Chapter 1: Night Out
"Whew! We can finally leave this place, and it's Saturday tomorrow! Do you have anything to do tonight, Gath?"
I was doing my eyebrows when one of my bestfriends suddenly sprung on me from my back.
Her name is Beatrice, and we have been like real sisters since grade school. We have this sort of girl group in our social circle. There are four of us, but the other two are a year ahead of us and they study in another school. Beatrice and I are classmates so most of my leasure time is spent with her and my other bestfriends.
"Nope, I think I'll just go home and sleep. Maybe watch some movies online." I answered, looking at her through the small mirror in my hand.
"C'mon Agatha, we have been tortured for the whole week with exams and more exams. We deserve to be rewarded." Beatrice said as she combed my hair with her fingers.
"Well Bea, Do you have anything in mind?" I asked. I saw the suspenseful smile crept on her lips as i said it. It's like she have everything planned already.
"Glad you asked. You see, Erica was invited by her boyfriend to attend this party tonight. She even sent you a message. But knowing you, it would take a whole month before you actually check your email. So, i am here." Beatrice said as she danced around me and finally sat on my table.
"Tonight? But we are still in our school uniform. And it's almost 4PM already." I said, checking my watch.
"It's okey, girl. I knew you would say Yes so I already prepared the dress the we will be wearing in my car."
"But I didn't say yes, yet." I said, frowning on her.
"Are you going to say No?" Beatrice stood up and held both of my hands. She made a puppy eyes and made her voice sad as if she was about to cry.
"Ha Ha Ha. Okey, Okey. I will go with you. But my i don't have my car with me yet, so you will have to bring me back home yourself after the party." I said while laughing.
"That's a Deal!" She said and pulled out up her phone from her bag.
I couldn't help but let out a small laugh at her gesture. We have been to so many parties together and Beatrice is good at setting things up, like what dress to wear and what things to bring. I just let her made some calls as i clean up my desk.
"What is this party we are going to attend anyway? Someone's birthday or wedding?" I asked.
"Erica said that it's a fund raising event for an orphanage. I'm not sure yet, but we will soon find out when we get there." She answered in an excited voice.
"Hmmmm, It's a halloween themed party at Erica's school. Oh, and there's also a concert." I said as I finally read the message sent to me by Erica.
"Yep! That's why we need to be on our most stunning looks later. Who knows, maybe it's tonight that i will finally meet the one guy for me." Beatrice said and brust out laughing to herself.
"Yeah. Maybe, who knows. You have been looking for 'The Guy' for quiet a long time now." I answered and laughed with her.
Beatrice was like that. Always the dreamy girl. She believe in fairies and unicorns and love and all things beautiful. A total opposite of me. I believe in logic and science. If science can't explain it, then it doesn't exist.
It didn't take long until we left our classroom. It was friday afternoon, the last school day of the week and most of the students on our building had already left. Aside from the few teachers passing by and some cleaners, our building was almostly empty. Beatrice and I had a long talk about the details of the event that we were going to attend to that it was almost dark when we finally reached the parking area where her car was located.
I have my own car that I use when I go to school but it fell victim to a prank last week when I used it for a gig. My bestfriends painted my whole car pink, inside and out. Even the tires were not spared. I was with my bestfriends then and we ended up spending the whole night on that gig. It was just an all girls party but my car was the casualty. That's what bestfriends are for, they said. Now my car was under repair and repaint. Of course, my bestfriends shouldered all the expenses.
"Have you uploaded your vlog about our last week's gig?" I asked Beatrice as I took the passenger side seat beside her.
"Yes, of course. I had it posted for almost three days now. You haven't watched it yet?" She answered and made a pout.
"Oh, I'm sorry, really. You know that losing my car really stressed me out so I just focused my time studying and doing research." I answered, trying to make her feel guilty.
"You should take a look at it, We had amazing shots on the view. We were gorgeous."
"Yeah, Okey. I'll take a peek now." I said and pulled out my phone.
Last weeks gig was about an opening of a famous flower garden-slash-park. It was a nice place to go specially for couples. It was owned by Amanda's parents, our other bestfriend.
"When are you going to do another vlog? It's been like a whole month since your last."
"You know I'm not really a big fan of taking a video of myself giggling on everything." I answered while watching her vlog online.
"Ouch! That's offensive, Gath!"
"I mean, You can videotape me all you want, but you know that my vlog channel is really not about girly stuff." I answered matter of factly.
"Yeah, yeah. We all know that. Only the things that makes you curious and scared are worthy of that camera of yours. You will not find a boyfriend like that, you know." Beatrice said with a soft giggle.
I just smiled to myself and didn't answer her. Beatrice like to videotape flowers, sunsets and beaches. And she is happy doing that. As close as sisters we might be, I don't really find it very thrilling. All i record are about something mysterious. I like to visit haunted and scary places and tell a story about it.
"Well, this is a halloween themed party we are going to attend to. Is that worthy enough?" She asked.
"Ha ha ha. Are we going to put werewolf and vampire masks on? If you can dress yourself as a banshee, I might just turn on my camera for you." I answered her and laughed.
"You want me to dress like that? No thank you. We have costumes for the party, but we will still look like princesses there."
We spent our time in the traffic talking and laughing about random things. It took us another half an hour before we finally reached our distenation, Erica's school.
Erica and Amanda are from the same school. We all met in a convention about two years ago, and since then, the four of us have been best of friends.
Amanda met us on the school parking lot and guided us through her school building.
"I'm so glad that you were not stuck on traffic. C'mon let's change outfits here." Amanda said as we reached her classroom.
"You look so beautiful in that dress. What are you supposed to be? A witch?" Beatrice asked while admiring Amanda's dress.
"I am a dark witch." Amanda said and turned her body a few times for us to admire. She wore a long robe-dress with glitters all over. She have a cone shaped hat with flowers on the side.
"You're such an enchantress." I said, complimenting her.
"Thank you, Gath. C'mon, both of you, I will help you dress up. Erica is with her boyfriend so she will arrive a bit later."
I had already fixed my face and hair on Bea's car so it didn't take a long time for me to make myself presentable with the outfit.
"Wow, Agatha. You are really the prettiest." I heard Beatrice sighed as I put my finishing touches on myself.
"We are all pretty." I said, also admiring her look.
"So, will there be a dance later? I really want to meet some new guys here. I hear that your school have a lot of hotties."
Amanda let out a laugh hearing Bea's words. Amanda is like a big sister to us, she always support us to whatever makes us happy.
"Let's just take some pictures of us and lets lets head out." She said, smiling to us.
The actual party was located in a rather large hall with high ceilings. We were greeted by loud music and noisy crowd, cheering and dancing. We settled to a table prepared for us and we met Erica there with her boyfriend.
It did not take long for each of us to be absorbed on the event. We danced and laughed, and we enjoyed the food. We all wore a masks so my usual shyness to strangers quickly vanished. We met few new people and enjoyed their company.
"Hey, I think I need to go to the restroom." I shouted to Amanda, afraid that my voice will be drowned by the loud music.
"Okey, I will take you there." She answered.
"No, don't bother yourself, just tell me the direction and i will find it myself."
"Are you sure? You will not get lost, won't you?"
"Of course not." I said, and made a thumbs up sign.
Amanda made a brief directions before I stepped out. The loud music was starting to hurt my ears.
The moon outside was shinning a bit too bright and most of the school buildings were still lit up so it didn't take me long to reach my destination. I did a quick retouch on my face and just stood there for a while, in front of the restroom mirror.
"Time to go back." I whispered to myself and started heading back.
I was walking on the grass when I caught a glimpse of four men, standing by a tree not far away from me. They started to walk towards me from my left.
I am well versed in self defence but I still felt goosebumps on my skin. I tried to walk faster.
"Hey! lady, are you lost? You're not from our school, are you?" I heard someone said.
I just ignored them and sped up my steps. The dance hall was not to far away and there are people walking around. I was not really worried that something bad might happen to me, I just don't want to be bothered and I want to get back to my friends.
"Look, she's playing the hard-to-get card."
"Hey, wait up." I heard another one said, their voices were getting nearer to me. I can finally hear their footsteps right behind me. I can smell alcohol, mixed with their strong perfumes.
I was starting to panic at that time. I want to run but my dress was too long, It's almost touching my toes.
I was holding tightly on my purse when I saw someone walking towards me with a phone in his hands. He was clearly oblivious to the whole situation.
I quickly grabbed him and wrapped my hands around his arms.
"Babe, where have you been. I was getting lost already." I hurriedly said, loud enough for everyone around to hear me.
"Huh? Pardon?" The man was clearly confused. His surprise was so clear in his face that he almost dropped his phone to the ground.
"Let's go, Babe. I'm hungry already." I tugged at his arms, my eyes pleading.
Please read between the lines. This is an overused cliché, surely this man will get the hint. My knees are shaking on embarrassment and fear. What did I just get myself into?
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