"We look soooo good," Hailee said, as she took a second to look at all of our outfits. "There's like, a gazillion pockets in these pants."
"Well yeah, Hailee. They're cargo pants," I replied. "That's kind of how they work."
"Can you just let me be impressed in peace, Ezra?"
"No, I cannot," I said, smiling.
"Hailee's right, though," Alex said. "We look pretty good." After our mini fashion show was over, we finally left the store. Phoebe and Bowie perused our outfits a little, and the two of them nodded, confirming our beliefs that our clothes looked good on us.
"You guys did a good job selecting your clothes," she told us.
"They owe me now though, since I paid for everything," I said.
"Yeah, with my money," Phoebe responded. "Which means they actually owe me."
"I know I know."
"Can't I just pay you guys back in hugs or something?" Hailee asked, jokingly. "I've been told I give pretty good hugs." The old me would've accepted that offer in the blink of an eye. But, those feelings were long gone now, sinking down an imaginary ocean in an imaginary box.
Our tour of this beautiful land continued, and more magnificent sights were being poured into me. While we were slowly walking to take everything in, something came into my sight in the corner of my eye. It was hard to tell at first, but I turned my head, and saw that it was a flyer. A poster for a party at the "Bedrock Nightclub." It stated on the paper that there was no entrance fee, and they recommended bringing a date. I asked Phoebe if they allowed people under twenty-one into the club, and her answer surprised me. She said you needed to be sixteen or older to enter the club. Once again, this dimension threw me for a loop. Apparently, you could also legally drink alcohol if you were sixteen.
"Should we go, guys?" I asked.
"I'm down," Bowie said. "Sounds like a good time."
"Oh! You could be my date, Hailee!" Alex exclaimed.
"Yes! That sounds so fun!" The two jumped into each others arms, wrapping themselves in a tight embrace, and then turned the hug into a passionate kissing session.
"I hate couples," I said, staring at the two of them appallingly swallow each others faces.
"Aw, don't be such a sour puss," Phoebe teased. "Who knows? Maybe you'll find a date in time for the party."
"Depends. Are you going?" I said. I wasn't completely sure of it, but I felt like Bowie was giving me the coldest glare after I said that.
"Haha, funny," she replied. "I'm not though. I'll be at the bar during that time."
"Then, I won't be asking anybody out."
"Who said you have to do the asking? Maybe they'll ask you out."
"Yeah, like that would ever happen," I scoffed. With that, our short conversation regarding the party ended, and the tour went on.
Eventually, the tour ended, the sun was starting to set a little, turning the sky into a light blueish pink, and Phoebe headed to the bar like she said she would. That left me alone with the annoying couple, Hailex, since Bowie went to the bar as well. After being the fourth wheel following them around for a couple more hours as we "hung out," it was finally time for the party.
...
We got to the entrance of the club, and were shocked. It was way bigger than any of us imagined. We could already hear the multiple people conversing, and the loud, rumbling music. After we collectively took a deep breath, we stepped into the unknown world that was the Bedrock Nightclub ready to party the night away.
The second we entered, we were almost consumed by the deep ocean of bodies. Various types of creatures were in the club dancing with their friends, and significant others. For the first part of the party, it was pretty enjoyable for me. The music was unknown to me, but it sounded remotely like EDM, with an even more futuristic sound. The lyrics weren't even lyrics. Just sounds intertwined with the beat. I guess it shouldn't have been surprising to me that the music on this dimension was advanced too. I didn't think I'd enjoy it initially, but then I found myself jumping around alongside the rest of the people in the club as the loud music rumbled through our bones. It was like I was being hypnotized. For those few moments, I forgot I was at this party alone without a date while everybody else had someone. Then, I remembered I was alone again when the slow songs started coming on.
I went to get what apparently tasted like punch according to Hailee and Alex, from the bar. I got a nice, cold glass of the mysterious bright, pink nonalcoholic "punch" they suggested to me, and took a seat towards the back of the club. Attempting to drink my sorrows away with this shockingly tasty, thirst-quenching liquid, I leaned in my chair, and stared at everybody slow dancing in the middle of the club to the beautiful, futuristic music playing. Just when I thought I had given up on all things romance, and was ready to throw myself out one of the windows in the club, a girl came up to me.
She tapped me on the shoulder, and I switched my gaze from the dancing crowd, to this admittedly, beautiful girl. She was wearing a white crop top, and short, black jean shorts. She looked my age, was sort of short, had long dark brown hair, freckles all over her body, and light blue skin. She also had heterochromia iridum. One of her eyes was a deep blue, while the other was a bright green, like my eyes. Except hers were brighter, and looked sparkly. When I looked into them, it felt like I was staring at an aurora. She was clearly not human. Her otherworldly features just added to her beauty, however.
"Hey," she said, revealing her soft voice. I ignored her despite how attractive she was. I didn't want to admit it, but I was still not over Hailee. The damage from seeing how happy she was with somebody else that wasn't me was a lot more impactful to my heart than I wanted to believe.
"Are you here with anyone?" she said to me, despite me clearly ignoring her. I decided to try to say something that would make her go away, and end my misery once and for all. Not only was I still hung up on Hailee, but it was hard for me to believe that a beautiful girl like her was actually speaking to me voluntarily. I thought she was just messing with me for her own entertainment.
"Look," I started. "Can you please go away? You're just messing with me for fun, right? There's no way someone as gorgeous as you would speak to someone as unappealing as me. You probably even have a date. You should go back to them, and go laugh about how you made some weirdo think they had a chance with someone like you."
"Um, I-I'm actually here...alone," she said, nervously. "That's why I w-was wondering...d-d-do you want to dance with me? I know you don't know who I am, bu-"
"YES!" I yelled, instinctively. My mouth moved on it's own without me even realizing it.
"Let's go," she said, smiling as she grabbed my hand. Her hand felt so soft, gentle, smooth, and warm. It was like I was holding the hand of an angel.
Despite what I believed would be my experience at this party prior to entering the club, I was dancing, with a girl, and was having fun. A lot of crazy things happened to me while I was in this dimension, but this took the cake as the craziest. I had no idea how an oddball like me, with blue hair, and was cursed, was dancing with someone this beautiful at a party. We weren't slow dancing due to the fact that after she grabbed my hand, they started playing the more upbeat songs again. So, we weren't holding each other close or anything like that, but we were still dancing together. That's all that mattered. Even if my dancing skills didn't compare to hers by a long shot.
After spending awhile dancing in a silly manner to futuristic disco music, she asked me something out of the blue.
"Hey, wanna get out of here for a bit?" she said. "I want to show you something."
"S-sure," I said, nervously. I never hung out with a girl who was potentially interested in me for this long. Actually, I've never hung out with a girl that was potentially interested in me at all before. She intertwined her hand with mine again, and led me out of the club. I let her lead the way for a bit, and we eventually got to the top of a very flowery hill. There were sunflowers, daffodils, and dandelions everywhere on the ground. She told me to sit, and then to look forward. The second I did, I knew exactly why she led me here.
"...woah," I said, with my mouth wide open. I practically made the letter O with my face. When I looked up, my eyes were treated to the sight of millions of glittery stars sprinkled throughout the entire night sky. Below these beautiful stars was a creek that was beautifully illuminated by the multiple constellations.
"It's really nice, isn't it?" she asked me.
"Yes, I love it."
"I found this spot awhile ago when I was just walking around. I wanted to sit somewhere for a bit, and noticed how awesome this view is." She wasn't wrong one bit. From the way the stars looked, to the view of the creek was amazing. I could hear the slight pitter patter of the water, while gazing at the sparkling canvas that was the sky. It was easy to see why she liked the spot.
"Hey," I started. "I never got your name, and I'd really like to the know the name of the person who showed me this really cool spot."
"It's Lucille," she responded, meeting my eyes with her own starry, multicolored irises. Her gaze was enough to make me die from a heart attack. "And I'm glad you like the spot."
"Lucille? That's a pretty name."
"Thank you," she replied, softly.
"Can I call you Lucy?"
"Sure," she replied. "That's what my friends usually call me."
"Alright," I said. As much as I wanted to hold it in, I couldn't stop myself from smiling ear to ear during this moment. I was talking to a girl, who wanted to talk to me just as much as I wanted to talk to her. It was an amazing feeling that before was unknown to me. I was nervous, surprised, and happy all in one. Then, I looked back to the club thinking about how many lovey-dovey things Hailee and Alex were probably doing right now, and the happiness faded away. Lucy noticed my sudden change in emotion, and asked me what's wrong.
"Nothing...it's just..." I started. I wasn't sure if it were a good idea to pour my hear out to someone I just met half an hour ago, but I needed to get my feelings out to somebody. That I couldn't deny.
"Have you ever liked someone so much, but you never got the chance to tell them, and then they got with somebody else right in front of your eyes?"
"No, but that sounds very painful."
"I don't know why I asked you," I said. "I'm sure with your looks, everybody you liked probably liked you back, and you guys started dating."
"Not really," she responded. "I didn't say no because I've never liked someone that didn't like me back, or anything like that. I said no because everyone I've liked, I did get a chance to tell them. It's just they always rejected me."
"What?!" I yelled, flabbergasted by her response. "They rejected you?! How?!"
"There's...a lot of preconceived notions about me because of my family."
"What about your family makes people reject you?"
"Well, it's not my entire family. But, two of my brothers ran away from home, and ended up turning into petty thieves. They're criminals. That was already bad enough, but now they've joined Dark Phoenix." My face was in pure shock. I wanted to say something, but it was difficult for me to conjure the right words to utter. All I could do was stare at her pretty face blankly.
"Exactly," she said, as she looked at me just stare at her in disbelief. "Nobody is going to want to date someone who has family that are infamous criminals, and Dark Phoenix members. They all think I'm not to be trusted."
"I can't lie, that is pretty bad," I said.
"I know."
"But, I'm not going to judge you because of what your family did. I'm going to judge you for your actions. It wouldn't be fair if I didn't. And so far, I can tell you're nothing like brothers. Even if you guys are family."
"...you're the first person to say that to me," she replied with a very gentle tone. "Thank you."
"Of co-"
Usually, I hated getting interrupted. This time was an exception, however. And that's because of the way she interrupted me, which was with a soft, fervent, long kiss. Not only that, but she also gave me the pleasure of having my very first kiss. Instinctively, I pulled her in close by her waist, and started to softly devour her lips in return. I didn't realize it because of how hot and heavy my body was feeling from the explosion of emotions in my body at that moment, but she slipped some sort of tablet onto my tongue in the middle of our make out session. When I finally realized something was going on, I pulled back from the kiss. By then, it was already too late. The tablet had dissolved completely after coming in contact with my tongue. My vision started to blur, but I could still see Lucy wearing a mischievous grin that said "everything went according to plan."
"W-W-What did you do to me," I asked her, woozily. I was using every single ounce of energy I had left to keep my body from falling.
"I'm sorry, Ezra," she said. "You're really cute, and seem pretty cool. But, I have a mission to complete."
Before I could angrily respond, and give her a piece of my mind, everything went black. I fell on the grass on my back, and went asleep for a long, long time.