I wasted no time leaving after tonight's awkward incident. Not only did Gaz now know my deepest darkest secret but she was probably going to tell Dib. I wasn't ready for him to discover my true feelings for him just yet especially like this and now the relationship between his sister and I was about to become even weirder and more uncomfortable than before. I couldn't help but dread my next encounter with both of them.
I was about to call my mom to see if she could give me a lift home but then I remembered that she would most likely be asleep at 1am so I decided to head back on foot in spite of my chances of running into Zim. Of course I would have felt a lot safer if I was armed with a water gun. Or even a bucket of Jello. The streets were as eerily silent as before when Dib and I first walked to his house together. Looking back on that moment, it turned out to be a very pleasant experience. Now that I was out by myself tonight, I just felt uneasy.
Pulling my scarf tightly around my neck, I quickened my pace to a power stride. The sooner I arrived home and was free from the cold, the better. Suddenly there came a soft rustling from some nearby bushes. With a gasp, I came to an abrupt halt, eyeing them cautiously from afar. I waited for any further signs of life. The rustling came again and finally a small dark shape sprang into view and I breathed a sigh of relief as a black cat darted in front of me, stopping at the edge of the sidewalk. "Hi kitty," I whispered as I kneeled down towards it. "What are you doing out here so late? You should be home curled up in front of a nice warm fireplace not wandering around out in the cold like me." The cat turned its head in a strangely almost mechanical like way. It blinked its large glowing red eyes at me curiously before turning to dash into an alley way. I suddenly felt the strangest inclination to follow it. Into the darkened alley, I went, carefully stepping over piles of old newspapers and turned trashcans until I reached a dead end. The cat stood at the graffiti covered brick wall, arching its back defensively as its mouth opened in an angry hiss and uttered several deep guttural growls.
"It's okay, kitty," I soothed. "I'm not going to hurt you." "MiMi," a disembodied female voice suddenly said. "It isn't polite to hiss at strangers." I watched in surprise as the cat leapt into the arms of a tall slender girl who suddenly stepped out from the shadows. She had dark blue hair in which she wore in a bob cut and was dressed in a tailcoat style dress of blue and purple stripes and steel toed cyber goth boots. Dotted beneath her left eye was a little black beauty mark. Her heavily gray shadowed eyes narrowed questioningly at me as a slight bitter half smile played across her lips. "Uh sorry," I said awkwardly. "I didn't mean to traumatize your cat. I just saw her roaming the streets without a collar and thought she might have been a stray." Her gaze was so sharp and intimidating that I eventually had to look away."Oh she'll be fine," the girl finally said, waving a dismissive hand at me.
"She's quite the independent creature. However, I can't thank you enough for caring for her safety." There was a slight accent in her voice that sounded almost British. "Name's Tak by the way," She extended a pale hand and I nearly jumped when I grasped it. It was as though electrical currents of ice were coursing deep within her very being, shocking me on contact and nearly sending me into bouts of seizures. Normally, I would have blamed this sort of thing on the freezing night air but I could have sworn I had been fine up until I came in contact with this strange girl. "I-I'm Wendy," I said, still trying to shake the uncomfortable sensation from my bones. "Wendy Carlson." The girl called Tak gave a sweet smile that was mixed with undertones of tartness as she said like a disapproving mother, "So what are you doing gallivanting the streets at this time of night by yourself, sweetie?" "Well, I wasn't exactly gallivanting," I said. "I was just...walking home from a friend's house. And what's your excuse?" She shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh I simply left my dorm in search of that darned cat of mine. She simply dreads being cooped up too long while I'm away at classes."
"So you're in college?" I asked surprised. "Mm hmm," Tak nodded. "Just transferred to university here. I only arrived in the city about two days ago." "Really? From where?"
"Devastis." I gave her an odd look."Where?" "Erm, I mean Davenport. Davenport, England." "I figured you had to be somewhere from the U.K. Are you an exchange student?" "Yes," she said, glancing off to the side then back to me again. "Something like that."
"Oh...that's cool," I paused for a moment before breaking the awkward silence between us. "Well, I'm glad you found your cat but I better get going. Nice meeting you uh, Tak." I spun on my heel and started to leave. "Hold up, dearie," Tak's voice suddenly stopped me in my tracks and I turned towards her once more. "I'm supposed to attend a group meeting with fellow students to work on an assignment but because I'm new I haven't really gotten the chance to become acquainted with anyone yet. Since you're the first person to have formally introduced yourself ever so kindly, I wondered if you would care to join me?"
"I don't know, Tak," I said. "It's a school night for me. I'm still in high school. Besides isn't it a little late to be working on class work right now?" "It is but these students apparently prefer to procrastinate up until the last minute so it appears we will have to pull an all nighter for this one. Of course you won't have to stay that long. What do you say?" I hesitated as I debated on the idea with myself. There was always the risk that my mom would find out that I had been out most of the night and possibly ground me for exceeding my ten o'clock curfew. Then again I had already exceeded it since I stayed at Dib's until midnight and since she usually goes to bed around nine she would have no way of knowing I was out this late if I quietly snuck in. This was also a good opportunity to make a new girl friend, considering the fact that most of the girls at school hadn't taken too kindly to me since my arrival and I really doubted that Gaz and I were going to become BFF's any time soon. In the end, I realized that when it came to moving to a new city where you don't know anybody and feel alienated that Tak and I were pretty much in the same boat so I decided that since she's already opening up to me that maybe I should give her a chance.
"Well, okay. But I need to be home by at least two." "That will do," Tak smiled. "I'm sure one of them
can give you a lift there when you're ready. Come on. We shouldn't keep them waiting much longer as they will grow quite uppity with me."
Tak linked her arm with mine as we made our way out of the alley and MiMi sat perched on top of her shoulder where she continued looking daggers at me the whole way.
"A night club?" I asked when we finally reached our destination. "Hardly a quiet place to study. Don't you think?" "Oh you know how college life is," Tak replied. "Nothing more than one big party, which is why they've all chosen to congregate here rather than the peaceful campus library or even a nice little cafe'." "Point made," I agreed. "I guess everyone figures that it equals a quiet night just because they're here during a week night." "Exactly." We approached the open double door entrance where there blared the distorted bass of some dubstep tune. A bald, burly six foot tall bouncer who was built like a professional wrestler blocked our path. "ID ladies?" he demanded. "Uh sure," I said as I began to gingerly dig through my book bag.
"Just give me a sec." Tak on the other hand ignored the man and proceeded to step around him in attempt to quickly duck inside. "Hey!" he barked, seizing her by the arm. "Nobody is allowed in without showing me some ID! Do I make myself clear?" Tak turned as she glared up at the man with venom in her eyes.
There was suddenly a strange shift that played over them before she commanded, "You will release me and you will let us pass at once! Do I make myself clear?" To my surprise, the bouncer obediently loosened his grip on her arm and said, "Yes, I'm sorry miss. You and your friend may go right in."
Tak's mouth curled into a dangerous smile. "That's better," She continued her way inside while I stood back looking dumbfounded from her to the trance stricken bouncer.
When she saw that I had not followed her in, she turned back towards me and asked impatiently, "Are you coming?" I nodded quickly before hurrying in after her.
"What was that?" I yelled over the loud music. "What was what?" Tak asked innocently. "You know! What you did to that bouncer out there?" "Oh that was just a little hypnotism trick. I learned it in psych class." "You mean they actually teach you those kinds of things?" I asked in disbelief "Of course!" Tak replied almost defensively. "What good would it do to major in psychology if one doesn't learn how to successfully manipulate and alter a patient's mind?" "But don't you think you're abusing it just a little too much?" Tak rolled her eyes. "Wendy dear, your petty concerns are beginning to bore me. I'm simply here to take care of a little business and I would appreciate it if I could finish these things quickly without any further interferences." "Okay, sorry." I said, taken aback by her sudden change of attitude.
Her features softened slightly as she breathed a relenting sigh. "No sweetheart, I'm the one who should be sorry. In spite of your busy schedule, you have taken the time to be here for me and here I am snapping at you as a result of my own hectic college life. I suppose the stress of earning my degree is finally beginning to bottle at the neck."
"It must be really tough." I said sympathetically. "Be grateful you don't have this awful pressure on you Wendy." "Believe me," I conceded. "High school has all of its own pressures so be grateful you don't have to deal with that anymore." "I suppose you're right," Tak draped an arm around my shoulder as we wandered further into the club. "I like you, Wendy and even though we've just met, I would like to say that I most definitely see you as becoming very useful to me, you know as a potential friend."
I gave her an appreciative smile. "Thanks Tak. You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that because you see, I'm new in this city myself and haven't made many friends so far. So I'm definitely looking forward to hanging out with you more as well."
We ascended a spiral staircase that led to the second floor. Under the dancing strobe lights, Tak's smile was a mixture of dark and sweet. "Likewise."