BETA EYES [ENG]

1

Allison's POV

It was customary that at the end of the school year, the seniors would organize a party. When my two friends begged me to go, I couldn't help but agree to their request.

They picked me up around nine and then took me to the party, which was being held in a rented venue for the night. Personally, I hated parties; too many people, too small and crowded spaces, smells too strong, and music too loud. I had never really fit in well with society, never found myself at ease with other girls my age, nor with the boys, but luckily the only two girls who genuinely liked me were Amy and Lilly. They had never judged me for my appearance or for my often clumsiness.

My name is Allison, I'm seventeen years old, and I live in Canada, in Alberta, specifically from Banff, a place that’s half-modernized and half-wild, where in winter the snow is heavy and in summer the weather is cool. My parents died in a car accident when I was little, and I hardly knew them; I was taken in by my grandfather, a kind, calm man of few words, but those words were often sweet. He was my only surviving family member.

What was I saying? Oh right... I was not at all used to going to high school parties, but on the other hand, there were some cute guys... who, in fact, didn’t even look my way.

Once inside, I couldn’t help but notice that the venue was very large and dark, since the theme was to put fluorescent paint on your body. There was a DJ playing the music and some painters to paint bodies with a paint that reacted to ultraviolet lights.

I was supposed to get painted and then go wild on the dance floor. Did I feel comfortable? Absolutely not. I didn’t even want to be in that place.

My friends didn’t think twice and started painting themselves; they had a much more outgoing spirit than I did.

"Come on Ally! Show some skin," said Lilly while the painter was painting her.

Amy caught me off guard and made me take off my shirt, leaving me in my bra. My cheeks turned red, becoming a vivid shade.

"Relax, you're beautiful. Don’t be scared, maybe tonight you’ll make a good impression!" exclaimed Amy, smiling.

I didn’t want to make a good impression! I just wanted to go home and watch TV in peace.

The painter painted me in patches and splashes, turning me into a Dalmatian.

"You look beautiful," said Amy, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

To give my opinion, I felt ridiculous and was afraid that my classmates would belittle me or make me feel even more uncomfortable. If I wasn’t feeling comfortable before, now I wanted to sink into the ground, and if there was one thing that embarrassed me more than anything, it was being semi-naked in front of so many people. They dragged me toward the dance floor and got into the groove, but after no more than ten minutes, swallowed by that huge crowd of boys and girls, I decided to separate myself from my friends to have my personal space: I felt uncomfortable and didn’t know how to react. I turned towards the dance floor to watch the crowd of colorful high school students as they danced like there was no tomorrow. Why was I so different? Why wasn’t I like everyone else?

I noticed some guys I had never seen before dancing with girls I didn’t know. They were all very muscular and handsome, and they all had a strange tattoo on their right arm; the tattoo looked like a black triangle made up of three spirals. Who the hell were they? They definitely weren’t from my school.

"Who are those guys?" I asked, approaching Amy and Lilly.

"They must be friends of Sam! Cute, huh?" Amy replied, staring at them with bright eyes.