I can remember how it started like it was yesterday. It started one seemingly normal night that would turn my world upside down.
I was scoping out the scene in one of my favorite night spots as I stirred my drink. The fake ID I'd made myself in the chemistry lab was close to perfect, so no one hardly gave it a glance. The bartender tonight was one of the regulars who knew me by name and slid me my usual jack and coke before I even ordered it. I gratefully slid him an extra couple bucks and a nod to keep them coming as I made my way to the best spot in the club. I leaned against the wall in a spot equal distance from the bar and the dance floor, where I was able to get a decent view of everything despite my short height. I drank in the smell of tobacco, alcohol, and sweat as I looked around for that release, that little bit of fun that I so desperately craved. I wanted it now. I scanned the room, noticing plenty of guys I'd already had the pleasure of meeting, avoiding several girls who stared me down, and even picking up on a few different people I'd never remembered seeing. As I considered my options, I flicked an ice cube from my drink into my mouth, making sure to suck out every last bit of alcohol before crushing it in between my teeth.
I was perfect all day, the perfect student, the perfect teenager, the perfect daughter, so at night I liked to let go. The second my parents' heads hit the pillow, I would sneak out. The next morning, I would be in my bed, smelling faintly of the night before with blood shot eyes and a request for as many aspirin as I could get, which my parents attributed to staying up all night studying. It probably seems warped, but my parents and I actually had a pretty decent relationship, the secret of my nights being the only thing that distanced us. I almost laughed, wondering what they would think of their precious Katherine if they could see me now.
I set my mind back on the club, about to push off from the wall and join the crowd on the dance floor, hoping I'd found someone there to brush against, when suddenly my eyes caught another. He was tall and kind of thin with shaggy brown hair and a look that said who gives a crap, but he was also staring right back at me, his eyes piercing mine. I sized him up quickly, deciding he would most definitely do and started making my way towards him. I was about half way across the dance floor when two large beefy arms came around me.
"Well, well. If it isn't my favorite little pussy cat," I looked up to see a burly looking guy I recognized all too well. He was a football player from my high school that I occasionally met up with at night, but come daylight he wouldn't give me the time of day. I was okay with this arrangement, seeing as I didn't exactly want to acknowledge our time together either. I turned around to face him and tilted my head, seriously considering just leaving with him for a moment, and forced a smile even as he crushed my body to his.
"Hey, Ross. Uh, not tonight," I pushed off his chest.
"But I caught you," he sneered, wrapping his hands around my wrists. "So let's go."
"Another time," I yanked out of his grip. Before he could do anything, I casually bumped my hip into a couple dancing next to us, causing them to stumble into the couple behind Ross whose drinks splashed straight into his hair. I giggled to myself as I backed away leaving Ross to sort out the situation with the couples on the floor. I was feeling pretty cocky, but then I backed into something solid.
"Not bad," I whirled to find the guy I had been heading towards standing there. Being so close to him, I realized two things: he was a lot taller than I originally thought, and what I had mistaken as lanky was lean and trim.
"Excuse me?" I tried my best to sound offended as his eyes slowly traveled up and down my body. I felt a surge of electricity under his gaze. If he could cause that with just a look, I couldn't help but wonder what he could do with his hands.
"You managed to cause quite the little scene and still get away," he pointed over my shoulder and I followed it to see that Ross was now in a brawl with two other guys on the dance floor.
"I was just trying to…" I started suddenly feeling a little bad about what I had caused. I had just wanted to get away from Ross, I didn't want to get anyone else involved.
"Yeah, some guys don't like the word no," he chuckled, his gaze momentarily watching the fight with a hint of pleasure before turning back to me. "Maybe a girl like you would be better off tucked safely away in your bed."
"Are you offering?" I leaned in and tried to lower my voice to sound enticing. He really was quite good looking, so much so that I was questioning why I had never seen him around before.
"I'm just suggesting you stay away from places like these with guys like that. A little girl such as yourself isn't safe around here," he backed up a step, putting distance between us.
"I'm not a little girl and as you can see, I can take care of myself," I narrowed my eyes and let my hands rest on my hips. I couldn't believe that I was practically throwing myself at him and he was acting like I was some five year old. No matter how hot he was, he had just talked himself out of being with me tonight.
"Hey, I'm being kicked out. Let's go," Ross lumbered over and put his hand on my shoulder. Oh great, now I had him to deal with as well.
"She already turned you down. Take a hint," the stranger answered before I could say anything. I was just about to tell Ross to buzz off and this guy that I could fight my own battles when Ross stepped in between us.
"Mind your own business," Ross answered, his grasp on me tightening.
"Why don't you both get a clue," I snapped and shook off Ross's grip, starting to walk away.
"I said let's go," a meaty hand came around my arm. I struggled to get free, but Ross wasn't giving up. He managed to take the drink out of my hand, set it down, and still keep a good grip on me. Then the earth began to shake and I stumbled back, Ross's hand suddenly gone. I was about to slam straight into the wall when…
"What the…?" I looked around and found that I was standing in an alley outside of the club. I looked at my hands, then the wall, then back at me. I stood still, too freaked out to move, but then I heard some voices by the door and recognized them as belonging to Ross and the other guy I had just gotten away from. Thanking my lucky stars, I bolted down the alley, turned the corner, and raced past the club entrance.
"Hey!" the stranger yelled after me. I think I heard Ross yell after me too, but by that point I had made my way past them and far down the street. I'm not the most athletic girl, so I was happily surprised that they hadn't caught up to me by the time I made it to the bus stop. As I waited for the bus to come get me, I slumped against the bench and tried to remember exactly what had happened between the quakes and finding that I was outside. I hadn't had much to drink, not even finishing that first one, so I knew I didn't black out and stumble down the alley drunk. But how had I gone from being in the club one minute to being outside the next? The door was all the way across the dance floor, and with so many people there I would have had a hard time making it out all that fast. As the bus pulled up, I tried to shake it off, deciding that the quakes had shaken me to the point that I had blocked out whatever had happened before I was standing in the alley. I curled up in a bus seat close to the front and tried to focus on anything but what had happened just minutes earlier. I was frustrated and scared, but luckily I was so exhausted, that by the time I snuck back in the house and cleaned up for bed, when my head hit the pillow I was out.