Disclaimer: I own Susana
and the barflies Julie and Caroline. Susana's dress is TO2 by Todd Oldham, and if anyone were to give me one,
I'd be the happiest girl in the world...not that I'm suggesting that or anything.
Notes:
sound
*thought*
} telepathic conversation {
Setting:
Saturday evening, 6:45
Susana
ran a brush through her hair one last time, then clipped a jeweled barrette
into her hair as she yelled across the hall at Jubilee. "Ready to go?" Stepping back from the mirror, she gave herself a final once-over
as she waited for the response.
"Yeah,
I guess. God, I look like such a kid
beside you." Jubilee said as she looked at Susana's dress -a red, black, yellow
and orange fire-print strapless affair- then back at her own outfit.
"Shhh...you
do not. You look great." She indicated Jubilee's black top and
patterned hot pink skirt. "I'm so glad
you could wear that shirt. I knew there
had to be a reason I'd kept it around after I grew out of it."
Jubilee
smiled at her, then raised an eyebrow. "My, my...you're looking quite saucy tonight. Ange and I are going to have to ask you two to refrain from
gratuitous groping...fragile young minds and all that." She winked.
Susana
slanted a disbelieving look at Jubilee. "You and Angelo...fragile young minds. Sorry honey, but that just falls outside the realm of possibility." Adjusting the position of her dress bodice,
she picked up her purse and walked to the door. "And besides, who says he wants to grope me?"
"You
didn't see him this morning while you were getting your burrito and talking to
Ange. Our resident keeper of the angst
was having some decidedly un-angsty thoughts, and they seemed to center on your
boxers. There were definitely some
groping impulses there. Shall we go?"
"Right...tell
me that right before we leave so I think about it all evening. Thanks, Jubes. You're a great friend." She laughed as she turned off the light.
The
two girls chatted brightly all the way to the mansion entryway where Angelo and
Jono were waiting. "¿Hola, chicos. Listos ir?"
}Wot'd
she just say, mate?{ Jono sent the
thought to Angelo, who nearly laughed at the expression of complete confusion
on his friend's face.
}She
said "Hello, guys. Ready to go?"{
thought Angelo in response. "Sì, chica. Somos listos ir. Shall we go?"
She
smiled and switched to English, much to the relief of Jubilee and Jono. "Sure, let's go. I got keys to one of the bigger Jeeps today so we don't have to
squish together too tightly."
}That
might not be so bad...y'look wonderful, gel{ said Jono. He was rewarded with
a blush and a smile.
}Thank
you. You look great too. Glad to see you sticking with the leather
pants. They're...nice.{ She smiled at the look he gave her, then
reached down and picked up his hand. Finding that this was entirely to his liking, he left it there.
"Excuse
me, amantes...but can we
go? Some of us are hungry." Angelo grinned at her discomfiture, then
turned to Jubilee. "Jubecita, you look
quite nice." At her shocked look, he grinned
again. "Can't have our friend Jono over
there taking a monopoly on the charm and compliments tonight. Susana, you look lovely too."
"Gracias,
Angelo...now let's go." She opened her
purse and held up a set of keys. "Who
wants to drive? I would, but these
shoes make it difficult."
"I'd
like to drive, if you don't mind." said Angelo, directing the comment towards
his friend.
}Go
ahead, I don't mind.{
Susana
handed the keys over with no small measure of trepidation, then closed her
purse and reached for Jono's hand again. }Are we going to die on the way there?{
}We
should be fine...he's a good driver, just likes to go too fast.{ Jono squeezed her hand in reassurance, then
they followed Angelo and Jubilee out to the car.
After
what ended up being only a mildly harrowing ride into town, they arrived at the
restaurant. After climbing out of the
car, the four entered the restaurant and were seated. They ordered, and the food arrived quickly-pasta all around, with
a small order of fettuccine alfredo that Jono had begged Susana to share with
him. After the meal, they listened to
the restaurant's piano player and blues singer for a while so that Angelo could
have a cigarette. Susana stole a few
puffs from it, and those, too, were shared with Jono.
"You're
making me take up bad habits again...the fettuccine, the cigarette...such a bad
influence." She tsk'ed softly, then
laughed at his expression. "I was
kidding, Jono. Trust me, if I really
don't want to do something, I'm not likely to do it, regardless of how
persuasively you ask. So, have you
decided where we're going after this?"
}Well,
I had thought maybe that one metal club on the outskirts of Boston...{ He began, before being cut off by an
anguished wail
"NOOO...please,
Jono, don't make us go there, not when I'm dressed like this. I wouldn't have any fun."
}Right,
as I was saying, I had thought that club, but I think we're all better
dressed for one of the more mainstream nightclubs around here. What do you guys say we go to Aqua?{
"That'd
be great, Jono my man...but have you forgotten that Ange and I are both under
18?" said Jubilee, who'd been surprisingly subdued throughout the meal.
}Yes,
but you're under 18 and out with two telepaths who could probably influence the
people at the door enough to get you in. I mean, I did manage to get m'self a beer last night at dinner.{
"Well
then...I wasn't aware of that little fact. Sounds great, let's go to Aqua."
Susana
paid their bill, then they all trooped back out to the car. Angelo drove again, and 15 minutes later
they were at the door of Aqua. Susana
grabbed Angelo's hand and joined the short queue at the door. When they got to the bouncer, she used her
telepathy to convince him that Angelo's ID- an obvious fake which listed his
name as Juan Valdez and claimed he was 25- was authentic, and that they should
both be allowed into the club. After
making it through the door, they paused off to the side to wait for Jono and
Jubilee.
"So,
Juan, where exactly did you get that shady thing? I've seen better fakes made in people's
basements."
"Chica,
calm down. I got it back home. Only used it to buy cigarettes, and no one
really cares who's buying there anyway. It didn't have to be really convincing."
"Riiight...think
in the future you can just set your image inducer to make you look about
30? Then we won't have to deal with
this anymore." Just then, Jono and
Jubilee approached. They seemed to be
having a disagreement about something or other.
}Next
time, just don't talk, ok? I could've
convinced him not to bother asking for ID...getting him to look at one of my
ID's and think he's seeing you is a bit tougher.{
"Yeah,
well, I'm sorry I didn't know that."
}So
am I.{
"Get
bent, Sparky." Jubilee huffed off
towards the dance floor.
"Ange,
she is your date...maybe you should go try and calm her down. I would, but I think she might get mad at
me-I mean, I'm his date, you know?"
"Sì, I'll
follow her. You guys just want to send
us a message when you're ready to go?"
"Sounds like a plan. See you later!" At that, Angelo walked off into the crowd, looking for Jubilee.
}Problems at the door?{ Susana sent the
thought to him telepathically, since it wasn't a conversation that she
particularly wanted the club staff overhearing.
He sent her an aggrieved glance. }Yeah. I thought I'd just convince the bouncer that Jubes looked old enough not
to card, but she seemed to think talkin' t'the bloke was a good idea.{
The look she gave him was only mildly
censurious. }You know her...she's
Jubilee. Of course she thought talking
to him was a good idea. Oh well, at
least you got in.{ She perked up as she
heard the music filtering in from the dance floor. "Shall we go dance? This's a really cool song."
}Sure, gel, lead the way.{ She did, pulling him along behind her as she
wove through the crowds and onto the dance floor. After finding a clear spot, she began to sway her hips to the
beat of the song, an upbeat Latin tune. Smiling up at him, she grabbed his hands and tried to make him join
her. When he didn't, preferring instead
to stand stock still with an indulgent look on his face, she shook her head at
him.
}You know, I didn't tell you earlier how
much I like that dress. It's
very...appealing.{
Noticing which part of the dress his
attention seemed focused on, she smacked his arm lightly. }You would think so, wouldn't
you? If you'll excuse me, I think I'm
going to run to the ladies' room now. My shoe is threatening to draw blood. Time for preventative band-aid application, I'll be right back.{
She darted off to the side of the dance
floor, then limped through the crowd to the bathroom. Miraculously, there was no line, so she went in and sat down on
the edge of a couch which was tucked beside the wall and hidden behind a fake
plant. Positioned there, she was in the
perfect position to hear the conversation of two girls who came in about a
minute after her.
"Ohmygod, Julie, did you SEE that guy
out there? The brown haired one in
leather pants and the white shirt?" said the first girl. She looked about 18, incredibly thin and
angular, and her long blonde hair was anchored in a high ponytail atop her
head.
"Damn straight I saw him...wonder who he's
going home with..." Susana saw the girl raise a speculative eyebrow at her
friend's reflection. This girl looked
older, and had a mass of curly medium-brown hair which was perilously close to
overwhelming her round face entirely.
"Caroline, you just put that thought out
of your mind, cause I guaran-damn-tee he's not goin' home with either of
us. He was watchin' some short chick in
a really sweet dress walk off. The way
he was lookin' at her...looked like he wouldn't mind just dragging her straight
outta here. He wasn't even lookin' at
the people around him, it was all her."
The darker haired girl scowled for a
moment, then brightened. "Did you see
that one kid out there dancing with the girl in pink and black? He's nothin' to sneeze at either...and I was
watchin him dance earlier- he can really move. I mean, he dipped his date backwards and picked her up without a
problem...It was really impressive."
"Why don't you just concentrate on the
guys who aren't here with someone. Much
less likely to get your ass kicked that way." The blonde- Julie, Susana remembered- stepped back from the mirror and
turned to her friend. "You ready to
go?" At the other girl's nod, she
pulled the door open and walked out.
Susana remained where she was on the
couch for about 5 minutes, laughing to herself. *Oh, doesn't it just figure that the one time I go out with
someone who thinks he's ugly, he gets commented on by a couple of
barflies. I have to tell him
about that. But I think i'll keep the
whole noticeable staring thing to myself for now.* She stood, band-aids securely in place, and followed the girls'
path out toward the dance floor.