~Chapter 14~

It had been days since I last saw Darien and those little pests who seemed to keep following me around. They were like bloodhounds, always tracking me down. Weird stalkers...I did nothing to deserve this! Although, I have to say, I often found myself missing Darien. I couldn't explain it, I didn't understand why my mind automatically separated him from every other man I'd slept with. It was like he had this inescapable grip on me. Hopefully I would snap out of it and get over this nonsense in a few more days, maybe weeks, or even a month or two. As long as I didn't see him, I would be fine. Besides, I had to face facts, the man was mentally ill. I mean, future daughter? I hated kids! They picked their nose, wet their bed, and cried every time the tiniest thing happened. Not to mention screaming whenever they didn't get what they wanted... The answer was obvious, I was not going to have a kid, let alone a "future daughter" that happened to live in the present.

I held my wrist up as a walked aimlessly around town. The scars were still there, meaning I hadn't imagined them. I liked my life, there was no possible way I had done this to myself. Maybe I was attacked at one point in my forgotten past and my attacker cut my wrists... Wow, now I was sounding like the crazy one. Something else had to have happened...right...? I mean, why in the world would I do something like this? I had no reason, so it couldn't have been me. Maybe it had been a prank, or some kind of sick joke. Yeah...yeah, that had to be it. I was drunk, and someone pulled some sort of disgusting trick on me. Well, the matter was settled, it was definitely someone else, and definitely not me.

I sighed. I was supposed to be going to a rave at dusk today, I shouldn't be worrying right now. My only real job was to have fun, and of course get paid by bedding strangers. But tonight, I was going to dance all night and forget about all that had happened recently. Darien would be hard to forget, granted, but I could do it if I tried hard enough. And try I would. Yeah...that was a good plan. And if that failed, I would get drunk a thousand times until the memory was completely gone.

I decided to return to Summer's place. She could help me forget all this. Well, maybe. I wasn't sure if I was actually in love with Darien or if this was simply a temporary infatuation that would eventually wear off. I hoped it was infatuation. Because if it wasn't infatuation...my life would be ruined.

I shook my head and realized I'd already reached Summer's apartment. I'd already been nearby, so it didn't take long. I opened the door and let myself in. It was the middle of the day, not dusk yet. She was inside, sleeping. Last night she stayed up late with several customers. Thankfully she promised to go to the rave with me. She said Kent was joining us. I hadn't seen Betch in awhile, but hopefully she would also show up. Anyway, Kent was going too, so at least I had someone to dance with that wasn't Summer. Not that she wasn't a great dancer, but sometimes I just wanted to mix things up. Besides, Kent hadn't been around for the last few days and I looked forward to seeing him. He was an equally great dancer, but he got pretty clumsy at times. Plus, he finally had an opportunity to hook up with Summer. Of course, chances were he wouldn't take it. It was hard to believe he was so shy, even after all this time.

I decided to let Summer sleep; she would need her energy tonight. I, on the other hand, lit a cigarette and sat down on the couch, thinking of what to wear. Obviously it would be something sexy, but not so sexy that it would be mistaken for one of my prostitute outfits. I would definitely wear something that exposed my stomach, preferably in red leather. Fishnet stockings were a must. A skirt, I would need a skirt. But what color...? Let's see, white wouldn't match well since it was a rave. Red would be too much. But black! Now there was a color worth wearing! So I had my shirt, skirt, and stockings figured out. The only thing left was my shoes... They would be high heels, of course, but what color for them? Black would work, I suppose, but it might be a little too much with black fishnet stockings and a black skirt. Red could go well, and I could probably bring a black purse. I was going to set my purse down anyway, so I wouldn't necessarily be going overboard. Oh, and just to bring out my stockings, I would wear a miniskirt. I had enough money to buy clothes and shoes, so why not spend it on just that?

I had decided what I would wear, but now I needed to figure out my makeup. Mascara for one. Oh, and red lipstick, like not a dark red or a bright red, just glossy red. Powder, I need to have powder and blush. Hm...but eyeshadow... Red wouldn't work, and neither would black. I thought about blue as a last resort, but I really needed to do better than that. Green? What, with red and black? No, not even a chance. White? Psh, yeah right. Gray? Maybe...but I would try to come up with a color better than that. Metallic pink? Eh, too princess. Purple? Well...I would have to try some on first before a decision could be made. Hm...actually, what about metallic light purple? Actually, that didn't sound half bad. Alright, so I had two options, but honestly the metallic purple was so much better than the blue. I needed at least one more option, just in case the purple didn't work out. There was brown, but that would not go with my outfit. I actually had hazel eyeshadow, but I highly doubted it would go well with red and black. Oh! Metallic purple and a hint of metallic white! Yes, that would work just fine.

I went into the bathroom and laid out my makeup. Summer let me use her eyeshadow and powder, but I usually used my own makeup. I peered out the bathroom and checked the digital alarm clock in Summer's bedroom. It was 6:50, which meant I didn't have to worry about the time. The raves always went on all night and ended in the morning, so I had all night to get ready.

I pulled off my clothes, leaving only my undergarments on. I searched through the closet looking for my planned outfit. Fishnet stockings, check. Red high heels, check. Red short shirt, check. And last but not least, the black miniskirt, check. I smiled. Everything was finally going to go smoothly, without flaw. I would look perfect for a rave. It seemed as though Darien and the rest were gone; maybe they'd gotten the hint that I wasn't interested in having them around. I would sooner bang my head against a brick wall than see them again. But thankfully I would go to the rave, where the huge throng of people would be clustered together, making the perfect place for me to hide from them should they appear.

I washed my face before adding the powder and blush. It didn't take long since I'd been wearing makeup for years now. I then put on the mascara, accidentally getting some in my eye. It burned like crazy and I had to spend the next few minutes blinking it away. Once that incident was over, I applied the eyeshadow, which, like I planned, looked great. Lastly I smoothed my red lipstick over my lips, putting a little lip gloss over it to make it look better. I looked downright sexy, the kind of fashion I'd wanted.

I moved on to my clothes, sliding them over my body with ease. The only hard part, which by the way wasn't even hard at all, was smoothing out my shirt and skirt to make them look as though they hugged my body tighter than they already did. I decided against earrings, or any jewelry for that matter. I wanted to look hot, not fake.

My hair was pretty much straight, but it grew slightly wavy at the end. I fished out a hair straightener from the wooden cabinet under the sink. I had time to be patient as I plugged the little device in and waited for it to heat up. While I waited, I checked on Summer. She had changed her position in her recliner, but was still peacefully asleep. Poor girl, she'd been up practically all night. She hated my job, but was thankful that I was off duty tonight. Yeah, I liked to keep my nights busy. Sleeping during the day was a personal favorite activity of mine. I was a night-lover.

I grabbed a piece of my hair and pinched it down with the straightener once it got hot enough. I held it there for a few seconds before slowly moving it downward. I repeatedly did this with the rest of my hair. When I was done, my hair hung perfectly straight around me, embracing my back and shoulders like a thousand strands of hugs. I pursed my lips for a moment, making sure my lipstick had remained in place this whole time. It was just fine. I finally had the look I was expecting of myself.

I took a quick glance at my fingernails. They weren't painted, and neither were my toenails, but they would do with or without nail polish. Well...maybe the clear nail polish, the one that made your nails look glossy. Er...no. I would've done that, but apparently time flew by when I wasn't watching it and it was already 7:30. The sun could just barely be seen as it finished setting, which meant the rave had already started and people were already having the time of their lives in there.

Summer was still asleep, but she seemed to be on the verge of getting up. What was wrong with her? The rave had already started and she wasn't even ready! I rushed over and violently shook her awake. Needless to say, she jolted awake. I was the first thing she saw.

"Hurry up, Summer! You aren't even ready yet and the rave's already started!" I whined. It wasn't very becoming of me to whine, but oh well. What's done is done.

She yawned and stretched. "Yeah...okay. Just give me ten minutes and we'll go."

"Hmph," I muttered. "Slow business last night, huh, Summer?"

I was actually really glad there weren't a bunch of druggies huddled together in corners, both happy and paranoid. There were a few, but not that many. I was pretty sure more would show up soon to get stoned and go do something stupid.

"Well, actually, yeah," she replied. "Why else would I stay up so late?"

I chuckled and reached for a beer can. Summer slapped my hand away and looked at me with a stern face, a face that said no.

I pulled my hand back, offended. "What the hell, Summer?"

"Absolutely not. You are not drinking tonight."

I groaned. "Why?"

She rolled her eyes as if I was joking. "Um, because this is a rave."

"Yeah, so what?"

The stern face came back. "So it's easy for me to lose you in a huge crowd of people, Serena!"

"C'mon, just one? Please?" I asked as I gradually moved my hand toward a beer can. I put on my best set of puppy dog eyes.

"Oh, please, like I don't know you. It's never just one with you, you always have to have more. And of course, what happens when you have more? Oh, that's right, you get drunk." She grabbed my wrist and pushed my hand back away from the beer, sealing her point.

I sighed. I got the message loud and clear. No beer. No excuses. No chances. Although she kind of did have the right idea with the whole drunk thing. Drunk Serena plus large crowd of moving people equaled disaster. Somehow I managed to get creative when I was drunk and, just for fun, I would run away from people to make them chase me. At least, that's what Summer and Kent told me. Still...just one or two wouldn't hurt that bad.

We both stayed quiet for awhile, listening to the upbeat music play, the sound of drunk laughter, and the frequent taps of dancing feet making contact with the floor. It was actually kind of awkward, but sometimes there came a point where neither of us could think of something to say, nothing left to strike up a decent conversation. We waited for awhile, just standing there while everyone else was having fun. I tried to pass the time by stroking my hair, making sure it stayed straight and looked pretty. Summer tried to pass the time by watching the doorway.

I smiled slyly as I realized what was happening.

"Well, well! What have we here?" I teased.

She leaned against the wall, acting like she hadn't done anything noticeable. "What are you babbling on about?"

Heh...I wasn't even babbling. "Who would've guessed that Summer, of all people, would be crushing on Kent, her best friend?"

"Pfft." She waved her hand dismissively. "If anything, you're the one who likes him. If memory serves correctly, you two had sex."

I flushed and fumbled around for the right words, thoroughly embarrassed. Why would she even bring that up? She knew we were drunk at the time! Whatever, I knew chemistry when I saw it. She couldn't escape the truth.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw the door open.

"'Bout time..." I muttered.

But the man who walked through that door didn't have blonde hair and green eyes. His hair was black, his eyes were blue. Either he suddenly got into partying and dancing all night, or Darien had managed to track me down. I quickly glanced at Summer. She didn't seem to notice. Instead, she was looking up at the ceiling, watching the green, blue, red, and purple lasers dart around in the form of dots on the ceiling. Now was my chance to slip away while I could. Maybe he wouldn't notice me...maybe he would give up after seeing the enormous throng of people. Some were drunk, some were drugged up, and others were rubbing up against each other with their hands held high.

There wasn't much of a clearing between me and the crowd. It was almost perfect, except for the tiny fact that Darien had noticed me and was now walking toward me. Summer was still admiring the dots on the ceiling and didn't even realize who was headed our way. In order to save both myself and Summer, I quietly disappeared into the edge of the crowd, weaving my way through to the other end. I doubted Darien was used to this, and hopefully he would have a hard time finding me. Better yet, maybe he wouldn't find me.

I leaned against the far end of the wall. I wanted to go see him one more time, but I couldn't. I didn't want a boyfriend, and even if I had one, my job was sleeping with other men! Until those contests started up again, I had to stick to using my body to get a salary. I sighed. What was I, some lovesick little girl in high school, wondering if a happily ever after really existed and forcing myself to believe it did? It was stupid! Reality just didn't work that.

I looked up. Suddenly those little dots were comforting. They weren't just little dots anymore, now they had meaning, significance. I guess this was what Summer saw in them.

I felt something gently touch my shoulder. I looked to see what it was, but soon I wished I hadn't.

"Shit..." I breathed as my eyes fell on Darien.