"Um, sure." I said and then turned to the bartender. "Cherry coke, please." I'd never drank underage, and I never planned to. "Just a coke?"
I nodded, suddenly really nervous. I'd never had the best track record with guys—basically it didn't exist. "Can I ask your name, coke girl?" I looked into his odd eyes, not-so-stealthily biting my bottom lip.
"Clary. How about you, golden boy?"
"Oh, no, bad high school memories coming back."
He seemed like the popular kind, but then again I wasn't supposed to judge—
The look disappeared from his face and then was replaced with a grin and amusement. Of course.
"I'm kidding. Besides, can they be considered memories if I just graduated?"
With a bang, the fizzy brown drink appears in my side line of vision, saving me from saying anything in return. I reach for it, but a tan hand snatches it before I can. The boy smirks at me, the drink in his hand. "What about you, Clary? Got any collage plans?"
"Yes, but it's none of your business."
"Ouch. I'm Jace, by the way." He finally handed the drink to me, our hands touching. I tried to keep the shiver that took over my nerves down, but I was as jumpy as a squirrel, which meant that it wasn't possible.
"You've never been here before, have you?" Jace asked as I took a long sip. I winced as the carbonation in the drink exploded in my throat. "How can you tell?"
"Well, if you're hanging by the bar, you're either new or a hooker. You don't look like a hooker, so I shot for the only other option."
I choked on my drink, coughing as the bubbles attacked my throat. "Um, thanks?"
"Don't mention it. Pan-die-mon-ium is pretty boring on a thursday night, but I know another place that is a lot more alive." He glanced at the bartender rolling his golden eyes (Were those contacts?). "Relax, Tim, you know your club is awesome."
"I thought it was pan-demon-ium." I said, confused. Did this boy not know how to pronounce stuff or…?
He stared at me for a moment, and after a few seconds of uncomfortable staring, I finally got the pun. "Oh…"
Did that smile ever leave his face? If I looked closely, it appeared to be a smirk. God, he must be cocky. He probably thought I'd see him naked within the hour, and that I'd be all over him. I'd been voted most likely to refuse a dare in the yearbook, so…why not egg him on and then burst his pretty little bubble?
"But, about that place. Is it still open?" I gave him a grin that was a little on the seductive side. The look in his eyes said that he'd won. Ha. Little did he know. I took his hand and followed him out of the club. Nervousness churned in my stomach, pleading with me that this wasn't going to end well, but I forced it down. No more being careful. I wanted to live while I still could. Night had fallen, and as Jace hailed a cab I looked across the city, at all of the beautiful lights and buildings, street corners and performers, all of the life. Before I knew it I was being tugged into the cab. I crinkled my nose at the smell. Jace saw it and laughed. "So, you're not only new to pandemonium, but you're new to New York as well."
I turned to him, felling my eyebrows furrow. "What makes you think that?"
"Because you're reacting to the cab like it's a blue turtle that has never taken a shower in it's life."
Oh. Well I guess that did make sense, then. "Yeah, well you would be right. I'm from Tennessee, actually—and if you say 'Well, great, because you're the only ten I see', I will be forced to reshape your nose with my fist."
"Nah, don't worry about that. Chessy, overused pickup lines aren't my style."
"And I'm guessing charm is?"
"I knew I liked you for a reason. Well, you're hot, but besides that."
What about me could be considered hot?
"Thanks, I guess."
"Eh. I bet you hear it all the time."
No, not really.
With the screeching of old breaks, the cab lurched to a holt. "Here we are." Jace leaned over and opened my door for me, and I got out. This club seemed so much more than pandemonium, and so out of my league. The title seemed to be painted onto the sign. Acid glowed green on the sign, blaring out against the black backdrop. I could hear the electro dub step music from here, and I swear the green lights almost reached my toes. "Come on." Jace tugged on my hand, leading us up to the bouncer. "Hey Hodge. Can you get me and Clary in?"
The bouncer nodded, and lifted the rope, holding the rejects and the others waiting in line back with his hand. As soon as we stepped forward in doors, I was jerked into a room, and so was Jace, but he was grinning and I was screaming. "Relax! Madeline's cool." Oh, so my captor had a name then. Was that supposed to make it better or something? The room I'd been pulled into was full of neon glow, ranging from paint to glow sticks to—oh. I didn't know people glowed. 'Madeline' looked me up and down, her glowing purple lips twisting. "So, you're Jace's pick for tonight, huh?" So I wasn't the only one who could sniff out a player, then.
"Sort of."
"Sort of? How is that?" She asked as she disappeared behind a black curtain. It apparently wasn't that far because she could still hear me.
"I'm not much of a daredevil, and I'm getting ready to go to collage, so I thought I should live a little, and—well, the plan is to lead him on, and then—pop. There goes his ego bubble."
She came out of her curtain-wall grinning. She was also holding something neon with a lot of strings. "I know just the thing to do it."
I stared at myself in the mirror, denial making my palms sticky. The neon pink dress hugged my body and made me look like I actually had curves. Little slices of the fabric crisscrossed across my stomach and my back, the rest of the skin left bare. True, it was a small gap, and it also just held the two dress pieces together, but my record was nothing, so it was a big step. My hair was tussled with streaks of neon color in it, and my makeup was all neon. My nails were neon colors (how did that happen so fast?) and my shoes were…interesting. Circles of paint circled both of my upper arms, and glow sticks hung around my wrists, and neck. My sandals were glowing neon, the straps winding around my legs, feet, and toes (which were also painted neon). "Bongzo."
I turned around. "What?"
"It's something I used to say to replace damn."
"Oh."
"Go get him, girl." I grinned at her, and let her lead me out of the room. On the way out, she pressed a small button. When I emerged back into the hallway, so did jade. He was also all blowy, just not as much as me. His eyes widened when he saw, me but then his smirk was back in place. He then took me hand and led me under the curtain. I now got why they called it acid.
