Shoutout to Fanganator for enjoying this story, and I am truly am sorry to everyone who enjoyed this story.
Wow, I had this chapter for a while... I have no idea I didn't post it before. For the record in two chapters there will be a time skip to his 18th birthday. And the next chapters after chapter 3 will probably be in Ariah's POV...
Anyway I apologize for the very long wait.
If you're still reading, enjoy :)
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Gale POV
"So let me get this straight. You want me to entertain women. In what way exactly?" I asked him for the third time. He hadn't really elaborated all that well.
Curly-head sighed loudly, "Have you ever heard of a host club?" I had already mentally decided ro call him Curly, due to the unruly mop of curls on his head.
"Yeah, I've heard of them. They're trending pretty quickly. Aren't hosts male versions of call girls or strippers?"
"No!" exclaimed Curly. "They entertain in different ways, though some do have... sex with some of their clients for added benefit, most of them usually just end up doing Class A flirting."
I stared up at the night sky, "Why do you want me?"
Curly ended up giving me the most exasperated face I had ever seen on any human, "Dude, it's like fucking 9:00 P.M. I have a deadline to follow. It's dark and I can barely see your face out here except for the lights coming out of the club, but just from that, I can tell that you have very distinct facial features. I mean women will eat that face of yours right off."
"So basically I'm just really handsome, right?" I stated in a bored voice. It's not like I was trying to sound cocky, but I've always known I was better looking than most.
He looked slightly annoyed at my attitude but nodded.
"I see, well see you around." I gave him a small wave and started to walk in the opposite direction.
"WAIT! Where are you going?!" he roughly grabbed my shoulder and pulled me around hard. He was unexpectedly pretty strong for a twig, but if I had wanted to, I'm pretty sure I could still beat his ass. "Why are you leaving?"
"What's in it for me?"
"You'd be helping me out and I'd owe ya one," he said with a sad smile. I admit, even though Curly was pretty goofy-looking, girls would've eaten that sad face up.
But I was not a girl. And I had no pity what-so-ever for Curly here. Pity was not something I gave out openly.
"No."
His face fell. A moment later, he spoke in a monotone voice, "Seven-hundred."
"What?"
"I'll pay you seven-hundred bucks for tonight. Not to mention the client tonight is moderately wealthy, so if you do well, you should be able to rack up two-hundred in tips easily."
He looked so desperate; something a person should never look like when making a deal, because bad people like me would take full advantage of the situation. I grinned evilly on the inside. I wondered how far I could take this.
"Hmmm, seven-hundred? Doesn't that seem kinda low? I mean, I'm giving up my dignity here. A man who seduces women for a living is kind of low, don't you think?" I remarked snidely. Honestly, I didn't really care how low the job was morally, as long as the pay would help my siblings and I survive, that was enough for me.
He paled. "Nine-hundred. That's the absolute best I can offer."
I looked into his eyes and once I determined he was telling the truth, said a simple, "Okay."
"Really?! Oh thank the Lord!" he exclaimed as he clasped his hands together.
I wondered slightly if he should really be thanking the Lord that he convinced a minor to help seduce women for money. Then again, he didn't know I was minor, but it was still pretty bad. Oh well, I was going to make at least over a thousand bucks, so I basically couldn't care less.
He grabbed and dragged me past the gigantic guards who let him pass through easily. Damn, what did these people eat? Steroids for breakfast?
As I walked through the long hallway, I noticed how beautiful lights were flashing through a semi-dark room.
When I looked inside, I was shocked. the place was amazing. The huge dome- like walls and ceiling were all made out of glass. All sorts of lights were on display, from strobe lights to lasers lights. The light from the moon and stars passed through the glass ceiling giving the dome a mystical glow. I could even see the ocean reflecting all the lights from the club and sky from the glass wall.
The club had an energy about it that I had never felt before. I felt an adrenaline rush. It felt good. I heard music that I had never heard before today, that made my heart pump. The people in the club were moving to the beat of the music.
I understood why so many people came. It was like another world. A place you could come to forget the real world and all it's fucked up problems; a place just for us.
"Amazing, huh?"
I turned to Curly. "Yeah. This is sick."
"The owner is a total genius, huh?"
"Totally." I said. I had thought this would be just a place where the idiots of the world would come to just get drunk, but here you could get drunk without drinking. I didn't see anyone drinking to the point of being drunk. Only a few were at the bar at a time, and most barely took more than they needed to be a bit tipsy.
"Come on. The private party isn't here."
I raised an eyebrow. The dome was huge. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was the size of an American football field. "Where else would it possibly be?"
"Follow me."
We walked passed so many dancers, a few female ones asked me to dance. I guess the lighting tonight had helped conceal my age everyone or maybe people just thought I ad a baby face. I mean even Curly thought I was older when he met me outside.
I politely declined their offers and ran to catch up with Curly. He stood next to a door with yet another set of steroid-induced guards. I mean my bastard father was a fit man, but these dudes were inhuman.
"Are we going in?"
"That's what we're here for, right? Let's go-" he paused for a bit and then asked, "What your name?"
Well it took him long enough to ask. "Gale."
He made a goofy grin, "Let's go, Gale."
Before I could even ask him his name he dragged me through the door.
Long. That was the only thing to describe the staircase leading down. The moment I got off the last step of the of the staircase, I stepped onto a sleek marble hallway that was also long.
"There's an underground part of this place?" The lights were just glowing bulbs on the wall, they were pretty dim, but they also had a somewhat calming effect.
He nodded. Curly finally stopped on the third door to his right, "Change in here."
I peeked inside to see a regular locker room. Well, regular, except for the fact that it was huge. The lockers were unusually big, but unlike the rest of the place, it had normal lighting. It also had a make up section for god knows what. It had a bunch of wigs and sunglasses on display for the employee's disposal.
"Change into what exactly?" I questioned as I stepped inside.
"Into one those." He pointed at a wall of open closets, with hangers of suits, dress shirts, dress pants, ties, and a bottom row filled with fancy shoes. "Just make sure you wear a white suit, it was supposed to his color tonight, before he ditched us."
He finally turned to me, when something flashed through his eyes. He was staring at me intently.
"What?"
"It's that you look,well, younger than I thought."
"People say that all the time. Must be my baby face" I lied smoothly. Usually people think I look older, but this idiot didn't need to know that.
"Anyway, I'll leave you to it. I'll be waiting outside to go over some ground rules."
As soon as he left, I locked the door. I went up to mirror and realized how young I looked. Would I really be able to get away with this? Would Curly smarten up and realize that I was a minor? My heart was beating erratically.
Maybe I should just-
BEEP!
I looked down to see that my crusty old flip phone was ringing. It was a flip phone that most kids didn't have these days and wouldn't be caught dead with.
I looked at the number to see that it was my sister calling. I opened the phone and clicked accept.
"Hey," I answered casually, ignoring my rapid heartbeat and nervousness.
"Hey" Laura answered in a sad voice.
"What's wrong?" My voice strained. Both my older brother and I were super protective of our darling sister.
"It's nothing. It's just I won't be home tonight. I'll probably be home by noon tomorrow."
"Why?"
"I'm staying at friend's place. My boss gave me an extra shift tomorrow and we could really use the money. Since it takes 3 hours just to get from our house to the store, I asked one of my coworkers if I could spend the night at her house."
"You sure it's safe?"
"Of course. I'm just sorry I won't be able to be there to make you breakfast on your special day."
"Special day?" What was tomorrow?
There was silence on the phone before she responded, "Your birthday! How could you forget that?!"
"Oh yeah." I responded. I looked at the walls and found a calendar confirming that at midnight I would be alive for 15 years exactly.
"Anyway, I got to go. I'll bring something back for you tomorrow."
"You don't have to."
"Nonsense!" she chirped. "Well, seeya lil' bro. Love ya!"
"Yeah, yeah."
She clicked her tongue and muttered something under her breath. "You..."
"Okay, okay, I love you, too."
She made a sound of approval before hanging up.
I have to do this for my family. It was time to get ready.
Being good at art and having an older sister who did make up everyday came in handy. I used the brushes to help me shade in my face to give me an older look. I would never admit to anyone I wore make up. I just took it as an extra precaution. This was all for the one grand. I could do this.
I looked through the different sizes and once I was done, I had to admit I looked much older. I thought the white suite would have looked tacky, but on me, it looked pretty good. I inspected myself in the mirror.
What if someone would recognize me on the street? I looked around to find a blonde wig that was pretty much same color as my hair, but styled in a longer classy way. It was a Grade A wig. I could tell it was pretty expensive due to the handiwork of it. I took extra time to put it on.
When I opened the door, I was met with an abrupt, "Took you long enough!"
"Whatever, let's get this over with, Curly," I stated more indifferently than I felt.
When I looked at him, he gave the most incredulous look and said, "How'd you know my name was Curly?"
"You're kidding me, right?"