This was it. Our plan for tonight was officially a go.
The girls and I spent the last hour and a half getting ready at Mac's house. Her dad was still overseas on a business trip, and her mom caught a flight to L.A. shortly after our graduation ceremony, so we had her extravagant house to ourselves.
Stepping out of my old, antebellum home into Mac's modern-styled mansion was like stepping into a time machine. Everything in her house was sleek marble and glass, and all the appliances were connected through 'smart home' technology. Even her toilets were electronic. I had to take the top off my toilet most of the time to jiggle the chain, so the plug would drop, and the water would stop running.
It wasn't like my father couldn't afford to build us a nicer place, not as nice as Mac's place, of course, but at least an upgrade from our outdated and bordering dilapidated home. We had the yard space for it. But no. He wouldn't even consider moving out. He was adamant that everything about our house was perfect just the way it was. My father was clearly delusional and unable to be reasoned with.
I looked around Mac's mother's enormous closet and giggled. We had made a huge mess with boas, glitter, body paint, make-up, and hair products. I was thankful we planned in advance by stashing all of the materials for the night here a few days ago. We stayed at Franklin's restaurant a little longer than expected, so it was a good thing we were able to drive straight here and get ready. AB and I were also feeling a lot less nervous now thanks to Mac's mom's Xanax and healthy collection of expensive wines. Between the three of us, we had already downed two of her mom's vintage bottles.
I knew in the back of my mind that tomorrow I would feel guilty and disappointed in myself, but part of what Donny said earlier stuck with me. I had been such a good girl doing all the right things for so long. I could allow myself one night of carefree fun, right? With that idea in mind, I had taken the Xanax Mac offered as well as two glasses of wine. Honestly, I had never felt better. I looked at AB who was jumping up and down on Mac's mom's California King bed singing along to Bon Jovi's 'You Give Love A Bad Name' and laughed out loud. Clearly, she had never felt better either.
"Alright, ladies," Mac said. "It's time to put our costumes on."
I walked out of the closet and over to where Mac was standing in the middle of the large room. Behind her, on the massive bed that AB no longer occupied, were three outfits, if you could call such little fabric that. Even with the effects of alcohol and drugs, my stomach lurched with uncertainty. I'd never dreamed in a million years that I would be participating in an event like this: Club Dread.
All throughout high school, we heard rumors about Club Dread, the moving nightclub that was exclusive and invite-only. The club only occurred once a month. It would appear somewhere between the four major cities in the area, and it would never be held at the same location twice. Each month the club appeared, it would have a different theme and dress code. The crazy part about the whole ordeal was the fact that no one really heard anything about the event until after it was over, and, even then, you didn't know if the rumors were true.
Because Donny's dad, Mark, was a major criminal defense attorney in Houston, Donny and Trevor spent some of their time outside baseball interning at Mark's firm. A daughter of one of Mark's clients bumped into Trevor a few weeks back. She was some young, aspiring model who thought Trevor was cute. He went out with her a few times, and she ended up revealing that she had attended several of Club Dread's parties. He convinced her to secure Donny and him an invite to the next event. She'd given them both a black rubber bracelet with red crossbones etched across the surface. He requested three more entrance bands for his 'other boys,' and she happily obliged.
Unfortunately, Mac, AB, and I were not boys, so we hoped the bands were not gender-specific. As for the costumes, the theme of the party wasn't revealed until two days ago. Trevor received a message from the model that said, "Black Light Burlesque," so here we were, staring at three very scandalous burlesque costumes.
"AB," Mac pronounced, grinning as she picked up a hot-pink corset with lace ruffled bottoms."Put it on. Stop being shy. You're pretty, and I know you want to feel sexy, so stop pretending you don't."
AB laughed and eagerly grabbed at the outfit. I knew she had to be pretty tipsy to be this accepting. "I love it, Mac!" she squealed.
AB turned and started stripping beside us. Mac smiled knowingly at me. "Addy, I know AB is a closet freak, but you... you really are a ball of innocence. I have to say I'm proud of you for drinking tonight. It's what? Your second time ever?" She shook her head in mock disapproval.
"And honestly, the first time doesn't count because my parents gave us that bottle of champagne and monitored us all night." Mac tilted her head to the side and gave me a seductive look. "Donny is going to literally come undone when he sees you in this." She handed me a dark-velvet, maroon corset that laced up the front.
"These are cheeky bottoms, so your nice little ass is going to show a little," she grinned. "And these are thigh high stockings. The little strings hanging from your corset are going to attach to the top of the stockings. If you need help putting it on, just let me know." She put her hands on my shoulders and turned me around before giving me a sharp smack on my butt to push me forward.
I took the bundle back into the closet and changed into the scandalous outfit. When I was dressed, I walked over to the wall mirror and stared at my reflection. My cheeks immediately heated at the sight of me. I was modest when it came to wearing a two-piece bathing suit. This had more fabric, but I felt more exposed. My breasts were pushed up so high by the corset that it looked like I was a D-cup instead of barely bursting out of a B-cup. However, my legs did look long and elegant in the dark stockings, and the bright red lipstick and dark eyeliner I added looked striking against my pale skin. Hell, I looked sexy. I had never thought of myself that way before, but it was exhilarating.
Mac walked into the closet with a pair of elbow-length black satin gloves for me. She gasped when she saw me. AB was right behind her and let out a low whistle. "Dang, Addy. You should give up college now and become a burlesque dancer. You'd make a killing."
I blushed, and they giggled. Mac was in an all-black leather ensemble, and she looked more like a sexed-up cat woman than a burlesque dancer.
We all looked hot. We also looked a lot older than eighteen, and I had a feeling that was a good thing. I was worried they might check our IDs at the door.
"Please tell me we're covering up somehow until we get there. Something tells me that heading out looking like Las Vegas Show girls is not very discreet," I interjected.
"My mom has some dress coats we can wear. We just need to make sure they get back safely. She would tear me alive if her designer coats went missing," Mac said.
When we finished adding glitter, glow-in-the-dark paint, and other accessories to our outfits and bodies, we covered up with Mac's mom's coats. I chose a tan trench coat while the others opted for grey and black cotton dusters.
When we finally piled into my Audi, it was almost eleven o'clock. We had less than five minutes to get to Trevor's place, but thankfully he lived just two blocks away. Mac was driving since she had not taken a Xanax yet or drank as much as the rest of us. Surprisingly though, the initial effect I felt from the pill and wine I consumed had all but dissipated. I glanced back at AB from the passenger seat. She was singing along to 'Don't Stop the Music' by Rihanna, entirely off-key, and using her cellphone as a microphone. I laughed and twisted back around in my seat to put on my seatbelt. She was obviously still feeling the effects of the concoction.
When we pulled up to Trevor's place, he had an SUV waiting for us all. My mouth quirked up when I saw Trevor and Donny standing outside in dark fitted jeans and tight, white V-neck T-shirts detailed with dark suspenders. They looked good. Their height and broad shoulders were accented by the fitted ensemble. I jumped out of my car and attacked Donny by running and jumping into his arms. I ran my hands all over him so that the glitter and paint from my hands made its way onto his body. He chuckled as he set me back on the ground. I looked up at him, and he pressed his lips to my forehead.
"You look beautiful," he smiled, playing with a strand of my long, red hair. I had taken the time to curl it just the way he liked it— in long, loose waves that hung down to the small of my back.
"Stop being mushy and get in the cab. We have an hour ride," Trevor moaned at us. We broke apart and climbed into the SUV. I looked to see who was driving and smiled when I realized it was Lenny, one of Donny and Trevor's baseball buddies on the JV team.
"Is he even old enough to drive?" Mac commented dryly.
Trevor laughed. "Lenny here is sixteen, Mac. He has his license. He is also getting paid handsomely to drive us to this shindig and wait for us to be done partying so he can get us home safely. Isn't that right, Lenny, my friend?" Lenny just nodded and kept his eyes on the road.
"You are paying him, right?" AB asked. "This better not be some kind of hazing. You graduated today, remember?"
Trevor looked back at us from the front seat. "Anna-Beth, I am appalled that you think so lowly of me. I'm giving Lenny here three hundred bucks. It's an honest to goodness job." Trevor flashed us his pearly whites before turning around and cranking up the music. He pulled out our entrance bands from his pocket and passed them around.
When Donny handed me mine, I held the dark band in my hand and examined it. The little crossbones covering it looked ominous. On the inside of the band, 'Club Dread' was printed in red ink. I slipped the stretchy rubber bracelet over my gloved wrist and tried to ignore the feeling of unease that swept across my body as I did so.
An hour later, we were driving through an abandoned parking lot in the outskirts of Houston. A flask containing whiskey had been passed around multiple times, but I refused to take a swig. I didn't want to drink anymore until we were there and until I saw with clear eyes that it was not as dangerous as I felt it might be.
"Trevor, if we got dressed up like this for a fake event, I might kill you," I said after our second loop around the abandoned lot.
"I swear! The directions I received had this exact address. We are looking for a red flag."
It was dark out, minus a few scattered and dimly lit lamp posts, but somehow movement caught Donny's eye. "There's a small group of people walking between those two buildings over there." He pointed across the parking lot to where he claimed shadows were moving along the edge of two, large industrial buildings. We all looked, but saw nothing.
Taking his word for it, Trevor instructed Lenny to stop and let us out. "I'll call you when we need you to pick us back up from this very spot, okay, man?" he instructed.
Lenny agreed and stopped the vehicle. We all climbed out and headed toward where Donny had apparently seen moving figures. It was darker out than I originally thought. I was nervous and hyper aware of every sound echoing through the night. I hoped Donny hadn't been mistaken about what he thought he saw, but then again, Donny was rarely wrong. Donny, sensing my unease, came up beside me, grabbed my hand, and squeezed. His green eyes were a little droopy, so I immediately knew he was tipsy.
"I'll protect you," he whispered in my ear. His hot breath smelled like liquor, so I turned away. He released my hand and put his arm around my shoulders. For that, I was grateful. There was an unforgiving chill to the air tonight. The heat from Donny's touch soaked comfortingly through the thin jacket I wore.
When we got to the place Donny had pointed out, there was a bright red flag hanging from a fence. I felt simultaneous relief and anxiety. I was relieved the event wasn't fake, but I was also anxious about going in. My teeth began to chatter from the brisk night air and the thought of getting carded at the door.
Could you be arrested for trying to enter a twenty-one and up venue underage?
I certainly hoped not. My dad would kill me if he had to bail me out of jail, and he'd kill me again once he discovered why I was arrested in the first place.
We walked between the two buildings and came up to a door that looked and smelled as if it had recently been painted its vibrant red color. Donny removed his arm from my shoulder and grabbed my hand instead.
"Try to calm down," he whispered.
Trevor knocked six times on the red door and stepped back. The door flung open toward us, and a big, bald man with multiple piercings on his ears and brows stepped out in blue jeans and a black T-shirt that read 'SECURITY.' My stomach lurched at the sight of him. He was even larger than Donny's dad and certainly more menacing.
"Welcome to Club Dread," he barked.
Startled by his aggressive tone, I involuntarily jumped back a few inches. The movement caused his beady eyes to lock on me, and I gulped. A twisted sneer erupted on his face in response to my unease.
"Bands?" he demanded.
We all held out our arms, and one by one he ushered us into a tight hall and down a set of stairs. As the red door closed behind us, my tension increased. I realized then that I had been holding onto the pitiful hope that we would be ID'd, denied entry, and forced to go home.
Trevor took the lead down the stairs. "Tonight's the night! Let's live it up!" he shouted enthusiastically as he skipped down the steps with a rush of adrenaline.
Mac followed in Trevor's jubilant wake. Donny sent AB down ahead of us, so he could take the rear. Through the metal stair railings, I could feel the deep vibrations of bass emanating from somewhere close by. When Trevor opened the door at the base of the stairs, loud music and flashing lights filled our senses. A woman dressed in a velvet corset with pin-stripe tights and a black top hat covering her neon hair took our coats and belongings and gave us a number to retrieve them later. I hugged my arms to my cinched stomach as I turned to Donny. His intoxicated eyes smoldered as he looked at me. He gently pulled my arms away from my body and smiled.
"Damn, I am one lucky guy," he attested. He grabbed tightly to my hand and led me reluctantly into the club.