"Come on Maya!" Tori shouted from the hallway. "We need to get going and get going now if you still want to have a job." Tori looked at herself in the mirror and smiled at herself in different poses. Maya snuck up behind her and sighed, no doubt comparing herself to her friend. Mercutio, her dog barked, alerting Tori of Maya's presence.
"How do I look?" she asked, biting her lip. For once, she actually felt confident in her outfit choice. Sure, she wasn't wearing some drop-dead hot zebra striped number with boobs to fill out out better than the creator intended like Tori, but she liked her white shirt and black skirt. Tori and Tybalt did too, nodding approvingly and smiling.
"Like me!" she stated and Maya's face drained of color.
"Shit." she cursed and ran upstairs to change. Tori gave an offended look to Mercutio.
"It's his 18th birthday, Cam, you have to come out and support your teammate." Dallas ordered, dragging his teammate through the front door of his apartment. "Or just come out then."
Cam rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you kidnapped my dog and sent it to Owen's brother's house."
"Just for tonight." Owen shrugged. "I know you can't leave the small bear alone in this house and you wouldn't leave if we left him. Besides, Tristan loves dogs. He has a real knack for animals. Now come on, Campbell. Joe turns 18 once."
"I don't want to go because do you remember the time I turned 19?" Cam interjected as they shut his apartment door behind him. Owen and Dallas immediately began laughing at the thought of Cam's birthday party last year.
"You were so wasted," Dallas called out as they entered the elevator.
Maya and Tori arrived at Mimi's, the club they both worked at, about two minutes before their shift started. Maya sighed in relief, if she was late again this month than she'd be screwed beyond belief (hey, that rhymed). She and Tori took their places at the bar, side by side, as the two other people, a girl and a guy, who worked there before them got off their shift and went on the dance floor. She smiled at them as she bumped hips with Tori.
"There's the dynamic duo." One of the regulars said, approached the bar. "Been waiting for you two."
"Just order your drink, James, and I'll pretend you're not leering." Tori tended to him as Maya tended to the other side of the bar, taking orders and mixing them and serving them and mixing them and serving them, over and over. That was her job. A fun one too, once everything cooled down and she could actually dance a little with Tori or judge the people in here.
"She needs a new hair stylist. I'd sue the one she has right now." Tori whispered, singling out a girl who's curls looked like sausages. Maya rolled her eyes at Tori and giggled as she patted her hair, naturally curly.
"I can tell it's that guy's birthday." Maya rolled her eyes as a couple of guy's shoved someone towards the bar and he shook his head, seeming scared. Tori chuckled.
"He's cute, Maya, maybe you should-" Tori pointed out one of the shovers and Maya interrupted her friend.
"That girl almost has the same exact dress as that other girl." Maya pointed out two cheetah-printed ensembles on two opposite sides of the bar. Tori sucked in her teeth and shook her head.
"Do you think a fight will start then?" she asked and Maya shrugged, wiping down the counter.
"Maya, Tori, we have a situation." someone shouted behind them and Tori almost spilled her drink in the sausage curl girl's lap. Maya turned around immediately at the sound of her boss's voice.
"What is it?" Tori groaned. Her boss, Rico, beckoned them closer.
"One of the strippers is pregnant." her boss whispered and Tori's jaw dropped while Maya gasped.
"Is it Cinnamon?" Maya whispered the name of the crowd's favorite in a hushed tone.
Her boss paled. "No, thank God. It's Peaches."
"Awwww." Tori cooed. "Now Peter's finally going to have to marry her."
"Focus, Tori! We're short a girl, one of you has to get on the pole."
"Joe, you're 18 not 81, go order a drink." Owen pushed Joe towards the bar. Joe, always the scaredy cat, shook his head. Cam sighed, patting his teammate's back. He hadn't been as nervous as Joe was about everything, but he understood this fear. Getting wasted with their teammates around wasn't always the best idea and especially for Joe, who folded his socks before he placed them in his locker.
"Boys, there's only one way to pick up a bartender. And that's if you order a drink." Luke instructed Joe, pointing at the two women manning the bar. One was in a tight zebra dress thing and the other was in a black top with white jeans that seemed to leave her with no room to breathe. They were smiling and laughing, pouring and mixing. Cam could tell they were good friends behind the bar and outside the club.
"I'm dating Nancy!" Joe mumbled, more to himself than anything as the music changed and the bar thinned out, leaving them both time to dance with each other.
"So? Owen's dating Army Girl. These are the type of girls that don't look for dating, Joey." Dallas shoved him again and to his credit, Joe lingered a moment before he shook his head and backed back into the wall.
"Too late. Looks like their shift is over or something." Joe excused himself as a sweaty bald man came out and shouted at them.
"When are the strippers coming out?" one of them wondered. There were poles in corners all over the club and not one stripper had occupied them yet.
"Maybe you should take on the pole, Baker."
"Hey shut up,"
Tori and Maya groaned in unison.
"We hate the pole. Can't we just tend to the bar, I like that better." Tori pleaded. "Ask Mary to do it."
"Her shift's over guys, now come on all I need is one of you up there and you don't even need to go full frontal." Rico stated. "Alright now, ready? 1, 2, 3..."
Tori put her finger to her nose quickly. "Not it!" she shouted. Maya groaned.
"But I did it last time!" she whined and Tori shrugged.
"You have slow finger-nose coordination, babe, you always have." Rico stated. "And they loved you last time and you made a ton of money in tips and isn't your electrical bill due in two days? Huh?" Maya rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"Fine." She grumbled, glaring at Tori.
"Oh come on, Maya! You knowI think Zig is finally going to propose soon and if he heard that I went on the pole we'd get in another massive fight and I really want a ring before I ever go on the pole, even if it has an itty bitty chip so guys like James could stop leering, please Maya please. Maya, I promise next time one of the strippers are blowing their pregnant chunks in the bathroom, I'll do it. Especially if I have a ring." Tori pleaded, hugging her best friend.
"Fine. I said fine. But that does mean you'll have to work the bar alone, you know that right?" Maya reminded her and Tori squeaked. "Might want to find a moonlighter."
Tori shuddered as she handed Maya a drink that they mixed last night, yet to be named. "You might need a sip of our strongest, mon amie."
"Here they come, the strippers!" Dallas shouted, on his third straight drink with a funny name. Cam rolled his eyes for the 100th time tonight as they ran to a corner packed with the most horny drunks. Joe stayed with him.
"In this corner, we have Cinnamon! And in this corner, we have Pea- I mean Cream! This corner we have Shanoooooola! " Cam heard as the spotlights flickered on and off. It was loud and crowded. "And in this corner we have our very own bartender, Maya!" People who were regulars here and knew Maya shouted and squealed and the girl she seemed to be friends with at the bar lead the crowd at the bar in a chant of her name.
She was the one closest to Cam and, out of curiosity he peeked at her, surrounded by people. She was as popular as the girl Dallas and co. rushed off to. She didn't seem to be enjoying herself too much up there, but the poutier look on her face seemed to be a people pleaser.
"Cam?" Joe asked. "Do you want to go there or something?"
"Or... something." Cam said. "Hey, you know what, no. Let's go get you your first drink, man. It'll be easier when the team's not around."
At the end of it all, when the lights shut down and the club would be closed in an hour. Maya stooped down and collected her money, sighing. She felt conflicted.
Maya had been watching these girls backstage for years, she was friends with all of them- well, most of them. It was a catty business. Anyway, the point was that she knew all of their tricks and she knew what to do even if she didn't like doing them. Which she didn't. But she did them because, it was really good money at the end of the day and because of the liquid courage she poured down her throat before every rare time Rico asked her to do this.
Backstage, she put on her clothes, pocketed her money, said a slurry congrats to Peaches as her twin sister Cream (who usually did her routine with her) held her sister's hair back, and made her way back to the bar.
She was drunk, she supposed, so it was a miracle she made it.
Everyone at the bar before was now on the dance floor, except two guys. Tori held Maya's hand over the wet floor.
"He took one sip of whiskey and spit it out, knocking over the glass." Tori explained, pointing at the guy they saw earlier. He was drinking something now, something lighter she supposed. She laughed.
"Maya, this is Joe and Cam. They've been keeping me company."
One of the guys turned red but the other one stared at her. She giggled a tiny bit.
"Sorry guys, she's taken." Maya hiccuped and Tori poured her a glass of water.
"I told them that already." Tori shook her head. "They didn't leave. Hiding from their teammates, I think that's how Cam put it."
Cam's eyes finally resurfaced and swam away from Maya's face at the mention of his name. Tori started chatting on about how many athletes come in here and expected her and Maya to sleep with them when that totally was not the case.
"At least with me. I don't know Maya's policy on that. Hasn't had a boyfriend in what seems like years."
"I've gone 6 months without sex." Maya shrugged. "Last guy cried during it and then watched Bridesmaids with me."
"That's so sad." Tori shook her head.
"I mean, maybe it was just me."
"Oh hush, you're beautiful." Tori scolded and turned to us. "Isn't she beautiful?"
Joe nodded quickly and my eyes found Maya's face again.
"You're beautiful." I told her. She smiled a wavering smile at me and held her hand out.
"Dance with me." she ordered and I swallowed, taking her hand.
AN: I didn't mean to start another story. It just happened. I've been in such a Degrassi writing slump, it's horrid. I had to put my 100 oneshots on hiatus for awhile, until I figured out the whole Zaya-Camaya-Zori love rectangle they're trying to do here like hdebhdvehgvdehd.