Afterglow ❃ l.m.j

• chapter seven •

I was a little rusty on the pole when I came back to the club the following week. Moving from the craze of the holidays to the craze of Heaven's Door was enough to leave anyone's head spinning.

I came a little early today just so I could take my time getting ready and decompressing. I was finishing my stretches (and a very refreshing bottle of water) when Stefanie walked up to me. She looked like she was inches away from a panic attack.

"Hey, Peach. I'm sorry to ask but I left my bag in my car and I feel like I'm seconds away from bleeding through my dress. Do you have anything, pads, tampons, something?" My drawn together eyebrows shifted to similarly wide eyes. I nodded emphatically, gesturing towards my locker.

"Yeah, of course, yeah! Pad or tampon?"

The padlock clicked in one hand, and I opened my locker to search with the other. Even though I couldn't menstruate myself, I always made sure to keep a goodie bag just in case. It started as an insecurity thing to ward off stupid bitches but later came in handy when I began making more femme friends.

"Tampon, please."

I found my ziplock and surfed through, looking at the different absorbencies. "Heavy?"

"Yeah, yeah, anything. God, I love you, thank you so much."

A warm smile took over my face as I slipped the requested tampon into her hands. "Of course. Let me know if you need another. Check in with you later?"

"Of course!" She leaned forward to plant a small kiss on my cheek before dashing off. "Thanks again."

I giggled, turning towards my locker with my bag. Women always left such a fuzzy feeling in my stomach. I couldn't tell if it was meant to be endearing or sickening. But I always felt alive.

Being that I was early, I had relatively nothing else to do. Which only gave way to one solution in my book; go bother Ally.

I put my stuff away and locked back up before making my way to her door. Dancers smoothed past me. Their chatter was falling all along my ears with the smell of cheap perfume. Cherry was amongst one of them. They all gave me smiles except for her. Like a serpent, her eyes wore into slits before rolling entirely. I didn't do anything but adjust my gaze elsewhere in return.

Allyson was fit in a black blazer and a pencil skirt with her hair up in a high ponytail. Like always, her attention was glued towards her computer screen. Her eyes flickered to me briefly when I walked in.

"Hey." She said curtly, taking a deep inhale through her nose. "Can't talk long, I'm sending emails. Do you need anything?"

I shook my head. "Nope, just checking on you."

I waltzed up to her desk, picking up a porcelain piggy bank that sat just at the edge. The eyes and mouth looked like a little kid painted it. I felt a silly smile cross my face.

"I appreciate it. I just..." She paused to click a few buttons. "...have a lot to do right now. Have you seen Rosé yet?"

Even in thinking to myself, I couldn't remember seeing her face today. Rosé was a shy one, despite her name. You could always pick her out of a lineup for her height and her voice though. She stood at 5'10 and had a prominent Ecuadorian accent.