Malefactor [H.S.]

17

"What year were you born?"

"99," I say confidently. When the tall man dressed in all black just stares down at me, I quickly clarify, "1999."

He continues to say nothing, looking down at the fake ID clutched in his hand that supposedly belongs to me. I stare right back up, pursing my lips into a pout. A few feet behind him, already standing ready to head into the bar, Niall and Riley stare at me impatiently.

"Come on," Niall groans. "What more do you want? Should we bring her birth certificate next time?"

The bouncer ignores him, glancing at the fake ID one more time before handing it back to me. He says nothing, merely waving me through with his hand. I bite back a grin as I scurry past him and over to my two friends, worried that if I wait another second, he'll change his mind and have me arrested for possessing a fake ID.

Isn't it funny how the fear of being arrested has become a normal occurrence in my life lately?

"God, that took forever," Riley says, looping her arm into mine as she guides us into the bar. Niall appears on my other side, throwing his arm over my shoulder. "I thought for sure he was gonna call us out on our bullshit. Maybe we should get you a better fake."

"There's no point," I dismiss her. "My birthday is in less than two months and then I'll have a real one. I'm not wasting the money."

"He knew it was fake," Niall chimes in. "There's no way he didn't. He barely looked at mine and Riley's."

"No, he didn't. Why would he risk losing his job and letting me in if he thought I was underage?"

"Um, because you're hot. Don't you know that's the whole business model or whatever for places like these?" Riley says. "If they don't let hot people populate it, no one's gonna stay."

"That's not true," I frown even though I kind of believe her.

"Yes, it is!" she exclaims, leaning forward to see around me and look at Niall. "Tell me you know what I'm talking about."

He nods along knowingly. "She's right. Some places will even hire people to stand around and drink just because they're hot."

"Damn, I should've done that instead of waitressing," she says, making Niall and I laugh.

We head over to an empty bar-style tabletop, Niall and Riley releasing me to go sit next to each other on one side. I plop down on the other, adjusting my belt to keep it from digging into my skin. Niall scans the barcode to access the menu on his phone, holding it out slightly as he and Riley search through to figure out what they want. After quietly chatting about it to one another, Riley looks up and eyes me.

"Did you already look?"

I shake my head. "Just get me whatever you're drinking, I don't really care. And some fries, too, please."

She nods, Niall moving off the stool and taking a step back. He goes to grab Riley's hand but she stops him, looking at me with concern etched on her face.

"Are you sure you're okay? I can stay here with you while Niall orders," she offers. Niall's eyebrows push together before something else visibly flashes across his face, suddenly remembering what she's talking about.

"I'm fine," I wave her off. "You guys are right there and it'll only be a few minutes."

She nods, shooting me a soft smile before she's letting Niall guide her away. Even as they reach the bar and wait to catch the attention of a bartender, she's looking back over at me. I wave, giving her a thumbs up in reassurance.

Niall and I may have accidentally taken it too far when lying to Riley about what happened last night.

"What are we gonna tell her?" he asks, his voice low even though we're still outside and there's no one around that shouldn't hear our conversation. He takes in my tear-soaked face, the black streaks running down my cheeks that wouldn't come off no matter how much spit I rubbed on them with my finger. If anything, trying to rub it off just made everything worse. Now it's even more smudged and my already-red skin looks extremely irritated.