"You mean actually go to a club? No….no absolutely not."
☆
"I need your opinion. What do you think?" Chanelle asks as her body turns from one side to the other in the mirror, assessing the fitted white corset style top she had just put on.
"I'm reading." Comes the reply from the girl, hunched over the small desk on the other side of the room. Her thick dark bob and heavy bangs seemed to create a cocoon around her book, all about crime and forensics.
Chanelle exhales a sigh as she looks across to her roommate. She places her hands on her hips. "Joanna Joan, it wouldn't hurt to put your book down for one minute…."
"Don't call me that! It's Jojo." She pivots in her seat, with a disgruntled look as she adjusts her tortoise shell glasses, as they slide down her nose. She looks back at Chanelle, who was now grinning.
"Now you have turned around, tell me, what do you think of this top?" She begins to move around so Jojo can take in all the angles.
Jojo reluctantly looks at the white fitted garment, taking in the lace and the boning and the criss cross ribbon at the back which seemed to hold it in place. She furrows her brow. "Isn't that supposed to go under your clothes?"
Chanelle laughs out loud as she approaches Jojo, pinching one of her chubby cheeks. "You are so innocent. I love it." She retracts her hand, leaving Jojo to rub where the squeeze had taken place. "Does it go with these jeans, or should I go with a skirt?"
"Jeans." Jojo blurts out the answer, even surprising herself as she pulls her lips into her mouth.
Chanelle looks in the mirror once again at her clothing combination. "Jeans it is." She looks at Jojo, gracing her with a smile and causing her roommate to turn back around in her chair to carry on with her reading. Chanelle stares at the back of Jojo's head for a moment. She bites very lightly on her lower lip in thought before speaking. "Jojo, do you wanna join me? It's just a club in town."
"What?" Jojo quickly turns around again in her seat. "You mean actually go to a club? No….no absolutely not."
"Come on…." She gets on her knees before Jojo, taking both of her hands in hers, pulling her around a little more to face her. She tilts her head to one side to catch Jojo's gaze. "You never go out. You are always studying. Don't you think you deserve a little break? Plus, I don't want to go on my own."
Jojo looks into Chanelle's brown eyes, before they gravitate towards the top, she quickly turns away, pulling her hands from the grasp. "I have to study. My parents…"
"Your parents aren't here." Chanelle interrupts as she stands back up. "Come on, Jojo. Live a little. I will look after you in the big wide world." She laughs.
"Don't make fun of me." Jojo looks down on herself, pulling on her baggy t-shirt. She could already feel the knot growing inside of her stomach at the thought of a busy night club, full of wasted people with no self-control.
"Come on… just for me?" Chanelle again crouches down, drawing Jojo's attention to her eyes once again.
She looks at her roommate. The solid 'no' now wavering maybe just a little. "Just… Don't leave me alone." She utters, feeling as if all of her trust was now in the hands of Chanelle.
Chanelle doesn't speak, choosing to express her joy by shaking Jojo a little violently by the upper arms. "Ok, let's get you ready. I have another top like mine in here somewhere…" She dashes to the closet they shared and opens the doors as if on a mission.
"No ." Jojo shouts as she looks down at her flat chest. What had she signed herself up for?...
***
To any outsider, they looked like the oddest couple in the club as they teetered on the edge of the dance floor. Chanelle, eyes closed, hand in the air, hips swaying to the music in her tight fitting jeans, whereas Jojo seemed to adapt the dance move of feet side stepping in and out as if she were at a school disco at infant school. Her oversized cream blouse with a decorative ribbon around the collar tented her upper body, with her wide legged trousers doing the same for her legs. At least she has a boot with a tiny chunky heel, otherwise Chanelle said they wouldn't have let her in, as they would have thought she was a child.
Jojo looks around her. All too aware of her difference. That feeling of trying to belong, but somehow not pulling it off. She looks at Chanelle, who appears to have enough confidence for the both of them. She taps her on the arm. "I'm getting a drink. Do you want one?"
Chanelle nods, blowing Jojo a kiss, as she again closes her eyes to immerse herself in whatever world her head was living in. Jojo heads to a quieter end of the bar, grateful for the room to breathe away from the crowded dance floor. She gives a weak smile to the bartender as she orders two fruity ciders, feeling rebellious about consuming alcohol on a night when she was supposed to be studying.
"Hey, I need a little help…?"
Jojo looks to her side to see a male trying to get her attention, as he leaned back against the bar, head tilting towards her, just enough so she could hear what he was saying.
"Help with what?" She questions, feeling that nervousness she always got when a stranger spoke to her. Her guard getting ready to defend.
"Your friend…. What's her name?" The male gestures towards Chanelle still on the dance floor, oblivious to the attention she had attracted. Jojo turns around to follow the man's gaze, and is about to disclose when he adds. "She's fucking hot." Before biting on his lip as he grinned.
Jojo looks at the man with disgust "I'm not telling you." She replies, knowing that the guy was probably after one thing only.
He looks at Jojo and snorts out a laugh. "Sweetheart, don't get jealous. If you made an effort…"
"I'm not jealous…"
"My drink! Thanks." They both turn to see that Chanelle had returned. She reaches over to grab her drink, taking a sip before standing by Jojo and looking at the man. "Who are you?"
"Your friend here is stopping me from getting to know you." The man smiles as he takes a step towards Chanelle. His eyes gravitate down her body, resting at her chest.
"What do you wanna know?" Chanelle takes a step closer towards him. Her height is an inch above him in heels.
"Everything." The male replies, daring to place a hand on her hip.
"Well…" She moves forwards, just enough to tease. To tantalise the man, as her full chest presses against the cotton of his shirt. "I…" She begins, as she leans over his shoulder to speak softly in his ear.
"Yeah…" The male questions, his own body tensing at the anticipation.
"Like…" Her breath danced over his neck like a warm breeze.
"Mhm…" He hums, as he feels the hairs on his neck begin to tingle.
She cracks a smile as she utters the last word of her drawn out sentence…..
"Women."