Mina
3 Months Ago
"OK,
listen
up people!" I called at the front of the room. We were all at
Raye's house because I called everyone and said I had some big news
to share.
"What is it Mina? I have to study for a biology
test on Monday".
Protested
Amy from the couch. Serena stared at her blankly.
"But…it's
Wednesday." She explained.
"Yes, but it's always a good to
study, I need to get an 'A'!"
"Ugh. You'll get an 'A'
Amy, Like you always do," grumbled Raye, "Now what is it Mina?
And it better not be about some guy."
I jumped up and down on my
heels. "Oh nothing…only I got a hold of THESE!" I said as I
pulled five tickets out of my pocket and held them at arm's length
in front of me. Lita and Serena jumped up from their seats to look
closer.
"Oh…are they really real?" asked Serena
breathlessly.
"Yeah, where'd you get these? They're supposed
to be really hard to get," added Lita as she looked over the purple
and red ticket.
"Um, what is it we're supposed to be looking
at here?" Raye said uninterestedly from her seat on the recliner.
We all gaped at her.
"You cannot be serious!
"Oh my
God!"
"Really Raye, even I
know about this place."
"Yes, it is quite popular."
Raye
looked frustrated at being the only one who hadn't heard about this
mysterious place. It was actually kind of funny.
"Its passes to
Dansu, only the most exclusive dance club, like, ever! And yours
truly was able to get all of us passes." I said triumphantly.
"Ohhhhh" whispered Serena, gazing at the tickets as is they
held the answer to life. As if. The only thing it said on it was
'Admit one' and 'DaNsU.
"Hey, Mina, wait a minute." Said
Raye as she came closer to investigate. "These are for
today."
"What?!" Lita and Serena screamed.
" How are we
going to prepare in such a short amount of time, Mina?" asked Amy,
who was looking like she was getting interested in the topic.
"Well
you see, that's part of a plan I put together so we'd be able to
get there in time." I said, very proud of myself for thinking
ahead. Oh
this is working great. Mina you're such a genius…
"What
is it?" asked Lita.
"We all wear our black outfits from that
other time, you know? Yeah, and at least one thing that's our
favorite color. So now, our outfits are planned, and it shouldn't
take that long to find one colorful something. Am I fabulous or
what?" I explained.
They looked around, thinking this over. Even
though they really shouldn't. I mean it's the best plan I've
ever made. Raye got up and stood right in front of me. Uh
oh. Now what did I forget?
"Well
then," Raye reached out and tugged on the scarlet bow I always
wear, "That means you can't wear this!"
Well.
I didn't expect this to backfire so badly. Immediately after I said
we should wear our favorite colors, everyone shouted out how they'd
wear their color.
"Well, I have a blue belt I could wear…"
suggested Amy.
"And I'm wearing a lot of green necklaces!"
dubbed Lita.
"Oh! I want pink streaks in my hair!" yelled
Serena. Raye looked at her dubiously. "That may take a while. But I
guess I'll paint my nails red."
OK. This isn't working. They
took all the good ones! Now I'm going to have my work cut out for
me. But then again, I do have another trick up my sleeve…
"OK",
I told them, "Let's go get our stuff and get ready. Meet you guys
there!" Then I ran out the door, still holding onto all the passes.
I had a short amount of time and a big idea that might take a while…
"Where
is she?!" Raye whispered furiously. "We've been waiting for her
for 20 minutes!"
"And of course she took the passes with her"
added Lita.
They were all waiting outside of Dansu, in the windy
night, waiting for Mina to show up with the passes so they could go
in.
Serena twirled a loose string of her lacy tank top between her
fingers, which aggravated Raye even more. She kept fiddling with
everyone's outfits. First, it was kicking Amy's long black skirt.
Then, she poked Raye's side where her shirt kept bunching up. After
that, it was Lita's necklaces. It was soo irritating. After another
5 minutes, Mina turned around the corner of a building at the end of
the street. She was wearing an immense trench coat that covered went
down to her shins. Whistling, she walked leisurely down the road.
"MINA, HURRY UP!" Raye shouted at her. Mina looked up,
surprised, and hurried over to them. The first thing everyone noticed
was the absence of her red bow. It made her look different.
"Sorry
I'm late," I apologized, "It just took me a while to get over
here. The stupid train was taking forever,
so I got off early, but that just made me get lost, so then I had to
get back on the train-"
"Alright, fine, do you have the
passes? It's freezing, if you haven't noticed." Raye snapped,
cutting me off. So I gave her a 'don't push me' look and pushed
past her giving the doorman our passes. Serena squealed in
excitement. Strobe lights flashed neon, the walls sparkled, music
blared, and people were dancing before they even got to the dance
floor. "Here," I said handing the coat-man my trench coat. Then
half-skipped off to the floor. "Let's get this party started!"
I shouted. This
night is going to be awesome…
I
turned around, expecting them all to be there ready to have an
amazing time and dance 'till we were unconscious, but they were
still at the coat-man's table. Goggling at what was wearing. Along
with the doormen…and the coat-man.
"What?" I asked
nonchalantly, flipping my loose hair back over my
shoulder.
"Well…"started Lita.
"You're a bit…"
began Amy.
"I hate you!" yelled Serena. Raye just looked
stunned.
"Well,
they should. This took almost three hours to finish", I
reflected. Then I looked at what they all gawking at. I was wearing a
black outfit like them; black skirt (well, it is
a bit short…), black heels, black top, some black jewelry. But I
liked how I made the orange work in. After everyone took the good
ideas, I had to run over to Cahaba's Tattoo Place. Yeah, tattoos
are permanent, I know, so I asked him if he could do anything not
permanent. When he said yes, I nearly flipped out. So, I had him do
the best design possible. Down and around my arms and legs and
between my eyes were little swirls and sparkles of orange and gold.
It looked awesome, if I can say so myself. But if my friends were
going to give me funny looks, I might regret this.
"Come on
guys let's go get some guys and dance!" I shouted. Strutting down
the hall, we (well basically me, the rest of them walked) came to the
dance floor.
Eyeing my wardrobe choice critically, Raye said,
"Well, it looks a bit crowded. You guys want to get something to
drink first? Before this sparkle-creature here shines away to
nothing."
I gave her a look, and stuck out my tongue. She can be
so negative sometimes.
"Yeah," we all agreed. After we all
got a couple drinks in us we split up to go find something that
interests us. Lita stayed at the bar, saying she suddenly had a
headache and wanted to stay sitting, and Amy stayed with her, pulling
a miniature book from her pocket to read.
Raye went off to the
bathroom, and Serena and I headed off to the dance floor. Though that
was a bit of a problem. Because, I guess Cahaba was really, really
good
at his job, because the guys just kept following me everywhere. On
the dance floor it was cute, and maybe even flattering, but when I
can't even get to the bathroom without being followed by a horde of
them…that's just aggravating. Gasping for breath, I looked
around. Some girls in here looked really drunk and were puking their
brains out in the stalls. Wanting to get some of the glitter off my
arms, I began walking towards a sink, when I noticed Lita was one of
the girls puking their brains out from drunkenness. That made me feel
kind of sorry for her, besides she's a friend. So that's why
spent nearly half an hour in there with her listening to her half
coherent speech, gagging from the smell, and holding her hair back
for her so she didn't vomit on it. Finally I got her to stand up
and not
look like her face was still green and I pushed her out and back
towards the door. Amy noticed us first. Closing her book she hurried
over and began fussing over Lita.
"Oh my goodness is she all
right?" asked Amy, her eyes wide. I shifted my stance, feeling
uncomfortable holding up drunk, stinky, giggling Lita.
"She's
fine, just kind of silly. I think someone should take her home." I
wanted to help her, but come on. It's Dansu. I could not leave an
opportunity like this hanging. Agents go to places like these all the
time to find new clients and I have a dream to be famous to uphold.
Besides, after giving Amy a pair of puppy-dog eyes for like three
seconds, she offered to take her home. I guess she wasn't all that
interested in dancing or whatever.
"Okay, well talk to you guys
later." I handed Lita over to Amy and gave an exasperated breath as
Lita asked;
"Hey, why are there lights like…over there?"
Now I felt really bad when Amy tried to explain electricity.
"Much
later" I added.
Then
off to the dance floor again. While I was gone, the guys all
apparently got hooked on Raye and Serena, even though little miss
pink was making an effort not to dance. That kind bugged me. But the
bar looked inviting. So I sat there for a while, ordered the
strongest thing there was, and drank it in two huge gulps. The
bartender stared at me with wide eyes as I sat on the stool gasping
for breath.
"Ummmm" he began, but I cut him off.
"I'm
done" and I walked to the dance floor, ready for action. Some Nelly
Furtado song came on, and the music helped me get my 'chill'
back. I vaguely remember the music video, aside from the dancing.
There's a lot of jerking around and spinning. Using my arm as a
knife to slice a path through the crowd, I got beside Raye.
"S'up?"
I asked nonchalantly, trying to sound cool, lots of guys were looking
over interestedly. She looked at me strangely.
"Where've you
been? And what's that smell?" she asked. I just sighed in
response. Count on Raye to be negative and criticize.
The music
got louder and I bumped my hip against Raye's.
"Forget that,
let's just have fun." I told her, then I grabbed some random
guy's shoulder and began dancing with him like Nelly Furtado. The
flashing strobe lights got in your eyes and they were trendy and all,
but they make it seriously hard to study someone's face. He looked
pretty cute from what I could see though. Wearing all black, he was
mysterious, and amazingly light hair creeped out beneath a bandana
that hid his eyes.
"Great
Mina. Pick the guy you can't look at",
I thought. I kept up the spinning though, and swinging my hips,
rotating my head and shoulders, I knew I looked hot. Other girls
looked over jealously as their dance partners had their eyes glued to
me. But Mr. Mystery-oso didn't reveal any kind of emotion. None. It
was a weird feeling. I mean, you don't get to be the senshi of the
planet of love and beauty for nothing. So, there he is, thinking he's
all that.
"Hey Stiff. You don't like to dance or what?" I
asked wanting to say something. His head moved up a little, like he
was trying to glance at me.
" I don't get out much. And I
wouldn't want to step on your toes." His head moved up
again.
"Would you like me to dance more outgoing-ly?" he
asked. Not waiting for an answer, he reached out his hand and spun me
around. Then he placed his hands on my hips, and shrugged his body to
the music. "Oooh.
This is much better", I
thought. We ended the song in each other's arms. He was
interesting, so took his hand and led him back to the bar. I studied
his face, or what I could see of it when we sat down. He noticed my
staring and cleared his throat.
"Well. Now what?" he asked.
Now he stared at me. It made me feel better after those first few
stiff moments dancing.
"I'm Mina. And you?" I replied.
"Kunzite. And I should apologize. I think I danced on your foot
sometime during then" he looked down embarrassedly. "How
cute!" I
thought. After that, things got a little fuzzy. I know we talked
about music and people and food. We both got a little more than
tipsy, so when Raye came over to drag me off the stool and back to my
house, I was giddy with flirty-ness.
"Bah-bye Kunzite!" I
shouted from the coat-man's desk. I may have been drunk to the
point of passing out, but I did manage to see Raye roll her eyes and
exchange sympathetic looks with the doorman. I also saw Kunzite smile
and wave. That made feel a lot more sober.
"Mina
you are so bizarre. First you want to act all suave and amazing and
then you disappear for almost an hour. Then you come back try to
steal all the guys, and then practically break their hearts by
clinging to some other random guy and talking and drinking with him
for hours! Who the heck was he anyway?" Raye mumbled on under her
breath without me really noticing. The I had an awesome idea…but
Raye would probably not be into it and think it's stupid.
Hmmmm…
"Hey Raye. I'm going to go the store before I head
home. I need…chocolate. Yeah. For tomorrow, you know, hangovers,
hahahahaha…" I started to back away. She started to say something
that would most likely have been suspicious, but I ran down to the
corner before she could talk. The wind blew my trench coat out behind
me, and after a couple blocks when I looked back Raye wasn't
following. "Whew"
I breathed. Then I started my somewhat childish but fun way home. I
had already run into a good ally, so it was perfect. I stumbled down
the ally, less gracefully than I imagined, singing quietly "She's
a man-eater make you work hard make you spend hard…never met her at
all" twirling all the way. I saw Kunzite holding me again. Oh he is
gorgeous. Almost home, I found another ally so I could have one last
dance with him, when I walked into someone.
"Oomph, hey isn't
it, like, A.M. or something? What are you doing out here making
people trip over you?" I asked. The alcohol was not a good mix to
my irritability. Or the fact I was alone in a very dark, now scary,
ally with nothing to protect myself. "Should'
a stayed with Raye…stupid idea…great job Mina.."
random thoughts flew threw my mind. The man I walked into was not
only scary looking all dirty and mangled with a nasty crooked smile,
but there were three others like him too. All with more muscles than
the next.
"What's the matta' lady?" one asked coming too
close for my likeness.
"What's a pretty thing like you doin'
out so late anyways?" another slurred. The next grabbed my arm and
pulled a knife from his inner pocket. I tried to defend myself. My
arm twisted and punched, but three strong, armed guys against a drunk
teenager don't have good odds. The sight of the knife made me hazy,
about to pass out. I think I did, but I know that as soon as the
blade came close to my skin, something shot out of the shadows and
knocked him to the ground. He didn't move again. The rest looked at
me like it was my fault, but the shadow came back and scared them
away. That's all I managed to see. When I woke up, I was at the
corner deli, near my house. My watch told me 15 minutes passed,
except it felt like so much longer. I knew that shadow was good. It
protected me when I couldn't. My mind wandered back to the stories
of my childhood of princes saving the princesses. I liked that
thought. So all the way home, I thought of my shadow prince, saving
me from the bad guys. Then, exhausted, I collapsed onto my bed and
fell into a deep sleep, full of shadows and dancing and Kunzite…
