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Fil harru you Do not underestiirl that clearly wants nothing to do with hio all John Hinckley on you"

"As long as I have you to protect me, I'm not worried"

"Daht," Fil concurs

We get to The Blue Rooet in is wrapped around the building We walk to the front and hold out our invitations I feel so sophisticated as the large bouncer unhooks a velvet rope and lets us pass through

Our group is eclectic, that's for sure You have irl Fil the lesbian Tina and Tonya, twin sisters from Arkansas ere raised on a far city And finally, my chemistry lab partner, Kevin, who is on Coluht two of his teammates who I don't know very well, Sam and Breckan

Our friend who knows a friend whose father owns the place and got us the tickets, reserved two tables for us and we feel like movie stars We sit on an elevated deck above the dance floor and have our own personal waitress who caters to us all evening She never asks for our ID's even though we all have our fake ones prepared to deliver at any time

I don't even finish et pulled out onto the dance floor by Kevin Before too long, the rest of the gang is there and we are bu I hold my ar electric lights I feel so alive and thankful to have the freedoe that I realized I was a prisoner

After several dances, Ito take a break and she follows ns of slowing

We order more drinks and chat while atch the clubbers

"So, how did your job go this week?" Fil asks

She is the only person I told about my accident and my deal to work for Nix But I haven't told her much about him With two mixed drinks in my system, I feel like a Chatty Cathy all of a sudden

"He is about the eous man I've ever laid eyes on But he's so distant and he seee all the time I don't kno to communicate with him"

"Why? What's his childhood trauma?"

I shrug hanistan and he doesn't want to talk about it But he's so intriguing that I want to know more"

Fil twirls her fingertip around the edge of her drink glass I notice she has on black, sparkly nail polish but it's chipping around the edges

"Well, who says you need to communicate Just do your job and keep your head down"

I take that in and then say, "I suppose"

"Wait a minute," she exclai ready to go "You like him, don't you?"

"What?" I act affronted "No No way He's tootoohe's not someone I'd be interested in"

"Liar!" she yells out, pointing at me "Liar, liarpants on fire I see that look in your eyes You're s because she knows she's busted me

I smack her arm and she yelps "No I'm not And who uses the word "s, that's all"

"So do so about it"

I look at her skeptically "What do you mean?"

"I mean, dummy, make a move on him If you like him and you're interested, make a move"

I just stare at her That's preposterous I couldn't uy like that, much less one that radiates an arctic freeze when I'm around him

"I couldn't" I say, but I'm pretty sure I want her to push me to do it

"EmI love you like you're my own sister So please believe et your head out of your ass' You're always bitching andthat you want to be free That you want to try new things That you want to be adventurous This is your chance, girl"

Her words sort of puh it could be the alcohol "Really? Do you think I should?"

"Absolutely!"

I grin at her Coht try a little overt flirting with the elusive Mr Caldwell and see what comes of it

I slug down the last of ain

I' drunk after sla several shots and Kevin and his friends left about an hour ago to take her back to our apart out of her chair I hope there's not going to be a pile of voet home

Tina, Tonya and I were burning up the dance floor for quite a while, and then weus drinks, so we kept hanging out We'd all go dance, then co over an hour ago so I wouldn't end up sharing the toilet with Fil