Fantasia

Fantasia

Chapter 1

"Hurry up! We don't want to be late." Nel squealed as she hopped out of the cab. The chilly Chicago air failed to penetrate her black cotton coat while she waited for her three friends to exit the car. She stared up at the skyscrapers, each building decorated in some way or another. Their glow made the city look alive as it shimmered like stars dancing in the dead of night. Of course, stars did not smell like exhaust and sewers, a smell that wafted around her nostrils.

Lilly, a stout sixteen year old girl with brunette hair and green eyes, linked arms with Nel. Their friend Michelle did the same with Nel's other arm. Only Cameron, the only guy in the group, decided to keep his arms unlinked as he began to walk down the street. The four friends were heading towards Fantasia, a night club designed for those under the age of twenty-one. Before they could enter the world of endless dancing and music that made people deaf, they had to meet up with their two other friends Stephanie and Emma. They were cousins. Emma, the younger of the two, lived in Chicago with her parents and younger brother in an apartment.

Since she had the best knowledge of the city, it was Emma who convinced her friends to go clubbing in Chicago on New Year's Eve. At the subway station nearest the club, Nel spotted the two girls. "Hey!" Nel swooped in and gave the girls a tight hug. "It's been a while. How have you been, Emma?"

Emma hugged back. "I know. I have been all right, you know, the usual. Though, I will be a lot busier if I get a job, something my parents have been nagging me about. Gotta pay for college one way or another." They laughed lightly.

"Steph., Emma, this is Cameron. Cameron, this is Stephanie and Emma." Since she knew the girls better, Nel issued out the introduction.

Cameron strode forward and nodded at the two. "I have heard a lot about you; Nel never shuts up. It's nice to finally meet the source of her amusement."

Like a child, Nel stuck out her tongue. "Be nice," Lilly said as she hugged Stephanie and Emma. Behind her, Michelle stood quietly. She was always quiet and shy around people that she did not know very well. Stephanie she knew, but Emma was still quite new to her since they have only hung out once in the past months ago. They were more of Nel and Lilly's friends than hers.

"Are we ready?" Emma asked, bacomming giddy. The group nodded. "Great." Emma took the lead and as they walked, she could not stop raving about how awesome the club was and how she went there at least once a month. "Chicago had a lot to offer a young person, but nothing compares to Fantasia. The club was rated the safest and the most active night club for those under twenty-one. Trust me, you will love it!"

The line was long—very long. Nel thought that the lunch line back in high school was long, but this line was nearly three times as long and her school was not that small. It was intimidating really. Surprisingly, the line moved at a steady pace, so they managed to get inside within an hour. "Wow!" Nel lost her breath when her eyes landed on the gigantic disco ball that hung over the dance floor.

"Stunning, isn't it? No other club has a disco ball that large. It was donated to the club by a wealthy patron." Emma said as she took off her coat. In the background, Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" blasted from the stereo. "Yes! DJ Valentine is here tonight. We are in for a real treat."

"Who?" Cameron asked. He was the practical one in the group who never got out much. He liked to use logic over anything else, a trait that annoyed Nel at times. He still liked to joke around and have fun, but he still had his over technical moments that made him seem like a party pooper.

"Honestly Cameron, you need to get out more," Lilly giggled.

"DJ Valentine is the best DJ in the Chicago area! Fortune has smiled upon us tonight." Emma fixed her hair and scanned the room.

"Sorry that I was in college studying my ass off." He growled. Nel placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I know. I was in college too and am not really sure who DJ Valentine is either." She knew why Cameron was upset. There was a reason why he spent extra hours studying when he could have been out partying with his newfound college friends. The summer before college, he had broken up with his girlfriend Lexi, a girl that was also an ex-best friend to Nel.