The first thing that blinded my vision was glitter. There was glitter flying from the ceiling and on the floor and on everybody. We were instantly given feather boas from waiters and offered appetizers. The floor bounced with bodies of people and the constant energy of the music. Mel had gotten drinks so fast that I didn't even notice that she had left for the moment; I was so hypnotized by the fantastic scene in front of me. The floor was so gigantic that it was impossibly hard to spot any one of the members from the band. There must be over a hundred people here! Mel and I were a bit hungry so we hung out near the windows while binging on appetizers and slurping down our drinks. The alcohol gave a hot tingle in my throat and I felt like I was already quite tipsy when Melanie said: "Oh I see one of them!" She jabbed her pink fingernail in the direction of the drummer. He was chilling next to where the DJ fired up his beats. "Imma go talk to him. Okay, babe?" She didn't even wait for a reply before jetting off into the sea of people.

Jeez. Fan-crazy much? Or boy crazy? Probably both. Melanie was always hunting for some hunk of man. Oh well. I definitely wasn't gonna stand between her and love. My eyes wandered over the bobbing heads in a distance before I noticed a tuft of bright blue hair. Speaking of fan-crazy. Whatever! I wasn't /that/ big of a fan, I just maybe wanna say 'you have a good voice' or something. Just being polite. I set my red solo cup down on the banister of the window and made my way onto the dance floor with everyone else. I almost lost my footing however, when someone knocked right into my side. "Hey watch it!" I exclaimed, only to see the irritable face of the guy with the snake tattoo from earlier. He literally hissed at me before trudging away. Super creepy. What was his deal?

I decided not to trail on his weirdness and continued my way to the lead singer. The closer I got, the more I noticed that he was skating around in circles. People left the center of the floor wide open so that the blue-haired singer could wheel around in roller skates. He looked pretty happy as he rode to the rhythm of the music. The way his hair fluttered in the air and all that ecstatic freedom that emanated from his white eyes almost took my breath away. Was it the booze that was making my cheeks blush? My feet were cemented to the floor despite my yearning sensation to go out there and dance with him. I stood there like a fool while everyone else let their souls jive to the music.

When the next song began to decrease into its end, the singer was able to depart from his fun escapades and notice my statue-like stance. My heart tightened when he rolled over to me with a glowing, yet concerned, smile on his face. He was so close I was able to count how many uneven teeth he had. Two were missing in the front.

"Are you okay?" He asked, wide white eyes blinking tentatively.

Speak, Vera! Goddamit. My tongue felt like lead. What did he say again? "What?"

"You're not dancing." His head tipped slightly to the side. "Are you having fun?"

"This party is beautiful." The words rolled off my tongue without going through any filter. That was such a stupid reply, Vera! Shit, am I that drunk already?

He chuckled at me, which made my heart lift. "I wish I could roller-skate with you." Those words poured out just as fast as the others.

His thick eyebrows rose in surprise, but then he gave a jaunty grin. "Your wish is my command. What's your size?"

Was he serious? "Eight."

"I'll be right back." With that, he rolled away into the thick of the crowd. I stood speechless for about five minutes before he came back, a pair of yellow roller skates in his hand. "Try these on for size."

My nimble fingers took the skates and I plopped onto the glitter-covered floor to slip them on my feet. Was this a dream? Was I just about to go roller skating with an uber-popular singer? He held down an open hand once I was all laced in.

Seemed like yes, yes I was.

Upon grabbing his hand, he swooped me up and we started to go about in large circles. He was about to let go of my hand, but when I lost his support I almost fumbled down from being too wobbly. However, the singer was quick enough to grab my arm and steady me. He let out another silvery chuckle. "What's your name? I'm 2D, if you didn't know."

"Vera." I replied, trying my hardest to sober myself up enough to skate with a steady hand. But each time I looked at the floor, it slanted in whacky ways and my mind went dizzy.

"Nice to meet you, Vera." He shifted his grip to hold onto my hand. "Why don't you just focus on the music, yeah?" He looked at me with one of those glowing smiles and waited for the song playing overhead to intensify before letting some space drift in between both of us. He kept hold of me with that one hand but was free to skate to the rhythm now. He rolled backward facing me and pulled me with him, going faster and faster. I could tell he was a pro at skating; Much more than I ever was. As I watched his hips swing to the music, I began to loosen up myself and soon I didn't even notice that I had let go of his hand.

We danced together as we went round and round in what seemed like our own little skating rink. I couldn't help but to let out a gleeful laugh. This was one of the most fun nights I have ever had. Hands down. Yet half of me still felt like this was a dream. For a moment, I took my eyes off of 2D and searched for my best friend. It was hard to spot her, but eventually, I found her near the windows now talking to the drummer.2D and I danced to a few more songs before I totally zonked out on the ground. He wasn't as tired as I was, but I just assumed it was because he'd been partying a lot more than I have. He plopped down next to me. "You're a real corker at skating, have you done it before?"

I almost caught myself snorting at his question. "I work at Flo's Drive-In down near Venice. That's all I do is skate. But I'm no pro. I fell just today trying to skate down my sidewalk!"

2D simply shrugged. "Gotta fall before flying, I suppose."

When I got my skates off, 2D helped me back up. His hand was nice and warm. I gave him a sweet smile. "Thanks for letting me skate with you. How'd you get the extra pair anyway?"

"Noodle has her own pair. I thought she wouldn't mind me borrowing them." He blushed a little, as if just now feeling embarrassed for his actions. He scratched the back of his neck. "You just so happened to fit her size. I had a feeling you would anyway; that's why I offered it."

I was about to respond when suddenly I was interrupted by another voice. "Hey 2D, I'm gonna take Noodle for some ice cream, then bring her home."

My eyes slowly wandered to the tall figure. Highway guy. Ace.He wore hot pink Star shaped novelty sunglasses that concealed his eyes just as nicely as the obsidian ones he wore earlier.

"Hold on then, lemme say goodnight to her." 2D replied, jogging off in the direction Ace came.

My feet were cemented again. Even though I wanted to run away from him, I didn't. My anger began to boil all over again.He was just as shocked to see me as I was to see him. But instead of my scowl, he wore a sly grin.

"Well hello, dollface." he mused, "what are—"

"I want you to pay for the damage!" I instantly interrupted, poking a finger in his face. I was not going to let him get away with this. Even though he was apart of a really cool band, I really didn't give a shit about his fame status.

His arched eyebrows rose above the sunglasses at my interruption and his smile slipped down into a frown. "Listen, dollface, I barely even nicked your car, okay? Let's just say I was in a bad mood and late to rehearsal and I'm sorry, alright?"

His apology didn't sound sincere; actually, it was more on the tone of aggravated. I didn't remove my scolding finger from his face.

"First off, stop calling me dollface." I began, "Second, that's a pretty lame excuse for HITTING MY CAR! Not to mention you got out and threatened me!"

I could tell he gave me an eye roll under those ridiculous glasses and muttered, "I wouldn't use the word 'threatened'." He took my finger and curled it back into my palm. "You want money then, sweet cheeks? Fine." Ace slipped out his wallet from his back pocket and grabbed five twenty dollar bills. "Here. Is that enough to cover it? Or do ya need my whole fuckin' wallet to fix the teeny scratch?"

For a second, I felt like I should be guilty taking his money like this. But taking one look at his sour expression, I snatched the money and pocketed it. "You're a jerk."

His sour face twisted into a plastered smirk. "Thanks."

Just then 2D appeared next to Ace. "She's at the door." He gestured in the direction to where Noodle stood, leaning against the door frame. 2D glanced from me to Ace with his big white eyes and grew a jolly smile. "You've met my new friend, Vera?"

Ace nodded. "Vera…" my name rolled off his tongue slowly as if he was tasting every syllable. "Yeah, I've met her." He casually slid off his sunglasses to finally reveal his eyes. They were dark but appeared pink due to the lights overhead. Those eyes glared at me. It was almost like he was trying to tell me not to say anything stupid in front of his current employer. I gave him a crafty smile in return.

"Oh, we met earlier on the highway when he hit my car."

I could almost see the seething anger through his eyes, piercing me like daggers. But on the outside, he remained as cool as a cucumber, turning to 2D with a faulty smile. "It was just an accident, 'D."

2D looked us both over with skepticism before letting out a light chuckle. "Don't you be pullin' a Murdoc now, Ace." He gestured to his eyes with two fingers; however, his smile began to dwindle as if what he just said bothered him inwardly.I had no idea what he was referencing, but I guess Ace did because he responded with a reluctant chuckle. There was a soft tension in the air all of a sudden.

"Uh, imma get goin'." Ace said suddenly, "I know Noods is waitin'."

I couldn't help but notice his eyes slip towards mine before they hid back under those starry glasses. I watched him stride away through the bodies of people until he reached the young guitarist, holding his arm up so she could link her own arm with him.

"I'm gonna get going too." I muttered aloud. Ace was about to exit with Noodle when he was stopped by snake tattoo guy and the two other friends. It was a small exchange, but Snake tattoo guy handed off a black pocket knife and a rolled up bag of pot into Ace's hand. The whole transaction didn't seem to be noticed by Noodle, who was texting on her phone with her free hand. Pocketing the items, Ace gave the others a nod. Suddenly, my line of vision was disrupted by 2D.

"Don't you wanna stay longer?" He asked, a soft expression on his face. My mind was a jumbled mess at the moment; what did Ace need with a pocket knife? I felt unsettled by that exchange, but something told me that Noodle wasn't going to be in any danger from him. She looked like she could handle herself. Still, the whole thing was creepy.

On another note— Melanie. Was she still with that guy? I needed to find her.However, the tone of disappointment laced in 2D's voice made my heart tremble. "I'm sorry," I mustered, "It's getting late, and I still have to find my friend."

"I get it." He nodded in agreement, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. "We're playing at the Blue Monkey a week from today, seven o clock; I was wondering if you'd like to peep on in?"

His cheeks lit up in pink. I couldn't tell if it was the colored lighting overhead or really his blush. The whole ordeal made me blush as well. "Blue Monkey? That's right in my neighborhood. I'd love to go." I gave him a warm smile and thanked him before heading into the crowd.

"Thanks for the chat! And all…!" I heard him call after me.

I couldn't believe this night. So much had happened, and half of it didn't even seem real. I wandered the perimeter of the party a few times before finally stumbling across Melanie. She was hanging out at the bar, draped over the counter as she spoke with the bartender.

"Hey, Mel." I said, interrupting their conversation. "It's getting late."

Melanie looked me over with shiny eyes and a goofy grin. I could tell she was pretty drunk by now. That was definitely my cue to start leaving. With a huff, I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the building careful not to let her fall on top of me.

Once I managed to get her in the car, the drive home was easy. The only thing that lingered in my mind was 2D's offer. He wanted to see me again. My heart fluttered at the thought, but I had to remember not to get too ahead of myself. I had made a friend. An adorable, very popular friend. And I couldn't wait to see him again.