A/N: I'm really sorry… I've been grounded for a bit :(. Buuuut… I'm back! No edit, though, so I could get it to you faster. And now, the New Prophecy team celebrate Halloween with the Brits. Because I couldn't wait to write this. I'm warning you, I had no real plan for this chapter, so it's absolutely insane. Everything in my imagination is crammed into this… Hint: England's drinking age is younger than America's…
"How old are you guys again?" Skyler frowned pensively at Brandon, Fallon, and Sam. "Because you might actually be able to legally buy us all alcohol here. I can get it when I'm with an adult, and eating. But, that wouldn't be any fun, would it?" Brandon's lips quirked into a smile.
"Are you seriously asking this?" Skyler bit her lip, fighting a smile.
"Yes!," she insisted. "It's Halloween, and we're in England. Girls like me don't run away so they can go to another school. I want to have fun! Make it worth it! But I draw the line at slutty costumes," she warned, raising a finger. "I want to have fun, not get raped." Everyone looked at her, slightly disgusted and amused. "I know, I've seen too many horror movies. But really, those outfits are disgusting. Everyone took Health class. We all know what those girls have… got. I'm just being a flapper. Anyways, how old are you?" Brandon sighed.
"17."
"Sam and I just turned 18. We started school late," Fallon explained. Skyler squealed.
"Yay! You can buy the booze! I'll pay you guys back later! Please, please, please help me get into a pub? Please, please, pleeeeaaaaase?" "That would be classy," Sam pointed out sarcastically. Skyler smirked back.
"Come one, live a little. Invite Brooke, or something." No one missed how his face lit up at the suggestion.
"Do you have any extra costumes?"
"What happened to being classy?," Skyler retorted cleverly. Sam scowled defensively.
"Shut up or you're not going to any pubs."
"Aaaaand I'm being quiet."
"For the first time ever," Brandon added, earning hearty laughs from everyone but a quite red Skyler. She socked Brandon on the arm, pursing her lips. Bashfully, she crossed her arms over her chest.
"I don't talk that much," she defended herself, staring determinedly at a point on the wall. Her only response was Brandon snorting water out of his nostrils because he laughed while drinking.
Skyler smiled against the clouded brown rim of what she was fairly certain was her second beer-she had always had a low alcohol tolerance, though, so she wasn't quite positive if she was fit to count at that exact moment. The air rang with a somehow comfortable mix of northern English accents and Top 100 music. The hanging lights shook in the ceiling. She barely turned her head as skin brushed against her, slowly growing used to the busy bustle of the bar they had chosen-something called the Lucky Hound?.
"Helloooooo, there." Skyler jumped when a drunken voice rang right beside her ear. She turned her head a fraction to the left, coming face to face with a lean, tall man sporting a loosely hanging white t-shirt. His hair was gelled to spike towards the sky, shining in the dim light of the bar. He dragged a seat over, indicating his firm intention to stay. She maintained her position leaning cooly against the counter
"Hi," she responded dismissively, raising her eyebrows at him as she turned back to the raging scene in front of her. He chuckled lightly.
"You're-you're American…"
"Duh."
"Americans are cool," the guy insisted, his words drunkenly blending into one. "You're… you're cool. We-you should give me your number." He straightened as if he'd just discovered the answer to world hunger. Skyler turned towards the counter, smiling nervously and placing her drink on the table. She waved her hands in protest.
"No…," she refused.
"Yes…," he retorted. "Or we could… gettaknoweachothernow." He giggled at himself. Skyler cringed inwardly at his words.
"I don't think so," she said, surprising even herself at the coolness in her tone. Calmly, she moved towards the crowd of people. Maybe it was time she… left. She intended to do just that, when a warm hand wrapped around her wrist.
"Why not?" She turned to see the same man she was leaving pouting back at her. She yanked back her arms, giving him her best death glare. "Why can't you just let me ask you some questions?," he demanded.
"Because I don't feel like giving you an answer." Proudly, she stormed dramatically away, only to be pulled back once again. "Seriously, would you stop it?" She struggled against his surprisingly firm drunken grip, but he refused to let go. "Stop it!," she screeched. He smiled slightly sardonically, and her heart sped up and her eyes squeezed shut. All that was on her mind was missing ads on milk cartons, and how one day a girl just like her would probably watch this on Unsolved Mysteries or something. It felt like she was just watching a movie of herself while the guy dragged her towards the door. How could no one notice? She was in the midst of tons of people, she just needed someone to look harder.
Thunk. Skyler opened her eyes cautiously, incredulous to see her wrist freed, and the man lying unconscious on the ground. Her mouth hung open in shock over everything that had just transpired. She looked before her to see an equally shocked Brandon, who was gaping at the body.
"He's unconscious," Brandon confirmed uselessly. Despite herself, Skyler rolled her eyes.
"No shit, Sherlock. You punched him. Hard." Brandon looked up at her incredulously.
"He was going to kidnap you while you were already missing; you'd be doubly missing! And who would look for someone who's supposed to be dead?," he exclaimed defensively. He had a point.
"Well, I wasn't thrilled about him kidnapping me without that charming thought. But thank-you, I guess. I would not want to be 'doubly missing,' as you put it." She frowned bashfully at the ground, arms crossed over her chest. She was very competitive, and she hated admitting someone else did a better job at anything than her, even in life-threatening situations. Brandon nodded.
"Let's go back to campus," he suggested. Skyler brightened.
"Where's everyone else?" Brandon shook his head briefly.
"Something about getting dinner, or whatever. I'll just get a taxi." Skyler's cheeks reddened at the suggestion of being alone in a taxi. Though it probably was the logical thing to do. Her stomach churned a little bit with… She would never admit it, but maybe an apprehensive excitement. She tried to hide a nervous smile.
"Let's go then."
