Wow I've been gone a while. Anyhow, this chapter is dedicated to Miranda (Rabid RENThead). She knows why. Mind out of the gutter, people.

"Come on girls, make those men want you!" Mimi moved herself to the beat of the music around the pole she was assigned to that day. There were about a half dozen of them placed around the training room, with a girl on each one.

"These men aren't paying to see schoolgirl read books, they want sexy bodies!" the instructor snapped. She surveyed the room again

"Good job, Mimi! Keep the rhythm!" Mimi almost smiled at the compliment, but she didn't want to break her concentration. The music ended, and all the future dancers swung around the pole once more, and ended their dance in a pose on the floor.

"And… strut offstage." Two girls followed Mimi to the right, the other three went to the left. Mimi nearly collapsed against the wall. It was only the third day of training, and she was ready to fall asleep right then and there.

How did all the girls on the club stage dance like this every night, and not fall asleep on their feet? I guess I must be out of shape.

"Again, this is the last run of tonight, then you girls can go home. Switch poles, girls. Sarah, I want you in front, and Claire can go in back this time."

The music stuck up again, a fast pulsing beat this time. She found the beat easy to work with. Relying on adrenaline, she twisted herself around a pole for the umpteenth time today. Mimi took a deep breath and braced herself for a high kick. She lifted her leg strong and fast, and the other foot fell out from underneath her. Suddenly, she was looking at the ceiling, flat on her back, with a throbbing pain in her head. Faint voices above her… she could hardly see.

"Mimi… Mimi are you okay?"

"Mimi, chica, are you there?

…

"Chica, chica, es Angel. ¿es usted despierto?" (It's Angel. Are you awake?) Angel's worried voice drifted through Mimi's ears.

"Mmmm?" Mimi opened her eyes. Ick. Too much light. She squinted. Angel got the message.

"Un minuto, chica" (one minute) Angel said, hopping up. Mimi heard the clunk-clunk of Angel's platform shoes, then a click, and Mimi opened her eyes. She blinked a couple times as her eyes adjusted. Thank G-d for the moon… she thought, re-orienting herself. She looked around… four walls, two beds, the closet was familiar… oh. She was home. Mimi could not believe it took her that long to figure it out. She shook her head at herself and her idiocy… bad idea. Massive pain.

"Do we have any Advil?" Mimi asked, sounding weaker than she actually felt. Angel silently left the room in search of the little red pills. The silence felt good on Mimi's ears, after the pounding of the music a few hours earlier, then the ringing in her ears that had FINALLY stopped… silence was golden, to use the cliché.

True to her name, Angel came back into the room with two red pills for headache relief. Mimi gulped them down along with the water Angel held in her other hand. Angel put her hand against Mimi's forehead and pronounced,

"No fever. But you had better rest tonight, and skip training tomorrow. You can learn the moves from a classmate tomorrow night, okay?"

"Angel, chica-"

"Honey, I almost had to take you to a hospital."

"- What happened? I blacked out."

"You slipped in training this afternoon, and blacked out. That was quite a blow to the head, sweetie. Anyhow, I brought you home."

"Cómo?" (how?)

"I carried you-"

"All that way?"

"It's not far, chica…"

"In the cold?"

"I was warm enough-"

"By yourself?"

"Si…"

"Chica, you shouldn't have done that! You could have gotten sick-"

"But I didn't," Angel said firmly. "And are you forgetting that you yourself could have gotten sick as well?" Mimi dropped the gaze she had been firmly holding an Angel at the last statement.

"Somos hermanas, Angel. We need to care for each other." (We are sisters) Mimi whimpered. "I was only trying to care for you."

"And I for you," Angel replied. "But you need to start by caring for yourself. Su medicación ayudará. (Your medication will help) Do as the doctor says." Angel put a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"Si… yo se" (yes… I know) Mimi said slowly. Then, still in her stripper outfit, she rolled over on the bed and went to sleep. Angel watched her for a bit, then got into her PJs and went to sleep herself.

And that, my dears, is the end of this chapter. Next chapter: Remember Grace? Here she comes…

Oh! And before I forget! I have a new story up, called Chocolate Kisses. It's soon to be an AngelCollins… go see!