“Wear the bodysuit.”
“What?!”
“I’ll wear mine.”
“Why?” she laughed.
My best friend, Acacia, and I were back in our home state of New York, preparing for a night on the town with some old high school friends.
“Come on, please!” I begged. “It’s been so long since we’ve seen them. We wouldn’t be recognizable without our fabulously weird, individual, matching outfits.
Everyone was finally twenty-one, and we were stoked about the new club in the city, it was supposed to be very exclusive. Acacia and I had been friends since the seventh grade, and although we became close to other people in high school, it was always just the two of us who were the closest. We even went to college as close to each other as possible; me in Nevada and her in Utah. We saw each other as much as possible, but hadn’t seen the others since last winter break.
“Fine. What are you wearing with yours?”
“Heels and a blazer of course,” I grinned.
“Ugh. I am NOT wearing heels; I’ll tower over everyone… Can I borrow your leather jacket?”
I tossed the jacket to her from my closet. Despite the distinct height difference between us, Acacia and I had always been able to share clothes, which came in handy with how often we stayed over at each other’s places unplanned. We were always together, it was weird for people to see us apart, and we shared everything. We knew everything that the other person knew, all of it. She was the only person who knew the truth of my bloodline, and the hidden world around us.
*****
We stood side by side in the mirror. Even with my white, glittering heels and her ballet flats, I stood only to Acacia’s earlobe. She was dressed in an ankle length, tank top body suit, black with skeletal bones. Shoes, black. Leather jacket, black. Smoky eyes, courtesy of moi, since she wasn’t exactly skilled in that area. Stud earrings, a clutch, and her straight, tousled blonde hair completed her simplistic look.
I, on the other hand, always chose to stand out. My bodysuit was like Acacia’s, but white and pink muscles surrounded the brown bones. A white blazer and sparkling shoes drew the attention, but of course, added to it all was a glittering chain of crystals hung around my neck, coming all the way to my bellybutton; a clutch to match my heels and sparkling eyeshadow; and a watch to match the necklace. Wild, loosely curled, long brown hair was my signature.
“Ready?”
“So ready,” Acacia beamed.
*****
Our friends were waiting near the end of the mile-long line to the club, and ran to us when they spotted us walking down the street.
“Keira! Acacia!”
“Ohmygod. Look at your outfits.”
“Look at your body, have you been working out?”
“How have you been?”
“I love what you’ve done with your hair.”
“How’s your boyfriend?”
“How’s your cats?!”
“Hey!”
“Alright, alright, ladies,” Flynn broke up the laughter. “We can talk about our love lives later. Right now, I think some hugs are in order,” he grinned, opening his arms.
Flynn had always been the closest to me after Acacia. He didn’t know my secrets quite like she did, but there had always been some sort of connection there. I had never been able to put my finger on it, but it was there.
After the hugs and more greetings were complete, we made our way to the door of the club; five girls, four guys.
“So, it turns out the place is pretty hard to get into. They turn people away left and right, and no one seems to be able to figure out what makes the bouncers decide you’re cool to come in.” Lindy, the other beautiful blonde, and the gossip of the group stated as we got closer. “But, someone told me to just walk up and see what happens, rather than wait in line for two hours just to get turned away.”
“We can always find another club if they don’t want us,” one of the guys, Jason, suggested.
“With Keira here, we’re bound to get in.” Flynn winked as everyone smiled back at me.
I blushed. I wasn’t exactly out the ordinary and spectacular, in terms of looks. I was pretty, I admit; but no more eye catching than your average pretty-person. However, there’s always been something about me that caught peoples’ attention, drew everyone to me strongly. I always accredited it to my aura, or vibe, since I’ve always been praised for seeming so kind and self-aware; but in truth, I’ve never been able to figure out what it was. All my friends liked to tease me about it, seeing as they seem to notice it happening a lot more than I do. I don’t let it go to my head too much, though I do admit to getting cocky now and again, and to using it to my advantage on occasion, like I was about to do.
The group let me lead in the front once we got closer to the door. I spotted the bouncer and we made eye contact, causing the nerves to set in.
What if we go up there all confident and he turns us away rudely? How embarrassing. What if he just stars at us like that the whole time? How awkward would that be? Oh boy.
But I stopped about five feet from him, keeping my back straight and my shoulders back. He broke eye contact and looked me up and down, in an observant, non-creepy way, and made eye contact again.
The massive guy nodded slightly at me, “alright, girly, you’re good to go.”
A sigh of relief behind me; someone had been holding their breath.
“What about them?” I jabbed a thumb behind me.
He glanced at them, appearing to have just noticed them, and then turned around and cracked the club door open, saying something to a body inside. Another bouncer emerged, this man even larger than the one outside, and stared us down. The first bouncer whispered in his ear as we made eye contact with me for a moment, and then scanned the group, stopping for a moment on Flynn. He nodded, and opened the door for us. I glanced at Flynn before stepping forward, and he just shrugged.
“Watch your step.” I heard before the door closed behind us.
We were on a small landing, barely big enough to fit the seven of us, just above a flight of stairs. It was dark up here, but the flashing lights from the club illuminated the stairs.
“That was weird.” Someone’s voice was soft above the music, and we slowly made our way down the flight of stairs, me still leading the way, Flynn now next to me.
“Did you see the size of those guys?” Lindy asked.
“They’re bouncers,” Jason replied. “They’re supposed to be massive.”
“Yeah, but still, they were like, inhuman big.”
We reached the bottom of the stairs and turned the corner, only to stop dead in our tracks. We were officially inside the most exclusive, free club in all of the state of New York, Contagion; and boy was it a sight to see.
