here. Nicole reasoned that her home life must not be the greatest and felt a pang of sympathy. Her own family wasn't anything special, but she was pretty fortunate to have non-divorced parents and a mostly healthy home life. She couldn't imagine what Lucy was going through if her hunch was correct.

"Well, Happy Birthday," Nicole offered. Not sure what else to say, she just fiddled with her glow stick. At that moment, her stomach let out an embarrassingly loud rumble. She felt her face grow warm and hoped Lucy didn't notice, then she pulled out her wallet and counted the money she brought. "Er... do you know much the drinks are here?"

---

Ji Min watched the brunette girl out of the corner of his eye, as she crossed the room to dance with a creepily happy college boy. He was still trying to place who she was without looking like an obvious stalker. He suddenly realized he was one of the only few people not interacting with anyone. Great, I probably look like a total loner, sitting here by myself, he thought. Know what? Who cares if that girl goes to my school? I came here to meet people, not get bogged down by someone I might not actually know. He spotted a couple of good-looking girls wearing green glow sticks sitting not too far away. He estimated them to be about the same age as him. Ji Min got up from his stool, strolled confidently over to them, and greeted them with a tip of his hat. It was a cheesy gesture, but he managed to get a laugh.

A few dancers started to make their way into the middle of the room, momentarily blocking Charlie's view of the girl in pink. She waited, fidgeting, for them all to move just slightly to the left. The silence on the other end of the line seemed to go on for far longer than it must have, really, and it was almost painful. Willow had taken off somewhere, dancing with some guy she dragged out of the corner. “Will? Willow?” Charlie muttered, but her friend just waved at her from across the dancefloor.

“Food? Oh well, I was just going to skip today . . . What sort of food?” Charlie snapped her attention back to the bar; the dancers had moved just enough so she could see who she was talking to. She opened her mouth to respond, before the girl said something else. “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.” Damn it, that was going to bug her, if the girl thought she was being a nuisance.

What the bloody hell am I doing on the phone? Charlie questioned herself, pulling the device away from her ear and glaring at it. Newly resolute, she slapped the phone closed and marched over to the girl – Ashley.

“Yeah, so I'm Charlotte, I know it's on the card. It's weird not to actually say it,” she started, standing back where she had been when they originally talked. She briefly noted a man nearby with a strawberry and banana smoothie, and resisted the temptation to ask for a third drink. The sooner she was out of this crazy glow-stick place, the sooner she'd feel better. Not to mention, food waited on the outside. “Listen, I'm really hungry, you haven't eaten, and there's a Chinese place across the street.” There was an unspoken invitation to her words, because really, the girl was skipping meals and that was never cool, in Charlie's book. She'd just feed her up, make sure she got home safe, and be back home with Archer's Cross in no time.

Ashley watched across the room as she and Charlotte talked to each other, her eyes raising when the other suddenly hung up the phone and strode purposely over to her. She grinned, but felt all the awkward-ness coming back. She had been awkward in person the first time she tried to talk to Charlotte, a little awkward on the phone, but now she felt even more awkward. Would the awkward fest ever end? She really hoped so. This was a whole new ballgame for her. At school, she was a lot better at socializing, but maybe that was because she was not wearing her forbidden sexuality on her wrist.

“Yeah, so I'm Charlotte, I know it's on the card. It's weird not to actually say it.”

"Hi Charlotte, I'm Ashley, like I said on the phone." She looked down at her shoes like they were the most interesting thing in the bar. "Sorry about the weirdness of the phone call." She subconsciously twisted her glow sticks around her wrist. "I just wanted to say thanks for the free book and all." She finally looked back up at Charlotte.

“Listen, I'm really hungry, you haven't eaten, and there's a Chinese place across the street.”

“No, I haven't eaten,” Ashley admitted. She picked her purse up off the floor and hugged it to her flat stomach; the stomach her mother was always nagged about growing when she gained weight. In truth, she had not gained any weight for a very long time, if anything she's lost a pound here and there because of the crazy diets her mom always talked her into doing. Her parents were very good at controlling Ashley even though she had moved to the dorm.

“If you're sure you don't mind.” Ashley stood up. Standing next to Charlotte she really looked short, though she hoped people would stop thinking she looked fifteen for crying out loud. She knew that it was probably because of the clothing she had come accustomed to wearing.

She vowed from this day forward, she would start adding more different colors to her wardrobe. She was due for a change anyway.

“Thanks. Oh, but before we go, let's chuck these,” Ashley said, pointing to Charlotte's matching green and blue glow sticks.

After the third song the male that Kallian had pushed herself to dance with was ready to sit down and converse with the cute brunette, maybe buy her a couple drinks or a nacho supreme to share. However, upon the request, Kallian accepted with a fake smile and then dug her hand into her purse, pulling out her phone.

“Oh you know what? I just missed a call, I need to see what’s up.” She patted the male on the top of the head like one would do with a dog and then walked towards the back exit of the room, taking the time to actually check her phone now that she had shaken off Mr. Two Left Feet, and headed outside, immediately greeted by the cooler-by-comparison air.

She had a few texts from her ‘friends’ from school, and in the midst of texting them back the phone began to vibrate in her hand. Looking at the name of the person that was calling her on the top of her screen, she smirked and swiped the ignore button over. Nothing ever good came from answering a call from her brother Giddeon. No doubt that by now he had received a call from the school that she had skipped more than half of the day.

Kallian finished up one last text before she headed back inside. For a moment she had debated on taking a couple extra minutes outside to smoke, but there was no one out here to impress, and so she kept the pack in her purse where she deposited her phone back into.

She caught sight of a face immediately when she entered, spotting an Asian looking boy that struck her as extremely familiar. He didn’t look nearly old enough to be one of those college boys she hung out with, and way too dorky looking to be one of her brother’s friends; which only meant that he had to have been from school.

Is school out already? Or am I no longer the only one with enough balls to skip out of that shit hole?

She shook her head a bit and ran her fingers through her long, straight hair, messing it up a bit as she teased the roots with her fingers giving her a bit more of a ‘grunge’ look before she headed back to the bar to look over what she could order to eat.

H was leaning against the bar, his straw between his lips as he greedily polished off the rest of his smoothie, a disappointed sigh spilling from his lips as his straw ceased to give him any more of the delicious drink. "Another one, yeah?" He said with a glance back at the bartender, planting the glass on the bar before going back to his game of watching over the crowd. There were a decent amount of folks here tonight, for once. A pair of lesbians seemed to be getting along well, at least well enough that they were already getting dinner. Good for you two, H thought, his eyes abandoning the two young women with impressively awkward chemistry.

A young girl was dancing with some boy who couldn't tell tango from ballroom, a spectacle that gave H a bit of fun as it dragged on. Poor kid barely had the stamina to keep up with her and she seemed like a maneater in the making. H couldn't exactly lie, she seemed like she'd be a good source of entertainment for his nightly excursions to Mingle if she kept that shit up. Predictably the moment she stopped dancing with the dopey kid was the same moment he was dropped harder than a bag of rocks. He had a decent guess that she didn't even have any missed texts or calls, she was just doing the easiest trick in the book to get rid of unwanted company.

He took in the scene for a few minutes, starting to get the feeling that he should jet and grab some sleep before work, when the cruel high school girl from earlier sprung up at the bar. H reached behind him, finding a new smoothie, "Thnaks, doll. Put it on my tab, kay?" He said without looking at her, taking a good long sip to further fuel his fruity addiction."If you're looking for something good, try one of these," H said to the girl, raising his drink for a moment before taking another long sip. "That was some show you put on. Quite the dancer aren't we? Shame I can't say the same for the poor kid you grabbed," H reached out with his right hand, offering a shake to the girl. "Name's H," He finished, taking yet another long drag on his straw, as if it were a cigarette. Well, at least an addiction to strawberry banana smoothies is healthier, H thought for a moment, the image of an older bloated H appearing in his mind's eye, Maybe I should practice moderation more,

Kallian had only just made it to the bar when she heard a male voice on her right side. She didn’t have to look over at him to know that he was talking to her; she could feel his eyes on her. Ignoring him at first, she went on to order a second iced coffee and while she waited, she turned around on the swivel bar stool to look at the man that acknowledged her dancing earlier. What she really wanted to know was how closely he was watching. She wasn’t exactly making an effort to show interest in the boy from before, but maybe she would have if she had known someone was watching her.

Kallian couldn’t help but snicker inwardly. Who was she kidding? There were always guys watching her.

Still without saying a word, she looked down at the hand that this new guy was offering her and quirked an eyebrow, looking back up at him. He was fairly good looking in her opinion, the same kind of guy she would usually hang out with when she skipped school. Ruggedly handsome, a bit of a disheveled ‘hard’ look and covered in ink. In fact, that fact brought her to examine him with a bit more interest as she tried to think if she even knew him at all from a previous encounter, however that notion was quickly waved when he offered up his own name.

“Nice to meet you alphabet soup.” She said a little flatly, her voice indicating no interest in pursuing the conversation any longer and didn’t even so much as raise her hand to shake his extended one. She turned back to the bar to receive her drink and popped the straw into her mouth, sipping at her drink as she watched H out of the corner of her eye. With a bit of an eye roll, she turned back to face him, her lips still wrapped around the straw, if a bit suggestively for a few moments before parting them to speak, setting her drink on the counter that was now to her side, her eyes darting quickly to the green glow stick he tucked behind his ear.

“If you’re aiming to ask me to add on to your little coloring book there-“ She said, gesturing vaguely to his tattooed skin. “-I’m sorry to say that I left my coloring crayons at home. Not like I’d find any free space anyway…” She added on with a playful smirk, her tone coming across as a mix of bitchy and sarcastic with an added undertone of spunk.

"I'm Kallie." She finally offered up and returned to sipping at her drink. She figured that giving her nickname wouldn't be too much of a risk. The name Kallian Zelinsky didn't exactly hold the same sort of merit that her brother's or father's name held, but she didn't want to take any chances.

H blew a bit of air out when he heard the fiery girl call him alphabet soup. That was a new one and she was impressively bitchy from the get go. He retracted his hand without much disappointment, these kinds of things long past phasing him. He went back to his people watching and smoothie drinking, catching the catty girl taking looks at him. He could only guess that she hung out with tattooed punks that he reminded her of or something equally lame. Her bit about the crayons did bring a smirk to his face at the very least though, mostly cause it gave him some ammunition. "No worries. I got some crayons back at my place and I'm sure if you search hard enough, you can find somewhere to draw." He didn't bother looking at her, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of having a pair of eyes on her just yet.

"So you do have a name." H cocked an eyebrow, He began to take another sip from his drink, hearing the disappointing slurping of nothingness, and placed the glass on the bar, giving himself a bit of a push from the bar to stand up. His left hand slid into his pocket as his right hand slapped its respective pocket, reminding him that he was now three weeks free of nicotine. Three excruciatingly long weeks. "Well, Kallie," H started, giving her a quick look over from head toe, "As fun as it is getting to meet someone as lovely as you, I'm on my way out." He started to walk past her, pulling the glowing green glowstick from behind his ear, spinning it between his fingers, "Come on, you owe me a smoke for being a bitch and you better not fucking hold out on me." He called over his shoulder, sliding the glowstick into Big Bob's shirt pocket. "Stay gorgeous Bobby, baby." He said, giving a playful pat on the bouncer's cheek as he made his way out, stopping at the curb. He'd give the young punk a minute or two to make her way out here. If she didn't show, his plans were the same as they were ten minutes ago. Grab Chinese food and go home.

Wait what? He was leaving already? Kallian’s eyebrows furrowed a bit as she watched him stand, making the decision long ago to completely ignore his ‘advance’ to get her to go home with him and play with his…coloring book. At least, that’s how she took it, but she’d be willing to bet two months of allowance that she wasn’t far from the mark.

"Well, Kallie," H started, giving her a quick look over from head toe, "As fun as it is getting to meet someone as lovely as you, I'm on my way out."

“Yeah, a real blast.” She mumbled without an ounce of enthusiasm in her voice and couldn’t help but to roll her eyes at his stab of a comment. Really? He was using that line? How amateur. She really had been expecting more out of this guy. What a shame. Her eyes fell to his ass as he walked towards the exit, shaking her head a bit and smirked before finishing off her second coffee. She couldn’t say that she was surprised when he turned to address her one last time from across the room. In fact, she was counting down the seconds she estimated him to turn back around in her head.

"Come on, you owe me a smoke for being a bitch and you better not fucking hold out on me."

Kallian let out a breathy laugh and smiled at him with an exaggeration of smugness. She raised two fingers to her forehead and saluted him in a mocking fashion, and as her hand came out of its salute she put down her pointer finger leaving only her middle finger to wave in the air at him. Once he was gone she turned back to the bar and again rolled her eyes. She didn’t owe him anything…arrogant prick.

She waited a few moments, not really sure what she was expecting to happen next but when she caught sight of the boy she had danced with earlier making his way over to her with a plate of nachos, she jumped to action and dashed towards the entrance, ignoring the bouncer that was still giving her a leery look about her age and approached H who seemed to be just standing there and waiting for her. She reached into her purse and pulled out her pack of cigarettes, pulling off the top flap and offered him one.

“This isn’t for being bitchy, you can get over that.” She said and pulled out her own cigarette and put it between her lips.

“Thanks. Oh, but before we go, let's chuck these.”

Charlie considered the green and blue glow stick bracelets on her wrist. “Oh thank God,” she breathed, tearing the bracelets off and tossing them over her shoulder. “It's a cool system, but so out there.” Smiling at Ashley, she picked up her book and weaved back through the crowd to Willow. She explained the new game plan quickly and excused them both from the company of Willow's dance partner.

She took Willow's hand and waved for Ashley to follow, then jogged out of the bar and past a couple just outside.

She couldn't be more relieved to be out. The bar was certainly a nice place and the people weren't difficult to talk to, she even liked the bouncer – she was sure to wave at him on her way out – but it wasn't her, and she could almost feel everyone sizing her up. Still, she made a note to try it again some time. After all, she did make one friend. Charlie basked in the crisp evening air, breathing deep, until she realised how strange it must look to Ashley and the other two people outside.

Across the street from Mingle, the restaurant and take-away stood squished between two taller buildings, with a yellow backlit sign above the windows and red checker tablecloths on a grand total of three tables. The light from inside cast a bright yellow-tinted square on the pavement. Though she had never been there before, she couldn't help noticing it as Willow dragged her down the street towards the bar earlier that evening. She remembered the smell of Chinese flowing out of the building to meet her...

Her stomach growled.

“Aw, Charles, you made a friend!” Willow squealed behind her. Horrified, Charlie tugged her away from Ashley. “What's your name? How old--” Charlie clapped a hand over her friend's mouth and coughed as if to cover up the question. Willow continued to mumble behind her hand, hazel brown eyes alight with excitement.

“Will, this is Ashley, she's nineteen and her fashion choices are none of our business – I'm really sorry about that, by the way,” she added as an aside, still apologetic for her earlier behaviour, then continued. “Ashley, this is Willow, my best friend. She's part rabbit, I think.” At this, Willow instantly stopped bouncing and glared at her. Just barely suppressing a laugh – and grinning instead – Charlie let her go.

Willow huffed, but then she smiled and bowed her head to the girl. “It's very nice to meet you, Ashley,” she said, glancing between them. She adopted an overly sweetened voice, “Charlotte, you know I love you, so I'm gonna wait for you back in the bar. Come get me when you're done!” With that, she sped off back past the couple and Big Bob and into the bar before Charlie could open her mouth to protest.

“I don't know why I'm friends with her. Traitor.”

Lucy caught the look of sympathy on Nicole’s face, and shook her head. She could see the thoughts in the other girls head as plainly as if they were written on her face. They were the same thoughts that scrolled through the minds of every other person she had ever known. Always sympathy and pity. They at once compared their life to whatever they knew about hers, and then looked at her with such pity. It made her sick to look at. “Wipe that look off you face,” she said, though her voice was kind. “I stopped feeling sorry for myself a long time ago. There’s no reason for you to feel sorry for me either. It’s just the hand I’ve been dealt, but trust me when I say I’m a very skilled player. I’ll make something of it, yet.”

It was silent for a moment between them, and she used that time to take a sip of her shake. She set it down and traced the tattoos on her skin, a nervous habit she acquired some time ago. Her favorite was her newest one. It was on her forearm, and was of a tree with water color leaves. She’d always wanted a water color tattoo, and was so excited to finally get this one.

She looked up at the almost inaudible rumbling. She gave a small smile. “Have you eaten today?” she asked. She looked at Nikki as the other girl counted her money. She reached for her own wallet and took it out. “Let me buy you a drink or something. It’s the least I can do. Pick whatever you want,” she said.

"Sure it's not," H said with little interest, his eyes on the real prize. The rolled up stick of death sharing a pack with several other cigarettes. He pulled one out, spinning the butt towards him before popping the end between his lips. His left hand produced a lighter from his pocket. He had learned from years of smoking that it was always good to have a lighter on hand. You were a certain kind of hero if you had a lighter and someone having a rough craving didn't or theirs was out of juice. With a quick strike of his thumb, a small flame glowed at the top of his lighter and dipping the end of his cigarette into the flame. He offered the light to the girl before snapping it shut and dropping it back into his pocket. His first drag went on for what felt like ages, his body relaxing as he finally got a fix for the first time in weeks. He never forgot how shitty smokes tasted and smelled, but it helped him relax and think easier.

"So, what's your deal?" H threw the question out there, his eyes slowly scanning the road, "You're a highschooler, yeah?" He took a long drag, pulling the cigarette from his lips as smoke billowed out from his nostrils. A hand ran through his short unnaturally black hair, his hand lingering on the back of his neck when he returned the coffin nail to its rightful place between his lips. "What's a kid like you doing at a place like this?" He paused, removing the cigarette to look at it for a moment, "You even old enough to buy this shit or do you get them from hanging out with tattoo covered punks like me?" He smirked, flicking the cigarette into the gutter, taking a moment to grind it under the heel of his boot. It didn't taste the same anymore. It tasted like piss, and even that might've been generous. H rolled his eyes at the situation, looking over at the girl, wondering if she'd answer any of the questions he tossed out at her.

He couldn't help but feel a bit ridiculous, sharing a curb with a highschool girl, bumming a cigarette off of her after meeting her in a pseudo-bar. Maybe this was some greater beings punishment for him being such a bastard.

Kallian bent forward and put the end of her cigarette into the offered lighter and took a quick drag, igniting the cancer stick and then pulled back, pulling out the butt end of the cigarette from her mouth and exhaled the smoke through her nose. He didn’t believe her? Fine. That was on him. She didn’t have to explain her motives to him, she didn’t owe him anything. She crossed one of her arms across her flat stomach, tucking her hand underneath her armpit and used her opposite arm to nurse her lips with the cigarette when needed. She took a couple of steps forward and sat down on the sidewalk curb, hearing his words from behind her.

Her eyes widened a bit when he called her out on being a high school kid and mentally thought back to all of her actions in the juice bar; what gave her away? She twisted her torso a bit to look back at him, her face just as smug as ever as she blew a stream of smoke from the corner of her mouth.

“What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this? Boy…you really suck at this, Alphabet.” She jabbed at him casually and flicked the cigarette towards him to let loose the ash growing on the end, letting it hit the ground next to his feet. She pulled herself back up to stand and walked towards him, only stopping when she was a mere six inches away from touching him and tilted her head up to look at his face closely, nearly looking like she was leaning in to kiss him.

“If you ever want a lesson or two on picking up a girl the right way, let me know.” She gave him a slight wink and inhaled what was left of her cigarette and blew the smoke up into his face with a mischievous smile before taking a few steps back and tossing the butt of the cigarette to the ground in between them.

“Wipe that look off you face. I stopped feeling sorry for myself a long time ago. There’s no reason for you to feel sorry for me either. It’s just the hand I've been dealt, but trust me when I say I’m a very skilled player. I’ll make something of it, yet.”

Nicole thought that was an interesting way to look at it. She couldn't help turning up the corners of her lips a little in a smile. I should keep that in mind if I'm ever in a crappy situation, she thought to herself. You get what you get in life, and you just have to make the most of it. She made a mental note to tell Emily about that later. Her friend had been going through some pretty tough things lately.

“Let me buy you a drink or something. It’s the least I can do. Pick whatever you want.”

Nicole's eyes widened at the unexpected offer. "N-no!" she stammered, staring at Lucy in surprise. "I couldn't ask you to do that. I can pay for myself." Although I really don't know if I can... "Don't worry about me. Really." A bartender came over just then and Nicole was relieved to find she could cover the expense of one mixed berry smoothie. She quickly paid for it before the other girl had a chance to try again. She looked back at Lucy and spotted how the girl was tracing the tattoo on her forearm. "That's beautiful," she murmured, indicating the watercolor tree.

Collaboration between Marx and YoshiSkittlez

---

"Oh, and you're the one to go to?" H rose an eyebrow, watching the girl carefully. He wasn't quite sure what her game was, but he had a guess. She seemed like the type of girl to not give half a shit about who she brought down as long as she had some fun along the way. H reached out and touched the side of her cheek slightly, before giving it a gentle slap, catching Kallian off-guard slightly but surprisingly, she only smiled in response, though a bit smugly.

"You're giving yourself way too much credit, you know that right?" H brought back his hand, wiping it off on his jeans, assuming that there was some makeup on his palm.

"Am I?" Kallian challenged, keeping her knowing smirk on her lips. "I think you're too scared to find out for sure." Only then did she take a step back from him and stomped out the cigerette that was slowly smoldering away between the two of them.

H put a hand on the back of his neck, stifling a laugh as he went on, "I want to pick you up as much as I want to be picked up by a cop."

"Boy, then you really must like them black-and-blues." She snickered, of course referring to the local police uniforms around here.

H paused for a moment, the urge to strangle himself for doing something as stupid as flirt with a probable underage girl rising. "And my technique ain't that bad. At least I didn't flop around a dance floor and try to woo you with cheesy nachos, yeah?"

Kallian took a step forward, making up the distance she created when stepping back to stomp out the cigerette, and jabbed her finger on his chest.

"Hey, at least he had some common decency to take care of a lady and get me something to eat." She pointed out. "Granted, I don't go for the two-left-feet losers with cheese on their fingers...but still..."

"Ah, so you go for tattooed guys and expect them to buy shit for you?" He leaned forward slightly, closing the distance even further, a smug grin crawling across his face.

Kallian could feel his hot breath on her face when he spoke, combined with the slight odor of cigerette smoke, but she didn't flinch. Her light green eyes glanced down to his lips for a brief moment before looking back up to his eyes and outwardly smirked, biting her lower lip and jabbed his chest again with her finger.

"If that's what you want to think." She practically growled out in a whisper, and then without a moments notice, she stepped to the side and started walking to the parking lot towards her car, digging through her purse to find her keys. "I'll see you later Alphabet, I'm headed to a real bar." She called to him without even so much as looking over her shoulder at him.

H had a feeling he hit the wrong, or perhaps right, button with that last comment, judging by her acidic reaction. She seemed to do a one-eighty when she stepped around him and took off, mentioning that she was going to go to a real bar. He chuckled, shaking his head as she tried to seem cold to him. "Don't gotta try to impress me, kid. Though try wearing a short skirt next time we meet, yeah? Maybe then I'll even invite you to dinner."

H shrugged, stepping into the street, walking across it slowly. He didn't have a car. He barely could afford his smoothie addiction with how much money he was putting away for his half-baked dream of a restaurant. The taste of the cancer stick was still pungent in his mouth and with every step he hated himself a bit more for reminding himself about how much he missed smokes. Not that it was limited to the little smokable coffin nails. He missed the trashy parties, the shitty drinks, the drugs, the women, but in the end that's why he was here. That life was going to be the death of him. His eyes lingered back to the girl who he couldn't recall catching the name of. If ever there was a ghost of his past, it was currently walking its perky ass away from him.

It took Giddeon most of his reserve of self-control to keep himself from throwing his cellphone half-way across the room when his sister declined his phone call for what seemed like the thousandth time. He had gotten a phone call from Kallian’s school sometime during the afternoon indicating that she had missed a few classes and wanted to know if she went home sick. Just to save the grace for the time being, he excused his sister, but she was far from being out of trouble. Since their parents were gone most all of the time, Giddeon became his sisters Emergency Contact since the day he turned 18 and could be held responsible for her, though it was proving to be harder for him to keep an eye on her when she still lived at their parent’s house in the suburbs and he in his small apartment in the city.

Giddeon clenched his cellphone tightly in his hand, almost wishing it would break under the pressure; maybe then he would feel better. Twice now he had been called by the cops this last year alone, as they had found her skipping school to go to various areas, an abandoned construction site and a small park. However, both times she hadn’t been picked up alone. A few of her friends were with her, and a large group of college boys. That in itself told Giddeon enough about his own sister to get worried about her ‘leisurely’ activities. He just hoped that when the time came (since it wasn’t a matter of ‘if’), he wouldn’t have to be the one to explain how Kallian ended up pregnant, in jail, or even dead.

Suddenly, the phone in his hand began to vibrate and without even pausing to look at it, Giddeon answered it as quick as he possibly could.
“Kallie?”

“No man, it’s Mark. But I knew you’d want to know that I did see your sister going into a juice bar this afternoon when school was still in. Mingle I think it’s called. She’s lookin good bro, you sure I can't-“

Giddeon hung up the phone, not in the mood to bother with his friend and ran outside his apartment, grabbing a thin black leather jacket on his way out to throw over his crudely white t-shirt. He made a direct beeline in the parking lot to his motorcycle, really the only thing he was able to show for his short-time career as a minor league baseball player. He was much too in a hurry though to make sure some punk-ass kids didn’t kick his wheels or any bullshit like that, and gunned the machine to life not even bothering to put on the helmet that was strapped onto the back and put the Mingle Juice Bar onto his phone’s GPS.

When he reached the juice bar, he had to double check to make sure he was in the right place. A bar that didn’t serve alcohol and might actually have respectable people inside? That didn’t sound like his sister at all. Parking his motorcycle, Giddeon headed inside, however his somewhat famous face didn’t go un-noticed by the large man that guarded the entrance.

“Mr. Zelinsky! What a treat it is to have you here!” The man offered. Giddeon just gave the man a sideways glance, shrugged, and walked inside where he was once again stopped by the table of glowsticks. Giddeon quirked an eyebrow as he read the labels and juice bar rules and took a moment to run his fingers through his hair.

“Gays? God dammit Kallian I swear…” Giddeon reached for the green glow stick and put it around his wrist. Not that it really mattered, he wasn’t here for a girl, he had plenty of those on speed-dial. He pushed himself through the small crowd gathered by the entrance and began his search for his sister, but after about fifteen minutes of looking, he came up with nothing. He would have to try something else, and quick since he noticed some small groups of people throughout the juice bar whispering while looking at him. Normally he didn’t mind drawing attention, but then he knew he would get distracted and Kallian would, once again, get away with being a little bitch.

What color was taken again? He thought as he looked around. If he talked to a girl with a taken band, then there was no harm right? Because he sure as hell wasn’t about to walk up to a guy with a blue band on. Remembering the color to be red, Giddeon began to walk to the first female he saw wearing a red band, though she was talking to a female with a blue and green band on.

“Sorry to interrupt ladies, but I’m actually looking for someone who might have been here recently…” He said, keeping his focus more on the girl with the red band around her wrist.

Nicole sipped at her smoothie, feeling utterly awkward. Her mind raced as the silence between the two girls dragged out, looking for something else to say. Why did I even come here? she thought with an inward groan. This whole thing was pointless anyway. I'm just too socially inept. She fingered the red glow stick on her wrist, slowly twisting it in small circles, and glanced up to see what the other people were up to in the bar. There were a lot of new guests since she last let herself explore the other faces, but one of them stuck out to her. A man was wandering around the bar with a frustrated look on his face. He didn't seem interested in talking to anyone, even though Nicole saw multiple green glow stick girls clearly swing their heads around to check him out. She wondered what he was doing here if he had no intention of socializing. Then the man turned towards her.

Oh God, he's coming this way.

Nicole nervously turned away and acted like her smoothie straw was suddenly the most interesting thing in the bar. The man kept walking. What was going on? Guys usually acted like she was invisible. The most interaction they ever had with her was when they mistook her for Grace, and that wasn't even intentional. She was the plague, the girl which every guy avoided. So what happened? Why did this man have a sudden interest in her? She risked flicking her stormy gray gaze in his direction for a moment. He had stopped a couple feet away and was staring at her. Nicole's heart raced.

“Sorry to interrupt ladies, but I’m actually looking for someone who might have been here recently…”

Nicole stared back at him stupidly. The question had taken her by surprise. The man's eyes shifted from her face to her wrist, and then she remembered: she was wearing a red glow stick. He didn't have an interest in dancing with her; he thought she was taken. She felt herself physically relax, letting out a long exhale through her nose, the fleeting look of panic fading off her face. The man was still staring, and she realized he was waiting for an answer.

"Um," Nicole said. Great job, genius. What an intelligent response! "W-who are you looking for?"

Ashley laughed at how relieved Charlotte was to get rid of the glow sticks. She could not blame her. She tossed hers in the recycling bin and walked over with the other girl until they got close to the door. Charlotte called over another person. Curiously, Ashley gazed at her. She seemed really bubbly and at place in the club.

“Aw, Charles, you made a friend!”

She blushed at how loud the girl exclaimed. Quite a few people looked over at them and some of them even snickered. Ashley held her arms over her stomach very tightly, something she did when she was feeling a little self conscious.

“What's your name? How old--”

She heard he unasked question. But she felt so relieved when Charlotte took over her introduction.

“Will, this is Ashley, she's nineteen and her fashion choices are none of our business – I'm really sorry about that, by the way,”

“It's fine...” She frowned slightly, subconsciously taking off her pink headband and putting it inside her purse. Then she kind of held her purse behind her back, out of sight. What was wrong with her fashion? She knew she dressed a little girly, but it had been forced on her for as long as she could remember. She also could not help that she liked cute things. The Fluttershy purse, the pink...

“Ashley, this is Willow, my best friend. She's part rabbit, I think.”

“Hi. Part rabbit?” She raised an eyebrow.

“It's very nice to meet you, Ashley.”

“It is nice to meet you as well...” Before she could say anything more, Willow continued. The girl really did seem to talk a mile a minute. Ashley could not keep up.

“Charlotte, you know I love you, so I'm gonna wait for you back in the bar. Come get me when you're done!”

She watched the girl run off and then looked back over at Charlotte. It felt like she was going to get whiplash.

“Wow, she's all over the place. Part rabbit, indeed.”

“I don't know why I'm friends with her. Traitor.”

“She seems to mean well,” Ashley said quietly. “You're lucky you have someone like that in your life.”

Ashley walked with Charlotte out the doors. She told Big Bob bye. They walked over to the Chinese place. The smell of food made her stomach rumble. She was embarrassed by how loud it sounded. It was no wonder because all she had that day were the smoothies.

The waitress got them a table. She smiled at them. “What to drink? One check or two?”

“U-uh,” Ashley stuttered. “Two. Sprite. Thank you.”

This wasn't a date. It was just two random strangers who happened to meet at a club going out to get something to eat.

Charlie didn't miss the sound of the girl's stomach rumbling, but she did try to disguise her laugh with a quiet cough. No doubt Ashley was embarrassed and self-conscious enough as it was, a laugh could be terribly misinterpreted. Finally seated in the small, brightly lit fast food restaurant, Charlie let herself relax a lot more. “I'll take a water, please?” she asked the waitress, offering her best smile.

Once the woman walked away to fetch their drinks, Charlie turned back to her dining partner. The longer they went without talking, the more she knew things would become awkward, and it was already darting about in her mind that maybe kidnapping this girl and taking her to get food was a stupid idea and might make her uncomfortable.

“Sorry about my friend, she can be a bit much sometimes.” She paused briefly, rubbing her wrists where the glow sticks had been, then mumbled the rest, “I hope you're not weirded out by any of this, or, um... you know.”

Painfully aware of the old, scuffed book still in her hand, she stashed it away in her lap and looked back at Ashley. It started to feel as if self-consciousness was contagious, and Charlie began fiddling with her curls to distract herself, determined to rid herself of the feeling. While the angel on her shoulder told her she'd feel better when she wasn't hungry any more, the devil on the opposite shoulder told her she was a freak and that Ashley would certainly feel the same, especially if she opened her mouth again.

The waitress arrived to save her from her thoughts, placing the sprite and ice water on the table. “Thank you,” Charlie said, smiling again. She leaned back, wobbling on the back legs of her chair to reach the straw stand, and plucked a pair of straws from the tin. She set one of the straws down beside Ashley's sprite and went about studying the menu.

She managed to read one line before she started up again. “What you said, about having someone like that in your life... don't you have anyone like that?”

Giddeon couldn't help but to crack a split smile at the reaction of the nervous girl. Even the taken ones seemed unable to talk to him without stuttering. And was it just the poor lighting in the juice bar or did he spot a hint of a blush on her cheeks? He couldn't help but take pride in that, whether it was because this young girl was able to recognize him as kind of a big deal around the city or if it was because she found him attractive. It wouldn't have been the first time a taken woman took interest in him, and he prided himself in that as well.

Clearing his throat, Giddeon had to bring himself back to why he was really there.

"I'm looking for my little sister. She might have gone through here going by Kallie?" He tried, wondering if Kallian would be stupid enough to create a fake name. He didn't know what she did in these kinds of things, he just hoped that he could find her before the cops did.

"Oh!" Giddeon held up a finger and fished his hand into his baggy pants pockets, pulling out his phone. He opened up a few applications until he found Kallian's facebook profile picture and flipped the phone over so that the blonde could take a good look. If a name didn't ring any bells, maybe a picture would. He felt his method being a bit ridiculous, feeling like some kind of cop or detective, but what else could he do right now?

As he waited for an answer, his eyes couldn't help but to glance down at the red glow stick around her wrist once more. It was a shame really, but unsurprising. She was a beautiful, young girl. Cute eyes, fun hair, little tiny nose ring...completely understandable that some lucky guy snatched her up for his own. But that's when the little devil on his shoulder started to whisper in his ear, reminding him that a boyfriend never stopped him from getting what he wanted before.

He was staring at her.

Nicole felt her confusion rising up again along with her heart rate. She was wearing a red glow stick, so why wasn't this guy backing off? Shouldn't he be chatting up one of the other green glow stick girls who were obviously entranced by him? She let her gaze wander to a nearby cluster of the girls. They were staring her way, eyes wide and whispering amongst themselves.

Wait, this doesn't seem right, Nicole cast the man a skeptical glance. There were plenty of other good looking guys in the bar, so why were they all staring at him? Was he famous or something? She was doubtful of that, but she couldn't completely dismiss the possibility, especially with all the gawking. She suddenly realized she was staring back at him and quickly dropped her eyes to the floor. He cleared his throat.

"I'm looking for my little sister. She might have gone through here going by Kallie?"

The name didn't strike Nicole as familiar. The man must have noticed the puzzled expression on her face because he held up a finger and reached for his pocket, drawing out a cell phone. After fiddling with it for a moment, he showed her a picture of the missing girl. Nicole looked at it. It depicted the brunette girl she had seen sitting at the bar not too long ago.

"Oh," Nicole said in recognition. "Yeah, I saw her here a while ago. She's over-" she stopped abruptly. Nicole had been about to point out the girl's location, but the seat was now empty. "Well, she was over there a minute ago. I swear, I'm not lying." She added, looking up at the man imploringly. "She must have left already..."

I was no help at all. Nicole felt kind of bad about it, although she wasn't really sure why. It's not like it was her job to watch this guy's sister. But still, she didn't want to turn him away like this, not after he came all the way to this odd little bar to find the girl. Nicole stared at her feet again, feeling her face grow warm. "Um... maybe I could help you find her? Now that I know what she looks like, and all, maybe I could be useful." She twisted her red glow stick nervously as she waited for his response.