The Masks That Hide Us

Lalonde

You soon departed with the girl, Rose. Her long black dress was hard to step over, and the lace was always catching on her jewelry, but you had to admit it looked nice on her. Flattering. She led you to the main street, talking about how you'd get to meet her sister, how you'd absolutely love this city. You supposed you would.
On first look, this place seemed diverse, rich, prosperous. But when you focused, you saw more than you wanted to. And it was all summed up in a few people. A family, you believe. There were three girls. Two were tall, wearing not much, and standing by a curb. You assumed they were prostitutes because of what they wore, and the fact that one wore terrible bright red lipstick, and the other spoke perfect Japanese. But the only thing people saw was two whores, they didn't see the young girl in a tattered skirt that the older one would occasionally look back to. You never know what people would see if only they looked past first judgements.

Although you yourself did not have much money, you stopped Rose, and insisted she wait there for you, while you... "Attended to an errand."
You took out $100 in twenties, and walked up to the two women. They were beautiful, but the makeup distracted you from them. It was tacky, but you disregarded it. They swayed their hips when you walked up. The younger one said something in Japanese, and opened her shirt a little further.
"Come for a show? $80 a night, or $150 for both of us together. What will it be?"
She said as she put yet another coat of lipstick on. You sighed.
"Its not you I came for. And, I don't partake in night-by-night relationships. I saw the little girl, and-"
You were cut off by the older one.
"Stay away from her. Shes not available." You put your hands up in defense and shook your head.
"No no, i'm sorry if you got the wrong idea. I wanted to give you this, to get her a nicer skirt. I saw that the one she was wearing was a little old." You smiled and held the money out to them. The older one stared at you for a second, then smiled.
You watched as the little girl came out to meet you. She stayed behind the legs of the one you first met, who you later found out was named Damara. The little girl was shy, but soon spoke up.
"My name is Aradia. I'm from Japan, but my dad is from New 'ork. Momma always says that. She said I'd get to meet him when i got older if i was a good girl." She smiled, and so did you. You looked around and saw the dirty looks you were getting from people. You couldn't believe how judgemental this place was. Be seen anywhere near someone questionable and automatically you're a bad person.
Rose walked over to you to pull you away, she said something about "making friends with the right people", like the women you just met were below you. It bothered you. If "all people are equal", then they're equal. No matter what they look like, the decisions they make, or what they need to do to sustain themselves.

Rose walked with you, staying silent. It began to get dark, and you were getting hungry. "Rose, could i bother you to come with me for a snack? I know you have to get home but all these wonderful smells are getting the better of me." You said, while drowning in the intoxicationg aromas. Man, has it been awhile since you've had bourbon chicken. You could almost taste it, the savory sweetness but tang of it. The smell of the bamboo from the chopsticks used to eat the delicacy. You ignored the rumbling in your stomach. Rose looked around, her lavender eyes scanning across the street, seeing all the places to get food, and sighed. "Alright. But do not take too long. I will be in that store there, Roxy told me to get some stuff she forgot." She pointed to a store a bit away as you nodded, but you didn't really see where she pointed.

It was amazing. It was so much better than that place in your town. You would've stayed there all day, gotten fat, and blown all your money on that if you could've. You noticed a shifty group of people watching you as you walked to the store Rose was in. Or at least you believed this was the store. You didn't really pay attention when she pointed. Godammit you should've payed attention. You realized just how late it was. The moon shone through the clouds, some stars were apparant. It was hard to even see the sky because of all the light pollution, but this is still better than the countryside. You thought to yourself. Better. So much better.
You looked around at all the stores. Big, small, colorful. You tried to retrace your steps, but as much as you wanted to focus, you just couldn't. Your eyes just kept getting drawn to that group of people. Damn you, paranoia. They are just people on the street, same as me. People who probably could kill me with anything they can find. You felt your heart start to race, as they walked closer to you. Nonono please no. You walked nonchalantly. You hoped to conceal the panic that enveloped you. Two people were walking up to you from another direction, and you soon recognized them as the taller ones from that group. Oh shit... Oh jesus fuck i'm going to get killed.

Your head whipped around at the sound of a voice. "Now now, you know not to mess with newcomers." Who is this? Do i know them? You couldn't yet see them, but their voice sounded familiar. The group soon split, and you saw a woman. A young woman. She looked similar to Rose, but her har was different, and she has a much different aura. Rose seemed like a young scholar, this one seemed like a young rebel. She had a bag full of video games and cat toys, and you believed she was one of those gamers that have cats because they're too busy on the computer to have a social life. As much as you liked cats, you had to admit you liked dogs better. Just look at them, little ball of sass and fury versus huge dumb playful fluffy companion.
Rose ran over, eyes wide. "What happened? Are you okay? I knew i never should've left you alone here." The older one spoke up, rolling her eyes. "You shouldn't leave anyone alone here. This place is terrible." She helped you up and shook your hand. She had a surprisingly manly grip, which surprised you. "My name is Roxy. I'm this one's older sister." Rose handed a bag to Roxy as you introduced yourself as well. Rose waited until you were done to tell Roxy "I got the drink you wanted." The older one fist pumped. "Whoo! Time for more C.O.V.!" You thought of all the games that those letters could be an acronym for, and tilted your head. A few strands of your chestnut hair falling out of place. "C.O.V.?" She nodded. "Yeah! Call Of Vodka! Its like Call Of Duty but every time you die you have to take a shot. Its fun! Want to play when we get home? I have to warn you i'm very good at C.O.D."
You smiled. "You'll have to show me how. I've only ever played Red Dead Redemption and GTAV." The devilish look she got on her face made you a bit nervous.
"Challenge accepted, Jake."

Yyyyooooooo how are you people? This chapter and all those that follow are dedicated to minty_garbage who is really really awesome??? Plus they are p r e c i o u s 👌👌👌

Constructive criticism encouraged! I like hearing what you think!