The girls had gone back to one of Star's friends', houses but in the morning, the girl's mother no longer saw Star as a good influence on her daughter and had asked her to leave. Star hadn't been in Santa Carla long and other than her friend, she knew no one in this town nor had she gotten a job yet. She sat on a park bench along Main Beach and watched the sun go down, clutching her small duffel bag which contained everything the girl owned. She'd been sitting there for an hour and a half already and had no intention of going anywhere anytime soon, not that she had anywhere to go anyways. She knew she was going to have to try and find a job within the next day or so, but she'd stolen enough money off her step dad before she'd bailed to get her through. The surfers were coming in off the waves with their boards now that the sun was just an afterthought on the horizon and the temperature had dropped, but not by much. She decided she wanted a hot drink, so she walked down towards the Boardwalk but as she passed a bar, her desire for a hot drink was replaced with one for an alcoholic one so she walked in. There were more people in there than she'd expected but she hoped that would distract the bartender to the fact that she was 4 years underage to be served. She made her way up to the bar and her nerves began to make her hands tremble when it was her turn to order a drink.
'What can I get you?'
'Oh, um, can I have a vodka tonic?'
'Sure, as soon as I see some ID.' Her initial elation dropped, and she turned and slowly made her way towards the door when a waiter called out after her.
'Hey!' She turned to see a man motioning to her and she looked around, unsure he meant her. 'Yeah, you! Here.' He handed her a drink.
'For me?' She asked confused.
'Yeah, from...' The waiter looked around. 'Ah, one of the guys over there.' He pointed in a vague direction and she followed his finger but couldn't see anyone she recognised. 'Oh wait, they're over there, walking out.' She looked over at the guys near the door and she just about fell over, it was the guys from last night who had just bought her a drink. Her heart began thumping in her throat, other than the whole living situation, she hadn't been able to get him out of her head, the leader, and here she walks into a random bar and he secretly buys her a drink then walks out without saying a word. She couldn't help but smile at the gesture and feel a little excited at the indirect attention being paid to her by such men. She happily sipped on her vodka and talked mindless chatter to the random men who approached her and after spending longer than she'd anticipated in the busy bar, she exited out onto the street, looking forward to hopefully running into the men again, when she suddenly remembered she had nowhere to go for the night. That realisation put a dampener on her happy buzz and she began to look at the stores along the pier and contemplate where she would maybe be able to get a job. She walked in and out of the many tourist stores and entertainment places and she aimlessly wandered into the local video store and began looking at the shelves, not that she had anything to watch a video on or anywhere to watch one. The girl behind the counter smiled at her but didn't ask if she wanted anything and Star figured it was because she could see she was a lost cause, so she just smiled back and left. It was late and there were less people out on the Boardwalk or on the streets now, and no sign of the boys she was subconsciously, or consciously, looking for. She had enough money to be able to get a bed at Santa Carla's seediest motel for a few nights but that was about it, at least that would afford her a shower, and it was Friday tomorrow so there would be more of a chance in getting a job, or at least an interview.
She paid the $30 for the room and upon walking in, she felt like she'd been ripped off. There was dirty torn carpet beneath her feet, light green paint on the walls which was peeling and made her feel like she was staying in an institution, and the bedspread had holes in it. She gingerly peered into the bathroom and found it was cleaner than she was expecting but it was still gross. It was late, and she was tired, so she sat on the end of the bed and took her shoes off, but she really wasn't keen on getting under those covers, fearing what may have been left there from the previous occupants. She put on her thin oversized jumper and she lay on top of the bed, but as soon as she lay down, she found it smelled funny. She grabbed one of her singlets out of her bag, placed it over her pillow and lay her head on that and that made it a little better. She fell asleep quickly but didn't sleep well or for long, she had strange dreams and she kept waking up to the voices of the girls soliciting their tricks outside. Then at about 2:30am, one of the girls' pimps began going off, screaming and yelling that she owed him money, and Star lay there and began to think about where she wanted to work, but as hard as she tried, she couldn't get the bikers out of her head, especially the one who'd kissed her. She'd never met anyone with such a powerful persona before, yet he hadn't said a single word to her. Flashing red and blues could be seen through her thin ratty curtains and she rolled onto her side away from the commotion going on outside, it sounded like the girl's pimp was going to spend the rest of the night in jail, which wouldn't be long, she figured it must be about 4am by now. She began to think about what she was actually going to say to these men, when she finally had the chance, she would thank them for the drink but then what? She decided she didn't care, she would try saying anything to get him to kiss her again, to feel his cold lips against hers and to have him look at her the way he did the night before. She had never felt like this over any other boy, no man because he was definitely a man, before let alone a complete stranger. She began to think about what she would wear tomorrow in case she ran into him again and that she needed to buy something new, which then brought her back to needing a job. She decided she'd definitely land herself one tomorrow and get herself sorted, so she could stay in Santa Carla longer and see more of these men, a lot more. She realised the Police lights had gone and it was quiet again and she yawned, curled up and went to sleep.