((Read and Review.))

After a long, tiring work week it was finally Friday. That only meant one thing, party time.

Gabrielle was a work hard play hard kind of girl and that was exactly what she was intending on this humid night in Virginia. She went to school full time and worked part time as an assistant manager at a high end retail store. And no matter how expensive or high class the store was, working retail sucked, it was just a fact. Her weekends were her escape, when she had no homework, and she looked forward to them.

Tonight it was a night out with the girls at a popular club, The Lounge. She had purchased an outfit just for tonight and she was excited to wear it. It was a simple black dress that had one long sleeve and was missing the other on the right shoulder. It was form fitting and stopped above her knees, a little lower than mid-thigh. Her accent pieces consisted of a dark blue bracelet with gold on the inside, black pumps, dark blue flower earrings, and a dark blue clutch. Her makeup was dark and smoky accentuating her vibrant green eyes, her lips nude; just a few shades darker than her olive skin.

Standing in front of her long body mirror she smiled fluffing her thick, brown wavy hair, running her fingers through it and letting it fall around her face naturally. She smiled, pleased with what she saw. She loved getting dressed up, like most girly girls.

Grabbing her phone from her nightstand she checked the time which read, 10:49 p.m., and quickly stuffed it in her clutch walking quickly out of her room. She didn't want to be too late or her friends would start drinking without her.

Exiting her apartment, locking the door behind her, she quickly walked down the hall passing the other apartment rooms on her way to the stairs. Anticipation was tickling in her stomach and she couldn't keep the smile off of her face. As she entered the lobby she noticed there were a couple students sitting around a table studying. It was nice to see such young kids taking their education seriously, even if they waited so late to hit the books.

Stepping outside of the building she walked to the street and hailed a cab by waving her arm out. The yellow vehicle pulled over and she opened the back door, thanking the driver for stopping.

The older man turned to her. "Where to Miss?"

"The Lounge, please." She said while buckling herself in.

He nodded and pulled away from the curb, driving down the road faster than he should have been. "Seems to be the place to go tonight." He said with a hint of amusement.

She laughed. "I'm not surprised." She said sending out a message to her friends, saying she would be there soon.

After a while the driver spoke again. "Well, be safe young lady, world is getting more and more dangerous." He said pulling over in front of the club.

Gabrielle handed him the amount she owed and smiled politely. "Thank you." She said exiting the cab, closing the door behind herself and entering the club.

After waiting in line and paying the entry fee she got her mustache stamp so she could leave and go without paying again and went straight to the bar. She saw a group of three girls standing around and laughing all dressed in too short dresses and a face full of makeup.

"Glad to see you all are having fun without me." She said pushing her hair away from her face and leaning against the bar, a smirk on her face.

The girls turned to face her, all smiling. When they made eye contact with her they all greeted her, some sounding more excited than others.

"Hello to you too." She said happily. "Were any of you kind enough to bu—" Before she finished her sentence the blonde, Madison, put her hand out towards her, a pink drink in it.

"It's strawberry shortcake, we thought you'd like it." She said taking a sip of her blue drink.

Gabrielle took the drink and took a sip. "Mm, thank you." She moaned out. It was absolutely delicious. "Now, shall we dance?" She inquired, quirking her eyebrow and heading to the dance floor. She knew it was going to be an awesome night.

/\/\/\

A couple hours had passed and in that time she consumed one too many drinks and thankfully last call was announced when she was too far to hear or she would have consumed one more. 2 a.m. had come fast and the club was still packed, bodies pressed up against each other covered in shimmer and sweat. Everyone always came to the club looking like models and left looking like trolls.

Gabrielle stumbled away from the crowd, Becky and Ashley right behind her, breathing heavily. She leaned against one of the mirrored pillars and looked back at them with a small smile. "I need to get going or I'm going to end up sleeping here." She shouted trying to speak over the blaring music.

The two girls pouted. "We are going to stick around a little longer, see if we can get a hook up like Madison." Ashley said with a wink. Madison had left an hour earlier with some guy who bought her a drink. Gabrielle loved her friends but that was one thing she wasn't so fond of. As soon as a guy was nice to them, they were sold and their panties were off. She wasn't into that.

"Have fun with that." Gabrielle said a little sarcastically.

Becky rolled her eyes. "We will. Come on, Ashley." She said grabbing her arm and pulling her away.

Gabrielle scoffed before collecting herself and leaving the club. The fresh air was instant relief from the muggy stale smell of body sweat. She took a deep breath and let her body cool down before making her way to the sidewalk.

"Hey, are you waiting for a cab?" A deep voice came from behind her making her jump.

She turned to face the unfamiliar male. He was tall and had too tanned skin for being in Virginia. She immediately wondered if the tan was real. Taking her eyes away from his skin she looked up to his face, him being a few inches taller than her 5'8". His eyes were grey and his nose was big, the bridge arching outwards instead of in. His ears stuck out on the sides of his head and his lips were paper thin, maybe because he was smiling.

"Yeah, I am." She finally answered.

"Would you mind if I ride with you? It's so hard getting a cab this time of night." He said moving his arms too much. The way he moved was so awkward, like he practiced.

Gabrielle didn't particularly want to share a cab. "Where do you live?" She asked hoping it was in the opposite direction so she could decline.

"I live on Foster Road." He answered hesitantly.

She sighed. "That's on the way to my apartment." She said begrudgingly. "So it's okay if we share."

He beamed at her, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Great, I'm lucky to get to share it with you." He said licking his lips. "Thank you…" He left the end of his sentence open, looking at her expectantly.

"Look, I'll share a cab with you but that's it." She said not giving her name. "I hope that isn't rude, I'm just not in the mood." And he totally wasn't her type.

There was an awkward pause and she could see his jaw clench, his eyes darkening in a way that made her stomach churn, but she just assumed it was the alcohol. "Okay, understandable." He said calmly.

Gabrielle turned away from him feeling uncomfortable and stared out at the street.

"You know…I change my mind." He said slowly. "It is rude."

Before she could turn around she felt something sharp poke her in the upper thigh. Unable to react to the intrusive object before the burning started spreading through her leg and she gasped out, her hands flying to the area. "What the fuck!" She cried out. As she turned to him, she felt everything spin. "Oh God." She felt her vision blurring and she couldn't stop her knees from buckling as she collapsed towards the ground, but a pair of strong arms caught her around her middle and everything went black.

((Let me know if I should continue or not.))