Piper's POV

Besides spilling beverages on three different people, I was doing pretty well. Sort of. I mean I did accidentally offend a girl by saying that she needed to pull down her skirt because she looked slutty. It wasn't like I meant to be rude! Seriously that girl needed to pull her dress down. I shook at the thought of why her dress was ever even pulled up. Luckily all she did was give me a dirty look and talk bad about me to her friends.

I spent most of my time trying to dodge Finn while he danced on top of the counter like a lunatic. He was insane with intoxication and flushed with over exertion. Every so often Aerrow, who was just as drunk, would get up on the counter as well with a wine in his hand.

I chuckled. He always liked to act like he was a lone man but if anyone ever took away his wine he'd pitch a major tantrum. I should know that because at one point during the night I witnessed a drunk man try and take it from him only to end up being shoved into the wall with a slightly busted lip.

I now stood at the back corner watching Olivia laugh as the two idiots danced over the counter while throwing beer mugs. The music was loud in my hears and I could hardly stand it. I put three fingers to my temple to try and calm my head but to no avail. To make matters worse, I smelt like sweat, which was of course mine, and cigarettes. I even had a few drops of alcohol down in my shirt, making the skin on my chest sticking and nasty. I hated having to wear my shirt so unbuttoned. I hated wearing these heels that kept leaving blisters on my feet. I hated this short skirt that hardly left any room for breathing. I hated having my hair down in a mess. I hated not being able to see well without my glasses. I hated Aerrow. I hated Finn.

I hated everything about this place.

I kept asking myself why I came back. But then Olivia would come beside me and pat me on the back to remind me why.

Friendship.

I had a blossoming friendship with Olivia. I now felt obliged to make her happy like all friends wanted to do for other friends. And if anything made this hell hole worth it, it was her and the fact that she was the only person besides Dove to take me as I was.

The little watch on my wrist beeped. I looked at the time to see it was now 12:30. Four hours passed my regular bed time. I sighed. The good news was that I only had 2 more hours left at this place. Then I could go back to my little apartment and take a nice bath while drinking a fresh pot of herb tea and reading the latest edition of Shakespeare: His Hidden Words. The perfect relaxation mixture.

"Piper! You're missing out on all the fun!" Olivia exclaimed as she zoomed to my side.

I took a good look at her. Her usually silky straight hair was tasseled and her shirt was unbottuned to the last button. Her blue eyes were dilating and the red lipstick she wore was smeared and smudged. Courtesy of Finn, I thought to myself.

I didn't know Olivia could get like that. Although last shift I wasn't able to be here the entire time thanks to my accident.

"Oh, sorry! I just came back here to get a quick break." I said to her, putting my hand on my heart for sincerity.

Olivia giggled madly. "There's no breaks in a club, silly girl! Come on let's go get wild!" She pulled at my hand before I could object.

Great. Just great. Not only was Olivia passing the line between drunk and insanity, she was dragging me down with her. I gulped. She pulled me all the way over next to where Finn and Aerrow were smoking and drinking and she began to twirl me around.

"Let's dance!" She chirped, bouncing to the beat of the music.

I only stood there while she still had my hands. They swung with each crazy wave of her arms. "I'm not much a dancer." I told her. "I don't know how to...get down." I tried using the lingo I heard the girls back home say. It didn't really suit me well.

"Everyone can dance! You just gotta let your body find the rhythm." She told me as she swayed her hips side to side, gaining the attention of a few men here and there. Including her idiot boyfriend Finn.

Let my body find the rhythm. Sounded simple enough. Thankfully I had a good ear for music. I nodded resolutely and began to tune into the song. In a moment I could feel my feet start to tap along to the beat. My hips then followed suit. Soon, I was dancing! Admittedly I was dancing really bad but I was still dancing, something my parents never let me do as a child. My moves were boxy and unsure. I couldn't quite keep up with Olivia as she was spinning and dropping and booty shaking all over the place.

A wolf wissle sounded. "Get it girl!" A few men had called out to Olivia while they leant over the counter to watch. Their eyes were adventurous and weren't too shy to take a good look at Olivia's gyrating backside.

At a quick glance in his direction, Finn scowled. Then in a matter of seconds he was at Olivia's side.

"Whoa, babe! Slow down! Save all the booty shaking for me." He said as he pulled her into him for a kiss.

Olivia giggled and pressed a sloppy kiss to Finn's slimy lips. Her arms draped over his shoulders while his hands went straight for her butt. They made throaty sounds while their lips smacked from the suction. They really didn't mind the fact that they had people staring.

Ok, can you say gross? I really didn't want to know what they did while they were alone. Yuck! If Olivia's lipstick was messy before, there was absolutely no fixing it now.

"Ok, break it up you nasties." Aerrrow said as came up beside Finn. When he said it he actually looked serious. Huh, I thought Aerrow was a fan of that kind of stuff.

"You're just jealous." Olivia said as she gave him a shove in the chest.

Aerrow rolled his eyes. "Because slimy kisses are totally something to envy." The sarcasm laced his voice.

After the three exchanged friendly banter, Aerrow's eyes jumped to me.

Aerrow was a mystery. A case of his own. What I saw in his eyes was just the same. I couldn't figure out why he was now looking at me like that. And that sly and secretive smile only made matters worse.

"So, loser, break anymore mecines?" He asked with a chuckle. Finn laughed at that.

"No." I said in a clipped tone as I turned my nose up to him.

"Too bad. I was kinda hoping you'd get an excuse to go home." He said hatefully to me as he gave a slight shrug with one shoulder.

"Aerrow, come on." Olivia said as she hit his arm. She'll never know how nice it felt to see her stand up for me, even if it was only with a few words.

Aerrow disregarded Olivia like she hadn't even done anything and just kept staring at me like I was some sort of joke. All he did was nudge Finn with his elbow. Then Olivia was taken away by Finn to a corner where he put her to a wall and began kissing all over her. And of course she allowed it. Again...yuck!

It was now making me wonder, however, why Aerrow nudged Finn and why Finn took Olivia away.

"Do you have something you want to say?" I tried to ask in a firm voice but the question came out in a shaky whisper. I wasn't very good at being tough. Probably because I always relied on Dove to be the tough one.

Aerrow chuckled. "Yes, actually I do." He paused to put his hands in his pockets. "I must admit, I'm surprised you came back."

"Oh, well I guess I'm not one for letting things get to me." That was probably the biggest, and ONLY, lie I've ever told.

He saw right through my lie, too. I knew that because not even a complete stranger would believe a lie that I told. "Sure you aren't." There was the sarcasm again. "Look, obviously Olivia is going to keep wanting you to come back. For whatever reason she thinks you're really cool. So I thought I'd tell you that there's an initiation that all new employees must go through."

What? Initiatin? Why didn't Olivia ever tell me about this initiation?

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"As a heart attack." Aerrow confirmed.

"If there really is an initiation, Olivia would've told me." I explained. I just couldn't help but feel uncertain about this.

Aerrow rolled his eyes. "Olivia doesn't like initiations so she doesn't tell anyone about them. But I love them. They show me who's really cut out for this kind of job. So I'm in charge of the initiations." He said to me while he leant up against the counter.

"What does Finn do?" I asked, voicing my confusion on why Aerrow had nudged Finn.

"Finn comes up with the rules. I just enforce them." He revealed with a slight chuckle.

"Oh." I really didn't know what to say. I was just thinking about what I'd have to do to be initiated.

"So, are you going to be a loser and run away or are you in?" He asked, leaning in closer to me.

I backed away from him out of reflex. Also because his breath smelt like potent wine and cigarettes. I gulped and tried to listen to my instinct. I couldn't shake the feeling that this was all a lie. But this was Aerrow. He himself was a mystery. I just didn't know. So I nodded to show that I accepted. If I wanted to come here to Atmos to be a new me then this was one way of doing it.

Aerrow looked genuinely surprised. But he smiled in such a way that reminded me of a snake who had just caught a mouse in its constricting grip. "Great. I'll tell you everything you need to do."

I gulped. I was in over my head and I knew that now there was no way to swim myself out. I was in the middle of an ocean and had no life preserver to keep me afloat.

Aerrow's POV

Just like I expected, Piper took the bait. I really should've gotten popcorn to eat while I watched her make a fool of herself yet again.

I had told her everything she needed to do and after that I signaled to Finn that step one was complete. He nodded and responded with a solute. His part of the plan was to keep Olivia busy in any way possible. Knowing Finn, his idea of keeping her busy is taking her to a back room to do 'busy work' that both of them would happily do. I almost gagged at the thought. I still couldn't see why Finn was so in love. Why keep going back? Why commit yourself to something like love that could ultimately suspend you to a life of heartache?

I shook my head and moved forward. Time to watch Piper crash and burn.

I went up to her and chuckled. "Ready?"

She turned to me like a deer caught in headlights. "Uh, yes! Whenever you say to start!"

I grinned. "You may begin, loser."

Piper's POV

I breathed in deep. I could do this. It was just a silly initiation. The sooner I got started the sooner it would be over. Then I would be considered an actual employee. In Aerrow's eyes, at least. Maybe once this is done, he'd actually stop making fun of me. Maybe him and Finn would actually accept me and I could work here without their hurtful comments.

I stepped onto the dance floor in search for a guy. Well of course I found several guys but Aerrow said I had to pick the one that looked the most intoxicated. I got weird looks from everyone as I pushed through dancing men and women who had only half of their clothes on. The stench that hung in the air was almost suffocating. Sweat clouded in the spaces that weren't filled with dancing bodies and smoke billowed out of every mouth that opened.

The music was deafening to the point that I could hardly even focus. I felt like I was being shaken by every pound of the heavy beat.

At this point I couldn't find a man who looked the most drunk. They all looked like they had too much alcohol in their system. The flashing lights didn't help either. And every time I thought I found a man who I could choose, they ended up having a women with them. I'll never be able to finish the initiation! Or so I thought.

A pair of hands groped at my hips, pulling up my skirt in the process. I screeched and turned around in a flash to face the man who dared to violate me like that.

"What are you doing, babe? Don't like my hands on your hips? Maybe I could try and put them somewhere else." When the lights went to a color that I could see in, I almost fainted when I realized who this man was.

It was the creepy guy who I had given my first order to! I felt like running away but before I did, I got a good look at his face. He was sweaty and scruffy and his lips pooled with a liquid that seemed like a mix of spit and alcohol. He swayed on his feet and his eyes couldn't stay focused.

He was totally beyond drunk.

And the guy I needed for the initiation.

I sighed. Here went nothing. "Oh you just surprised me, thats all. Feel free to put your hands on me again, babe." I said in the most seductive tone I could muster. I felt sick and utterly disgusted.

He laughed, a loud and weezy laugh that had me wanting to just disappear. "Don't mind if I do." He took that moment to pull me close. My face went straight into his smelly chest and I almost lost my breath. I could've cried right then. I didn't want to do this. But I had to. I had to prove not just to Aerrow, but to myself, that I could be wild and cool. I had to prove that I was more than just some tiny little nobody who was always being pushed around. I was a girl going to desperate measures to prove that.

So, I let him put his hands on me and I let him give me kisses that were sure to leave marks. I let him give me the proof I was wanting to give to give to myself and everyone around me.

After what felt like hours, we stopped dancing. He took me and pulled me through the crowd. I started to really fear for my well being. When he turned around, we were in a back corner that was a good ways from the dancing crowd. I didn't even have time to say anything before his mouth was on mine in another slobbery kiss.

At this point, I had done what Aerrow said to do. I danced with the most intoxicated guy I saw and let him kiss me. I was done. Absolutely and totally done. So I started to push away with all the strength I had, trying to get away. But he wouldn't have it. He kept tightening his grip and eventually began to pull at the buttons on my shirt. I began to really panic and screamed so loud that I wondered if the people could hear.

I just kept screaming and fighting, trying to get his hands away from my shirt that was now completely undone. I was truly a goner now. I had completely sunk into the cold depths of the ocean.

"Piper!" I heard a familiar voice shout. Then suddenly I was pulled away by a pair of manicured hands.
"Are you crazy?" Olivia asked as she started to pull me out of the man's reach.

I was in a total daze, but I managed to keep up with her pace. "I had to do that! It's part of the initiation!" I yelled.

When we were back at the counter, she spun around, bewilderment all over her face. "Initiation?" She asked.

"Yes! Aerrow told me about it. He said you hated them so he and Finn always did them. Aerrow told me that it was the only way to be considered an official employee." I explained in a breathless rush. My heart was pounding and all I wanted to do was hide under a rock and never come out.

Olivia covered her mouth. She shut her eyes tightly as she shook her head. "Piper, why would you listen to Aerrow? There is no initiation. He made all that up! I thought you were smart enough to know not to listen to Aerrow." She had my shoulders in a tight grip as she said this. I could see in her eyes that she was total shock. I also saw apology. Apology for what Aerrow, and probably Finn, had done. "He and Finn set you up and if I would've known what they were doing sooner I would've stopped them."

In that moment I realized for the second time what a mistake all of this was. Last Saturday was a mistake, coming back was a mistake, and just coming to this cursed city was mistake. No matter where I go people want to make fun of me. So much so that it's like I never even left home.

Tears welled up and threatened to fall out and I had to bite my lip to keep that at bay. "Oh. Well...uh...I guess their plan was a success, then." And with that, I ran out of this place for a second time. This time it was final. Even if Olivia showed up at my door again I still wouldn't come back to this place. I tried not to let Aerrow or Finn get to me, but I had to face it, I was too weak. Too weak and too stupid to fit into a world like this.

Olivia chased me down but I was already out of the door and on my way back to my apartment.

All this time I considered myself a smart person. But after tonight I realized just how much of an idiot I was. I also realized just how hopeless a new start was and that a new life was just too much to ask for.

Expectation is the root of all heartache.

- William Shakespeare

So this is where I say that I'm sorry for not updating in like 5 months. So sorry. Sorry sorry sorry.

Thank you to all my faithful reviewers and to everyone who has stayed with this story so far. I love you.

I'm also sorry that this chapter is a piece of garbage and that it's rushed. I'm just trying to get through this part.

Forgive me if I made any grammar mistakes or if I mispelled a word.

And uh...bye...I'll try not to take so long to update