I was standing at the corner where Ted was supposed to pick me up, nothing but one lonely streetlight above me, when I heard Daphne say "hey" behind me.

"Jesus," I said, putting my hand on my chest. "You scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry," Daphne said with a smile. "What are you doing out here standing in the dark? I glanced out my bedroom window and saw you."

Shit.

"Uh..." I said as I searched for something to say.

Why else would I be standing outside when it's 40 degrees out, in the dark?

"I'm waiting for a ride."

"From who?"

"Whom," I corrected.

She rolled her eyes. "Where are you going and why didn't you tell me that you had plans tonight?"

"I don't have to tell you everything, Daph," I practically growled at her.

She took a step back, an offended glare on her face. "Since when? You've always told me everything... what's going on?"

It was at that moment that Ted pulled up to the curb, Emmett riding shotgun. Music was pouring out of the sound system, a song that I recognized from the part in Pretty Woman when they go to the opera.*

"Hey, Cutie Patootie!" Emmett said as he got out of the car. "You look absolutely scrumptious."

He lifted my chin and gave me a loud kiss on my lips.

"Uh, hello," Daphne said, getting Emmett's attention.

"And who is this pretty little thing?" Emmett asked, a big smile on his face.

"This is my best friend, Daphne," I answered, pushing Emmett towards the car.

"Well hello, Miss Daphne," Emmett drawled, reaching his hand out to her. "It's a true pleasure to meet such a beautiful young lady. Emmett Honeycutt, at your service!"

Daphne slowly took Emmett's hand, mystified by the tall, flamboyant creature clad in a lime green velvet coat standing in front of her.

"Hello," she repeated, at a loss for words.

"Can we get going, please?" Ted grumbled from inside the car. "I wanted to get dinner before having to drive clear across town to pick the kid up, but noooo, somebody had to take two fucking hours to get ready..."

"That's Teddy," Emmett informed Daphne before folding down the passenger seat in order for me to get into the back of the car. "He's usually a sweetheart, but he's very hangry at the moment."

"Cover for me, Daph?" I asked as Emmett and I took our seats.

"Uh..." Daphne said, still reeling from her exchange with the lime green queen.

Ted zoomed away from the curb before Daphne was able to answer me.   

********************

Emmett and I were dancing together to "This Is Your Night**" at Babylon a couple hours later when Emmett sing-songed in my ear, "Somebody's watching you... look over your left shoulder."

I turned and looked up at the second level balcony. Brian was wearing a red button-up shirt (probably my favorite color on him) and holding a beer. His eyes were burning into me, a hard look on his devastatingly handsome face. I gave him a little wave and he turned away to talk to the man standing next to him.

"I thought he said he was cool with you coming here?" Emmett said, obviously catching Brian's death glare.

"He did. Maybe seeing you and me together is making him jealous."

Yeah, right...

Emmett chuckled. "I couldn't imagine having a teacher who was okay with me going to a gay club... especially one that was gay and owned said gay club. Hell, I certainly never had a teacher who looked half as hot as Brian."

"Yeah, lucky me," I mumbled.

I excused myself to go to the bathroom after the song was over. While I was waiting in line to take a piss, I saw what I safely guessed was a drag queen who was dressed up like Charo. She was standing beside one of the sinks, a pink plastic Caboodle case on the counter next to her.

Recalling the conversation I had with Brian the night before about the various dealers around the club, I walked over to her and cleared my throat.

"Excuse me, uh, ma'am, but are you Anita?"

She smiled at me, revealing a set of less than healthy teeth. "That would be me, querido," she crooned in an exaggerated Spanish accent.

I got closer to her and asked just above a whisper, "And, is it true that you sell drugs?"

Anita stepped away from me. "What are you, a fucking cop?" she asked, her voice dropping a few octaves and the accent completely gone.

"No!" I said, panicking slightly. "I'm only seventeen."

Smooth, Justin... smooth.

"I... I'm just..." I stammered. "I'm just trying to-"

Anita put a hand on my arm and gave me a light squeeze. "Relax, querido," she said, her Charo voice back on. "This is your first time, I'm guessing?"

I nodded.

"Well, what are you looking to try?"

I really should have thought this through...

"Uh... I don't know," I replied sadly.

She began to get a bit impatient. "How much money do you have?"

I had about $50 in cash on me but I did not want to spend too much. "Not a whole lot."

Anita sighed dramatically as she opened up her Caboodle and started rummaging around. "If you want to start off slow, I have some weak shit for five dollars a hit. I have the good shit for ten. Make you feel muy, muy bueno. The really good shit may be too rich for your blood; not for beginners."

"And what's the ‘good shit?'" I asked.

"Ecstasy. Takes about twenty minutes to kick in, then you'll dance your sexy little ass off all night."

That sounded like exactly what I needed because I was feeling como una mierda at that moment. "I'll take one of those then, please."

I pulled out my wallet and handed her a ten. She put the bill in her bra and gave me a tiny little zip lock baggie that held one round yellow pill with a smiley face stamped on it.

"Swallow it whole, don't chew. Tastes como la muerte," she advised. "Enjoy, querido."

********************

About forty-five minutes later, I was dancing with a hot guy that smelled like a dirty foot but I didn't give a flying pig's ass. I was feeling absolutely... fucking... great. I had lost my brand new shirt two or three songs earlier. The silver confetti falling from the ceiling was sticking to my sweaty skin, effectively turning me into a sparkling disco ball.

Dirty foot guy was grinding his hard cock into my lower belly as he cupped my ass with both hands but I hardly even noticed. What I did notice was that the strobe light, which had been flickering at a steady rate earlier in the evening, was now flickering along with the rhythm of the lyrics that were being sung... something about welcoming you to the female singer's filthy mind.***

"Wow..." I said as I looked around in amazement. "That is so... cool."

Become a recluse, enjoy the abuse/It's better to just get high

"Fuck yeah, it is!" I screamed before whooping like I was a cheerleader at a football game.

Dirty Foot cheered along with me before covering my wide open mouth with his, making me believe for a second that he was attempting to resuscitate me. Since I was pretty sure I was still breathing, because I was still able to smell him, I assumed that he was actually trying to kiss me. His breath didn't smell much better than the rest of him did, but I found myself eagerly kissing him back, because... kissing.

Dirty Foot and I sloppily made out for the next two hours... or until the "Filthy Mind" song was over, however long that was.

"Holy fuck, I'm really thirsty!" I yelled when I was able to come up for air. Without even saying "smell you later" to Dirty Foot, I began to make my way over to the bar.

There was a sea of people waiting to be served but I shoved and wriggled my way past all of them.

"Hey!" I yelled at one of the bartenders. "I need some water!"

No one seemed to be paying any attention to me, so I smacked my right hand on the bar several times to rouse them.

Ooh... my hand felt like putty and fireworks. I was looking at my hand as if I had never seen it before when Ted came up on my right side.

"Hey, kid," he said.

"Look!" I told him, holding my hand out to him.

He inspected my hand for a moment and shook his head. "Are you okay?"

"I need some agua!" I answered.

Ted was obviously blowing one of the bartenders because he handed me a bottle of water soon after.

I cracked it open, threw the lid somewhere over my shoulder, and began chugging.

"Whoa," Ted said, pulling the bottle away from my lips. "You're going to drown if you're not careful."

Some of the cold water had spilled down my chin and chest and it felt awesome. I ran my free hand over my chest and giggled.

"What are you on?" Ted asked.

I looked at him to answer and tilted my head to the side when his eyes seemed to triple in size right in front of me.

Trippy, man... Charo didn't say anything about this.

"Uh... the good shit," I answered, not remembering the name at the moment.

"Oh, Jesus," Ted groaned. "Just what I need - to babysit Brian's rolling twink."

"I'm not Brian's twink!" I yelled, lurching myself forward and chest-bumping him, dropping my bottle in the process. "And I don't need a babysitter, you asshole!"

I turned on my heel to walk away and heard Ted yell to me, "Be careful, okay? The last thing I need is the king holding me responsible..."

His voice faded away as I stumbled back through the crowd. I wandered around aimlessly for who knows how long, the floor seeming to tilt under my feet and me with it as I marveled at all the colors and shapes around me. I could actually see the notes of the music drifting around in the air above the dance floor and each note was a different color that matched its tone. Some of the notes were sparkly and shrill. Others were muted and quiet. It was all so pretty... and really fucking weird.

I jumped when a pair of strong arms encircled me from behind. I smiled when I looked down and saw that the arms were covered in red sleeves rolled up two well-developed forearms. The right wrist had a cowry shell bracelet on it.

"Where're you going, little boy?" Brian's sexy, slightly raspy voice purred into my ear.

I leaned back and rested my head on his chest. "No place special," I purred back. "Why are you here?"

"I own this dump, remember?" he said, his warm breath feeling like fairies dancing across my cheek and ear. "Theodore summoned me, telling me that my inquisitive student has been shopping in the men's room."

I groaned loudly. "Fuck, what is he, the captain of the buzzkill police?"

Brian turned me around and I looked up at his gorgeous face, which seemed to be glowing as if he were an ethereal being from Heaven.

"Are you an angel?" I asked him.

He chuckled. "No, young Anakin Skywalker, I'm not."

"Oh, that movie fucking sucked," I said with a snorting cackle. 

"Yes, it did," he confirmed. "All five or six times I saw the damned thing."

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pulled him close. "We've never danced before."

Although a fast techno song was playing, we began swaying slowly back and forth. I closed my eyes and felt the two of us floating weightlessly.

"Mmm..." I crooned. "If an airplane suddenly crashed into the building, I would at least die happy."

Brian's laugh vibrated against my ear, sending chills throughout my body.

My body then decided that it was the perfect moment for my stomach to empty its contents all over Brian's sexy red shirt.