Dark Dreams

THE CASINO

It had been almost a month since that Halloween night. Jay and I were acting like we were a couple even though we hadn't been defined as such. I wanted to ask him what kind of relationship it was, but I followed the advice of Kiki, who told me that there was no better way to end a relationship than to ask your boyfriend if you were a couple. Being new to the field of romantic relationships, I did as she suggested. I hadn't been able to talk to Dick after our strange encounter in front of his wall. I saw him numerous times in the corridors and the cafeteria but he barely came over to greet his best friend when I was there, let alone speak to me. As for Meilin, it was impossible to approach her. Every time she saw me, she ran off like I would eat her in a single bite.

Beep beep.

I took my cell phone from my bag.

"Don't forget your appointment at 6 pm. It's our last chance". I read Jay's message sadly. He had convinced Chuck, the head of the singing club, to give me one last chance. Jay had been giving me singing lessons all month and he'd persuaded Chuck that they needed another voice for the choir. It was November 28, which meant that I had only two days to be accepted by a club before the deadline. More than once, I had imagined how nice it would be to attend Silver Wings with Jay and Kiki, but this idea was looking more and more like a dream.

I skated gracefully through the crowd, heading towards the supermarket. My mother had started letting me out in the afternoons as long as I called her every hour. My heart pounded every time I thought about how much she didn't know about my "teenage stunt", as she called my night at Dark Oaks. I turned the corner and passed a granny with a slightly aggressive Yorkshire terrier on a leash. I whizzed aimlessly down one of the largest boulevards in the center of Goldmist. I liked skating around the city on sunny afternoons. The smell of freshly-baked goods mingled with the scent of the flowers that filled florists' shelves, creating a delicious fragrance. I wondered if the daisy I had in my hair would absorb a bit of that smell, releasing it in the evening when I was in bed and trying to fall into the dream world.

I stopped under the sunshade of a candy store to catch my breath. I took out the photos that I always kept in my bag and studied them. I knew them so well now that I didn't know why I kept looking at them.

Suddenly, one of them seemed to contain something familiar. I took the second picture, the one depicting Dick and Chastity drinking together. I looked carefully at the symbol of two cherries on her jacket. I raised the photo to eye level and compared what I saw in the photo to the logo on the building in front of me.

They were the same!

What was Chastity doing with the logo of the Red Cherries Casino?

I checked the time on my cell phone: it was three pm. I had three hours to find out what was behind the symbol and get to school to convince Chuck that I could sing in tune. I told myself I could do it, put the skates in my bag, and hurried toward the casino.

As soon as I entered, my eyes were assaulted by strong blue and red neon lights, while the insistent noise of dimes in slot machines echoed in the casino which, given the time of day, was not very crowded. I headed to the counter whose oval shape and green lights gave it an alien look. Behind it, a man with a long mustache and a red uniform was sipping blue liquid from a glass adorned with a pink parasol.

"Hello," I said, without the slightest idea of what I was going to say.

"Minors aren't allowed in the casino," he said, without even looking at me.

"Chastity sent me," I said, standing on tiptoe to look taller.

This explanation had worked with Dick's friend and I didn't see why it shouldn't do the same with this guy, who seemed anything but alert.